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Chapter 14
Ivnia checked the object he held out with an uneasy feeling.
A small jewel case covered in red velvet gleamed suspiciously in his hand. Judging by its size, it seemed meant to hold a ring or earrings.
Wariness flickered in Ivnia’s eyes.
“What is it?”
“It’s a kind of… protective artifact. There are quite a few dangerous places in this castle. I’m giving it to you to prevent any unfortunate accidents.”
Guillermo said that smoothly, blinking as if nothing were amiss. He even opened the box as though to entice her.
Ivnia only grew more suspicious after seeing what was inside.
What Guillermo presented was a ring with an enormous gemstone—the kind only exchanged in royal marriages.
An emerald-cut diamond sparkled on the band with almost burdensome brilliance.
“…It looks incredibly valuable.”
“Well, I don’t know for sure, but it could probably buy this entire castle. It’s stuck in the countryside and people keep dying here, so the property value is terrible. There’s an extremely powerful recovery spell on it—unless it’s instant death, it’ll keep the wearer alive somehow.”
Ivnia swallowed the scream that nearly burst out.
Instinctively stepping back, she asked,
“You’re giving something like that to me? Is it really okay for me to accept it?”
“If not the bride, then who? The maid Hanna I spent twenty years training? Or the very person who scattered dangerous artifacts and spells all over this castle?”
“But the way you’re giving it is so suspicious. Waiting until we were alone like some black-market deal—”
“Should I have taken out something this precious in front of the thief who broke into our castle?”
Guillermo shot back as if he were the one offended.
Ivnia fell silent.
Separate from the gratitude she felt toward Sir Max for lighting the fire, she also knew why he had ended up in such circumstances.
Still unable to shake off her discomfort, Ivnia began nitpicking.
“I appreciate the thought, but the gem is too big. I don’t think I could wear it around normally like you said.”
“Would this do?”
Guillermo closed and reopened the box as he spoke.
It happened before Ivnia could stop him.
When she looked again, she doubted her eyes.
The diamond that had been the size of a thumbnail had shrunk to almost vestigial proportions.
Like a raccoon that had washed away a meringue cookie in water, Ivnia snatched the box from him in a dazed rush.
Staring blankly at the pitifully reduced diamond, she murmured,
“The diamond…”
“I resized it so it wouldn’t bother you in daily wear. Do you like it?”
“It was huge…”
“Now it’s no longer so cumbersome.”
Guillermo declared proudly.
A jewel worth a fortune had turned, in an instant, into something that even petty thieves might overlook.
Since he had altered it for her sake, she couldn’t very well refuse it now.
In an almost resigned voice, Ivnia asked,
“…You did get Lord Ram’s permission, right?”
“Of course. The master originally prepared it for the bride—so she wouldn’t get hurt because of him.”
“I keep telling you, I’m not a bride—”
“That’s not the important part. The real issue is this: if you die in some accident, the master will probably banish me from his sight for another two hundred years. Then I’ll be stuck rotting away in this miserable castle—”
Unable to withstand Guillermo’s pestering any longer, Ivnia finally took the ring out and slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand.
She’d thought it looked close to her usual size, and indeed—it fit her perfectly.
Having achieved his goal, Guillermo abruptly stopped complaining.
He stared at the ring with an unreadable gaze and muttered meaningfully,
“A perfect fit. As if by fate.”
“I’ll use it carefully and return it when I leave.”
Ivnia hurriedly emphasized that it was only a loan.
She had accepted it to avoid further trouble, but had no intention of keeping such a burdensome treasure forever.
Even if the gem looked modest now, its value remained unchanged.
A ring that could heal any wound short of instant death.
If the world learned of its existence, chaos would erupt.
Every ruler and tycoon would scramble to seize it, leading to bloody competition.
Ivnia looked down at her finger with heavy eyes.
‘I shouldn’t even take it off when I sleep.’
If she lost it, she would never rest peacefully again.
Ram and Guillermo might not demand compensation, but she couldn’t bear to cause financial harm to people she was already burdening.
Without thinking, Ivnia covered the ring protectively with her other hand.
Guillermo smiled as though he could see right through her thoughts.
“Oh, don’t feel pressured. Considering what you’ll do for our castle, this is a small token.”
“Even if I sold my body piece by piece, I couldn’t match this ring’s value…”
“Don’t worry—I’m not very fond of corpses. I much prefer sacred labor.”
With a remark that could have been either a joke or not, Guillermo turned his gaze toward the door.
Right then, Sir Max came back carrying firewood, groaning as he entered the kitchen.
Instead of continuing the headache-inducing conversation with Guillermo, Ivnia hurried over to help Max and held the door for him—
Completely unaware that Guillermo was smiling darkly behind her back.
“Just become the bride already.”
The moment Seven finished Ivnia’s cooking and found his plate empty, he threw out the suggestion.
As soon as he did, everyone at the table—except Ram—nodded in agreement.
Perhaps thanks to Max’s hard work, the roast beef had turned out especially well today. Fortunately, it seemed to suit more than just human tastes.
Ivnia watched Levi, who had climbed onto the table and was pecking at the meat in bliss, with quiet fascination.
Feeling secretly proud, she asked,
“So the qualification to be lady of the house is cooking skill?”
“There’s a historical reason too. Nina was just as good at cooking as you.”
Was Ram’s late wife not such a painful memory for Seven?
He spoke of the dead with surprising ease.
Ivnia instinctively glanced at Ram.
Misunderstanding her look, Ram hurriedly protested before even swallowing his food.
“Not ’cause Ah liked ’er!”
Seven ignored Ram entirely and scraped up the mashed potatoes left on his plate with his fork.
Closing his eyes as he tasted them, he spoke with emotion thick in his voice.
“That’s why I liked her. The only comfort during those hellish marches.”
“Did Lady Nina go to war with you?”
“If she hadn’t, humanity would’ve gone extinct. How are you supposed to fight eating that disgusting slop?”
So she had served as something like a field cook?
Ivnia tilted her head in confusion, and Ram finally stepped in.
“She cooked because this idiot was always making a face like he wanted to desert. Her real job was healer.”
“Right. Just as good at handling human guts as animal ones.”
Seven added what was very much not a helpful compliment.
Ivnia desperately recalled the beautiful portrait she had seen yesterday rather than imagine Seven’s description.
That elegant woman had been their comrade through the Great War.
Ivnia had been curious how Ram had come to marry her—there had clearly been far more behind their union than she had imagined.
If she were Ram, she wouldn’t have been able to forget such a bond either.
