A Barbaric Proposal Chapter 5

※The Reason Behind the Desire※

The meeting had ended.

Fermos, as he had said, left with Sir Weroz to discuss the movement and redeployment of the troops.

Marshillow, who had to finalize the marriage agreement before Tiwakan could arbitrarily invade the castle, also hastily left the reception room.

A suit of armor-like silence pressed down on the room, where only two people remained.

Although there was a large table between the Tiwakan Commander and herself—a table large enough to seat thirty people—She felt as if she were being crushed by him while wearing nothing.

[Liene] "Would My Lord care to take a short walk?"

She stood up, unable to bear the suffocating atmosphere any longer.

[Black] "Anywhere will suffice."

Black mimicked her, pushing his chair back and rising from his seat.

Just as she was about to tell him to wait a moment, he approached her without a word.

[Black] "Where shall we go?"

[Liene] "I will show My Lord Nauk's Rear Garden."

...This man is too big.

That was why she felt as if she were being choked. If it weren't for that, there was no way to explain this tension.

She turned her face slightly away, avoiding him.

[Liene] "Wait a moment. I will summon Madam Flambard... Ah, I will call my nanny to accompany us."

[Black] "No companion is necessary."

[Liene] "I cannot. When taking a walk with a stranger..."

She cut her off.

[Black] "I am not a stranger, Your Highness, but the Princess's fiancé."

...True, that is the case.

She bit her lip softly.

The thought briefly crossed her mind how a barbarian could know such etiquette, but the doubt quickly vanished when he extended his arm.

[Liene] "...."

She lowered her eyelashes as if in resignation and slipped her hand into the arm he offered.

[Liene] "Ah...."

She was startled by how rigid the arm felt. When she stopped her movement in surprise, he lowered his head and looked at her.

[Black] "What is the matter?"

[Liene] "No, it's... nothing."

She pointed forward, as if to forget what had happened. However, her hand was seized first.

[Black] "The wound."

[Liene] "...?"

[Black] "It seems you didn't apply medicine."

On her palm, which he held by the fingertips, the wound from yesterday remained.

And beside it, there was one more wound that had just appeared today. A small crescent-shaped mark that couldn't hide the fact that it was a nail mark.

[Black] "What did you have to endure this time?"

As he uttered a slow question that didn't seem to demand an answer, he lifted her hand.

It was acceptable for her hand to be held. However, her hand touching his lips was completely unacceptable.

She also couldn't bear it when those lips covered the stinging wound with a smack, gently sucking her skin as if comforting the injury.

[Liene] "...Stop it!"

She couldn't stand it any longer and pulled her hand away.

If he hadn't been watching, she would have clenched her fist again until her nails injured her palm.

[Liene] "I am fine... truly. It is better to take our walk than to..."

[Black] "I am not fine with that."

The tender words, "I don't like you being hurt," sounded anything but gentle coming from the lips of the man with the beast-like eyes.

Instead, they felt like a breath-choking threat.

[Black] "Take good care of yourself. All your wounds will now become my responsibility."

It was ironic that the man who was most lethal and dangerous to her very being would utter such words. Just like yesterday, he was again a contradiction that enveloped her today.

[Liene] "...This way."

She was able to wrap her arm around his again only after resolving never to look into the man's eyes again.

After informing the guards in the reception room of their departure, she headed to the Rear Garden with the man she now had to call her fiancé.

---

Although called a rear garden, the place was merely large; it could not be called beautiful.

Since the drought began, flowers have bloomed briefly before withering. Sharp-leaved shrubs that require little water dominated most of the garden.

Was it too much to ask him to walk in a place like this?

Although she was careful not to let their linked bodies get too close, she suddenly felt embarrassed by the barren scenery that came into view.

[Liene] "...."

What if he thinks I deliberately brought him here to mock him?

But that was absolutely not true.

She did not intentionally choose a place that wasn't beautiful; most of Nauk was in this condition. Barren and dry.

