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Chapter 10
“It’s not that… If I was going to treat you, I should have taken you somewhere nicer. This place is a restaurant I visit often, but it’s cheap.”
But I had only been possessed for two months.
And I had only started earning money properly for one month!
Considering that, it was only natural that I didn’t know any fancy restaurants. Still, after saying I would treat Karcel, making him eat nothing but soup felt wrong.
‘That was a bad call.’
It wasn’t a date… so it should be fine.
I had lived so frantically that I never even had the chance to date anyone. Just when I got a job and thought maybe I could finally try romance, I died.
“I’ve never been to a restaurant with anyone else before… I’m sorry.”
I apologized awkwardly, realizing my mistake.
As I did, the gaze fixed on me grew slightly more intense.
Instead of saying anything else, he gave a faint smile.
“So you mean you’ve never gone on a date like this with anyone else?”
“D-Date?”
“A man and woman who were pretending to be husband and wife just moments ago, riding a carriage together, having a meal, and then being escorted home. Isn’t that a date?”
No, it’s not…
But when he put it that way, it made me look like a terrible person for not considering this a date.
Seeing my hesitation, Karcel’s expression turned sad this time.
“I’ve never eaten at a restaurant with someone else either. I was happy that Asha was my first… but I thought this was a date.”
“Fine! Let’s call it a date!”
At my surrender, Karcel finally laughed, his voice rumbling softly.
“Asha really is a good person. You accept everything, even when I’m being unreasonable.”
“If you know you’re being unreasonable, please stop.”
“If I don’t do this, I feel like Asha will never give me a chance. That’s why I’m being pushy.”
Saying that, Karcel walked ahead while still holding my hand, the one that had been clutching his sleeve.
Even though he knew perfectly well that I had been keeping my distance from him.
He admitted that he had intentionally forced himself closer.
The reason I didn’t find that annoying was probably…
‘Is it because he’s honestly handsome and doesn’t cross the line?’
If he had openly tried to take advantage of me or acted inappropriately, I would have ended things long ago.
But Karcel never crossed the boundaries I had set.
That was probably why his sudden touches and words didn’t make me uncomfortable.
Karcel pulled out the chair for me and gestured.
“Ladies first.”
“Thank you.”
There was no denying it. Every single thing he did carried elegance.
His movements were efficient, restrained, without any unnecessary motion.
‘He even has the rigid discipline of a soldier.’
Karcel looked up and asked me,
“What’s the best food here? I want to try that.”
“The chef’s special soup, freshly baked bread, and the seasoned charcoal-grilled whole chicken are the best.”
Since I had been here many times, the menu naturally spilled out of my mouth.
“Then I’ll have those.”
The way Karcel answered while looking at me as if I were cute made me strangely embarrassed.
‘Even if I’m dense, that’s definitely the look of someone who likes me.’
It wasn’t that I had no experience with people. I just hadn’t been able to date because of my circumstances.
“S-Sure.”
I placed our order with the approaching server.
“Please wait about twenty minutes.”
“Yes.”
And just like that, we had twenty minutes of empty time.
‘What am I supposed to talk about?’
The situation had turned into something like a blind date, and it was awkward.
The hardest part was always this—slowly building a connection with a stranger, finding things you had in common, and gradually becoming closer.
Fortunately, Karcel asked me a question first.
“Are you planning to leave the count’s family, Asha?”
“Ah, yes. Since you saw everything, you probably already know.”
“Honestly, I was impressed. I admire the way you chased after your goal without hesitation.”
“Well… I’m not very good at just sitting around at home. It became a habit. If even an hour of free time is given to me, I feel anxious.”
I had always lived as if I was being chased.
Because I never had a “next chance.”
Strangely enough, Asha Delmore’s life had been the same.
Her family had no room to accept a daughter who had returned after marriage, and even if she went back, there was a high chance they would simply sell Asha Delmore off to another marriage arrangement.
Her future was obvious.
