Chapter 42

“We’ve decided to officially start seeing each other.”

‘Y-You lunatic…!’

Just as Evelyn was imagining grabbing him by the hair and shaking him senseless—

“Pfft—!”

But the most shocked person wasn’t the Marquis or Marchioness Inevasel, but rather, Viaton. He was so taken aback that he spit out the water he’d been drinking.

Gaping at Axion in disbelief, Viaton stammered.

“Brother-in-law, are you serious?”

Axion gave a relaxed nod and smiled lazily.

“I imagine we’ll be seeing quite a lot of each other from now on, Brother.”

“Wow, now we’ll finally be a real family.”

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake.’

Evelyn, thoroughly exasperated by the pair, could only shake her head. She couldn’t say when those two had become so close, but it was clear they got along almost suspiciously well.

“Evelyn, is what the young lord says true?”

At the Marquis’s cautious question, her green eyes flickered nervously.

“Well… you see.”

If you skipped over all the details and looked only at the outcome, it was true that she and Axion were together,even if it was only a contractual arrangement. Evelyn moistened her lips, and instead of answering aloud, gave a small nod.

Interpreting her daughter’s silence as bashfulness, the Marchioness raised both hands to her mouth, her eyes sparkling.

“Oh my, truly, congratulations to you both!”

“Thank you.”

‘There he goes again…’

Watching her fiancé thank her parents with flawless composure, she felt her appetite vanish on the spot.

‘…He really does have a knack for saying things that are so easily misunderstood.’

She was mentally debating whether to applaud his acting skills when, all of a sudden, a forkful of food touched her lips.

“W-What is this?”

The culprit, fork in hand, was none other than Axion.

The gesture was so uncharacteristic of him that she nearly shivered from head to toe.

‘What sort of new torment is this supposed to be now?’

As she hesitated, narrowing her eyes at him, a graceful smile played at the corners of the man’s lips. The way his crimson eyes sparkled with mischief made it perfectly clear he was enjoying every second of this. Whenever he teased her, Axion always wore that same look of smug satisfaction.

Evelyn, barely managing to keep her shock off her face, muttered so only he could hear.

“Are you insane? Would you stop messing around already?”

But unfortunately for her, his eyes only softened, full of playful warmth.

“Are you embarrassed?”

“You…! You don’t know the meaning of shame, do you?”

She shot him a sharp glare, but Axion only tilted his head and replied.

“What’s so wrong about looking after the one you love?”

Her fiancé’s brazen remark sent a visible crack across her composure.

‘He’s as rotten on the inside as he is in that dark head of his.’

As Evelyn bit down on her lip in frustration, she suddenly realized her whole family was watching her.

“….!”

The Marquis, a bit awkward, cleared his throat a couple of times before assuming a solemn expression.

“Ahem, carry on with your meal, the both of you. But, in your rooms—”

“They’re both adults, I’m sure they can handle themselves.”

The Marquis’s gentle admonition was promptly cut off by the Marchioness’s sharp retort.

With their tumultuous dinner finally over, Evelyn grabbed her fiancé’s hand and hurried out of the dining room.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

The moment they entered the adjoining room connected to her bedroom, Evelyn shook off the hand of her so-called nemesis, who had followed her so obediently.

“Axion, don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

Even under her icy stare, he only shrugged with an indifferent expression.

Unable to hold back any longer, Evelyn pressed him again, her voice sharp with frustration.

“Why would you say something like that in front of my family?!”

“I don’t think I said anything wrong.”

Of course, if you only looked at the outcome, he wasn’t exactly lying. Still, this was nothing more than a temporary arrangement born out of negotiation.

Rubbing her throbbing forehead, she snapped her gaze back to him.

“Even so, how could you just blurt it out like that?!”

“Well, isn’t it better to be up front about things sooner rather than later?”