Chapter 39 – Of Course, It Would Be You and Me

For a moment, Evelyn wondered if Axion was just teasing her but those crimson eyes of his were nothing but sincere, seemingly holding only truth. Regretting the unnecessary question, she bit her lip, pressing her fingertips to her temples.

“What exactly is the problem, then?”

Axion only tilted his head to the side as if amused by her confusion.

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

‘Surely not…’

It seemed clear now that he must be referring to the contract they had left unfinished. Even though they had completed the imprinting, they had yet to come to any proper agreement. Maybe it was the tension in the air, but Evelyn found herself swallowing dryly, an awkward expression flickering across her face.

A dry, detached voice came from the man who had been quietly watching her.

“You’re impossibly difficult to figure out.”

“….?”

‘What on earth is he talking about?’

Evelyn frowned, her delicate brow furrowing. Axion, however, only continued in that deliberately gentle, unhurried voice, as if it were nothing.

“If you had just told me what you wanted, I’d have given it to you myself.”

‘No, absolutely not! That’s not what he means at all!’

She shook her head firmly, recalling all the things he had done in the original story. He was mad enough to abduct a patissier just because the female lead once said she wanted some bread. As she wavered, Axion’s crimson eyes curved with a subtle amusement. Truly, he had a way of leaving people utterly speechless.

Avoiding his gaze, Evelyn collected herself and finally answered, her expression resolute.

“There’s nothing I want from you. As for that matter, I’ve been thinking about it as well.”

She had spent plenty of time pondering how exactly to handle the contract about the imprint.

Axion raised one eyebrow, as if surprised, and spoke in a low, deep voice.

“What you want is to break off the engagement, and what I want is to marry you.”

She wasn’t sure why he was bringing this up all of a sudden, but since he wasn’t entirely wrong, she gave a small nod.

“Yes, you’re right.”

“Then that works out well.”

“….?”

‘Works out? How?’

Baffled by her inscrutable fiancé, she frowned ever so slightly.

Axion, as calm as ever, continued.

“In any case, it’s not as if you have someone you have feelings for right now.”

Evelyn couldn’t bring herself to deny it. After all, he wasn’t wrong. There had never been a man who truly caught her eye, and in truth, just trying to keep herself and her family alive had been more than enough to occupy her mind.

“So, what is it you’re trying to say?”

She didn’t bother to hide her suspicion as she looked at him. He merely curled his lips into a faint smile and replied.

“Then, you’ll just have to keep seeing me until then.”

“Huh? Who has to see whom…?”

For a moment, she doubted her own ears and blinked slowly as if she hadn’t heard him correctly. Axion simply tilted his head and answered lightly.

“Of course, it would be you and me.”

“….!”

“Until the graduation ceremony.”

At this rate, it seemed Axion Valentino wasn’t just shameless. He might be entirely devoid of conscience.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

Inside the botanical garden’s laboratory, Evelyn gazed over the medicinal herbs she’d been cultivating and let out a long sigh.

“Why does Axion always seem so untroubled?”

Last night, he had simply escorted her home because of her family affairs, then promptly returned to the ducal residence. Yet even so, Evelyn had been so rattled that she hardly knew whether she was eating through her mouth or her nose.

She found herself seething with resentment that he could drop such a bombshell and then just walk away.

‘To think that, after so much negotiation, we ended up with nothing more than a temporary contract relationship.’

She couldn’t help but bristle at how casually he had proposed it as if it were nothing. Regardless, she had agreed to a temporary arrangement with her fiancé. Not that she truly believed it would change anything between them, but for now, she couldn’t think of any better compromise.

She had convinced herself that if things continued like this, he would eventually give up on the idea of marriage.

Muttering to herself about yesterday’s events, Evelyn shook her head as if to banish the thoughts.

“I have too much to do right now. For the time being, I should focus on my research.”

Pushing her worries aside, she carefully retrieved the Dirkworth solution she’d stored in the darkroom. With steady hands, she measured out a precise dose with a pipette and injected it into the stem of a plant whose internal structure most closely resembled that of a human body.