Chapter 6

She could tell he was a very fit man.

“Right, this is my husband… Lakshan.”

“Lakshan?”

The name was clearly not from the capital, but a nobleman elsewhere. Camila bit her lips.

“How did you know how to inherit? When did you find a man like that and get married?”

Camila’s gaze went towards the guy. She couldn’t really see his face as the hood he was wearing covered it. It was almost as if he wanted to hide something.

‘Something’s up.’

Camila had a weird gut feeling. She pulled herself together and said to Elrose.

“It’s hard to believe you’ve been in the monastery all this time, Elrose. When did you meet this guy? Besides, the wedding date is today…”

“I didn’t realize when I got married was so important.”

“Oh, there’s nothing to be wary of. I’m just worried if you’ve met the right person like a mother.”

Camila looked at Lakshan, whose eyes shone sharply even under the hood.

“There’s nothing for you to worry about. Lakshan is my husband and he’s good enough.”

“Really? Then why is he covering his face like that? It’s almost as if you’re hiding something from me.”

“That…”

Camila became even more excited when Elrose hesitated.

‘I’m sure she’s in trouble.’

Mercenaries who went through war had many wounds, big and small. There were people who’ve lost their eyes, arms, and legs along with their wounds.

‘His arms and legs look fine. Maybe the problem is his face.’

Besides, it was very obvious that there was something terrible to hide. Before she knew it, the servants were looking at Lakshan from Camila’s words.

‘I need to see it first.’

If the face under the hood was horrible, then all the servants would talk.

“If you’re so confident, then show your face!”

She shouted loudly and pulled off Lakshan’s hood. As it came off, his face was revealed under the light.

Woosh.

Snap.

Crash!

At that moment, the servants who were watching had their mouths wide open and the sound of something being dropped could be heard. It was because a handsome man was revealed under the hood.

‘Doesn’t this feel great?’

Elrose looked at the surprised faces with a proud look on her face while everyone looked at Lakshan with their eyes wide open.

‘He really is handsome.’

He was handsome during the day, but even more so during the night. The sunset behind them was more like a decoration to make him look even better. How could such a person exist?

While Elrose was admiring him, he looked at her and smiled.

“Elrose, I think that’s enough for the greetings. I want to be with you as soon as possible.”

At Lakshan’s words, the maids who were standing in the corner blushed and were seen hitting each other’s shoulders as if saying ‘hey, did you hear that?’.

“Huh? Oh, right!”

Elrose quickly came back to her senses as Lakshan frowned and signaled to be alone with her.

‘You’re good at this, aren’t you?’

Elrose looked at him with astonished eyes. Suddenly, she remembered the words of the guards at the gambling house.

‘The female guests lurk around you.’

In this situation, it seems that what the guards said was true.

Something then came to her mind at the government office.

~*~

“Are you sure it’s going to be okay?”

Elrose asked Lakshan in front of the government office again, and he answered with a short sigh.

“You know you’ve asked me about five times already right? Didn’t you say it was an emergency?”

“Yeah, but I think it’s a little… to get married for money…”

Lakshan smirked at Elrose’s words.

“I didn’t think that would be your concern after what you said to me earlier.”

“That!”

“That’s it. You said you will divorce when you’re done.”

“I said…”

“If you’re going to do it, why don’t you do it quickly? Aren’t you in a hurry?”

At his words, Elrose came to her senses.

“That’s true.”

He was right. Now it was the time to finally do it.

When they entered the government office, the employee who was slowly preparing to leave work greeted the two with a look of annoyance.

“What brings you here?”

“I’d like to file a marriage declaration.”

At those words, the employee opened the briefcase on the desk and took out a piece of paper.

“You can write your name here and sign it. Before you do that, please read the precautions below and check it, then sign here one more time.”

Elrose picked up the pen as soon as she received the documents that were handed out by the employee.

‘I know the whole process anyways.’

It was obvious that it was a reminder. Elrose looked at the top of the paper. As expected, there were a lot of things she had already seen in the book. Lakshan also leaned over to look at the instructions.

“There’s a lot of things so don’t get caught up in the spur of the moment and decide what matters in marriage. Let’s just put this paper back home and decide if we’ll still feel the same way a week later…”

Anxiety flashed across Elrose’s face while he muttered. She became worried that if he didn’t even want to read this now, there’s no way he’d want to do it later.

Elrose gazed at him, and Lakshan caught her gaze and laughed.

“What? Are you worried that I won’t do it all of a sudden?”

“…”

“I’ll keep my word, so don’t make that face. Just hand me a pen.”

“What’s wrong with my face?”

At her question, Lakshan took the pen from her hand and signed it without answering. Then, he presented the marriage registration to her. Elrose looked at the name he wrote down.

Lakshan Asid

Elrose felt subtle while looking at his name.

All she knew was his name, face, and title. She didn’t know anything else about the person who would be her husband. She had thought of her future husband when she was young. She didn’t know who it would be, but she thought that if she were to get married someday, she’d choose her husband carefully and learn from her mother’s mistakes.

‘But I didn’t know it would come to this.’

She never thought she’d choose her husband on the street.

Elrose looked at the last line of the marriage registration. Lakshan had already signed it, so it would be over when she signed it too. As her hand hesitated, Lakshan whispered.

“Go ahead.”

At that voice, Elrose signed at the bottom of the document as if she were possessed. The moment he told her to hurry up, she got goosebumps on her back. It didn’t feel bad, rather, it was the opposite.

If he had whispered a while ago, was there anyone who could even refuse?

“Give it to me when you’re done.”

Elrose stood in a daze while the person who wanted to get off work quickly reached out. The employee roughly accepted the documents and checked that there were no blanks and held the seal.

Bam! Bam!

While listening to the sound of the stamp next to both hers and Lakshan’s names, Elrose woke up from the complicated feeling she was having.

It was then.

“Wait, Basilin?”

The employee who was writing down the statement of marriage blinked when he saw Elrose’s name.

“Is he a noble?”

“Yes, from the time the seal was stamped, he’ll become Count Basilin, although it was not a title I would like to have.”

“What? Count Basilin?”

Elrose snatched the marriage certificate from the open-mouthed employee’s hand and turned away. Lakshan then asked.

“Are you going to the mansion right now?”

Elrose shook her head at the words. One more important matter remained. She looked at the bulletin board in the government office. As soon as she found the name of the department she wanted, she spoke in a nervous voice.

“No, there’s someone I need to meet before that.”

~*~

“Elrose?”

Elrose woke up from her thoughts at Lakshan’s voice calling her.

“I think it’s getting a little weird here.”

He whispered to her in a small voice so others wouldn’t hear. From there, Elrose looked at Camila. Like Lakshan said, Camila looked miserable. Her sharp gaze had momentum as if she would stab them at once if she had a knife in her hand.

Elrose calmly accepted her look and waved the marriage certificate in front of her.

“Camila, whatever you think, this is a document approved by the government. It means that I’m the owner of this place.”

Elroses’ powerful voice rang through the lobby. People stared blankly. Between Elrose and Camila, the butlers and servants read the room. (t/n: or read the situation.) The servants were well aware that the real owner of this mansion was Elrose.

If it weren’t for Elrose, Camila, who was no longer the countess, had no authority. Camila then looked up with a sneer.

“The owner of this place?”

It was a cold voice, to the point it made the listeners shiver.

Anyone could tell that there wasn’t even a speck of likability there.