CH 14

Britia’s face turned crimson and she didn’t know what to do.

‘What did he just say? He wanted to see me? Who? Me?’

‘It couldn’t be true!’

But seeing her blush slightly as she spoke made it seem less like a lie.

They had only met a few times, and there had been nothing to suggest that such feelings could exist.

“Britia.”

Sig’s voice calling out her name was filled with determination.

Britia’s lips parted slightly, but she was too flustered to respond.

“I hope you’ll accept this.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. For a moment, Britia’s mind raced with thoughts of what it could be.

‘Could it be a ring?’

But wasn’t it too soon to propose? They hardly knew each other.

Even if it was an arranged marriage, wasn’t it more common to take things slowly and get to know each other step by step?

But they had never even been on a proper date and hardly knew anything about each other.

Unable to say a word, Britia was lost in a whirlwind of thoughts.

“Will you accept it?”

Britia’s lips quivered as she struggled to compose herself. Sig’s voice was slightly stern, betraying a mix of anticipation and concern in his gaze.

If she were to accept this, would she be agreeing to his proposal? Was it really okay to suddenly get married like this?

Sure, she had briefly found his tail cute, but that didn’t mean she was ready to jump into marriage.

“Britia,” 

Sig called out, not even looking at her properly as his thoughts raced in his mind. 

“Will you not accept it?”

Disappointment flickered in his eyes as his tail drooped down.

‘Just take it for now. We’ll think about it after,’ Brittia thought, taking a deep breath before accepting the box he was offering.

“I finished it last night,” he added.

“What?”

Perhaps it meant that he had made it himself.

Britia was seriously worried that this might be refused.

What would happen if they suddenly got married like this?

Did the twins tease her by saying, “Britia Turas?” Is it turning into reality?

“So I thought today would be good and I’ve been waiting for you to come.”

“What?”

Britia’s mouth kept repeating the same words as if it were broken.

‘When did he start thinking like this?’

Sig continued to speak in front of the confused Britia.

“I heard from Lockhart-nim that you would come to this party.”

“Oh, oh.”

Finally, something different came out of Britia’s mouth, but it was meaningless.

“Would you like to open it?”

Sig asked Britia, who was holding the box absent-mindedly. His tail was so tense that it didn’t move.

“Yes, I’ll open it, yes, ah!”

Britia fumbled and dropped the box. As she opened her mouth in surprise, the wind blew.

It was the wind caused by Sig’s quick move to catch the falling box.

“I’m sorry.”

If it had been the usual Britia, she would have been scared by his movement that seemed to go beyond human, but now there was no room for that.

Sig handed her the box again.

“Thank you.”

Britia’s nerves were entirely focused on the contents of the box.

“I’ll open it.”

It was the most tense moment she had ever felt. Britia swallowed her saliva and opened the lid of the box.

However, the ring she had expected to see was nowhere to be found. There was nothing similar, no metal object.

“A handkerchief?”

The contents were a beautiful, finely embroidered white handkerchief.

“A handkerchief!”

Britia’s face flushed with embarrassment as she realized she had been firmly mistaken.

“Do you not like it?” 

Sig’s voice was cautious, though his expression didn’t give much away.

“Oh no, it’s not that. I just, uh, had a moment there,” Britia stammered.

She couldn’t believe she had been so foolish.

‘What must Sig think of me?‘ Britia tried to hold back her laughter, but it only made her sound more peculiar.

“Britia?”

Sig blinked in confusion.

“I’m sorry, Duke-nim. I just, uh,” Britia struggled to explain herself.

How could she have ever thought that Sig was proposing to her? 

The thought was too embarrassing to bear. 

Britia wanted to scream in frustration, but all that came out was a nervous laugh.

She was grateful that she hadn’t said anything about rings or proposals out loud.

The humiliation would have been unbearable.

“Thank you for keeping your promise,” Britia finally managed to say.

She calmed himself down and retrieved a handkerchief from the box.

“It’s so beautiful,” she murmured as she traced the delicate embroidery with her fingers.

The item she held in her hand was far more sophisticated than the handkerchief she had seen before, enough to make her wonder if it was okay to accept such a thing.

“So, will you forgive me with this?”

Sig asked, swallowing his saliva. 

Britia’s eyes, which were examining the handkerchief, slowly moved towards him.

“I’m sorry, Duke-nim. Actually, I lied back then.”

Sig’s eyes widened a bit at her confession.

“Are you not going to forgive me?”

If this doesn’t work, what else can he do?

‘Should he hold a bucket for half a day like his aunt instructed?‘ he was puzzled.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll accept it.”

Sig spoke with a pained expression.

“I should go to Lady Robley’s to borrow a bucket.”

“A bucket?”

As he tried to move to find the Lady, Britia grabbed his arm.

