Chapter 9
Chapter 9
"By the way, just now on the balcony, your eyes looked so lonely."
Aslan smoothly evaded the question, wiping his face with a dry hand, concealing a bitter expression.
"I didn't know you liked the night sky, or that you disliked having a servant by your side. I thought I knew you pretty well until now."
"......"
"I'm getting ahead of myself. What I mean is, I want to get to know you now, even if it's late."
"Since we both dislike troublesome things, I'll get straight to the point. I heard that Your Highness is being politically attacked because of me."
Vivian understood why Aslan was uncharacteristically beating around the bush.
The reason he took the risk of revealing the Black Lion's identity to save her, who was dying, and brought her to the mansion, must be because he was being attacked by the opposition over the will issue.
To deceive people, marrying her would be the quickest and most certain way.
But no matter how she thought about it, marriage was not the answer. Vivian offered a compromise.
"Since this happened because of my mistake, I'm willing to pretend to have an engagement ceremony. If my explanation is needed, I'll step forward at any time. I mean it."
"It's not like that."
"There's no need to go through all the trouble. It's not like we've only known each other for a day or two."
"Vivian, I know why you're misunderstanding, but..."
For a moment, Aslan's eyes darkened. But when Vivian looked at him again, Aslan had his usual calm expression.
"I really want to make things work with you now."
"Are you saying that sincerely?"
"I understand that you don't trust me. But if you give me a chance, I'm going to wait until your heart opens this time."
Aslan's answer was concise but surprisingly human.
Vivian watched Aslan rub his neck awkwardly and thought.
Maybe she had misunderstood him. Maybe Aslan wasn't violent, but just clumsy in dealing with others.
As if to support her thoughts, Aslan got up cleanly without dragging things out.
"It's late. Even sleepyheads should go to bed now."
"Um, I will."
"You're actually listening to me for once."
For a moment, Vivian doubted her eyes. Aslan was looking down at her and smiling.
He, who was called the Grim Reaper of the battlefield, the messenger of death, because of his ruthless and merciless nature, was smiling like an ordinary person.
"Sweet dreams."
"You too, Your Highness."
"I will. I'm leaving now, so don't come out."
Aslan jumped off the second-floor balcony as casually as when he first came in. His posture, landing stably, was strong and flexible like the movement of a beast.
He stopped and looked up at Vivian.
"......"
In the silence, Aslan's eyes were so intense that they seemed to swallow her whole.
Vivian hid behind the curtain without realizing it. Just his gaze made her feel as if she had been burned. It was a feeling she couldn't understand herself.
After a long time, Vivian collapsed weakly, as if freed from a spell only after his presence had faded away.
Her head became complicated.
'If Aslan's words are not a lie, can I get his help when the cure is developed later? But there's also the possibility that it's a sophisticated act to put me off guard...'
Vivian ruffled her hair wildly, agonizing over it. Thinking was not her thing after all.
It was going to be a long night.
＊ ＊ ＊
The next morning, Vivian went down to the dining room at Aslan's suggestion to have breakfast together.
The atmosphere was good and the food was excellent. The chef came out himself to explain the menu of the day to Vivian.
She listened to the chef's detailed explanation and nodded.
"It's been a long time since I've had something so delicious. It's amazing that you're already the head chef at such a young age."
"I am overwhelmed by the Lady's praise."
"Ahem!"
Vivian, who was talking to the chef, raised her eyes. Aslan had been clearing his throat since a while ago. Thanks to that, the conversation didn't continue easily.
"Your Highness, are you feeling unwell?"
"I don't know."
Even when she suggested calling a doctor, he said he was fine, and when she offered him water, he shook his head, and when she asked why, he kept his mouth shut. Vivian tilted her head and accepted that it was nothing serious.
She turned her gaze back to the chef. She had kept the busy man for too long.
"I'll look forward to it in the future."
"I will try to meet the Lady's expectations. Please call me Manuel."
Manuel was the type with striking features and a bright smile that was a bit overwhelming, but he was still a man who knew how to lead the atmosphere smoothly.
Vivian naturally placed her hand on the hand that the chef held out. Kissing the back of a noble lady's hand was a natural greeting in society.
Manuel, who gently raised the corners of his lips, was about to kiss the back of her hand.
"Vivian, there's a run in your glove."
Aslan, who had clearly been sitting across the table until just now, had already come over and grabbed Vivian's hand.
She didn't even feel him moving, but he firmly took away the hand she had offered to Manuel.
He glanced at Manuel and flashed a murderous glare. But Vivian, who didn't know that, tilted her head.
"A run? Where?"
"Hmm."
Aslan quickly loosened his expression and gently grasped Vivian's hand.
Her fair and slender hand under his calloused, large palm looked like a different species in contrast.
"I must have been mistaken."
"Really? But where did Manuel..."
Vivian hesitated as she tried to pull her hand away naturally.
This feeling again. The feeling of being tightly squeezed in a steel frame.
Clearly, the hand held by Aslan didn't hurt, and he was gently holding her hand as if holding a feather.
