Hoping for My Death

07. They Are Newlyweds?

“If so, shall we make a deal?”

Sylvia deliberately raised the corners of her mouth slightly, as if to show her harmlessness.

Randall looked at her with a slight wariness at the sudden change of attitude.

“You mean a deal?”

“Yes. Because you said you couldn’t have the first night with someone you didn’t like……”

She smiled broadly. It was a calm smile.

“We have to make an effort to like each other. You and I.”

“Cough.”

Randall coughed a little in surprise.

As he barely managed to catch his breath, Sylvia continued.

“First of all, we have to get used to touching, right? On the condition that I can hold your hand whenever I want, I’ll give you one thing you want each time. It doesn’t have to be about touching.”

Sylvia said so and took a spoonful of soup.

Randall looked at her with a strange feeling.

‘…… Did I look like such a cold-hearted person?’

Randall was not one to refuse his wife’s desire to hold his hand, even though it was a marriage of convenience.

That was not a husband’s duty.

However there was no need to correct the misunderstanding.

Randall had to check whether Sylvia had anything to do with the king, and the deal she offered was the right excuse.

‘Even though it pricks my conscience a little.’

Randall was a ‘Lord’ who could not be regarded as just one person, so he had to endure this as well.

And although the love marriage failed, there was nothing wrong with the couple getting along.

After all, Sylvia was now his wife, and he was a person who fulfills his responsibility.

As he gathered his thoughts, he spoke carefully.

“All right. I accept it.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Sylvia blinked, slightly surprised by that.

She thought that it would take a little longer to get him to accept the deal, just as Randall had vehemently rejected their first night.

But surprisingly, things might turn out well.

She asked, feeling refreshed.

“That’s a quicker decision than I thought. Is there anything you want?”

What she said was plausible. Was there anything he wanted from her?

Then Randall reached out over the table.

His hand picked up the plate of healthy food that had been placed in the middle of the table and set it down in front of Sylvia.

“…….”

There was no way.

Sylvia looked at Randall with trembling eyes, which was indeed rare.

There was no way, right?

He can’t be this cruel.

He was certainly an upright and honorable young man…… right?

However, as if to trample on that expectation, he made eye contact with her and smiled mischievously.

“Eat it all. That’s my first condition.”

What deal, should she just overturn it?

Sylvia was seriously troubled at that moment again.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Keuk.”

“Can you stop laughing?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“Cough.”

Sylvia eventually stopped walking and glared at Randall.

It was not until he settled his expression that she took a step again.

They were currently strolling through the garden hand in hand.

Originally, Sylvia would have hated it when it comes to moving her body, but after her desperate struggle with the healthy food, she felt the need to get some cold air.

That’s why she came out holding Randall’s hand to get the price of the deal.

Actually, he seemed distracted by something other than his hand that was grabbed.

‘I’m going crazy.’

Randall faced another crisis when he recalled Sylvia frowning in the dining hall.

He would never have thought that a person who was aloof and unwavering as if she had gone through all the storms of the world would collapse in front of healthy foods.

He kept laughing at the sight of her eating healthy food bit by bit with her face distorted so that even her chin was wrinkled.

However, if he laughed again this time, he was afraid that his wife would say that the deal didn’t happen, so he held back.

Randall changed the subject to get rid of the image of Sylvia that was filling his mind.

“The vassals will likely arrive in three days at the earliest.”

Sylvia and Randall’s wedding was held very quickly under the king’s supervision.

Originally, all vassals of the Duke of Belfort had to attend the wedding in the royal castle, but the distance between the north and the capital was quite far.

In addition, the only road leading to the capital and the north was very dangerous due to the frequent appearance of demons.

Like Randall and the knights, there was also a way to move through the teleportation magic circle.

However, wizards were rare throughout the entire continent, and it was even more difficult to find wizards who could use teleportation magic.

There was also a limit to the number of people Auston could move, so Randall was forced to bring only the knights and some family members to the wedding.

But this marriage was by no means a light thing.

A marriage that welcomes the new mistress[1] of Belfort territory.

Sylvia, who became the Duchess, had no choice but to formally greet his vassals.

Sylvia wasn’t surprised, as she had expected it to some extent.

However, the part about three days later was a little unexpected.

“It’s faster than I thought.”

“……It’s because everyone is impatient. You saw it on the first day.”

Randall explained it in a roundabout way.

But in reality, he was the one who came running with fire in his eyes[2] to see who the woman the king had attached to Randall’s side was.

Should he say he[3] was deeply sincere or he was just interfering?

In fact, it was closer to the latter.

He clicked his tongue inwardly, and continued.

“It’s not a big banquet, so you won’t have to struggle too much. Thelma will be there to help, and if you need anything, tell Wilcott. They will do what you request of them.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The preparation and hosting of the banquet was the job of the mistress.

As a matter of fact, with all the things that Sylvia had gone through in her previous life, it was easy to prepare for the banquet.

But the current Sylvia was a noble lady who had never hosted a banquet.

It would seem strange if she had skillfully prepared the banquet.

And, in a way, the more important reason.

‘It’s annoying.’

Sylvia honestly wasn’t too keen on caring about Randall this much.

Of course, Randall belonged to the axis of good people, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable.

After going through many more difficult lives than others under the punishment of the god, she felt more comfortable being alone.

Caring for someone, looking at their feelings, and putting her heart into them was too hard for her now.