“Why are you suddenly looking for a bucket?”

“Please let go, Britia-nim.”

But Britia was no match for his strength.

“Today, I will definitely receive your forgiveness!”

“Wait, Duke-nim. Hold on, why are you so strong?”

Britia hung onto his arm with all her might, but he walked confidently as if nothing was happening.

“There it is.”

He turned in that direction after finding the Lady. 

To make matters worse, people moved aside to clear the way as they were pushed by the momentum emanating from his body.

“Duke-nim!”

Britia called out desperately to him, but he did not stop. The Duchess, who was conversing with people, turned to look in their direction.

“Sig Turas-nim!”

Britia shouted urgently.

Sig hesitated.

It was like the sound of scolding a puppy for doing something wrong.

“If you speak, please listen!”

At that sound, everyone at the party stopped and turned to look at her.

“Britia-nim?”

Sig looked at her with surprise.

“I told you to wait.”

At her angry tone, Sig didn’t know what to do and hunched his shoulders.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. Didn’t that woman scream at Count Turas?”

“Who?”

“Britia Lockhart.”

As people whispered, Britia grabbed Sig’s arm.

“Let’s move to another place.”

Fortunately, this time it was easy to pull him away.

As they walked outside, she did not say a word. Sig followed her with a dry throat.

His tail curled between his legs.

“Britia-nim.”

As he called out to her cautiously, she turned her head slightly and then looked forward again without saying a word.

It wasn’t until she entered the rose garden that she finally stopped her feet.

“Duke-nim.”

At her call, Sig flinched and his large body shook. 

She was indeed a person who exudes enough force to rival her aunt.

“Yes, Britia-nim.”

Sig’s voice came out stiff and tense.

“I knew that you were someone who could easily misunderstand if Duke-nim doesn’t speak properly.”

She sighed and gave Sig a sidelong glance.

“That’s why I was going to tell you before you misunderstood even more, but you didn’t listen.”

Sig’s tail sagged, and he anxiously held onto my hand and hesitated.

“What I was going to say was that I had already forgiven you at that time.”

To tell the truth, there was nothing to forgive.

Even if the decoration pin had broken, it was she who had thrown it. 

He was innocent, just standing still and getting hit by the pin.

“But at that time….”

Sig didn’t understand her words.

Wasn’t it that she had promised to forgive him if he gave her his handkerchief that she liked?

So he had been hanging around here for the past few days, working so hard to make it for her.

But she had already forgiven him?

“I told you then that I would forgive you if Duke-nim gave me his handkerchief.”

Sig nodded cautiously.

“That was because I was greedy for Duke-nim’s handkerchief.”

At the mention of greed, Sig blinked slowly.

“It was so beautiful that I dared to tell such a lie.”

“That was not something great enough to be coveted so much.”

Sig couldn’t understand. He had some attachment to it since he had made it himself, but it was just a shoddy and old object. It didn’t make sense that it wasn’t great.

It was unbelievable to say that it wasn’t great.

He had thought that way, but Britia understood why the Duke didn’t seem impressed when she saw the handkerchief he had given her today.

“I deceived you because of my greed. I’m sorry, Duke-nim.”

Britia handed him a box containing the handkerchief.

“I cannot accept this.”

It was such a fine item that he would feel guilty taking it under false pretenses.

“You can’t accept it?”

Sig’s voice trembled.

“I thought of you all the time.”

Even while holding the needle. Even while eating!

He said with a disappointed expression. It was too difficult to accept this reality right now.

“Because you seem to have high standards, I kept thinking about how to satisfy you.”

What kind of flower would be good? What color would be nice? It could be monotonous, so should he add something else? He thought about all of these the whole time.

His thoughts did not end until he completed it.

“When I gave you a brooch before, you already rejected it.”

So he had been thinking about this for ten days, day and night.

“But you’re rejecting it again.”

Sig thought Britia was rejecting it because he didn’t meet her expectations, and he exhaled a long breath while shaking his head.

“I didn’t reject it that vehemently.”

Britia clapped her hands while looking at him, biting her lips.

“Duke-nim, I just…”

Britia was about to speak, but Sig showed her his palm to stop her.

“I know what you mean.”

His voice was lower than usual.

“I was hoping you would accept it happily.”

Britia felt confused, as if she had become a criminal in an instant. She didn’t expect his reaction to be so negative and passionate.

“I’m sorry, Duke-nim.”

“No, it’s my fault for misunderstanding your feelings.”

Sig looked at her and gave a bitter smile, brushing back his falling hair.

At that moment, they heard rustling sounds beyond the rose bushes.

“Oh my goodness, is Britia Lockheart crazy for the mad dog?”

“Shh, be quiet. They might hear us.”

It was the excited voices of a man and a woman who couldn’t contain their excitement.