CH 7

“You are late.”

Cayden reflexively shut his mouth.

As if she had read his thoughts, the woman spoke softly.

“It’s okay. There’s no one around right now. The maid went back to the carriage for a while.”

Cayden looked around. There were certainly no eyes watching.

After confirming that, he sighed lightly and walked over to the woman. He then sat down next to her and apologized.

“I’m sorry. My name is Cayden Seyric Bluebell. You…”

“It’s Diana Susfield, Your Majesty. Was the path toward here rough?”

At the somewhat mischievous question, Cayden let out a smirk involuntarily.

He greeted her with a faint smile on his face.

“It’s a strange coincidence. It must have been you, Miss Susfield.”

“It’s my first time seeing you after knowing your name, too. Did you get home safely?”

“Ah…”

Cayden, who responded like flowing water, thought of something and paused.

In the back alley, when he first met Diana Susfield, there was a bizarre sensation he felt the moment she held his hand.

Didn’t he feel the same way with the woman he met when he had a seizure a little while ago?

“…”

Kayden narrowed his eyes and looked at Diana’s face.

His blurry vision, the image of the woman he saw earlier, seemed to be quite similar to hers.

Eventually, Cayden asked.

“Miss Susfield.”

“Yes?”

“Did you see it?”

It was an untargeted question. His dark eyes looked sharp and he looked at his opponent’s reaction.

But Diana only blinked her eyes with an innocent face.

“What?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Was it a mistake?

However, Cayden could not erase the subtle sense of déjà vu, so he could not let go of his suspicion and looked at Diana.

On the other hand, Diana just looked innocent.

‘Because he seemed to want to hide.’

Her face darkened slightly as she recalled Cayden’s tormented figure as he hid himself among the bushes.

Before her return, Diana had never heard of him having seizures even though she had been watching him because of Rebecca.

That would mean that Cayden completely hid the condition of his body.

If that had been revealed, it was clear that Rebecca would have taken advantage of the opportunity to send an assassin or try to kill him.

‘At least one year…’

As Diana remembered, Cayden’s mana, which she faced for the first time since the death of the first emperor, was recognized five years later.

So, if she stood still, Cayden’s seizures would probably subside within a year.

But Diana knew that whenever she came into contact with him, she would significantly subdue his magic.

Though she never doubted that Cayden would be victorious in the end, provided she stopped Rebecca.

Until she reached the end, she was in the mood to make sure that the road he had to walk was flat.

Because Diana once helped take Cayden’s life because she made one wrong choice.

It was a kind of debt she owed him.

“I heard you asked me to marry you. To be precise, the Viscount must have asked for it in return for supporting the Palace of the 3rd Prince.”

Diana quietly spoke away from him.

Cayden asked, a little surprised at the calm tone.

“It’s a bit ridiculous for me to ask. Just like yesterday, aren’t you uncomfortable with this situation?”

He was genuinely puzzled.

According to his reports, Diana’s situation within the Susfield mansion over the past 20 years has not been a good one.

She was dressed in such a dazzling outfit, but she’s an illegitimate child who was originally not willing to give away even a loaf of bread.

Even in the unpleasant situation of dragging Diana out and selling her off like this, she was strangely maintaining her detached attitude.

“To be honest, I was prepared to come here.”

“What?”

“Aren’t you supposed to say you hate me, or that you’re getting out of here right now, you pervert, slap me in the face and kick my shin?”

“Pfttt.”

Diana burst into laughter at that. She shrugged her shoulders a few times at first, and then she laughed as if she couldn’t stand it.

Seeing this, Cayden pondered for a moment. Did he sound like he was joking? He was sincere.

As for the fact that none of the party were considered, Viscount Susfield was trying to sell Diana in exchange for a relationship with the imperial family, and Cayden was in a position to accept the offer.

Marriage at Diana’s own will cannot be found anywhere.

Contrary to what Cayden had thought, Diana asked as she smirked.

“Did Your Highness order this marriage to the Viscount?”

“…Not that.”

“So it’s clear who I should slap and kick in the shin.”

Cayden was momentarily at a loss for words at her reaction, which was completely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Diana rolled her eyes and muttered a little.