Moreover, her body and mind, which had been accustomed to indolence in this life, searched for a bed like inertia.

Still, the northern part was colder than the Fleurette territory, so she got tired quickly, and it was obvious that she would collapse from overwork if she even touched the preparations for the banquet.

After all, there were skilled servants like Thelma and Wilcott, so all she had to do was pretend to supervise them moderately.

With that mindset, she calmly said that she would do her best.

That was not a complete lie. She was going to do the least she could to get involved.

In the meantime, the two of them went around the garden and returned to the front of the main gate of the mansion.

Randall led Sylvia to the front of the stairs and let go of her hand.

When the hands that had been in contact the whole time fell, he felt strangely empty.

He clasped his hands together and asked mischievously.

“When is the next deal?”

“…… Not today for now.”

Sylvia frowned, trembling at Randall’s words, as if recalling the taste of healthy food again.

Laughing lightly, Randall securely adjusted Sylvia’s shawl and took a step back.

“Then I’ll see you in the evening, wife.”

“Come back safely, honey.”

Randall’s shoulders trembled at the sudden call.

With that, Sylvia, who finished her small revenge for the healthy food, turned around and climbed the stairs with a sullen smile.

“…….”

Randall stood at the foot of the stairs for a moment.

He raised his hand and brushed the reddened nape of his neck a few times, and soon turned around with an embarrassed face and left the mansion.

The servants who watched the scene silently thought with joy.

They are newlyweds.

＊ ＊ ＊

After Randall separated from Sylvia, he went to the village with the knights.

They looked for the children who entered the forest outside the territory and were nearly attacked by demons a day ago.

“Waa! It’s the Lord!”

The children, who had cried a day ago, were playing outside, as if they had never experienced those.

When the children found Randall, they rushed in and clung to him.

“Please hug me!”

“A wooden horse! I want to ride a wooden horse!”

“These guys. You can’t use it if you do this to the Lord.”

The knights spoke mischievously, putting the children on their bodies and playing with them.

Meanwhile, Randall got down on one knee in front of the little girl who appeared to be the leader of the group of children.

He spoke softly, keeping eye contact with the child.

“I’m glad you’re safe, but there’s no guarantee that it won’t happen again. There’s no barrier of Auston in that forest. Play only where there is a barrier.”

At the end of his words, Randall laughed.

Randall Balfort was more merciless than anyone else in front of his enemies, but was more caring than anyone else in front of his own people.

The little girl, who had been nodding her head with a flushed face, suddenly murmured sullenly.

“We don’t play in that forest either.”

“Then why did you go there yesterday?”

“My mom and dad were upset that the herb field in the forest they used to go to was often ruined, so I tried to pick up herbs from other forests……”

As the little girl spoke, she was overcome with emotion and had tears in her eyes.

“Oh no, I’m sorry I didn’t know. You’re a good kid.”

Randall lightly patted the child on the shoulder to soothe her and let her go, who was amazed by the knights.

His face sank coldly as he stared at the children’s backs.

‘Even though it’s a forest near the village, the herb field is often ruined?’

In the barren north, forests were a very important resource, so the knights would periodically hunt down beasts in the forests near the village.

Still, it was certainly strange if the fields continued to be ruined.

‘Could it be a demon? But…….’

The northern part was bordered by the land of demons, ‘Kelvetia’.

It would be more accurate to say that ‘space’ itself, not just land, was in contact.

The space of this world would sometimes get warped for unknown reasons.

When a warping occurs, a gap temporarily connects Kelvetia and the human land.

In that gap, monsters and demons appear.

Because the warp of space used to appear regardless of time and place, Auston’s detection and defense barriers were installed in places where the warping often occurred in the north and around villages.

However, Randall had not heard any reports of any demons appearing in the vicinity recently.

Troubled, Randall eventually visited the child’s parents, inquired about the location of the forest, and headed there with the knights.

Just before entering the forest, Randall stopped the knights.

He said with a terrifyingly cold face.

“There may be demons living in the forest. Don’t lower your weapons until you’ve confirmed that the barrier stones are working properly.”

“We will follow your command.”

“We’re entering.”

Following the brief gesture, the knights entered the forest in line.

Recently, due to the frequent destruction of the herb fields, the villagers stopped visiting, and the forest was desolate.

There are a total of five barrier stones installed in this forest.

Randall and the knights first looked around and looked at the four barrier stones on the outskirts of the forest.

“Nothing wrong.”

“This way, too.”

The knights reported with stiff faces.

The colored gems that Auston had installed while complaining, shaped like a hexagonal pillar, was firmly embedded in its original position.

All that was left was the barrier stone near the center of the forest.

Randall ordered them to be more vigilant than before, and led the way through the forest.

How long did they walk?

In front of them, they saw a small round clearing that had been set aside for the installation of the barrier stone.

As the distance got closer to some extent, Randall narrowed his eyes.

In the center of the clearing. Embedded in the middle of a magic circle drawn with white lines……

A barrier stone cut in half.

“Avoid!”

Immediately after Randall shouted harshly, demons in the form of snakes appeared on tree branches with the strong smell of humans rained down on the heads of the knights.

TL Notes:

    [1] Mistress here is the lady of the house.

    [2] A fire in your eyes can mean that you have passion or desire for someone that is so intense, it shows in your eyes. In here, it doesn’t mean passion for someone but an intense suspicion or something like that.

    [3] He was talking about the king.