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Chapter 5
“Boy, what do you mean by fiancé, Young Duke?”
Viscount Ponti, Damia’s father, widened his eyes in disbelief.
“An old count lusting after a young lady to make her his second wife, and a father who is excited to sell his daughter.”
There was clear cold sarcasm in his low voice.
“Cough….”
Perhaps knowing shame despite his shamelessness, Count Pavron’s face turned red and he coughed awkwardly.
Damia’s father also rubbed his hands nervously.
“This kind of disgusting scheme is hard to watch as a fiancé.”
“When did you even become my daughter’s fiancé…?”
“From now on, any disrespect toward my fiancée will be considered a challenge to the Sarkis ducal house.”
Cassian Sarkis ignored Viscount Ponti’s muttering and spoke only what he wanted to say.
Perhaps because of the authority of the Sarkis family hidden in that cold warning, the two old men could not refute him and only moved their lips silently.
“I’m glad I came to pick her up. I didn’t expect to see such a disgusting sight.”
“Huh? You came personally because you missed me too much?”
“….”
“I feel the same, Young Duke. I was waiting for you all along!”
Damia Ponti joked shamelessly while following the boy outside.
Cassian led Damia first to his carriage.
As expected of the Sarkis ducal family, said to be the most honored house in the empire, the carriage was extremely luxurious.
Her father, the old count, and no one else could stop Cassian.
In the western region, no one could oppose the authority of the Sarkis ducal family.
“U, Young Duke. Where are we going now?”
The two sat facing each other inside the carriage.
The boy leaned deeply against the backrest and frowned slightly.
“It was not an exaggeration that you were about to be sold to an old count.”
“Did you doubt me?”
Damia deliberately lifted her head, looking slightly pitiful.
“There are many young ladies in this empire who invent all sorts of words just to catch my attention.”
“But you personally came here, which means you realized my words were true.”
“Yes.”
“The medicine worked, right?”
The boy did not answer. Instead, he slowly swept his hair back.
When his clean, handsome forehead was revealed, Damia unconsciously held her breath.
‘It’s handsome enough that I should pay to look at it.’
It felt as if her eyes, tainted by the old perverted count, were being washed clean.
“What kind of trick did you use?”
“I cannot tell you yet. You haven’t accepted my proposal.”
“Do you think I cannot threaten you to get what I want?”
“I believe Your Highness is not such an immoral person.”
“It’s a pity. That belief will be broken today.”
Cassian smiled slightly and mocked her, making Damia’s lips slowly close.
‘So what, are you going to drag me away and threaten me?’
But in her first life, Cassian Sarkis never lost the dignity of a high noble even in his dying moments.
‘Even when Count Pavron tried to play tricks with that herb, he only gave a warning.’
So she did not think he would commit dirty acts this time either.
“No. I don’t think my trust will be broken today.”
“Why?”
“If you intended to threaten me, you wouldn’t have come here personally.”
“You’re surprisingly quick-witted.”
Cassian laughed softly and admitted it.
At that moment, the carriage jolted slightly.
“Wait, did we start already?”
It was so quiet she almost didn’t notice, but the carriage had already departed some time ago.
“Let me ask again. Is your reward in this deal really an engagement with me?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“This is your last chance to change the condition. I can give you anything you want.”
“What I want is only an engagement with Your Highness.”
Even if she gained money or territory, with a thirteen-year-old body it would all be taken by her father.
Even if the Ponti viscount family’s finances improved, her father would not give up marriage business.
She might be better off than Count Pavron, but in the end she would have to promise her life to a stranger.
‘Once I break the engagement with the young duke, I’ll secretly gather money and defect to another country.’
For example, the nearby Rhodion Kingdom.
The Rhodion Kingdom was famous for granting wide rights to unmarried women if they had property.
“Why are you so determined?”
“I told you. I love you, Young Duke.”
“Hah?”
“I will become a convenient temporary fiancée. You can use me as an excuse to chase away troublesome young ladies.”
“Wait, a temporary fiancée?”
Damia nodded slightly.
“Yes. I thought about it, and setting a time limit in advance might be fine.”
“You said you wouldn’t interfere in my love life, and now you’re saying temporary engagement is fine?”
“Yes. I don’t want to become a burden. If you overcome the curse or reach adulthood, I will break off the engagement cleanly at that moment. Of course, my heart will be torn apart.”
“How can you do that if you love me?”
“Because I love you too much, I think I can cherish even a short memory happily for my whole life. I know my place if I want true marriage.”
She did not want to repeat a marriage that was unbalanced and not based on love.
Since she could not let him see her true inner thoughts, Damia tried her best to act like a devoted girl deeply in love with her first love.
“You…”
Cassian sighed softly.
The boy’s red eyes held complex light as if he had many things to say.
“Why? Ah, do you feel uncomfortable? If you want, I can also show jealousy.”
“…I wouldn’t want that.”
Cassian frowned as if dissatisfied. He seemed lost in thought and stared out the window.
“Won’t you regret what you just said?”
“Of course. I can even swear before God. I will never bother you.”
“Good. I accept the proposal. Prepare to meet my mother.”
Cassian said as if he had finished thinking.
“Yes, I understand. Wait, what? We were going to the ducal house?”
“Yes. My mother is curious about you.”
So suddenly?
Seeing Damia’s surprised face, Cassian smiled with satisfaction.
“You can feel surprise too?”
“S, Young Duke. Wait a minute, this is too fast! I also need mental preparation.”
“There’s no time. And I like your proposal quite a bit.”
“What do you mean there’s no time? And why is your personality so hasty?”
“Why? I’m terminally ill.”
A shameless smile appeared on the handsome face.
Damia burst into a dry laugh.
“I am Damia of the Ponti viscount family.”
Damia barely finished her introduction without stuttering.
Even though it was a very short greeting, cold sweat soaked her back.
The Sarkis Duke had died long ago.
In other words, the direct line remaining in the ducal house was the Duchess and Young Duke Cassian.
‘Did the duke’s death also affect the curse?’
Because Cassian was young, many collateral male relatives tried to act as ducal regents.
And it was the duchess of Sarkis in front of her who protected the ducal house from those wolf-like men.
‘She’s beautiful like ice carefully carved.’
The reception room of the Sarkis ducal house was filled only with the empire’s most expensive and rare objects.
And the duchess was more striking than any decoration in the room — a woman with a cold impression.
It was said she could stab someone with a smiling face, especially without mercy toward those who touched what belonged to her.
And the only thing the Sarkis duchess cherished was her only son, Cassian.
‘What if she locks me somewhere just because I dared to covet Cassian?’
Just imagining it made her knees weak and she wanted to close her eyes tightly.
“I was puzzled because Cassian, who had lived only for his own pride until now, suddenly spoke of engagement…”
The duchess, who had been silently looking at Damia for a long time, slowly opened her mouth.
The calm, low tone tightened Damia’s heart.
