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Chapter 8
Life Pawned
“What?”
Irina nearly bit her tongue along with her salad.
“I mean marriage.”
“…You weren’t joking?”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever joked with you, Lady Irina.”
“Marriage isn’t something to joke about.”
“Neither am I.”
Irina’s eyebrow twitched.
“I have no intention of marrying anyone.”
Howard looked genuinely surprised.
“But you were going to marry Marquis Aire, weren’t you?”
“That was different. I was making a deal with him. It wasn’t what I wanted.”
She added, almost defensively,
“My father sold me off without even asking me. I was simply informed after the fact. Since it was happening anyway, I decided to make the best of it. Besides, I didn’t have much time.”
“You almost…!”
Howard’s voice rose unexpectedly. He started to say something, then swallowed the words.
Irina looked at him in confusion.
“Why are you getting angry? I didn’t have a choice. What else could I have done? My family’s estate was on the verge of collapsing.”
She tried to sound casual, but her throat gradually tightened.
“If I’d resisted, the house and garden my mother loved would have ended up in someone else’s hands. Well… half of them already have.”
Embroidery to preserve a noblewoman’s dignity?
Etiquette?
Or perhaps the social graces useful at balls and tea parties?
Everything she had learned as a noble had never included how to survive.
“…I know.”
Howard quietly acknowledged her words.
“Well… anyway, while you were changing, I wasn’t standing still either. A lot has changed for me too. Besides, we’re not reminiscing about the old days.”
She smiled faintly, though bitterness lingered on her lips.
Howard asked nothing further. Perhaps he already knew everything that had happened.
“So anyway, why exactly do you want to marry me? It doesn’t seem like you’re dreaming of a happily-ever-after.”
“Would you dislike that?”
I will never confess my feelings to him again.
Being rejected twice was enough.
There won’t be a third time.
“Yes. I hate it. I absolutely hate it. Completely. Totally. More than anything.”
Irina emphasized each word firmly.
Howard merely smiled.
“Don’t laugh. I’m serious.”
“I understand. Well… it’s a rather long story.”
He paused.
“The previous head of the Ringester family has passed away.”
Irina’s eyes widened.
The former family head had died…
And Howard, who wasn’t even related by blood, had become the new family head?
“…Don’t tell me some ridiculous story about how you killed him.”
“What if I did?”
His chilling reply made Irina leap from her chair.
“What? You killed him? Then this mansion too—! W-Wait… no, right? Even you wouldn’t…! No, if it were you, you must have had a reason! But even so—!”
“I’m joking.”
“Seriously…!”
All the tension drained from her.
“The inheritance was carried out legally according to the former head’s will. However, the succession hasn’t been fully settled yet.”
Irina’s thoughts became tangled.
She knew almost nothing about how the nobility worked in this country.
Howard briefly explained that distant blood relatives could still challenge the inheritance.
“What happens if you lose the inheritance?”
“It will pass to someone else. I’ll become penniless.”
He smiled calmly.
“If I’m particularly unlucky, I may even spend the rest of my life in prison.”
The word prison made Irina frown.
“But you didn’t commit any crime.”
“That isn’t what matters to them.”
Prison…
Her throat felt dry.
She picked up her glass, only to realize she’d already emptied it.
Not a single drop remained.
She coughed awkwardly and set it down.
Since they had dismissed all the servants to speak privately, Howard rose from his seat.
He approached naturally and refilled her glass with practiced ease.
For some reason, it felt like old times.
As she drank, Irina quietly looked up at him.
He really is handsome.
His long eyes, his lowered gaze…
And that silver hair she’d always found so beautiful.
“Aren’t there any women in Borman?”
Howard set down the glass pitcher.
“There are.”
He answered calmly.
“I’m simply rather shy around strangers.”
“…You’ve gotten a lot better at joking.”
When he was younger, he’d followed her like a shadow, so he never had time to meet women.
But that had been long ago.
Things could be different now.
Irina still looked at him suspiciously.
As he returned to his seat, she steered the conversation back.
“So you need to be married until your inheritance is completely secure.”
She folded her arms.
“And after that, you’ll erase my debts? How long are we talking?”
Howard answered briefly.
“One year.”
“One year?”
Irina stared at him expectantly.
“If everything is resolved within a year, then afterward I will give you whatever you desire.”
“Whether that’s freedom… or wealth.”
“I’ll think about it.”
With those words, both dinner and their conversation came to an end.
Becoming the head of the Ringester family had certainly improved Howard’s life.
But it had also made it much more troublesome.
“Ugh…”
Irina groaned.
Ordinarily, a debt was a debt.
She should simply refuse his request.
How had their relationship become this complicated?
Burying her face in her pillow, she wrestled with the chaotic thoughts swirling in her mind.
◇ ◇ ◇
Howard sat alone in a room barely illuminated by a single oil lamp.
This is only the beginning.
There’s still such a long road ahead.
The trials that had already passed…
Two.
The trials yet to come…
Three.
The wine in his mouth tasted unusually bitter tonight.