But no matter how hard she tried, her hand wouldn't come out. It just wouldn't come out!
Just as Vivian was screaming inwardly, Aslan slowly leaned his upper body while holding her hand. The man's warm breath reached her ear.
"If you're done with the meal, I want to get to the main point."
"The main point? I thought it was just a normal meal. More importantly, my hand..."
"We have to finish the story we started yesterday."
If it was the story they started yesterday, was it an extension of the proposal to get to know each other?
Even while Vivian was thinking, she was working hard to rescue her precious right hand. She twisted it this way and that, and even gave it a jolt. Of course, her hand didn't budge.
Meanwhile, the servants quickly cleared the finished dishes and reset the table.
What Vivian looked down at was...
"Here, sign it."
A Marriage Certificate.
'This human?!'
Is that why you sealed my hand!
Where did that emotional man from last night go? Where did that emotional man go who was revealing his innermost thoughts, saying that we should get to know each other?!
"We still don't know much about each other..."
"Ah, I just changed my mind."
"Pardon?!"
"Think of it positively. If things continue like this, there won't be any men left around you with their heads still attached."
For a moment, Aslan's voice felt like it had reached freezing point. But when she quickly looked up at his face, it was as neat as usual.
Of course, his hand holding Vivian was not at all lenient.
"Now only the last name is left."
"Ugh, u, what is this...!"
The first letter of the last name 'Astaroth', which Aslan had changed arbitrarily, was written.
At this rate, she would really become his prisoner without a doubt. She would be monitored for the rest of her life!
'What kind of male lead is this! If you just look at the lines, he's the perfect loan shark?!'
I'd rather pay all 120 million in cash, let me go!
Vivian hurriedly looked around for a way to overcome this crazy situation. She happened to see a silver candlestick in the center of the table with a fire lit.
Her upper body was held by Aslan, so there was no other way.
Vivian put strength into her toes and powerfully kicked.
Bang!
The candlestick, which rattled loudly, fell without a chance to stop it. The fire neatly burned the Marriage Certificate and then died out.
"......"
Vivian couldn't make any sound.
A fanfare of pain echoed from her toes, which had forcefully charged into the marble table, but she couldn't make any sound.
It was because the pressure of silence was too nerve-wracking and scary.
She had rushed into it because she was in a hurry, but her heart was pounding in case Aslan might say, 'Whether you know the Black Lion's true identity or not, I should just kill you to eliminate future troubles.'
And Vivian's body responded immediately to the emergency situation. She could feel the adrenaline that poured out coursing through her nervous system.
"Vivian, you..."
"Shut up."
"What?"
"I'll talk first, so sh, sh, shut up!"
Fueled by the fervent support of adrenaline, she went on a rampage.
Now, without even knowing what she was saying, Vivian simply entrusted her three-inch tongue to the flow of consciousness.
"They say they'll grant the wishes of the living, so can't you grant one wish of someone who's about to die? I only have a year left at most!"
"I told you not to talk as if you've given up on everything."
"That's right. You said you would save me, but how? How are you going to save me? Are you a doctor? Or are you a prophet? Ah, then let's bet on whether I'll be alive or dead in a year!"
Ah, I don't know. I don't know anything, just screw it!
Besides, the cure would come out in the future. No matter how good Aslan was, he couldn't read the future.
Aslan moved his lips in front of her question. He looked like someone who wanted to say something but was blocked by a huge wall and couldn't let it out.
He eventually wiped his face with a dry hand and avoided her gaze.
Now was the chance, with Aslan's momentum waning. Vivian quickly patted Aslan's hand.
For him, who was afraid of revealing the Black Lion's identity, it was best to reassure him that she was going to die soon.
"I'm fine. There's no need to pity me for only having a year left. I have no desires, I just want to quietly end my remaining life..."
"Okay, I accept your bet."
"Pardon?"
"If you're still alive a year from now, then marry me."
That's going to be difficult. I'm planning to take the cure and run away in a year.
She had temporarily forgotten it while being swept away by the situation, but her original plan was to spend her remaining life leisurely in a resort in the south.
And that plan was still valid.
"During the year that the bet is in progress, our engagement will be firmly maintained. I have no intention of having any woman other than you by my side, so you must do the same."
That's also going to be difficult. Then what about my half-sister, the real female lead of the original story?
To a commoner like me, who is already suffering from guilt day and night for destroying the 'Cave of Engraving', which is essential for the story's development to save myself, huh?
Now you're telling me to take the place of the original female lead? Is this a joke?!
"As fiances, we must also faithfully fulfill our obligations to each other. Our engagement certificate states that you will move into my mansion in advance for bride training, and I want you to fulfill that from today."
"......"
"You're not thinking of running away from the bet, are you?"
The adrenaline that had been exploding like a volcano quietly subsided.
It was because Aslan, who had taken out a new Marriage Certificate from his pocket, twisted his lips like a villain.
Faced with the silent pressure that she didn't know what he would do if she refused, Vivian ended up accepting the self-defeating bet.