The magnificent waterfall that branched into nine streams around the castle had long since dried up without a trace.

If he sees it, will he realize?

That this land was not worth acquiring.

— "Whether it is the Princess or this land, someone will desire it."

His words, which seemed to mock her thoughts, echoed in her mind.

[Liene] "No...."

She unconsciously shook her head and denied it

[Black] "No to what?"

Black suddenly stopped walking.

It was a mistake to raise her head involuntarily. Her eyes were bound again.

[Liene] "...."

Liene swallowed dryly.

Those eyes were the problem—eyes she could neither avoid nor face.

She had to admit that those eyes were frightening yet captivating. Perhaps she was afraid because she couldn't refuse them.

[Liene] "...Nothing. I regretted asking you to take a walk since there is nothing to see, which is why I spoke out."

[Black] "It is not true that there is nothing to see."

His answer slowly pierced her ears.

[Black] "Because you are here."

[Liene] "...."

What did his words mean?

Was he saying she was worth looking at, or that he had to watch her?

[Liene] "Then, I will take that as your agreement."

She moved her feet.

But at that very moment.

[Black] "Don't move."

His soft voice stopped her steps. As she looked up in surprise, he lunged, covering her with his body.

Thwang!

Thud!

She saw a single black line tear through the air and embed itself in his shoulder.

The black line was an arrow.

---

[Tiwakan] "Over there!"

The Tiwakan mercenaries moved swiftly after realizing that an arrow had just been fired.

[Tiwakan] "Don't let him escape! And capture him alive if possible!"

Watching the mercenaries move at an unbelievably fast speed, she realized that they had not actually been walking alone.

Logically, that was only natural. The man who led a mercenary army that had fought for over ten years would not lightly regard the danger that might be lurking.

[Liene] "Are you alright?"

She checked him with a pale face.

The arrow stuck in his shoulder could become the trigger for the destruction of everything.

It might look as if she had agreed to the proposal, but behind his back, she was actually preparing for betrayal.

Her head felt like it was about to explode.

Who?

Who committed this foolish act?

This was neither a revenge nor a rescue attempt. This was a path that would plunge Nauk into the abyss of destruction.

Even if the arrow killed him, the situation would be the same. If their Commander died from a cowardly assassination, Tiwakan certainly would not leave Nauk alone.

[Liene] "First... first, you should lean on me... It seems safer to go inside than to wait for people here."

She reached out her hand to support him.

Her hand trembled slightly. She gritted her teeth to prevent that trembling from being misunderstood.

[Liene] "This incident has absolutely nothing to do with Nauk. I never intended to harm you."

[Black] "...We'll see about that."

He said, staring at her hand.

[Black] "I think you need support."

However, the person whose waist was enveloped by a sturdy arm was her.

[Liene] "Lord Tiwakan, I am not the one who is hurt."

[Black] "That is what surprises me. Why the person who is not hurt is trembling as if she might faint."

[Liene] "...."

[Black] "Then, let's walk."

The person with the arrow embedded in his shoulder began to walk, supporting the uninjured person.

She wanted to say that she didn't need support, but her lips couldn't move.

The presence of the shoulder supporting her back and the arm wrapped around her waist was too vivid.

Why....

And why am I trembling?

Why....

Now it was not her hand, but her spine that was trembling.

The fine hairs on her body stood on end because the man's arm was touching her back.

She remembered the moment he hugged her tightly just before the arrow struck.

The sensation of the sturdy body hitting hers hard. The sharp feeling that pierced her skin at that time.

This trembling began from that moment.

---

[Flambard] "Oh my goodness, Your Highness!"

She came to her senses when she faced Madam Flambard, whose face was pale, after bringing Black to the reception room.

[Flambard] "What happened! Where are you hurt! Who dared...!"

[Liene] "Not me. An arrow hit Lord Tiwakan. Call a physician and bring hot water and towels. Quickly!"

[Flambard] "What...? Who was hurt?"

