MPGF 06

Episode 6: I Will Be Your Wife

For a moment, I thought I misheard and doubted my ears.

“Did you say you’re looking for a marriage partner?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

My dazed head began to spin.

“I have no choice but to marry due to unavoidable circumstances, but since it’s a marriage of necessity, I feel like I’m committing a sin, so it’s not easy to find a partner.”

This man… is in exactly the same situation as me?

“Miss, there’s no need for you to take this so seriously. A good partner will appear soon enough.”

He smiled faintly and turned his head straight ahead.

Soon, like fog clearing, my mind became clear.

How could I meet this man in a situation like this? Could this be the last chance God has given me?

It felt like someone was whispering in my ear.

Don’t let this man slip away.

I pursed my lips and asked:

“You’re a noble, right?”

Sometimes, noble-born sons who lack the skills to become knights join the guards. Nobles usually take managerial or higher roles. Judging by him, he didn’t seem like a low-ranking guard. At least a junior baron or above.

“That’s correct.”

As expected.

If he’s not a commoner, I have no hesitation.

“I will be that partner for you.”

“…What?”

His mouth slightly opened.

“I will be your wife. If you have any conditions, please tell me. I’m confident I can fulfill them.”

“Do you know what you’re saying right now?”

I straightened my back and swept my hair away from my face.

“Of course. Until you need me, I will be your wife.”

The man who held Anette’s gaze, Hertian, blinked his clear eyes and barely held back the smile that was about to burst out when he saw her staring at him.

She said she would be his wife.

It had been less than an hour since they met. In truth, it was something he had forced out of her, knowing exactly what she wanted.

Hertian acted carefully so Anette would not suspect him.

“You suddenly say you want to be my wife… I’m quite taken aback.”

“No need to be. I also needed a husband, actually.”

“But…”

He wanted to pull her into his arms as she proposed and breathe in the scent lingering in her hair, but he restrained himself.

He knew well that if he stepped into the trap Anette had set carelessly, she would harshly reject him.

Instead, he decided to satisfy his desires in another way.

“No, Miss, I cannot burden you. I will handle my own affairs.”

He frowned as if troubled and continued speaking.

He wanted Anette to truly want to marry him, not just to marry anyone.

“Why bother looking far away? Since I’m here, I’ll do it.”

“I can’t burden someone I just met today.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“But even if you say that, it’s still a forced marriage. I can’t live with a debt I owe.”

Hertian persistently refused her.

Eventually, unable to hold back, Anette shouted.

“It’s not a debt! I’ve been desperately looking for a husband too. Today, I was so frustrated… Anyway, I need you too!”

Her frankness and boldness were evident even through letters, but it felt different face to face.

“So marry me. You.”

In the end, he heard the words he wanted.

Hertian smiled to himself.

‘All the plans I made have turned to dust.’

The plan to propose to her after this war had failed miserably—actually, it succeeded absurdly.

“Wait a moment.”

Anette, fearing rejection, hurriedly grabbed a red chip from the dealer’s table and placed it in his hand.

“What is this?”

“I’m officially proposing to you. We don’t have a wedding ring yet, so this will be the symbol of our marriage.”

Hertian stared intently at the chip in his palm. Then a faint smile spread on his lips. Anette thought it was a joke and quickly added:

“I’m not joking! I’m sincerely proposing to you more than anyone else. So now, there’s no turning back.”

Proposing with a chip—she was audacious. But her body was shaky and unstable.

She was wearing a thin dress and had been breathing cold air for a long time. Hertian’s smile disappeared as he noticed.

“Are you alright?”

“…Answer me first. Will you marry me?”

Anette stubbornly held on to her barely clinging consciousness and persistently asked.

“Hurry. Even if I look like this now, my family is wealthy… We’re not a disgraceful family… If you want, you can treat me like an invisible person.”

Her eyes half closed.

“Miss…”

“Answer me.”

Hertian reluctantly nodded slightly.

“I understand.”

“Promise me you’ll keep it.”

“You are not one to go back on your word.”

“…Of course.”

With that answer, Anette’s fragile body collapsed.

“Miss!”

Hertian hurriedly caught her waist, but she had already lost consciousness. Perhaps it was because she had found a marriage partner. Her closed eyelids looked more peaceful than ever. She didn’t even know the partner she had been exchanging letters with for three years was Cassian.

