Chapter 35
Kishin appeared completely paralyzed by the abrupt marriage offer.
Classie scrambled to clarify her meaning before the silence stretched too far.
“Please, don’t misunderstand—it isn’t anything inappropriate. I simply require a valid justification to decline my sister’s invitation.”
“Is a justification truly necessary?”
“If I claim my refusal is based on a desire to remain near a man I care for, my relatives will view me with disdain.”
Despite her frantic attempts to explain, Kishin’s confusion didn’t seem to lift.
“Sir Kishin, you are familiar with our social customs. If my mother and father begin to harbor a negative opinion of me, my life becomes difficult in countless ways. My standing in the ton will crumble, support will be withheld when I am in need, no one will act as my guarantor, and down the line—”
She stopped mid-sentence. The more she rambled, the more peculiar Kishin’s expression became.
His gaze made her feel as though she were being terribly cynical or greedy.
Yet, from her perspective, she was merely describing the harsh realities of their world.
She wondered briefly if this man possessed a unique gift for living entirely outside the bounds of practical reality.
Classie waited for a response, but as he continued to stare in silent bewilderment, she finally broke the quiet.
“To put it simply, if I tell my sister that I am currently in wedding negotiations, she will accept my inability to travel. She won’t be pleased, but she will respect the boundary. That was my only intention.”
A flicker of comprehension finally crossed Kishin’s face.
“So, you are proposing a fabricated engagement as a pretext?”
A sudden, inexplicable wave of misery crashed over Classie.
That wasn’t it at all.
Deep down, she genuinely desired a future with Kishin. She didn’t want a lie; she wanted to bypass the formalities and secure a real union immediately.
In that instant, a flood of painful memories overwhelmed her: the prospect of being hauled away by her sister, the trauma she had endured two years prior, the relentless bullying from Merran, the cruel gossip spread by strangers, and the lingering shame she felt toward her eldest sister. It all culminated in a stinging pressure behind her eyelids.
She had been composed just seconds before, but as a single tear escaped and rolled down her face, Kishin panicked.
“Miss Classie? Have I offended you?”
“No, not at all. I am just… feeling quite emotional.”
“So suddenly?”
“Yes, suddenly.”
She wiped the moisture away and forced a pained, awkward grin.
She was well aware that this wasn’t a situation that called for weeping. Her connection with Kishin was only in its infancy.
They hadn’t even reached a formal stage of courtship, so it was perfectly logical for him to be startled by a proposal.
Furthermore, he wasn’t blind to the rumors or the way Merran had treated her for years.
Yet, the heart is a fickle thing. She had managed to hold her composure until that one tear shattered her resolve.
Despite the forced smile, more tears followed in a steady stream.
Humiliation began to outweigh her sadness. Once the dam had broken, she found it impossible to stop the flow.
She felt like a complete disaster.
Unable to endure Kishin’s uncomfortable stare any longer, Classie bolted toward the exit.
She swung the door open only to collide with Anna’s startled gaze.
The maid stood there with a dish of cake, her head shaking quickly the moment their eyes met.
It was obvious Anna had been lurking nearby and was trying to signal something, but Classie was in no state to decipher her gestures.
Consumed by a mixture of grief and mortification, Classie sprinted past the maid and vanished down the corridor.
“Miss Classie!”
Kishin’s shout echoed after her, but she refused to turn back.
He moved to follow her but found his path blocked by Anna.
The maid, caught in her act of eavesdropping, turned a vivid shade of crimson and bowed her head.
“Forgive me, Sir Kishin. Eavesdropping was not my goal. I intended to serve tea, but your conversation sounded so grave that I felt I couldn’t interrupt.”
Kishin felt a flash of irritation at the breach of privacy, yet a deeper concern took precedence.
Rather than reprimanding her, he looked toward the direction Classie had fled.
“Did I say something cruel?”
“No, sir. You said nothing out of turn.”
