🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 14
“Of course, Mother. I’m alive. Look. You can feel my warmth, can’t you?”
“Warm… warm. You really are… alive.”
“Yes, I really am alive. So please stop crying now. You might collapse at this rate.”
Raiden hurriedly signaled a maid to bring a glass of water and carefully helped Savanna drink.
After taking the water, her ragged breathing slowly calmed, and she caught her breath before reaching out to hold his hand.
“Raiden. What month and day is it today? Where are you coming back from right now? And… and marriage. Are you married, Raiden?”
“Today is March 14th, Mother. I just got off work at the imperial palace and was on my way back. And no, I’m not married.”
Savanna asked in a flustered, disordered way, but Raiden answered calmly.
It was strange that she suddenly asked about the date and his marital status, but he thought she might be confused after a nightmare.
“Don’t you remember that about two weeks ago, the Duke of Vinok’s daughter spread false rumors about a marriage?”
“Ah, ah… the rumors. Yes, the rumors… the Duke of Vinok’s daughter lied.”
“Yes, that’s right. You said the situation was getting overheated and that we should wait and see…”
“No! We can’t!”
She cut him off with a shout. Then, stiffening her expression, she sprang up and grabbed Raiden’s arm.
“Absolutely not. If we don’t correct the rumors right now, it’ll be too late. You love Freya, not that young lady of Vinok, don’t you?”
“What? Mother, how do you know that…?”
He had never told anyone about his feelings for Freya.
Seeing his flustered reaction, Savanna slowly smiled.
“In a dream… I saw it. You grieving after losing Freya. I’m sorry. For not realizing it. Mom… I’m sorry, my son.”
“Mother…”
Tears streaming again, Savanna pulled Raiden into her arms. He hugged her back reflexively, his gaze sinking.
‘She must have had a strange dream.’
In that dream, it seemed he had lost Freya and was heartbroken. And eventually, he had lost his life as well.
No wonder his mother would be shocked. If her only son died like that, how could she not be devastated?
But if it was just a dream, why was she so anxious?
‘Could it be that in the dream, things went wrong because of the Duke of Vinok’s daughter, and something happened to my relationship with Freya?’
If he lost her because of that, it would truly be heartbreaking and infuriating.
And if she had seen him suffer and die, it was understandable that Savanna would react this way.
When he held her trembling body tightly, Savanna soon calmed down. Stepping back from his arms, she looked at him with determined eyes and then spoke.
“Raiden, marry Freya.”
“Pardon?”
“You must be with that girl, no matter what. This mother will make it happen.”
“…Mother?”
“Remember this. Never, ever give up on Freya.”
“……”
Was it really just a simple dream? Raiden felt both unease and deep anticipation at the same time.
His mother’s sudden words were confusing, but seeing her resolute gaze made such thoughts vanish in an instant.
If his mother would support and help him and Freya, then…
Wasn’t this the chance he’d been waiting for?
‘If I can fully convey my feelings. And if I can win her heart.’
After such a long wait, letting this opportunity slip away would be foolish.
“The person I like isn’t the Duke of Vinok’s daughter. It’s Freya. The one I’ve been watching all this time isn’t that young lady—it’s you.”
“…My lord.”
At Raiden’s sincere words, Freya turned her head away. He didn’t miss the slight tremble in her clear blue eyes.
“When I see how hard you work, I want to be by your side. When you’re struggling, I want to help you.”
He wanted to spend the time he couldn’t share with her before, and do everything for her that he hadn’t been able to do.
“More than anything, just looking at you makes me feel good, and my eyes keep going back to you.”
Someone he wanted to see several times a day, and even when she was right in front of him, he feared she might disappear.
“To no one else do I feel this way.”
That was what Freya was to him.
“I know it’s hard to decide right away. And I know very well what kind of situation you’re in. But if you think about it another way, this could be an opportunity.”
“An… opportunity for what?”
“A chance for you to break free from the Duke of Vinok’s daughter. You’ve had such a hard time because of her.”
“…You knew.”
“Of course. It’d be strange not to.”
Anyone could tell, just by looking at the relationship between Freya and Astella.
Even if Astella’s status was higher, it was only by one rank—yet Freya took on everything: etiquette training, accompanying her in social circles, and even daily attendance, things not even maids assigned to serve her would normally do. And no matter that they were cousins, there were far too many actions that crossed the line.
“Your relationship with the Duke of Vinok’s daughter right now isn’t normal. Why are you the one doing all her etiquette lessons, her social duties, and even attending to her daily needs?”
“That’s…”
“You can’t answer easily because even you admit it’s a strange relationship. I don’t know why you won’t cut it off, but if this continues, you’ll only suffer more.”
“……”
At Raiden’s words, Freya frowned and bit her lip. Noticing her shaken state, he drove the point home once more.
“So meet me with marriage in mind. Please become my fiancée. I’ll help you break free from the Duke of Vinok’s daughter.”
He had laid all his cards on the table. Now it was up to Freya whether she would take his hand.
A brief silence followed, and a bead of cold sweat slid down Raiden’s face from tension.
Just as he thought, Is this still a rejection…? her lips slowly parted.
“…I’ll think about it. About your proposal, my lord.”
“…Thank you, Freya.”
It wasn’t a complete yes, but he could see hope. Raiden looked at Freya with joy and smiled brightly.
“Hoo…”
Freya loosened the scarf around her neck, took off her coat, and dropped onto the sofa, stretching out limply.
Ah, I’m exhausted.
The day had been longer and more tiring than expected, draining all her energy.
She barely managed to lie down on the sofa instead of going to the bed, but unlike her weary body, her mind was tangled with thoughts.
The conversation she had with Savanna today—and Raiden.
‘No matter what, the biggest variable is that man.’
Savanna, who proposed marriage, and Astella, who had been lying all along, were both unusual enough—but Raiden went a step further and made things most difficult for her.
‘He says he likes me. That’s ridiculous.’
Then why did his words feel different from usual?
They weren’t even close, yet it was as if his voice was whispering right beside her ear.
Why did she feel, for the first time, that strange, ticklish sensation in her chest?
No matter how many compliments she had heard from him before, she had never felt like this.
‘Is this body reacting? Or… am I getting swept up by him?’
Either way, it was true that she hadn’t been able to maintain her usual composure. Freya let out a deep sigh and sat up.
“…A fiancée, huh.”
Astella’s lie had been exposed, and Savanna and Raiden had no intention of accepting her.
Unless she could obtain permission to marry Raiden, Freya’s role here was over.
“I can already see my free single life drifting farther away.”
Not just drifting away—it was on the verge of being completely cut off.
“At this point, I probably can’t keep playing Astella’s attendant either. Since it’s come to this, should I just quit being a sucker and grab a new lifeline?”
Becoming the male lead’s first love and fiancée might not be so bad, after all.
“But before that, there’s something I need to check.”
Rising from the sofa, Freya brushed back her fallen hair and murmured,
“I need to make sure whether Astella really lied or not.”
She felt like she already knew which was the truth, but she didn’t want to jump to conclusions. With the original story already so far off track, she couldn’t easily trust anyone anymore.
