CH 60

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The central plaza where the flower market was held was more of a carriage ride as it was a bit far to walk.

Canaren stopped Yulif from preparing the carriage. It was her first outing out of the castle. And the best way to see the atmosphere of the area was to walk on your own.

In fact, to be honest, it was just a little trick to try to extend the time with Yulif even a little bit. If they took the carriage, they would’ve arrived at the square in the blink of an eye, and she would have been separated from Yulif that much faster.

Canaren squinted at Yulif walking side by side next to her. He had a well-groomed face as usual, whether or not he knew her insidious motives. Not liking it again, Canaren held Yulif’s hand tightly. Yulif looked straight at her.

“Is it scary?”

“Ah… Well, yes. A little bit.”

“It’s probably because it’s unfamiliar. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s safe here.”

That’s a lie. Nothing was scary. There’s Yulif, so it’s not scary. However, it was so good that Yulif, who believed her words, spoke kindly and said not to worry. Canaren slyly rubbed her peach-red, ripe cheeks secretly.

The buildings in Pionia were slightly smaller overall and had more windows than those in Cicena. The scenery of the buildings with turquoise roofs and yellow walls looked like a painting. Moreover, because it was the time of the flower market, flowerpots in full bloom were placed on every window.

A pretty city made up of pretty houses. Canaren fell in love with this beautiful city.

“Since when has Yulif been the lord here?”

“Ten years… No, it must have been about eight years.”

“Has it been that long? Even though the village was nearby, I had no idea.”

Canaren didn’t find it odd at all that Yulif had confused the period. Whether it was eight or ten years, the only thing that mattered was the fact that Yulif had painstakingly ruled Pionia for a long time.

“Then Yulif is the one who made Pionia so beautiful?”

“To be honest, Piona became like this thanks to the people living in the territory. It’s not what I did.”

“I heard from Roana. Before Yulif came, Pionia was a very small town. It is said that Yulif grew the land with magic and build a house.”

“Ochard speaks too much.”

Yulif gently pulled Canaren’s hand, which had stopped in place to focus on the story.

Canaren continued to chirp as she walked after him again. The comments that Piona was voted the most livable city in the empire, and that it was much bigger than Cicena in person, ended with praises for Yulif.

Yulif couldn’t tell Canaren to stop. Canaren, who couldn’t keep her lips still, looked very happy and delighted. He had no right to take away the joy from her. He didn’t even want to.

“I think that’s the flower market!”

This was very good news for Yulif, who had suffered from hearing unfamiliar sounds since broad daylight. He decided to show Canaren the flowers quickly, so he can turn her attention to that.

However, Yulif did not readily enter the flower market. A huge number of people were bustling. With a little exaggeration, it seemed that half of the permanent residents of Pionia came out.

Will he continue to listen to Canaren’s praise or will he suffer while wandering through the crowd?

The worries didn’t last long. Because Canaren ran and dragged him away.

Flowers, flowers, flowers. Wherever she looked, flowers were in full bloom. If there was a heaven made of flowers, it would be like this. Canaren burst out in excitement.

Yulif pulled her towards his side whenever the little body of Canaren’s was hit by a passerby. Still, there were too many people, and Canaren kept losing her balance and staggering. He finally let go of her hand and grabbed her round shoulders as if hugging her.

By the time Canaren came to her senses and looked at him, she was already half-embraced by Yulif.

Her feet were far away because of the fragrant scent of flowers, colorful petals boasting different colors, and Yulif’s tight arms and hands holding her shoulders, felt right next to her. A giddy dizziness ensued, and her vision flickered.

Canaren pointed to the first flower that caught her eye, and uttered a word. She thought that otherwise, she would give Yulif more strange sounds.

“Th-this flower is pretty! Isn’t it?”

“Yes. Pretty.”

“This flower has a unique color. I didn’t know there were such beautiful colors.”

“Pretty.”

Even the brief reply that other people would consider insincere if heard made Canaren’s heart pounding. Yulif’s gaze was not on her flower, but on her all along. His words that she was pretty were just like his words to her, and her face, neck, and ears were dyed as bright red as roses.

Canaren deliberately took a keen interest in flower viewing.

The flower market was full of all kinds of flowers, and it immediately enchanted her. The only flowers she saw, when she lived only in the forest, were common and simple wildflowers. Every time Canaren saw the bright flowers like a peony, her eyes twinkled.

If there was a flower that caught Canaren’s attention, she would surely ask the owner the name. Sometimes she would ask the name and find another flower, then another flower next to it, and another flower behind it, so she stayed in one store for more than ten minutes.

As she went through the process, she only ran one area and her stamina was completely exhausted. Canaren took a deep breath with her arms wide open in front of a sign at the end of her section.

“I’m sorry. You’re having a hard… time. Ahaha!

