Chapter 143

Yurina and Reynard returned to the cottage where Marchioness Carthia was staying, chatting away in the golden field. Reynard took Yurina to her room and promised to formally come back before returning to his own house for a while.

Left alone in the room, Yurina sat on the bed and looked at the ring on her finger. The ruby reflected the light from the candle in the dark room, shining beautifully.

‘Beautiful.’

Looking at it brought back the emotion from before, choking her up. In the field, she had been a bit flustered by the sudden proposal, but reflecting on Reynard’s proposal made her face flush and her heart pound.

The feeling didn’t seem to be fading quickly. Maybe today’s events, like the night she spent with Reynard on her birthday, would become a memory she couldn’t forget for the rest of her life.

Although there was no one to see, Yurina pressed her lips lightly to the ruby ring while holding back a giggle.

Just like on Earth, the most valued jewel here was also diamond. Therefore, nobles preferred diamond for engagement rings.

Wealthy nobles, of course, but even those less wealthy, they would stretch their resources to buy a diamond engagement ring.

Reynard must have known that. However, he chose a ruby, not a diamond.

Yurina didn’t know whether he had the wealth to buy a diamond ring readily, but she knew that he chose a ruby ring not because he couldn’t afford a diamond.

Even when she was a child, he gave her a ruby bracelet as a gift. He put red magic stones in all the artifacts he gave her as jewellery.

To him, red was a symbol of love. Even though he hated people looking at his red eyes, he wanted Yurina to love his eyes in this world.

Please think of me whenever you look at this ring. A ruby ring with such desire and urgency.

The nobles may sneer that Carthia’s daughter only received a mere ruby ring from the Blessed, called a genius magician, but Yurina liked this ruby ring more than any other.

“Lady, are you in there?”

Yurina raised her head at the sound. Betsy’s voice sounded somewhat agitated from behind the door.

She invited her in with a puzzled look, and Betsy, who entered the room with an excited face like her voice, widened her eyes when she saw Yurina.

Right now, Yurina was wearing a white dress that Reynard had transformed with magic. Betsy, who looked up and down at her, screamed out loud and when she saw the ruby ring on Yurina’s ring finger, she screamed even louder.

“Oh my, lady, really…”

Betsy seemed to have many questions, but she soon composed herself and smiled.

“Reynard came. He said he has something to say to the lady…”

While she was talking, her gaze kept returning to the ruby ring. Feeling somewhat awkward, Yurina quickly changed the subject.

“Where is Rey now?”

“I’ve guided him to the drawing room for now.”

Although there was no one listening, Betsy leaned closer to Yurina and whispered in her ear.

“I felt like I should call you, so I came, and I’m glad I did.”

“Thanks. Then let’s go to the drawing room.”

“Hold on, my lady. How can you go like that?”

What does she mean? Yurina looked at her clothes again. The dress Reynard made with magic didn’t have fancy decorations, but it was beautiful enough as it shone subtly.

But Betsy quickly sat Yurina down in front of the vanity and started to fix her makeup. Not satisfied with that alone, she neatly braided Yurina’s hair, let it fall over one shoulder, and fastened it with a hair ornament.

“Now, it’s done. If I had known it would be like this, I would have made you look even prettier this morning!”

“You made me look pretty enough this morning. Thank you, Betsy.”

Yurina headed for the drawing room.

Reynard, who couldn’t even sit properly in the chair with a nervous face, sprang up at the sound of the door opening.

Realizing that his partner was Yurina, not the Marchioness, he seemed to relax for a moment and take a breath, but he stiffened again at her sight.

Betsy, looking at him, stifled a laugh and went out of the drawing room, pretending to bring tea. Normally, she would have left the door slightly ajar wherever she went, saying that they shouldn’t be left alone, but this time she closed the door firmly.

Yurina approached Reynard, who couldn’t even blink his eyes properly while standing up.

“Rey.”

It seemed that he swallowed his saliva, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. Yurina guided him to sit on the sofa.

“You’re beautiful.”

Reynard muttered as if entranced. He carefully took hold of Yurina’s cheeks and leaned in. Yurina glanced at the drawing room door, and just before their lips touched, she pushed him away by the shoulder.

“We can’t do this here.”

“Ah…”

It seemed that he finally realized where he was, and tension returned to his face.

