YSLM 07

Chapter 7

Maybe because of the silence, or perhaps because they were standing far too close.

Her heart slowly began to tremble from an unknown tension.

Lea’s thoughts stopped for a moment.

“Ah.”

Because his smooth and warm lips gently pressed against hers.

Kevin softly yet boldly explored her lips. His breath mixing with hers felt incredibly sweet.

Every time their lips touched and separated, the sticky sound made her face turn bright red. No, perhaps it was not only because of the sound.

‘Can it really feel this good even when there are no feelings involved?’

She felt as if she was floating in the sky on a cloud, in a hazy and dreamy state. At the same time, there was a strange sensation tickling somewhere inside her body.

A moan mixed with her breath escaped from Lea’s lips.

“Mm.”

At her reaction, Kevin smiled for a moment and gently pulled his lips away.

Even after their kiss ended, the silence continued for a while.

Perhaps Lea should have stepped forward and fixed the awkward atmosphere.

But—

‘Kissing Kevin.’

Right now, she was too busy trying to calm her wildly beating heart.

She tried hard to pretend nothing happened, but she could not hide her heated face.

Kevin, who had been staring at her, turned to Oscar with a satisfied expression.

“I know this goes against manners and proper etiquette, but if I wanted to prove that Lea and I are truly lovers, I had no choice.”

“……”

“I thought this would also help Sir Oscar organize his feelings.”

Oscar Donnen stared blankly without saying anything.

His face turned red from embarrassment, and in the end, his eyes became slightly red.

Seeing him look so miserable, Lea unconsciously tried to step forward.

But Kevin firmly grabbed her wrist.

Oscar lowered his head and was unable to speak for a while.

Finally, he raised his face.

“I understand. I will take my leave now.”

“Sir Oscar.”

Oscar looked at Lea with sad eyes.

“I apologize for interfering between the two of you.”

“……”

“As I said earlier, I truly did not know. If I had known, I would never have proposed a marriage arrangement in the first place.”

His honest eyes and sorrowful voice made Lea’s chest ache.

Oscar approached her and gently took her hand, kissing the back of it softly.

The place where his lips touched felt hot as if it had been burned.

“I wish happiness for both of you.”

With a face that looked like he might burst into tears at any moment, Oscar left the reception room. Pola followed him to see him off.

Watching his back, Lea felt extremely uncomfortable.

“Don’t be fooled by a man’s tears, Lea.”

“Hmm?”

When she turned around, she saw Kevin smiling.

“All men are foxes.”

Then he smiled while gently narrowing his eyes.

Seeing him like that, a thought naturally came to her mind.

‘You are the last person who should say that.’

But soon she corrected herself.

‘No, no. How could I call our angel-like Kevin a fox? What am I saying?’

“Thank you for everything, Kevin.”

“Thank me?”

Kevin shook his head at Lea’s sincere words.

“The thing you should really thank me for hasn’t even started yet.”

“Wait, what are you two doing right now?!”

Raymond, who had been ignored until now, shouted with a red face full of anger.

“You saw it with your own eyes, Sir Raymond. And if possible, please use polite speech.”

“You bastard…”

Raymond rolled up his sleeves.

He rushed toward Kevin as if he was about to throw a punch, but when he looked up at him, he flinched.

Kevin looked down at him.

The smile had completely disappeared from his face.

“It seems the person who does not understand the situation is you.”

“You…”

When Kevin took one step closer, Raymond unknowingly stepped back.

“We may have known each other since we were children with runny noses, but calling me ‘you bastard’ is a little inappropriate, isn’t it, Sir Raymond?”

‘Did he always have this side of him?’

Today, Lea had seen many unfamiliar sides of Kevin.

It felt like he had changed after returning from his business trip.

Raymond struggled to speak.

“You… you dare act so shamelessly? I was about to give everything to the Donnen family! But because you ruined this marriage arrangement—”

“‘To me,’ you said? Not to Lea?”

“Hah, you truly know nothing. I am the only heir of the proud Flynn family. And Lea was one of the few cards I could use—”

“That is enough.”

A frightening aura came from Kevin.

Enough to make Raymond flinch.

“What do you call something like that?”

“W-what?”

“Probably nonsense.”

Raymond’s eyes widened at the unexpected word.

“You are saying I am talking nonsense? How can you say such a thing? Do you have no conscience?”

“Is this enough?”

Kevin handed over the marriage proposal document he had shown earlier.

Raymond unconsciously accepted it and opened it.

His eyes widened.

“Th-this… really…”

“I will repay the debt myself. And…”

Kevin approached and pointed at one part of the marriage document.

“Sir Raymond will receive living expenses every month.”