Irina.
My lady.
A memory from a very long time ago—
One he had nearly forgotten—
Slowly resurfaced.
◇ ◇ ◇
A small child sat tensely in one corner of a carriage.
It was the young Howard.
Although he wore thick clothes against the growing cold, his body still trembled.
He was tiny and frail, his grayish complexion making him appear even smaller.
“Howard.”
An adult spoke gently.
“For the next year, Count Cosart will take good care of you. You must never cause trouble.”
Howard nodded obediently.
“You’ll be serving this young lady.”
The man handed him a portrait.
“Me…?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“A beautiful, spirited little girl.”
Howard carefully accepted the painting.
Even in a portrait, her smile shone like sunlight.
Her plump cheeks only made her look cuter.
If angels exist… would they look like this?
She looked like someone who would grant wishes if you prayed to her.
Howard’s face turned slightly red.
“S-She’s… beautiful.”
“Haha! Isn’t she? So make sure you serve her well.”
“She is Count Cosart’s one and only daughter.”
After traveling for two full days, the carriage finally entered the count’s territory.
Howard couldn’t wait to get down and meet the young lady he would serve.
Would she really be as pretty as the portrait?
Would she be just as angelic?
He finally met her the following day.
“This kid is supposed to look after me?”
She frowned.
“He’s smaller than I am!”
Howard instinctively shrank back.
Irina circled around him.
“Are you really ten years old?”
“Then you’re older than me.”
“The prince is ten too, and he’s much taller!”
She repeatedly compared their heights with her hand.
Howard noticed the dissatisfied look on her face.
Too frightened to speak, he remained silent.
The man who had brought Howard nudged him forward.
“Introduce yourself.”
“I-I am Howard.”
“From today onward… I’ll be serving Lady Irina.”
He bowed shyly.
Suddenly, Irina thrust out her hand.
“I’m Irina.”
“Irina Silver Cosart.”
“We’ll be together from today onward!”
“Let’s get along!”
From that day forward…
Howard’s life became one hardship after another.
“Howard!”
“One day I’ll tell you a secret that only you get to know!”
She acted as though it were an incredibly important secret.
The secret turned out to be that fruit receiving the most sunlight tasted the sweetest.
Which naturally led to…
Ordering Howard to pick that fruit for her.
“Did you know there’s a fruit fairy living at the very top of that tree?”
“The more sunlight the fruit gets, the sweeter it becomes.”
“Don’t you want to eat it?”
Of course Howard wanted to do anything for Irina.
The problem was…
It was impossible for a child.
“But I’m too short to reach it.”
Ironically, Howard was actually shorter than Irina.
He wisely chose not to point that out.
She’s my lady.
“I’ll pick it for you.”
He answered sincerely.
“Really?”
Irina’s eyes sparkled.
In truth, Howard had secretly hoped she’d stop him.
But the young lady had absolutely no intention of doing that.
He climbed onto a wooden crate with a long stick.
It wasn’t enough.
The tree was simply too tall.
“Do you think you can do it?”
If he admitted he couldn’t…
Would she be disappointed?
Howard stretched his arm a little farther.
Just a little more…
Finally—
After great difficulty, he grabbed the fruit.
Then…
Someone shouted.
Startled, he lost his footing and fell from the tree.
Pain shot through his chest.
But more than the pain…
He was terrified of being scolded.
“Ah… I…”
Irina herself looked utterly frightened.
Thankfully, he hadn’t been seriously hurt.
Even so, they were both summoned and lectured for hours.
I couldn’t even give Lady Irina the fruit…
That was his only thought as he drifted to sleep.
The next morning…
Irina came to see him again.
Her eyes sparkled just as brightly as always.
“Good morning, Howard!”
She looked as though she had an endless list of exciting things to do.
“Want to do something fun today?”
Howard nodded.
Even though it was exhausting…
He always enjoyed spending time with Irina.
“Shh.”
“Follow me quietly.”
She led him to a firmly locked door halfway down a staircase leading into the basement.
“It’s scary.”
“So you go in first.”
Without warning, she shoved Howard inside.
To be honest…
Howard was just as frightened.
He nervously entered the room.
There was absolutely nothing inside.
Even so…
A maid caught them.
And Howard was scolded again.
That wasn’t the end of it.
Another day, while playing in the garden with Irina…
Howard caught a terrible cold.
His head throbbed.
His body ached so badly he couldn’t even lift it from the pillow.
His fever burned fiercely.
Every breath felt as though hot bread had just come out of the oven, heating both his nose and mouth.
As he rested with a cold towel on his forehead, Irina brought him some medicine.
The medicine Laura—Irina’s personal maid—had given him that morning had been sweet and warm.
The medicine Irina proudly declared she’d made herself…
Was incredibly bitter.
It had a strange smell.
A smell that seemed almost dangerous.
It felt like something no one should ever put into their mouth.
But Irina was watching him expectantly.
So he forced himself to drink every last drop.
Afterward…
Howard remained bedridden, groaning with illness for another three full days.