His lips that were biting nervously, his hands that were fidgeting anxiously, the sighs he let out intermittently. Right now, he seemed more nervous than when he proposed to Yurina.

Whether to laugh at this or to scold him, Yurina felt strange.

“You weren’t this nervous when you proposed to me. Did you think I would obviously say yes and felt relaxed?”

When Yurina jokingly teased him to ease his tension, Reynard quickly shook his head.

“You don’t know, I was really nervous. I tried so hard not to show it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But um. I think I’m definitely more nervous now.”

“You don’t need to be that nervous.”

“How can I not be? I might not get permission. Plus, I messed up the order.”

The order he was talking about was the proposal order. In a noble family, whether it is a political marriage or a love marriage, permission is usually sought from the elders before proposing. Because marriage is not just a matter between a man and a woman, but a matter between families.

So, in principle, he should have spoken to the Marquis and Marchioness of Carthia before proposing to Yurina. But Reynard didn’t do that. He wanted to talk to Yurina first more than anyone else.

He was already worried that the Marquis and Marchioness might not like him, and he was worried that this might make him even more disliked.

But Yurina was calm.

‘Mother will like it.’

Marchioness Carthia has never openly shown that she knows about their relationship or supports them.

However, given that she allowed Yurina and Reynard to freely spend time at the beach house and subtly brought up the topic of engagement to Yurina, it was clear that she knew about their relationship and supported them.

‘If she was against it, she would have separated us long ago.’

It was honestly unknown how her father, Marquis Carthia, and her three brothers would react. But at least the Marchioness would welcome this news. If the four men objected, she would actively persuade them.

Yurina told Reynard this, but he still couldn’t relax. Yurina thought about comforting him more but gave up.

‘It would be strange if he wasn’t nervous.’

From the Marchioness’ perspective, it would be better to see Reynard nervously bring up the topic rather than confidently.

Moreover, his rare nervousness was quite cute.

Yurina swallowed a laugh at his sigh when the door cautiously opened. Reynard sprang up from the sofa as if he was bounced off.

Yurina quickly got up from her seat, tightly holding his hand.

“Don’t just stand there, sit down.”

Marchioness Carthia entered, sat down on the opposite side without a word, her stern face expressionless. The Marchioness always smiled warmly in front of Yurina. She had never seen such a poker face before.

‘Why is she like that?’

Yurina was a little taken aback. She had thought the Marchioness would be pleased, but the current atmosphere seemed like she wasn’t liking the situation.

Did Reynard feel what Yurina was feeling? He sat down even more tensely. His broad shoulders stiffened at a right angle.

Following Reynard, Yurina was also slightly tense and casually covered the engagement ring on her right hand with her left.

Betsy, who brought the tea, darted her eyes around the unusual atmosphere, watching Yurina’s moves before quickly leaving the drawing room.

Marchioness Carthia drank the tea that Betsy had poured without a word. Reynard didn’t even touch the tea, just swallowing his dry saliva. Yurina sipped her tea cautiously while watching the Marchioness’ expression to guess her thoughts.

A sense of tension filled the room without any conversation.

Only after Marchioness Carthia finished her cup of tea, she put down the teacup and opened her mouth.

“You didn’t even touch your tea. Don’t you like it?”

“No, I like it.”

Reynard, who responded in a flat tone as if reading a book, awkwardly picked up the teacup. He gulped down the steaming tea without even a single grimace on his face.

As he put down his empty cup, there was a clinking sound of the ceramics hitting each other.

It’s etiquette to put down a teacup gently without making a noise. Reynard, who had learned manners since childhood, usually didn’t make a single sound, but it seems he was incredibly tense.

Reynard slightly bit his lip, perhaps thinking that he made a mistake instead of showing his good side to Marchioness Carthia. The Marchioness scanned him from head to toe with an impassive face.

“Mother, so…”

Just as Yurina was about to lighten the overly tense atmosphere and say something, a soft laugh slipped from Marchioness Carthia’s lips.

Yurina and Reynard looked at each other once and then stared blankly at the Marchioness. The Marchioness, who had completely wiped the stern expression off her face a moment ago, started laughing as if she found it amusing, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Look at your tense faces. How is it so similar to when you were a child? You had the same look when you first came to see me, grabbing cookies and then suddenly noticing me.”