Chapter 28

Elysia returned home and slept without opening her eyes for two full days.

She thought she had finished recovering after she ran out of magic, but it seemed that she wasn’t. Initially, Elysia didn’t think much of it, still, it was shocking that she had slept for the entire two days.

Since her family disappeared, it seemed to have played a part in never letting her heart be relieved.

Cassian’s words came to mind of how she seemed to be using her body too carelessly. ‘I don’t enjoy being sick either. Now, I have to be careful and live.’ She didn’t want anything to do near Jericho Mountains.

After the news of Elysia waking up, Ryan hurriedly visited her.

“Lady Elysia.”

“Come in.”

Ryan’s expression looked complicated as he entered her room. He pulled the chair to the side of the bed and sat down.

“I was worried. You left a note and disappeared.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Did you worry a lot?”

Ryan nodded his head and peered at Elysia. He had already heard about the news that she had run out of magic. Thankfully, Elysia didn’t seem to have any major wounds.

“Please take me with you in the future.”

After seeing the note she left behind, he was worried if she didn’t need him. Ryan actually knew that he may not be very helpful even though he would be escorting her. In his view, Elysia was able to defend herself well without an escort.

Obviously, there could be any number of exceptions, so Ryan was focusing on training these days. Even if he was a master, the gap was different for different people, but in Ryan’s case, he was barely able to wield a sword.

“I will. There has been nothing special in the meantime, hasn’t it?”

“Oh, the duke came back to the mansion and was surprised to see me.”

While the duke was away from his mansion for a while, his daughter brought a man as an escort, so it was reasonable.

Though, of course, the word master convinced everything.

“Oh, Lady Elysia’s scandal is also being settled.”

“Ahaha... Is it?”

The father’s desperate fight, not wanting to let his daughter go, was still going on. Apart from the emperor’s stubbornness, Duke Lowell had been striking out the sources of unfavorable rumors without mercy. Some media outlets had already reached the point of bankruptcy.

‘There is not only one or two people to apologize for this.’

Thinking that her father had seen the hot articles during the day, she wanted to hide.

Ryan also added that while Elysia vacated the mansion, he ended his knighthood and quickly completed the butler’s tricky education. After hearing his words, it was obvious to see that his tea-drinking posture seemed different as well.

“Good job.”

As Elysia pondered what to explain to her father, she stroked Ryan’s head. He gently put his head in her hand.

‘Hmm?’

She saw a navy envelope on the table.

***

As soon as Cassian entered the palace, he went to Duke Lowell’s office.

Duke Lowell glanced at Cassian and was drinking tea with a quivering expression. Ted, who sat next to him, also looked no different.

“The tea’s flavor is good.”

“I’m glad it fits in your mouth, but what brings you here?”

“Please speak comfortably.”

“It’s all right. Duke Esteban and I are not that close.”

Even at the words of Duke Lowell, who kept his distance, Cassian’s expression was relaxed.

Even though the emperor ranted at how he could take care of this matter on his own, he eventually asked for a helping hand from Cassian.

“You’ll soon be my father-in-law.”

“Keuhk...!”

Ted spewed the tea. A tendon sprang up on Duke Lowell’s forehead.

He once again tried to check his daughter’s heart, but since Elysia had been asleep for two days, he didn’t get a chance to talk to her yet.

“I’m visiting you today because I have something to talk to you about regarding the marriage.”

“No matter how His Majesty approved it, it is a confusion that comes and goes when the patriarch is not present.”

“I don’t think you’re going to send your daughter to the imperial family.”

Cassian knew Duke Lowell’s nature.

He was loyal, but he hated the imperial family more than anyone. He couldn’t have wanted to send his beloved daughter there.

“If I had been in the empire, I would not have made an unconventional marriage to avoid the confusion at all.”

“You mean that if the Lady agrees, Duke Lowell would allow it?”

“No. I can’t allow it because the choice is clear because of the imperial engagement.”

“Have you ever heard of a rumor of Lady Lowell’s love affair?”

Pfftt! Tea spurted out from the two men’s mouths.

Cassian spoke as he held out the handkerchief to the Duke. “First of all, I want to tell you that the rumors are true.”

“Duke Esteban, let’s be honest with each other. It is unavoidable that noble ladies have a hard time getting married if such rumors fly around, but aren’t you a duke, too?”

It is said that the popularity of love and marriage has changed a lot in recent years, but not all nobles thought that way. It was bitter for a father who had a daughter, but to spend the night before marriage to men was not at all faulty.

The scandalous two families were both Dukedom, so even if things don’t work, things can still be somewhat easy.

“I have a different opinion. Do you need to differentiate between men and women there? Men are equally in trouble if that happens before marriage.”

Cassian sips his tea and opens his mouth again.

“Every action comes with responsibility. I can’t even get married anymore unless I’m with the Lady. Maybe it’s a good thing. So, you have to take responsibility.” Not that he would take responsibility for Elysia, but Cassian also requested for her to take responsibility for him as well.

The duke’s face turned into a chewed-up expression. Elysia would have screamed and said this was a threat if she was here.

“Did Elysia first talk to Duke Esteban to help her avoid the imperial engagement?”

“No. As the article stated, it is true that we fell in love with each other at first sight.”

