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Chapter : 31
“Eani?”
Harten called my name softly.
At the sound of his voice, I suddenly came back to my senses.
Why am I hugging this man right now?
He had been saying nothing but things overwhelmingly in my favor, so there was no reason for me to interrupt him.
Then why…?
Did my arms just move on their own?
As I stood there, baffled by my own inexplicable behavior, a warm presence touched my back.
Soon, a large hand slowly began to pat it.
“If you happen to feel guilty toward me for any reason, you don’t have to.”
Pat, pat.
The gentle rhythm of his hand felt like someone soothing a wounded animal.
I blinked, then instead of pulling away from him, I chose to bury my cheek even deeper against his head.
Even now, I didn’t understand why I was doing this, but…
This atmosphere isn’t all that bad.
After holding him for a moment, I slowly opened my mouth.
“The reason my ankle healed was because the magic that had been sleeping inside me awakened.”
“Huh?”
“So if you’re going to make an offering, give it to me, not to a god.”
“Hahaha!”
Harten’s shoulders shook as he laughed at my words.
“You really are good at joking.”
It’s not a joke, though.
Well, he’d realize that eventually.
The only things I had truly worried about were not telling him I was a mage, and lying about my ankle.
But if he was letting both of those slide like this, then there was nothing left to be anxious about.
“Harten!”
I stepped away from him and smiled brightly.
“There’s actually one more thing I haven’t told you.”
“What is it?”
“I want to build a resort on this island! I want to let lots of people know about Tadibna’s beauty!”
At my cheerful declaration, Harten responded immediately, as if there were no need for thought.
“No.”
In an utterly firm voice, he repeated himself.
“Absolutely not. Never.”
“…Why?”
You let the ankle and the magic go, but this is where you draw the line?
When I asked in confusion, Harten frowned as he answered.
“You want to tell many people about this island’s beauty? What are you going to do if the people who come to see the island end up learning about your beauty instead?”
“Oh my, what a joke~.”
Eani Nacelle was pretty, sure—but not to that extent.
I laughed lightly, but when I saw Harten’s utterly serious face, my expression slowly changed.
He’s not joking. He’s serious.
Well… honestly, I had expected his opposition.
He was the type who wanted to keep me locked up here and look at no one but him.
Announcing that I planned to build a resort and attract crowds was practically a declaration of war to someone like that.
But I prepared bait he wouldn’t be able to refuse.
I gently cupped Harten’s cheeks with both hands and met his eyes.
His face turned bright red, and his pupils trembled slightly.
Watching his reaction, I smiled softly.
“Harten~, your parents visited this place not long ago, didn’t they?”
“T-They did.”
“At that time, I made a promise with them.”
“A promise?”
“If I proved my abilities to them…”
I deliberately paused there.
His attention sharpened, clearly eager to hear what came next.
Leaning closer, I whispered as if sharing a secret.
“They said they’d give permission for you and me to marry.”
“What?!”
Harten’s eyes flew open in shock.
“Marriage?!”
“Yes, marriage~.”
I answered innocently, then hesitated and muttered in a slightly dejected voice.
“Did I think too far ahead?”
“N-No! That’s not it. It’s just… I…”
Harten stumbled over his words.
It was understandable that he’d be this flustered.
Even in the original story, Harten had marriage with Eani Nacelle in mind.
Marriage was the perfect legal way to bind Eani to himself.
And he had decided that marrying another woman while obsessing over Eani would be cruel to that woman as well.
That’s why he broke off his engagement with a foreign princess, despite the huge loss.
In the end, though, he never married Eani.
Eani herself hated the idea—but the decisive reason was the atrocities committed by Duke and Duchess Seind.
The moment marriage was mentioned, they poured all their anger onto Eani.
Their harassment of Eani peaked during this period.
No matter how much Harten tried to hide her elsewhere or protect her, it was useless.
They hunted her down relentlessly and tormented her until she was completely exhausted.
So what choice did he have?
Eventually, Harten had no choice but to surrender.
That engagement fell apart back then—so hearing it brought up again now…
From Harten’s perspective, it had to be deeply unsettling.
Still unconvinced, he carefully took my hand and asked,
“You weren’t tricked by Duke and Duchess Seind, were you? There’s no way they’d agree to our marriage so easily.”
“That’s why there’s a condition. I have to prove my abilities~.”
“Even so, those unbearably arrogant people wouldn’t bend their opinions so easily…”
“Oh my, they were much easier to talk to than I expected~. Didn’t you see the photos I sent?”
“Photos? Ah—actually, I was meaning to talk to you about that…”
As he spoke, Harten’s eyes slowly widened.
“Wait—are you saying those photos were really taken because you wanted to? You weren’t being threatened?”
Huh? Threatened? I was the one doing the threatening, though?
The duke and duchess had looked miserable the entire time, clearly unwilling.
But once I gently shook the mana stone, they changed their expressions through gritted teeth.
Well, that’s the truth, but…
There was no need to tell Harten, who saw me as some innocent, harmless creature.
I smiled brightly, pretending ignorance.
“They doted on me so much~!”
“Then what about the ten billion he said he gave you?”
“He said that since I wanted to spend my life with you, I should prove my qualifications—so he gave me investment funds!”
“Investment? Not an allowance?”
Oh dear~
It seemed that prideful duke couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth and had wrapped it up as ‘allowance’ instead.
He probably said that just to save face, then collapsed from humiliation later.
I could picture it perfectly.
After mocking Duke Seind internally, I looked at Harten with sparkling eyes.
“I want to grow that investment properly and receive your parents’ blessing for our future together. So please allow it? Pretty please?”
“……”
Harten closed his mouth, clearly needing time to think.
Then he let out a deep sigh and reached out, pulling me into his arms.
“Are you really okay with this?”
He muttered uncertainly.
“Are you really okay marrying me?”
“Of course~.”
“You might regret it once you recover your memories.”
So that was what he was worried about.
No wonder he didn’t accept immediately.
To reassure him, I spoke firmly.
“Then, Harten. Would you be okay with me marrying someone else?”
Just imagining it seemed to enrage him—his eyes burned with jealousy.
I smiled and lightly tapped the corner of his eye.
“From the moment I first saw you, I felt it. ‘I’m going to marry this man.’”
“Ah…”
“And I thought there was no reason to wait, since I’d end up marrying you anyway.”
Strictly speaking, it was more like ‘Now that I’m Eani Nacelle, I can’t marry anyone except this man.’
But that didn’t matter.
Marriage itself wasn’t that important to me.
If it benefited me, I’d do it.
If not doing it benefited me more, I wouldn’t.
In my previous life, not marrying was more advantageous, so I never even considered it.
But here, under these circumstances, marrying Harten is far more beneficial.
And if so, shouldn’t I use this ‘marriage’ bait to hook a really big catch?
For example—
Getting this ridiculously jealous man to open the island to outsiders?
I leaned closer and whispered sweetly to the stunned Harten.
“I thought you felt the same way as I did… Was I wrong?”
“That’s not true!”
Harten answered urgently.
“I want to marry you too! I’d rather die than see you with someone else! But…!”
Mid-sentence, he bit down hard on his lip.
Instead, he hugged me tightly and fell silent, then murmured quietly.
“So you want to marry me—and for that, you’re willing to build a resort or whatever it takes?”
“Of course.”
“You really… have become a completely different person from before you lost your memories.”
“Harten?”
“…Then let’s get engaged first. As soon as possible.”
Caught completely off guard, I stared at him with wide eyes.
He whispered in a slightly chilling voice.
“Prove it to me. That even if your memories return… your feelings will never change.”