Madam Flambard looked bewildered, as if she couldn't believe it.

She felt a little ashamed because she could guess the reason. Since there was no time to explain, she urged Madam Flambard.

[Liene] "Madam. Hurry!"

[Flambard] "Ah, yes. Very well, Your Highness."

Madam Flambard rushed out of the reception room. She turned her head towards him and said softly.

[Liene] "You can let go of me now. I am fine."

[Black] "If that is the case."

The hand that was wrapped around her back disappeared.

However, she did not collapse. In fact, there was no reason why she had to be supported by a person whose shoulder was struck by an arrow up to this point.

While her mind was momentarily scrambled looking for the reason, he pulled a sofa in front of the fireplace.

[Black] "Sit down."

[Liene] "...What?"

She stared at him in surprise.

[Black] "As I said, you are trembling. Still."

[Liene] "...."

Was it because she still felt the man's hand touching some part of her body?

She forced herself to calm down.

[Liene] "I am not hurt. It seems more urgent to treat your injury."

[Black] "I know. But sit down."

After saying that, he glanced at the arrow embedded in the back of his left shoulder.

Looking at him, it was difficult to regard him as an injured person.

His eyes showed no emotion at all when looking at the wound, as if he had been pierced by an arrow hundreds of times.

[Black] "My clothes seem to be in the way."

He muttered softly, then knelt before her. Her body stiffened momentarily, but his intention was simpler than she thought.

[Black] "I need your help to remove these clothes."

[Liene] "Clothes... Yes."

He couldn't remove his clothes because the arrow was embedded. She quickly stood up from the chair.

[Liene] "I will get scissors."

[Black] "There is no need."

She had already turned away.

[Liene] "Wait a moment."

She did need it.

She needed any reason not to be alone, too close to him.

She had to break off this phantom sensation, where she still felt embraced by him.

---

[Black] "I didn't intend to get hurt."

Black, left alone after Liene departed, muttered softly.

[Black] "Fermos will surely nag."

Despite this, his expressionless face showed no turmoil. Judging only by his expression, he didn't look like a person who had just been struck by an arrow.

[Black] "...."

Black, who had closed his mouth and eyes, suddenly turned his head. His gaze fell on the chair where Liene had been sitting just before.

He stretched out his uninjured arm and tapped the chair, thud.

As if he wanted to confirm with the remaining warmth that someone had just been sitting there.

— "I am pregnant. Will you still propose?"

The words he heard yesterday tickled his ear, just like the warmth tickling his fingertips.

As he said, a bastard child was no big deal.

He never expected anything elaborate here in the first place.

He only took it because Nauk is his.

His thoughts about Nauk were the same.

This barren, almost ruined land was more of a loss than a gain to possess.

They must have been barely surviving by selling royal assets. Becoming the ruler here meant he would have to pour wealth into a leaky vessel, just as Liene did.

However, it felt annoying to think that someone else would take it.

He didn't truly want it, but that feeling of annoyance was what made him decide to propose.

After wandering the continent for ten years, it was natural for one to become sensitive to the situation and movements of various kingdoms.

Many men desired Liene Arsak, even if her lover was not publicly announced.

Among them, there must be a wealthy man who would regard Nauk as just a small appendage accompanying Liene.

Rather than giving it to someone else, he decided to possess it.

Since the goal was possession, he hadn't thought about what would happen afterward.

Having a lover or even bearing a bastard child was not a problem for that reason.

[Black] "But."

He moved his lips.

[Black] "...Annoying."

Even after possessing her, the Princess continued to annoy him.

The fists she always clenched whenever facing him, and the palms that left nail marks.

The lips that trembled faintly, the eyelashes that wavered, the face pale with fear.

Nevertheless, the fragile yet strong body that endured without ever retreating.

Thud.

The movement of his finger stopped. The warmth he felt at his fingertips had already vanished.

Suddenly, a thirst surged.

He wanted to clearly understand the meaning of this annoyance.

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