“Then why did she break down so abruptly?”
Kishin suspected the long-serving maid held the answers. Her hesitant, darting glances suggested she was weighing the risks of speaking out.
If he were at the barracks, he would have demanded the truth from a subordinate immediately.
However, this was a private residence, and he was speaking to an elderly woman.
Long-term servants were often the keepers of a family’s history; she had likely looked after Classie since she was a child.
Watching the maid struggle to find the right words, Kishin eventually held up a hand.
“Never mind. If the truth is difficult to share, keep it. I have no wish to add to Miss Classie’s burdens. I will seek the answer from her directly.”
He turned on his heel and walked toward the hallway Classie had taken.
Anna watched him go, momentarily stunned.
His refusal to listen to gossip or put a servant in a compromising position made a profound impact on her.
She found herself genuinely moved.
“It seems our lady didn’t choose him for his face alone. The man has a noble heart!”
To be honest, Anna hadn’t been Kishin’s greatest supporter.
Her initial impression was poor, and she blamed his presence for the friction between Classie and Merran.
She had also been skeptical of how easily Classie was swayed by his flowers and correspondence.
Most of all, Kishin’s perfection worried her.
A man with his pedigree and looks surely had demanding parents.
Would such people ever welcome a daughter-in-law tainted by social scandal? Anna doubted it.
Even Classie’s own parents had essentially stopped trying to find her a match.
“What a pity,” Anna whispered, shaking her head as she placed the cake on the parlor table.
Classie was oblivious to the exchange behind her.
Her flight didn’t last long; she eventually slowed to a stop on her own.
The crying had ceased.
The emotional storm had passed as quickly as it arrived, leaving her exhausted five minutes later.
She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a long breath. How had she lost her grip so completely over such a brief moment?
Kishin undoubtedly thought she was losing her mind.
Before she could hide, he found her.
“Miss Classie, are you feeling better?”
She tried to mask her vulnerability with a half-truth.
“I apologize for the scene. I felt foolish, thinking you had turned me down.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You were clearly horrified when I mentioned marriage.”
“I was merely… caught off guard by the timing.”
“Which is essentially a rejection…” she murmured despondently.
She wondered how everything had spiraled so far out of control.
She hadn’t intended to bring up marriage today. Her plan was to wait a month, at the very least.
She wanted their bond to be strong enough that he would trust her character over any malicious rumors he might encounter.
But the threat of a three-month separation had changed everything. When he asked her to stay and validated her feelings about her sister’s behavior, her walls had crumbled.
The impulse had simply been too strong to fight.
Kishin glanced around the hallway.
“This isn’t the place for this. Let’s find a private room.”
He led her into a nearby sitting room used for guests.
Since Classie didn’t entertain much, the room was empty but functional.
The air felt heavy. Even though she had followed him, she felt as though she had run out of words.
The spark of excitement she’d felt earlier was gone, replaced by a dull numbness following her outburst.
Taking a breath, she finally spoke.
“What was it you wanted to say?”
“I am still missing the full picture.”
“I’ve explained my reasoning.”
“Not quite. You proposed, fled because of your emotions, and then claimed you ran because of a rejection. None of that connects.”
“Emotions and embarrassment. That is the whole story.”
“No. Why the proposal? Why right now?”
A small pulse throbbed at Classie’s temple.
“Is this an interrogation, Sir Kishin?”
“I am trying to understand you.”
“If you don’t get it, let it be. Is it necessary to grill me like a suspect?”
“It is, because I have feelings for you. I want to comprehend the way you think.”
Classie winced slightly at his choice of words, but she remained quiet.
Kishin’s gaze was entirely earnest. He was truly trying to navigate her chaotic feelings, even when she couldn’t make sense of them herself.
That steady, noble sincerity began to thaw the coldness in her chest.
After a long pause, she finally lowered her guard.
“To be honest… it comes down to money.”