“…And how could I blame you?”

“What did you say?”

“No, nothing.”

Diana’s whispers were too small to reach Cayden’s ears.

Cayden, who tilted his head for a while, soon sighed quietly and looked at Diana.

“But I still apologize. I’m sorry, Miss. I can’t refuse my own proposal because I’m a greedy and cowardly person who wants to protect my people even though I don’t have the strength yet.”

Diana had an unknown look on her face.

The clear blue-purple eyes were transparent enough to see the floor, and at the same time, they were clean without anything.

Cleanness without confusion, agitation, or even misconceptions.

Cayden somehow thought he wanted to avoid that gaze.

“So I will respect your will.”

“What?”

Diana blinked puzzledly. Cayden continued his words in a serious manner.

“If you really don’t want to get married, you can refuse it comfortably even now. I swear on my name.”

“…”

“But if not, I will try to do whatever you want as a husband.””

Diana still remained silent.

Cayden felt nervous for some reason.

“As the Marquis suggested, I will if you want to become the empress. But if you want to leave me after all the work is done, I’ll let you go.”

Diana, who had been silent for a while, opened her mouth.

“…But that would be breaking the contract with the Viscount. After all, the Viscount will want to be your only ally.”

“The Viscount doesn’t have a contract, and he wouldn’t be stupid enough to tease in front of someone who even holds the throne currently.”

Cayden raised one corner of his mouth with a grumpy face.

Diana admired his words.

He was now saying that after he survived the competition with Rebecca, he would make his contract with the Viscount a thing of the past.

This meant that Viscount Susfield had been deceived twice in total, including her previous life.

To be honest, she liked that very much.

‘And in order to make comfortable contact with him by Cayden’s side, the status of a wife would be the most natural.’

Diana wanted to help Cayden as long as she could.

That’s why she didn’t run away and returned to that place.

“Will it take about a year?”

If Cayden can solve some of the plight with Diana’s dowry, and if she can help relieve the pain by his side, he will be able to rise to power faster than ever before.

Diana herself was planning to create a different identity behind and attack Rebecca, so it was a possible story.

~pls read only at pinkmuffintl~

It’s been about a year since Viscount Susfield’s full-fledged greed for imperial power and Cayden’s power to bring down Rebecca.

Only that period will help.

She was going to take Rebecca’s life, even if she had to sink her own body.

Diana, who had made up her mind, smiled and opened her mouth.

“I don’t want the Empress position.”

“Then?”

“Divorce me in a year.”

Her firm words echoed through the air.

Cayden stared at Diana for a moment and then smiled.

“No one will ever ask for a divorce with such a happy face as you.”

“There is no one more kind than His Majesty to propose a marriage like this.”

“In fact, aren’t you glad to disappoint Viscount Susfield?”

“Oh my, what could you mean? In fact, there is no such aspect.”

At the end of the conversation, Diana and Cayden burst into laughter.

She said with a smile on her face.

“Anyway, things are getting a little complicated. I should have shown the other nobles the way I fell in love at first sight.”

“No, I do.”

“…Yes?”

“Let’s pretend that it was me, not the Miss, who fell in love at first sight. Maybe that will be a little closer to the truth.”

Diana lost her words for a moment.

Cayden glanced at a group of nobles entering the garden just in time, and raised the corners of his mouth.

He muttered a little.

“…Actually, even if it wasn’t for this, I wanted to meet you again at least once.”

The moment he held her hand, he felt as if he had found something he had never known he had lost.

He plucked the white flowers that were blooming near their seat and adorned her hair.

Diana stopped breathing at the moment his smile got closer.

“I wish you all the best, Diana.”

A low whisper tickled her ear.

His black hair swayed slightly in the wind that contained the sunset.

Eyelashes the same color as his hair were densely hung over his deep eyes. Even the texture of the neat and thick eyebrows was clear in the field of vision.

As Diana reflexively blinked her eyes as if she had witnessed something dazzling, Cayden was already far away.

Behind her, she could feel people looking at them with curious or surprised faces.

Yes, this must have been just to show them that political intentions are irrelevant.

“…You too, Your Majesty.”

But for some reason, her heart was pounding with a fast and clear beat.