TYWML 10

Chapter 10. Duke Kassel Winkler (1)

May 10, 2024

The knight commander was flustered. It was laughable. Someone whose identity was unknown had appeared and started talking about issuing orders.

But what was even more shocking was that he felt like he had to comply with that request.

“Ten minutes.”

“…”

“I’ll give you exactly ten minutes. After that, I’ll use force if I must to take the lady back to the mansion.”

“Fine. Now step back.”

Only after the commander and another knight retreated did Kassel rise to his feet. He made no attempt to brush off the wet mud from his pants as he quietly proposed to Riena.

“I understand what you must be thinking. Even if I hold a letter from Count Dyke, it’s hard to trust me. And even if I say I’m the Cass you knew as a child, I get that it’s not easy to believe. It’s been a long time, after all.”

“…”

“But it’s clear you’re in a difficult situation right now. I want to do everything I can to help you. That’s also my teacher’s last will. If I can’t help you now, I won’t be able to face him later.”

Riena furrowed her brows slightly.

“And how exactly do you know I’m in a difficult situation?”

“Well…”

Kassel hesitated briefly, then answered.

“Running away from home at this hour and having knights trying to drag you back forcibly… it just seemed obvious.”

It was a reasonable assumption. Even to a stranger, Riena’s current situation would appear extremely suspicious.

“And of course, before coming here, I looked into House Dyke and you as well. I heard there are marriage talks with a viscount, but it didn’t seem like it was a welcome proposal on your end.”

“…”

“It may have been a necessary step, but I apologize if it offended you.”

“It’s alright. It makes sense. You’d need to know if there were any proposals on the table before deciding whether to make your own.”

She was being honest—she wasn’t offended.

“But still, I can’t burden you with my problems.”

As Riena remained hesitant, Kassel shifted his approach.

“Then how about thinking of it like this? Cowardly Cass came back to keep a promise from childhood.”

“A promise?”

“Have you forgotten?”

When Riena still didn’t remember, Kassel reminded her himself.

“Didn’t we say we’d get married when we grew up?”

“Married…”

That word was a trigger. A forgotten memory suddenly came rushing back.

‘If I ever get married when I grow up, I want it to be with you, Cass.’

They had spoken those words in a field bursting with yellow wildflowers.

‘Marriage?’
‘Do you know what marriage is? It’s when a man and woman promise to be together forever.’
‘But I heard you marry someone you like.’
‘That’s right.’

And then, confused Cass had asked—

‘But… do you like me?’
‘I like you.’

‘…!’
‘Do you not like me?’

Cass’s face had turned as red as a tomato—his face, neck, even his ears—as he stammered out a reply.

‘…I like you too. If I ever get married when I grow up, I want it to be with you.’

The two children had sealed that promise with a pinky swear and even made flower rings, placing them on each other’s ring fingers.

“But that was just child’s play. I had forgotten about it until now.”

“I didn’t.”

Kassel’s firm tone made Riena feel like she had done something terribly wrong.

When she didn’t respond, he spoke again.

“I understand why you’re hesitant to accept my proposal. Even if I have your father’s letter, you can’t fully trust me.”

“…”

“Then how about this: come with me, just temporarily, until everything is sorted out. You don’t have to stay forever.”

“‘Temporarily’—what do you mean by that?”

“Right now, you’re still part of the Dyke family. That means you must obey Count Dyke’s will. If they push you into a marriage you don’t want, you have no way to refuse.”

Riena swallowed dryly, listening intently.

“But if you marry me, even temporarily, my family can protect you. We’ll shield you until things calm down, and then I’ll send you wherever you want to go. I’ll even cover the costs.”

“So… you’re saying we should pretend to be married?”

“More or less.”

Riena parted her lips slightly.

“Why go so far? It’s a good deal for me, sure—but not for you. Why are you willing to sacrifice so much?”

“My teacher was like a father to me. You were someone he cared about until the end, and you’re also my longtime friend. Helping you is the obvious thing to do.”

“…”

She had to think rationally. Now that her escape had been discovered, secretly slipping out to meet Raoul again was virtually impossible.

That left her with three choices:

Get pushed into marriage with Viscount Rotman, accept the suspicious Johannes’s proposal, or go through with a fake marriage to Kassel.

Even if they had once been childhood friends, she still couldn’t fully trust him.

To be honest, she wasn’t even sure he was the same Cass she remembered.

And more than anything, she didn’t want to use this man.

“As I said, I can’t use you for my own safety.”

Kassel gave a faint smile—one that looked like he was about to cry.

“I’m telling you to use me.”

“…What?”

“I came all the way here to be used.”

His gaze was sincere. Even though someone could fake a look, in this moment, his eyes were honest—so much so that it made accepting his offer all the more difficult.

“Time is up.”

With Kassel’s prompt, the knight commander shouted,

“My lady, the madam is waiting. Please return now!”

Then Kassel turned to face the commander and his knights and shouted for them to hear:

“I’ll ask you again, Lady Dyke. Will you marry me?”

The moment of decision had arrived. Riena bit her lip hard, then impulsively answered as she saw his outstretched hand.

“Yes. Alright.”

The moment she said it, all the hesitation melted away, replaced by a sense of liberation.

“My lady!”

The knight commander shouted in alarm, but Riena ignored him and took Kassel’s hand.

“I’ll accept your proposal.”

“This is unacceptable!”

As the knight commander rushed toward them to pull her away, the gentle expression on Kassel’s face hardened in an instant.

“Did I overestimate House Dyke’s knights? Since when did a mere knight have the right to interrupt their master’s conversation?”

The knight commander flinched momentarily but quickly barked back,

“Is it not a servant’s duty to stop their lord from going astray?”

“Gone astray?”

“She’s accepting a proposal from a man whose name and house she doesn’t even know. How could I stand by?”

It wasn’t until then that Riena realized she didn’t even know Kassel’s full name. The letter had mentioned “Cass,” but not his surname.

‘I didn’t even know Cass’s last name when we were kids…’

Even with the letter from her father, marrying a complete stranger?

At worst, he could’ve been a nameless commoner.

But Riena didn’t regret her decision. Even if he were a war slave, she would have accepted him.

Kassel looked momentarily troubled by the knight’s logical point, then bowed his head toward Riena.

“Forgive me, my lady. In my urgency, I failed to introduce myself properly.”

“It’s alright. I—”

“Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Kassel of House Winkler.”

The moment he softly said those words, both Riena and the commander who had been about to argue fell silent in shock.

Winkler—one of the only three ducal houses in the Empire.

* * *

“Do you have anything you want to take from the mansion?”

As Riena blankly stared at the rain-soaked mansion, Kassel Winkler—the man from her dreams—spoke beside her.

After introducing himself, Kassel had suggested they return to the Dyke mansion and officially announce the engagement.

Since things had come to this, Riena agreed. The matter with Viscount Rotman needed to be settled.

‘And I need to give Lord Belliar an answer too. Running away without a word would be rude.’

The knight commander who had come to retrieve her had gone ahead to inform the household, while Riena returned on horseback with Kassel.

Despite her dirty clothes, Kassel had shown no hesitation in letting her ride with him. Seeing her drenched like a wet mouse, he even offered her his cloak.

Not wanting to refuse his kindness, she wore it as they approached the mansion.

Just as Riena was about to respond to his earlier question, the Countess of Dyke stepped out, accompanied by a maid.

End of Chapter 10