“Why are you laughing?”

As soon as Yulif posed the question, Canaren’s laughter grew louder.

He was holding flowers in his arms. It was a huge bouquet of various flowers, including peonies, hydrangeas, freesias, mistletoe, and lilies. The bouquet was so big that Yulif was just holding it with both arms, without any wrapping paper or ribbon tying the stems together. Yulif’s face, as well as his broad shoulders, were almost covered.

In that state, when Yulif spoke…

“I think the bouquet is speaking. Yulif, when did you become part of the bouquet?”

Canaren’s voice, which had a smile that could not be hidden, was raised to the highest level.

At the sound of her singing voice, Yulif was tickled deep in his heart.

“Somehow.”

It wasn’t an answer to avoid the situation, it was the truth. As he bought the flowers that Canaren wondered about, asked for their name, and paid attention to her interest, he suddenly became like this. That was why the bouquets became random. It’s because he bought all the flowers that Canaren saw as interesting.

“I didn’t know that Yulif also liked flowers. Now that I see it, there are a lot of similarities to me.”

‘This is for you.’ Yulif, who was about to say that, looked around.

Since the flower market was held throughout the plaza, few people came to the end of the non-shop area. Even now, there were only two of them nearby, Yulif and Canaren. The noise of people talking was far away.

“Canaren.”

“Yes, Yulif. Why?”

“I have something to tell you.”

Yulif lowered the bouquet slightly. Canaren, standing in front of him, tilted her head slightly as she looked at him.

He thought he’d bring it up sooner or later. He was not eloquent, and it would be shocking to Canaren, so he kept thinking about when, where, and how to do it because he wanted to convey it without misunderstanding as much as possible. He didn’t expect it to be today.

—You have to marry me. If we live as a married couple for three months, I’ll send you back to the village.

What he was trying to do to Canaren wasn’t a proposal.  It was an offer, a deal, a coercion. It was a threat. Whatever the reason, it did not change the fact that he was ruining Canaren’s life. When it was all over, and Canaren became free, the label that she was once married to the Duke of Rubius might follow her for life.

Still, Yulif had to do it. He had no choice but to.

Because Canaren has to live. Because he would do anything to save her.

Fortunately, there were flowers. Anyway, he was going to talk about marriage, shouldn’t there be at least one flower?

Yulif laughed at himself for thinking shallowly.

For a subject that would make Canaren unhappy, it’s like handing out a bouquet of flowers to her saying that he wanted her to be happy.

‘It’s just utter self-satisfaction.’

“Canaren.”

Yulif held out the bouquet to her. Golden eyes that seemed to embrace the warm sunlight opened wide.

For a moment, Yulif wished.

He hoped she wouldn’t despair too much after hearing this damn proposal. ‘You can hate me enough to want to kill me, so I hope you don’t give up on yourself. I hope you don’t get hurt too deeply.’

“Let’s get married.”

“…What? Yulif, what do you…”

“Marry me. It means to be my wife.”

Yulif said in his usual voice with his eyes calmly subdued.

No positive emotions were allowed to enter this marriage. His purpose was nothing more or less to make Canaren the Duchess of Rubius to keep her safe. He shouldn’t have made Canaren think of him strangely.

“Ah…”

But as soon as he met Canaren’s eyes again, Yulif realized that something was firmly wrong with her.

She was looking at him with bright eyes. Yulif knew the emotions that glittered in five colors, twinkling in the golden eyes that contained only him.

“Yulif! I waited for you to come. Why are you so late?”

“I love you, Yulif.”

Love.

It was love.

It was her eyes that made his heart race before turning back time. It was the eyes that brightly colored his world, which was only full of gray.

Those beautiful eyes that he thought he would never see again, that he couldn’t even hope for in my dreams, blazed brightly and illuminated him.

Canaren was in love with him. She was telling him that she loved him with her eyes she couldn’t keep.

Why? Since when? The countless questions that filled his mind were meaningless.

From this… This should not be the case. There was no reason to return as far as going against the flow of time.

‘I can’t stay by your side for long. My time is over after 3 months.’

Yulif’s hands lost strength. The flowers fell from the rainwater and scattered randomly on the floor.

“Yulif?”

Yulif was awakened by Canaren’s voice calling out his name in surprise.

Not yet. There would still be opportunities. The time he spent with Canaren wasn’t long. It could have been her fondness for him because he had rescued her right after she came out of her imperial palace.

That’s the way it was. It shouldn’t have been love.

Yulif closed his eyes and opened them. His forehead, which had been distorted as if in pain, was opened, and a cool energy drifted in his eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not asking you to marry me because I love you.”

Ame: If you think the first 60 episodes were angst enough, you’re wrong TT_TT Next episode will be the end of volume 2!