IRMY Chapter 4

Melione, silently observing Yuro, who frowned as if he’d made a mistake and remained speechless, replied in a surprisingly light tone,

“I suppose I won’t die immediately.”

“That’s not what I meant… I apologize. I misspoke.”

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“It’s alright.”

Melione seemed indifferent. As expected, he didn’t seem to care about the gender of his spouse. It was understandable, as Melione’s madness was public knowledge.

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The madness of the Spioren Duchy was the result of a long-standing curse passed down through generations. Therefore, not only were heirs precious, but early deaths were commonplace, making marriage always difficult despite being the empire’s only duchy.

If it were simply a matter of dying early, noble families would be desperate to marry off their children to produce heirs.

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Once an heir was born, the spouse would die young, and they could use the young child as leverage to control the duchy as they pleased.

However, the curse on the duchy wasn’t so simple. The curse didn’t target only blood relatives; even the spouse would contract an unknown illness and wither away.

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The reason Clope Lechis’s death became an issue in the original story was that she wasn’t found to have died from an illness, but was murdered.

Until then, those who married into the duchy had died from illness, not at someone’s hand. Thus, it had been believed that “the curse of the Spioren Duchy also affects the spouse.”

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Of course, this too was part of the Emperor’s scheme, which suddenly branded the entire family as murderers.

Even so, Yuro always wondered why Melione hadn’t argued that he wasn’t the murderer. However, having transmigrated to a time before those events, it wasn’t something he could ask directly.

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Melione gazed intently at Yuro, who was fidgeting and smiling nervously, and spoke first.

“Still, I’m curious. Surely you must have some sort of ulterior motives.”

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“…”

“I’m being sincere when I say I don’t care whether it’s a man or a woman. What use is the gender of my spouse to me now? If I had intended to continue the family bloodline, I would have had children already, regardless.”

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At the Duke’s words, Yuro nodded slightly and swallowed. That was true. The Spioren Duchy had arranged marriages with commoners if no nobles were available, and if that failed, they would even have illegitimate children.

Twenty-nine was an extremely young age, but it was an exception in the Spioren Duchy.

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Therefore, the fact that he had no children so far meant he had no intention of producing an heir.

Even if the Emperor hadn’t pushed for the marriage between Melione and Clope, Ceylon and the duchy’s assets would have been transferred to the imperial family after Melione’s death. After all, there were no other branches of the Spioren family.

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The fact that the Emperor had forced this marriage meant he was desperate to prevent Clope and Gale’s marriage.

“You must be aware that those who have come to the Spioren Duchy haven’t met a particularly good end.”

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“…I am aware.”

“Therefore, I don’t want to deal with two corpses without a good reason.”

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“…”

“Now, tell me. What is your reason for coming all the way here?”

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At the direct question, Yuro swallowed hard. He had prepared an answer, anticipating this question, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

He had prepared it because, no matter how much he thought about it, this was the only way, but it was a ridiculous reason.

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However, he couldn’t just say he had no reason, so Yuro took a deep breath and spoke as if he had made up his mind.

“…Throughout my journey here, I wished for only one thing. That Your Grace wouldn’t remember me.”

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“…”

“Of course, given that our first meeting wasn’t particularly pleasant, I didn’t really expect you to forget…”

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Yuro swallowed hard as he spoke. Then, as if he was hypnotizing himself, he began to chant inwardly over and over again.

‘This is acting. I’m acting right now.’

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None of what he was about to say was true. It was all a fabricated scheme he had made up to survive. Yet, it was difficult to even open his lips.

In the end, Yuro picked up the cup in front of him and gulped down the hot tea. His mouth and throat instantly burned, and tears welled up in his eyes.

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Seeing Yuro roughly setting down the teacup, Melione frowned and said,

“It’s hot. Be careful…”

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“I fell in love with you at first sight.”

“…Pardon?”

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Melione asked back as if he’d heard nonsense, and Yuro, rubbing his throat as the hot liquid burned its way down, began to ramble recklessly as if he had nothing left to lose.