The amount was much higher than what Oscar had offered.

It was enough for a lifestyle far more luxurious than most nobles.

Raymond barely stopped the corners of his mouth from rising.

“Of course, there are two conditions.”

“Please tell me, Sir Kevin. Anything.”

Raymond’s attitude had already become polite.

Lea felt disgusted once again by her brother’s shamelessness.

“First. From now on, Sir Raymond will be banned from entering all gambling houses.”

Raymond’s eyes widened at the words ‘gambling ban.’

“What does that mean?!”

“Oh? Wasn’t this what you wanted as well? Gambling addiction is more frightening than people think. You cannot overcome it with your own strength alone.”

Raymond clenched his trembling fist.

Kevin continued.

“Second. Hand over the authority of the family head to Lea.”

“What? What did you say? Such an insulting…”

The authority of the family head included many things.

But for Raymond right now, the most dangerous one was the right to remove someone from the family registry for disgraceful actions.

In other words, from now on, Lea would hold Raymond’s leash.

“Originally, the only reason Sir Raymond became the family head was because he was the eldest son. Considering the inheritance of magical power in future generations, Lea becoming the family head would be a better choice for the family.”

Raymond shouted, unable to contain his anger.

“I am the head of the Flynn family right now. If I do not accept this marriage arrangement—”

“You said you borrowed illegal money from private lenders?”

Raymond suddenly looked up.

When he saw Kevin’s expression, he was startled.

Although there was a polite smile on Kevin’s lips, his eyes were extremely cold.

“I heard that if you do not solve the situation within a week, you will be taken away as a slave.”

“Hmph! T-that… Where would I go alone? It is not only me who will be taken away. That girl Lea too—”

“Only Sir Raymond will be taken away as a slave.”

“What does that mean…”

Kevin’s expression became even colder.

“Because I will make it happen.”

“……Are you threatening me right now?”

“I wonder. I heard that such slaves are forced to serve pirate groups in the Mythos Strait for their entire lives. Of course, the choice belongs to the ‘family head’ himself.”

After saying that, Kevin raised one corner of his mouth and smiled.

In the end, Raymond had no choice but to accept all of Kevin’s conditions.

After he left, only the two of them remained in the reception room.

“I’m sorry, Kevin. I dragged you into something like this.”

Unlike Lea, who apologized with a bitter feeling, Kevin’s face looked surprisingly bright.

“Why are you sorry? I was the one who suggested it first.”

Not just bright.

He looked relieved, almost like a victor who had achieved something.

Lea looked at Kevin with new eyes.

Although they had been together for ten years, today she felt like she had discovered several new sides of him.

However, anyone who had ever worked with Kevin would have clicked their tongues.

Not in a good way.

In a bad way.

Lea had no idea that among his business partners, Kevin was called things like “a stubborn bastard” and “a person who drags others into hell.”

She knew even less that Kevin being as sweet as cotton candy and as gentle as a tongue in someone’s mouth was a treatment reserved only for Lea.

After that, everything went smoothly.

Of course, the servants of the Tillman family, who had been betting among themselves about who could possibly be the partner of “that difficult young master Kevin,” became greatly confused when they saw Lea.

However, Kevin’s parents, Constance and Herbert, welcomed the decision with both hands raised.

“We were genuinely worried that Kevin would grow old and die alone.”

“My wife is right. We were seriously worried about our son dying alone.”

They even prepared a room for Lea and told her to stay there until the wedding ceremony.

Every member of the Tillman family sincerely welcomed Lea.

And because Kevin personally handled all the wedding preparations, Lea did not need to lift a finger.

‘So this is happiness.’

Even though the wedding was only one day away, she was still enjoying a sweet rest as usual.

“Ah, this is nice.”

A huge and soft sofa surrounded her whole body.

She lay there, reading a line from a novel with her eyes, touching a plate of snacks with her hand, and happily chewing.

It was the perfect combination of happiness created by the latest mystery novel obtained by the head butler, madeleines baked personally by the head chef, and rose-scented tea prepared by the head maid.

“Wait.”

At that moment, Kevin entered after knocking on the door.

He looked down at Lea with an expression that seemed slightly ridiculous.

“Your wedding is tomorrow, but you look completely relaxed.”

Lea replied while sucking cookie crumbs from her thumb and index finger.

“Well, aren’t all the preparations finished?”

Not just finished.

Everything from beginning to end was perfect—thanks to Kevin.

“That is true, but you…”

Kevin smiled softly and sat beside Lea.

“You seem to think kissing me is not a big deal?”

I have kept the translation in simple novel-style English while preserving the original structure, tone, and character dynamics.