Chapter 40
Episode 40: Marry Me
The very moment she was trying to escape from my life on her own.
A dark shadow fell over Mrs. Macdowell's left side, and a fiercely sharp hand grabbed her wrist.
Olivia, who had been blankly watching the situation, dazedly looked at the hand holding Mrs. Macdowell's wrist.
Olivia's eyes narrowed slightly.
The hand wearing the luxurious glove seemed familiar. Her gaze followed the hand and forearm, finally reaching the man's face.
"......"
Olivia's eyes gradually widened.
Her heart felt crushed as if a giant had stepped on it, and she gasped for breath.
Why now of all times?
She resented the fact that she only encountered this man at such moments out of so many times, so many moments.
And at the same time, her senses of hearing and sight, which had been fading away, returned.
"It seems that in Pulder, one can assault people in front of the Chief of Police without any repercussions, which is quite amusing."
Few could use such a humiliating form of respect.
"Wh-What do you think you're doing...!"
Mrs. Macdowell, who was trying to violently pull her arm away and glared fiercely behind her, stopped abruptly.
Her dignified golden hair and captivatingly beautiful features. Mrs. Macdowell was intimidated by the overbearing gaze of someone born to be a ruler.
"Wh-Who are you...?"
At that, Noah released the hand he was holding and smiled gently.
"It's quite impressive for the antics of a housewife from a family so pathetic that they can't even recognize my face."
Mrs. Macdowell swallowed hard and turned to look at her husband. Henry Macdowell immediately approached and called out to him.
"Your Highness."
Noah coldly watched Henry Macdowell bowing politely. Henry, flustered, sharply poked his wife's waist, which was frozen in place.
"What are you doing?! Immediately greet His Highness, the Prince of Herot."
The prince before him was also a major shareholder in the construction company he ran. Mrs. Macdowell was startled and quickly gave a Herot-style greeting. Her voice trembled and cracked with shock.
"I apologize for not recognizing you, Your Highness."
Noah leisurely took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
"It's been a while, Mr. Macdowell. I didn't expect to meet you in a place like this."
At that moment, the Chief of Police, who seemed to have just woken up, hurriedly rushed in, messily adjusting his ill-fitting uniform.
"Your Highness, Mr. Macdowell. What brings you here?"
Noah glanced at the Chief of Police with a pathetic expression and spoke quickly and concisely.
"There's no need to make a fuss about my arrival. I'm just here on a light errand."
The Chief of Police's eyes shook violently.
What kind of nonsense is this? The Prince of Herot on an errand?
Whether he was confused or not, Noah spoke to Olivia, who was standing to one side.
"Miss Liberty, please finish filling out the documents."
Instantly, all eyes in the place turned to her. However, no one dared to speak to her carelessly.
Even Mrs. Macdowell, who had tried to slap her to stop her from writing the documents, was now looking at her with a pitiful expression.
Simply because Noah Astrid had arrived.
He stood in front of her like a barrier, blocking the collapsing earth.
"...Yes."
Olivia turned around and picked up the fountain pen. And pressing down on her trembling wrist with her left hand, she wrote down what needed to be written as quickly as possible.
In the silence, only the sound of the pen scratching against the paper continued.
Soon, Olivia put down the fountain pen and handed the documents to the police officer in charge, and Noah stubbed out his cigarette. Then, he took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Mrs. Macdowell.
"What is this...?"
Noah remained silent, merely looking down at her coldly.
When she opened the envelope with trembling hands, Mrs. Macdowell was faced with a notice of expulsion for her son, personally signed by Princess Marguerite.
"N-No, this can't be, Your Highness. Adam worked so hard to get in. What did our Adam do wrong..."
She was half-crying, trying to cling to Noah as if begging. Her husband stopped her, and Noah also indifferently stepped back, drawing a line.
"For the sake of Herollington University's reputation, we can't allow a criminal to remain enrolled, can we, Mrs. Macdowell? And since I didn't make that notification, I suggest you go and beg Chancellor Marguerite."
"He's not even been convicted yet, how can you call him a criminal! My child..."
"Ah, are you talking about the good son who tried to break down the door to have a conversation?"
"......"
Noah smiled and looked back and forth between the speechless couple.
"Even if that's not against the laws of Pulder, well, I don't think we can have someone like that under the name of Herollington. It's something that even the common rabble in Herot wouldn't do."
He sharply mocked them in a light tone, then looked at Olivia.
"Let's go, Miss Liberty. My aunt asked me to bring you."
How light and ridiculous it was, the noblewoman who had been violently pushing Olivia away could no longer glare at Olivia and retreated.
Olivia took a step toward him as if possessed. Noah stared at the woman approaching him, then turned around first.