“It’s hard to believe.”

Cassian shamelessly spoke with confidence. He promised to get Duke Lowell’s permission today himself, that was why he decided to meet him today. To be honest, he didn’t want to do this much, but he knew that Elysia cares for her family, so he at least wanted to get their permission.

“I promised her I would get permission from both of you today, but... Elysia must be upset. I planned to meet her in the evening and tell her what had happened later today.”

The eyes of the two men shook without mercy. To them, it sounded like Elysia wanted this herself, so they should give the permission to let them marry.

After finishing the matters with Cassian, they rushed back to the mansion; they weren’t able to return to the estate until nine p.m. due to sudden work from the Knights.

Upon returning to the mansion, they looked for Elysia, but she had already gone out.

“Father... I guess she really went to see Duke Esteban.”

“I think so...”

“I guess she was too shy to speak honestly.”

Cassian didn’t know that Elysia only just opened her eyes today.

Somehow, the timing was on his side.

***

Elysia used her ring to go to Cassian’s bedroom.

In the envelope on her table, he said to use the ring to come to him at eight.

“You are here.” Having just washed up, he entered the room in a robe.

‘Why do you look so moist every time I come here?’

“Whenever you called me, I would still be wearing some clothes.”

“I’m a little late because something urgent happened.”

Cassian then told her to wait for a moment and headed to the dressing room.

‘I thought I had adapted to him.’

Elysia waved her hand at him as he came into the room with his shirt on. She magically dried his hair, which was a little damp. It was quite convenient.

“You’ve been running away well.”

Cassian locked Elysia, who was sitting on the sofa, tightly in his arms.

She glanced at the nice-looking muscles between his shirts, and moved her gaze into the air. Elysia knew that his sturdy chest felt good even if she only stroked it with her hand or smeared her lips on it. She remembered that some time ago, she had provoked him from the subjugation, and she ran away.

Embarrassed to say that he would be hers for three years and then escaped, she avoided him a little.

‘No, I just avoided you for one day...’

She started avoiding Cassian on the way to the empire, so it couldn’t even be called a day.

Cassian smiled and grabbed Elysia’s chin. It was the moment she was about to close her eyes as he bowed his head and came closer. Lloyd came in with a knock.

“Your Excellency, this is Lloyd. I have something to tell you...”

No matter who sees this, the two are just trying to... It was a scene that led to...

Lloyd’s cold sweats ran down as he turned his head and eyes away from peering at them.

When Cassian gave Elysia the ring with magic enchanted, he strictly restricted employees from entering his room. All employees knew that they should never go in until they were called first, but Lloyd wasn’t aware of it because he was away.

He didn’t realize the habit of just entering the room after knocking would cause such a disaster. The face of the butler, who hastily ran after receiving the tip-off from the maid, turned pale.

“Hoo... I’ll be back in a little.”

Cassian swept his head and smiled coldly at Lloyd as he led him outside.

At that moment, Lloyd started calculating how much his family could live with the wealth he had saved.

“So, what do you want to tell me?”

Hearing so meant that if it wasn’t an important report, he shouldn’t think about going out alive.

“Duke Lowell has sent a document stating that he will accept the marriage.” Lloyd pushed the documents he had brought.

Although it was approved by the imperial family, there were no documents exchanged between the families. Even without it, there wouldn’t be any big problem in the progress. However, it was better for Cassian to be certain about this. That was the main reason why Cassian visited Duke Lowell today.

Because he tried to follow all the necessary procedures.

“It’s faster than I thought. You can leave.” After telling him to come to the office tomorrow, his master had already gone back to his room.

Looking at his boss, Lloyd quickly rolled his head. He had to hold onto Elysia as his lifeline, not Cassian, to survive in a day-to-day job like an ice sheet.

Elysia became a madam to Lloyd today.

Lloyd, who cried as he looked in the direction of Duke Lowell’s mansion, was supported by the butler and moved.

Upon returning to the room, Cassian laid the papers down on the table in front of the sofa. He then kindly pushed the documents for her to take a look.

“Huh? What is this?”

Elysia blinks her eyes and checks the papers again. She hasn’t even spoken with her father yet, but what is this?

‘What the hell did the emperor say...?’

Elysia has flooded the emperor with letters. She didn’t think that Cassian would have visited her father himself.

“I’m thinking of making an engagement announcement right away.”

“Well... yes, we were supposed to do that.”

She idly nodded her head in agreement.

historical

“The wedding would be in a month, is that okay?”

“Are you kidding?”

However, Cassian’s eyes remained the same. He was serious.

“It’s too fast. Even if I agree, we’ll need at least six months to prepare... Uhk.”

Cassian didn’t seem to be listening to her.

He bowed his head to the side of her face, biting her earlobe softly. “What did you say?”

“Six months... Wait a minute, heup.”

He kissed her shallowly.

Elysia didn’t know if he was blocking her words, meaning that they would do it a month later, or if he was arousing her and running away.

She pushed his chest lightly, with a look that she was going to bed right away.

Although the problem was that the other person seemed to have no intention of losing ground. Because her father was at home, she couldn’t really stay out.

“There’s no place to run away from here.”

Cassian smiled satisfactorily.