Anette’s room, where she had fallen asleep exhausted.

Right above was the casino’s top floor.

The room of the casino owner, long empty, now brimmed with eager energy.

Blandiche Hertian.

Having ended a long war of two years, he finally returned perfectly.

Although he had finally laid down the sword that had been glued to his hand throughout the war, rest was still a luxury for Hertian.

He sat at his desk, reading and rereading countless letters.

Ossen, Hertian’s subordinate who had arrived late, paused his report and frowned at the warmth he felt on his skin.

“Commander, what are you doing right now?”

Ossen was used to calling him ‘commander’ since Hertian left for the battlefield immediately after receiving his duke title.

“Hertian, bring me the letters from the year 826.”

For Hertian, holding onto letters was routine.

Ossen brought the letter box that Hertian prized even more than his own life on the battlefield.

“Which month should I bring?”

“All the green ones.”

Ossen wiped his foggy glasses and opened the box, pulling out all the light green envelopes.

Anette always sent different colored envelopes with each season.

Fresh green in spring.

Blue in summer.

Orange in autumn.

White in winter.

Hertian never told him this, but after years of waiting for letters from the battlefield, Ossen naturally noticed.

“Here you go.”

“Put the rest away. Report.”

Hertian gestured to Ossen while opening the new envelopes. Ossen adjusted his steamed glasses and sat straight.

“Miss Leangberia, Evelyn and Kinta, whom she was to meet, have all been dealt with.”

“Well done.”

Ossen felt puzzled looking at his master. Their plan made on the battlefield, for which even sleeping time was sacrificed, was ruined.

“Wait… Commander, you said once we reach the capital, you’d proceed with the new plan, right?”

“There’s no need for a plan anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

Did he give up on Miss Leangberia?

Had she seemed different after a long time apart?

It was a plausible story.

Though she was a woman renowned for her beauty in society, years of exchanging only letters had passed. Distance of the body leads to distance of the heart.

It was plenty of time for long plans to blur.

“Ossen.”

His voice, trembling faintly, sank.

It was the first time he had heard his master call his name in that tone since he killed a man in the first war.

Swallowing hard, Ossen was sure.

He truly gave up.

“I will obey your orders unconditionally. Even if you lead Blandiche alone for life…”

“Prepare the wedding immediately.”

“Excuse me?”

Ossen could hardly believe his ears.

“He proposed to me.”

“Wh-what?”

It must be hardened earwax from the battlefield blocking his ears.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain such a miraculous event.

“The method you told me seems to have worked.”

Hertian raised his pinky with crystal-clear eyes.

There was a faint scarlet stain on the tip of his finger.

At the same time, Ossen’s face was stained with shock.

‘Did he really grind begonia petals to dye his nails?’

He had once told his master about the legend of begonia petals seen during the war.

“People say if you dye your nails with this flower’s color and the color doesn’t fade until the first snowfall, your first love will come true.”

Who would have thought the war-hardened man called a war fanatic would do such a thing?

Who would know that his hands stained with the blood of thousands were also stained with flower dye?

“Stop spacing out. No time to waste, let’s meet the Emperor first.”

“The Emperor?”

Ossen was amazed in many ways.

From marriage to now wanting to meet the Emperor he had avoided.

“Are you really going to meet His Majesty?”

“Yes. It’s time to stop running away.”

Before I knew it, I was back home. The sun was high in the sky.

“Anette!”

My mother’s sharp voice snapped me out of my daze.

“You disappeared suddenly at the banquet. Do you know how worried I was?”

Her voice buzzed in my ears.

How did I get home?

I had run away from Serdis, wandered the streets, met the handsome guard, rested at the casino, and… got married?

“Mom! How did I get home?”

I must be crazy.

I got a husband, right?

“The guard brought you back. Your dress was full of dirt… By the way, whose dress did you wear yesterday?”

“The guard. Where is that guard now?”

I jumped up and demanded.

My last hope.

If that man is around, I can avoid the original story without risk.

“Anette, will you keep ignoring me and talk nonsense? He’s a guard, so he probably went back to being a guard.”

“I’ll explain everything later!”

As soon as I answered, I grabbed my clothes and rushed out.

“Anette!”

Bang!

The door slammed shut loudly.

I hurriedly added:

“I didn’t slam the door on purpose! It was an accident!”