‘Even if Asha Delmore hadn’t died by the hands of Duke Lakan, the fate of a poor noblewoman with nowhere to go probably wouldn’t have been pleasant.’
She would either enter a convent and spend her entire life serving others.
Or she would have no choice but to wander from household to household as a governess until she grew older.
Either way, she would never have escaped poverty.
“I was the same.”
Karcel smiled faintly.
“Though perhaps I shouldn’t say that to you. After all, I grew up in a wealthy family and inherited a great deal of property.”
“I’m a little jealous. Especially when I think about those thirty-two bank accounts and five houses.”
I teased him, and Karcel laughed.
“Actually… I mentioned my wealth because I didn’t know how to appeal to a woman. I wondered if showing my financial ability would make me more attractive.”
He seemed embarrassed, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. A faint blush appeared around his eyes.
Seeing that, some of my wariness disappeared, and I was able to become more honest.
“I’m sorry, but I thought you were strange. Can I be completely honest?”
“To clarify beforehand, I’m not a serial killer.”
“That’s not what I meant. I thought you were a scammer.”
“……Me?”
He had apparently expected me to see him as a serial killer, but never as a scammer.
I folded my fingers one by one and calmly explained my reasons.
“First, you keep showing off your wealth even when no one asked, and you keep trying to buy me things for no reason. Isn’t that suspicious?”
“That’s just…”
Karcel’s expression became helpless.
Since I had started talking, I continued.
“Scammers usually lure people in with flashy things, then suddenly pretend they’re in trouble to get money, or ask people to invest by promising to multiply their money.”
“Now that you mention it, that does sound like something they’d do.”
What do you mean, ‘now that you mention it’?!
He muttered quietly as if he had never realized it before.
I let out a small laugh.
“Don’t ever do that again. Especially not with women.”
“……Can I be honest too?”
I nodded toward him.
Karcel moved his lips a few times before curling them into a smile and saying firmly,
“If it isn’t Asha, I have no intention of doing something like that.”
“Uh… yes.”
As he spoke so seriously, I avoided his gaze slightly and thought.
‘Why is he interested in me? Is it really just because of that confession?’
Perhaps noticing my awkwardness, Karcel continued playfully.
“And if Asha wants, I’m willing to hand over those thirty-two bank accounts and five houses.”
At those words, I jokingly held out both hands.
“Give them to me.”
“……Only if you marry me.”
“Excuse me? We’ve only just started talking properly, and you’re already jumping to marriage?”
“Isn’t it lucky enough to at least have a conversation before walking into the wedding hall?”
Karcel asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
‘Ah, right. This is a romance fantasy world.’
It wasn’t exactly medieval—it was closer to a modernizing era—but it was still a world where relationships between men and women were conservative.
Just like Asha Delmore, if parents agreed, two people who had barely even spoken to each other could end up in a wedding hall the very next day.
“I’ve already been married once. I don’t think the marquis family would want me either.”
I subtly tested him, wondering if there was something he wanted beyond simple feelings.
Unexpectedly, Karcel revealed his situation quite easily.
“My mother wants me to marry… but since I am the head of the family, I have been refusing.”
“Pardon me, but how old are you?”
“Twenty-four.”
He was at the prime of his life, but here, he was considered a rather old bachelor.
After all, even though I was only twenty, people had told me marriage was not early.
“You must be in a hurry to marry, then.”
“But there is one thing I promised myself a long time ago.”
He spoke as though he was sharing a secret with me.
“None of my ancestors married someone they truly loved.”
“Not even once?”
“Yes. It’s common enough, but there has never been a single ancestor whose marriage contained affection between husband and wife.”
“Even so… how could that happen when they lived under the same roof?”
I muttered, and Karcel smiled.
“That’s why I decided to break that curse. I decided I would meet a woman I truly loved and marry her.”
“Ah…”
…Wait.
That wasn’t the point!
That man had just asked me to marry him!
Realizing it, I quickly raised my head and looked at him.
Karcel nodded as if confirming it.
“That is why I want to marry Asha.”
And with those words, he had basically declared war on me.