“Tha, ah… hot! I mean, I fell in love with Your Grace at first sight.”

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“…”

“You know what I mean, right? When you don’t want to admit your feelings for someone, so you end up acting mean to them? That kind of thing.”

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“…”

“That’s what I did. Back then, I was practically a barbarian, with no manners, so I didn’t understand my sudden feelings and took it out on Your Grace.”

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With his throat burning intensely, nonsense flowed effortlessly from his mouth without filtering through his brain. He was so out of it that he didn’t even notice what kind of expression Melione was making.

Seeing Yuro’s flushed face as he repeated his words of affections just like a parrot, Melione sighed softly and looked towards the door.

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“Hey, is anyone out there? Bring a glass of cold water.”

Shortly after his call, Raymond, the butler, opened the door and placed a glass of cold water on the table.

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“Drink this.”

At Melione’s words, Yuro quickly picked up the glass and gulped down the water. Only then did the burning in his mouth subside, and he felt like he could breathe again.

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“Thank you.”

Carefully placing the glass down this time, Yuro smiled sheepishly. The butler wore a puzzled expression, clearly not understanding the situation, while Melione remained silent, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

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“It may be hard to believe, but I’m being sincere. As soon as I received the Emperor’s edict, I thought it was an opportunity.”

“…”

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“I have long loved Your Grace.”

At Yuro’s words, Raymond lost control of his expression and his eyes widened. Melione, meeting Yuro’s sparkling eyes, sighed softly.

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“You came all the way here alone, just because you fell in love at first sight?”

“Yes.”

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“Even though you might die?”

“Yes.”

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“Ha…”

Yuro, facing the Duke who was frowning forced a wide smile. He knew Melione wouldn’t believe him.

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Everyone knew why the Emperor had arranged the marriage between Clope and Melione. It was obviously to prevent her marriage to Gale, making Yuro’s words nothing more than a ridiculous excuse.

But what did it matter? Yuro thought his excuse was quite plausible. It was a given that marrying Melione meant certain death.

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Therefore, Melione would prefer Yuro Lechis, who had been disrespectful to him, to die rather than Clope, with whom he had no particular grievance.

He was a man who would not feel any conscience, regardless of who died, but he would prefer it if the person he found bothersome was the one to die. In the original story, Melione mercilessly killed Yuro Lechis, who had barged in demanding his sister’s return.

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To him, Yuro Lechis was someone whose death wouldn’t matter. However, he wouldn’t actually kill him without a justifiable reason, so keeping him around like this wasn’t a bad idea.

Moreover, if Melione knew the Emperor’s intentions, this was an even better proposition. Getting involved with Clope would only incur the Crown Prince’s wrath.

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No one, not even someone on death’s door, would want to live a difficult life.

If Melione found Yuro’s reasoning unsatisfactory and sent him back, that would be fine. He wasn’t particularly attached to Norden, nor did he want to return. If that happened, he would simply hide and live out his days, regardless of what happened in the world.

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He might have to live as a fugitive, but who knows? Gale might find Yuro’s act of self-sacrifice, stepping forward to marry in Clope’s place, admirable, and leave him alone.

“So, Your Grace, if you truly don’t care who it is… would you consider marrying me?”

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“…”

“As you can see, I wouldn’t be welcomed back in Norden, and even if I did return, I wouldn’t live long.”

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Yuro clasped his hands together and put on his most pitiful expression.

“As an illegitimate child born to a mistress, once one of my older brothers inherits the throne, I’m as good as dead.”

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Despite his continued pleas, Melione remained silent. As depicted in the novel, he was truly a man without blood or tears. How could he remain so impassive in front of someone who claimed to love him enough to risk death and come here?

However, unwilling to back down, Yuro, filling his eyes with tears, cried out earnestly, conjuring up all sorts of sorrowful thoughts,

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“So please, have mercy and allow me to spend my final moments with the one I love, Your Grace. Please?”

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