“Become your husband—”
Alan drew a sharp breath at Diana’s proposal.
It meant that the two of them would become husband and wife.
He cared deeply for Diana, but that did not mean he wished to use her.
The seventeen years between them.
His responsibilities as a member of the royal family.
Whether a man like him was worthy of her future—
Every thought that crossed his mind was swept aside by the look in Diana’s eyes.
“House Gazard can protect you.”
Diana’s proposal certainly offered Alan considerable advantages.
The ducal House of Gazard possessed a powerful knight order. Its military strength, wealth, and political influence were all exceptional within the kingdom.
The present Duke of Gazard was Alan’s old friend, a man in whose company he could be entirely at ease.
Compared with remaining in the oppressive royal palace while fearing for his life, residence with House Gazard would undoubtedly offer far greater safety.
But those were circumstances that benefited Alan alone.
“No… I cannot involve you in my troubles, Lady Diana.”
“Lord Alan!”
When Alan shook his head, Diana raised her voice.
The anguish in it made his chest ache.
But Diana was only eighteen.
She had only just graduated from the academy, and a brilliant future lay before her.
He could not bind her life for his own convenience.
“Lady Diana, I will be fine, so—”
Alan’s voice stopped abruptly.
He had looked directly into Diana’s eyes.
Her large amethyst eyes trembled. Her pale-pink lips were pressed tightly together as she desperately fought back tears.
No.
He had told himself not to see her as a woman, but he had never wanted to make her wear such an expression.
Pain throbbed in Alan’s chest.
“…I am sorry, Lord Alan.”
“Lady Diana?”
Her sudden apology bewildered him.
Surely Alan was the one who ought to apologize now.
Ignoring his confusion, Diana continued.
“I am a dishonest person. I dressed my desire in reason and tried to bind you to me. I rushed ahead without even asking how you felt.”
Unable to understand her words, Alan could only stare.
Light wavered in Diana’s amethyst eyes, and a single tear slipped free.
“Even so, my wish for you to live has not changed.”
“That…”
She had said she used reason as an excuse to bind him.
Did that mean her proposal of marriage had been merely a pretext and that her true feelings lay elsewhere?
In other words—
“I love you, Lord Alan. I have loved you for a very, very long time.”
Alan stopped breathing.
Her confession was utterly direct and filled with feeling.
How could he remain calm when a woman this beautiful—someone he had cherished since she was a child—declared her love for him?
His heart raced, and heat surged through his body.
Even the refreshing breeze across his cheek could not cool him.
“Please do not give up on living. If giving myself to you will place you in a stronger position, then I will do so gladly.”
Diana’s sweet voice seemed to melt into his ears.
(Ah, I can no longer look away…)
At this point, he had no choice but to admit it.
He had undoubtedly fallen for this young woman seventeen years his junior.
“Please fight fate together with me!”
Her words were more impassioned than any proposal of marriage.
Alan had no way of knowing all the meaning they carried for her.
But the strength of the resolve behind them reached him with overwhelming clarity.
As Diana bowed her head and tears fell one after another, she heard the scrape of a chair.
When she looked up, Alan was crouching beside her.
“Lady Diana… I am seventeen years older than you. Are you truly certain?”
“Of course. I…”
She sniffled and steadied her breath.
Alan found even that small gesture unbearably endearing.
“I want you. I will accept no one else.”
Diana’s words were unwavering.
His reason desperately tried to hold him back, yet her feelings pierced straight through his heart.
“Perhaps I am little more than a child to you… but I have watched only you for years and years.”
Alan’s strong fingers wiped the tears from Diana’s cheek.
Her body trembled faintly.
“I knew that you cared for me. But I pretended not to notice because I could not believe it was something I had any right to accept…”
The words spilled from Alan’s lips.
The feelings he had restrained for so long gradually overflowed.
After such a direct confession, he could no longer turn away.
“I told myself again and again that I must not become conscious of you… Yet you continued growing into an ever more captivating woman, and I did not know what to do.
“I am not nearly as patient a man as you imagine.”
“Lord Alan…?”
Diana blinked her tear-filled eyes at his words.
Alan’s hand left her cheek and took the hand she had clenched upon her lap.
“How could I possibly keep myself from falling in love with you?”
“—!”
Alan’s lips touched the back of Diana’s hand.
After placing a kiss there, he looked up at her with his blue-gray eyes.
“Allow me to be the one to say this properly. Lady Diana… will you marry me?”
“Lord Alan…!”
Large tears spilled from Diana’s eyes once more.
They were not the restrained tears she had shed moments before.
They were tears of joy overflowing from the depths of her heart.
“Yes. Gladly!”
Alan’s powerful arms swept around her slender body.
Held by the man she loved, Diana closed her eyes and leaned against his chest.
“Diana…”
She opened her eyes dreamily at the sweet voice beside her ear.
Beyond her tear-wet lashes was the tender smile of the man she loved.
“Lord Alan…”
His large palm cradled Diana’s cheek.
As though melting into his warmth, she slowly closed her eyes—
and felt the gentle heat of his lips upon hers.