Recalling the maze of a certain autumn night two years ago, he slightly shortened the length of his long strides. The sound of small footsteps following behind him could be heard alternately with his own.
Olivia walked, looking at his sturdy and firm shoulders.
He was dressed in a perfect suit even at this late hour.
Soon, when she followed him past the police station's main gate and reached the carriage, he turned his body and extended his hand.
As if showing natural courtesy, in a monotonous and simple manner.
Olivia stared blankly at his hand, then raised her gaze to meet his eyes. His deep-set eyes, appearing black as they were shrouded in darkness. What was he thinking?
"You said I could take it."
"Just take it."
Did this man know?
How sweet the hand he was extending to her felt, how desperately she wanted to cling to his casual offer.
Olivia carefully raised her hand and placed it on his palm.
Beneath the soft silk texture, his warm and firm hand powerfully supported her cold hand.
Without the slightest tremor.
As if to let her know that holding this hand was the safest thing to do.
The carriage moved smoothly.
Olivia folded her legs further towards the seat so that they wouldn't overlap with his long legs.
"Surely you don't want to go back to that house. We're going to Princess Marguerite."
He adjusted his posture and lightly informed her.
Olivia simply expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you."
"......"
"Did you... report it?"
Noah raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.
"My bodyguard did, to be exact."
Although there were many questions she could have asked, such as why his bodyguard was around her house, Olivia, exhausted, didn't have the time to think any further.
"I should thank him too. I've been indebted to him in many ways."
The face that she raised after bowing was pale even in the darkness.
Noah's gaze sank like a deep and cold sea.
Adam Macdowell was arrested for trying to break down her house door with a hammer, he said. A good child, my ass.
Noah desperately suppressed the urge to ask why she hadn't left that house, even though he must have anticipated that something like this would happen.
Probably because of some pathetic reason.
If there was no reason, there was no way she would be living in that run-down, sparsely populated house.
Noah's gaze fell on her carelessly tied black hair. Her disheveled shirt, wrinkled skirt, and pale face.
The person he had proposed to.
"Haa..."
Noah closed his eyes and let out a short sigh.
His aunt cherished her so much, but had she never visited that house? Or had she never considered how the noble forces of Pulder viewed her?
What great affection that was.
At the same time, he was appalled by how much he would have to take care of if she accepted his proposal and became his wife.
The nobles of Herot would be more, not less, than those who had been nobles of Pulder.
Noah pressed hard on his throbbing forehead and suddenly opened his mouth.
"Anyway. Did you read the proposal I gave you earlier?"
"Why do you propose like a creditor no matter what kind of proposal you make?"
Noah cursed inwardly at Methone's disgruntled voice tearing through his head.
When an answer didn't come out quickly, Noah looked at Olivia with an impatient gaze.
"......"
Even though he referred to it as a 'proposal,' there was not the slightest blush or hint of excitement on her face.
Even though he was the same, he didn't like her calm appearance for some reason.
Meanwhile, Olivia found the darkness, where only faint lights were scattered, rather comforting.
It was fortunate that his expression was not clearly visible, and that her expression would not be so clearly visible either.
After hesitating for a moment, she carefully opened her mouth.
"May I ask why you suddenly proposed to me?"
"A reason for a proposal?"
"Is it perhaps in the same context as the invitation from the Herot royal family that I received two years ago?"
The answer to the businesslike proposal was equally businesslike.
Noah's gaze deepened.
Indeed, Olivia Liberty was smart.
After a moment of silence, he rested his elbows on his knees and leaned his body closer to her.
From the closer distance, he revealed his bare face and asked.
"In that case."
Even with his cold and inhuman expression, she calmly faced him. Even though she looked like she was about to collapse at any moment.
"Do you... need me?"
The two people's gazes locked tightly.
At this moment, even the sound of the horse's hooves, which noisily broke the silent air, moved away from the two, and the moonlight coming in through the window was meaningless.
Noah looked at her intensely, as if to bind her, and whispered as if casting a spell.
"Yes. I need you."
Was this what a demon looked like, one who bewitched people? She couldn't escape from his beautiful green eyes with a reddish tint.
"I need you, Olivia."
Her fingers curled at the name that wrapped around her from the tip of his tongue, and her back tingled.
"I'll protect you so you don't have to go through that again."
Noah Astrid cunningly noticed that Olivia's black eyes were finally shaking violently.
He instinctively knew that was her weak spot, and that she could not possibly refuse this offer.
How could he have found her at such a perfect moment?
It was really easy to suddenly lift up the small woman who was barely clinging to the edge of a cliff and trap her in his arms.
As if tempting her, he whispered in a captivating voice.
"Marry me."
