“L-L-Let’s get married!”

The dungeon instantly went silent. I didn’t actually hear it, but it felt like I heard something soar. The fluctuating mana and Jung Ha-Yan, who was in the middle of casting a spell, went silent. Naturally, the rumbling noise throughout the cave stopped as well. The sudden change in the atmosphere surprised me.

Jung Ha-Yan returned the normal. She wasn’t emitting a dark red ominous light anymore, and her eyes were shimmering as her fluttering hair due to the influence of the mana came down. It was amusing how she looked like she doubted her ears. She tilted her head to the side, then revealed a look of surprise when she thought about what I said. Afterward, she looked as if she wanted me to confirm whether I had really mentioned marriage or not.

“W-What?”

‘Damn it…’

“What?!” she asked again but with an exclaim.

‘Shit…’

“M-M-Marr…” she stuttered.

Jung Ha-Yan seemed even crazier the way she kept mumbling, and it was difficult for me to judge whether I did the right thing or not because if I kept giving her carrots like this, she might get into the habit of creating an apocalyptic scenario just to receive more carrots. However, I couldn’t think of any other way to stop her, and if I used some typical line, the spell might actually fall on the city. I thought about yelling at her, but when thinking about the possibility of her becoming even crazier…

‘I made the right choice to stop Jung Ha-Yan.’

No, it was my only choice.

“O-One more time. Please tell me one more time,” she requested.

For some reason, I couldn’t say it again because it felt like an unknown nervousness was blocking my throat. However, there was no use crying over spilled milk, and if I told her that I made that suggestion just now without thinking, we could face an even bigger calamity. In the end, I had no choice but to repeat myself while closing my eyes.

“Let’s… get married, Ha-Yan.”

Since it would be a memorable proposal, I naturally got into the formal position, and the crying Jung Ha-Yan seemed like she was touched. Since I started all this, I had to fix it properly. Now that I thought about it, I remembered putting a few items in my pocket. I wasn’t sure if it were a coincidence or not, but I took out a ring I had acquired a long time ago.

“T-The way I look at you hasn’t changed. I… I just needed time to look back and think about my feelings for you,” I continued.

“Ahh… ahh…”

“I’m sorry if I made you sad,” I added.

Since I had said it without thinking, it would be difficult to fix. I wasn’t sure what exactly I needed to look back on, but even I thought the words I was saying were ridiculous. It was shocking to suggest getting married at a time like this, but I was sure Jung Ha-Yan would get emotional no matter what I said.

‘It’s better than the Sacred Democratic Country’s collapse.’

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t get away from Jung Ha-Yan. The risk was big, but the benefits outweighed the risks. If this didn’t happen, I wouldn’t know what kind of relationship Jung Ha-Yan and I would have in ten years. I had to choose between getting backstabbed or an ending where we would live together.

‘I made the better choice.’

I didn’t want to experience betrayal or get backstabbed. I thought this choice was more reasonable, but one side of me felt an unknown bitterness.

‘Still… this wasn’t what I wanted. Shit…’

“I haven’t been taking care of you recently, and I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry for making you feel anxious as well, but it was a period when I had to look back on our relationship. Thanks to this incident, I realized how precious you are to me…” I started.

‘I really wanted to look back on our relationship.’

I kept stuttering like Jung Ha-Yan. Even though I thought I was talented at lying, I really didn’t like doing this.

“Ahhh… ahh… Oppaa… Hiccup. Heuuuk…” Jung Ha-Yan cried.

“You can answer later,” I told her.

“No! No, no, no! Now! I’ll answer now! R-Right now!” she yelled.

‘You can answer later…’

I wanted her to give me some time, but she looked as if she would hang herself if she didn’t answer me now. Before I could even say anything, she repeatedly nodded while crying.

“I do. I do. Heuuung… I do. I’ll do it. I’ll do it no matter what, even if the sky falls down. Hiccup, hiccup…” she added.

‘Shit.’

After hugging the ring in my hand, she started bawling, and she looked both moved and accomplished. Before I could put the ring on her, she was already putting it on her left hand, and even though it was only for a moment, she seemed worse than the devil worshiper, Ito Sota.

‘Shit!’

“It’s finally done. Finally…”

Jung Ha-Yan looked happy. When I saw how she repeatedly nodded while talking to herself, I had no choice but to force myself to smile, even though my expression was different from hers. She didn’t have the luxury to look at my face because she was busy wiping her tears with both her hands. To prevent another incident, this kind of work was necessary. I had to tell Park Deok-Gu and Han Sora waiting outside that the situation was somewhat under control now, but Jung Ha-Yan seemed like she wouldn’t stop crying anytime soon. Whenever I thought she was calming down, she would start crying again.

“Heuuuuuuuuung… I love you. I love you. You’re the only person for me, oppa. Hiccup,” Jung Ha-Yan confessed.

“I love you, too,” I told her.

When she ran into my arms, my chest instantly became wet.

“I’m never letting you go—never,” she said.

“...”

I felt a chill when she mumbled those words, and after hugging me for a few minutes, she slowly moved away from me. She stood on her toes and slowly closed her eyes as if she was asking me to kiss her. In some ways, the scene did look like a romantic scene. Between the magic circle emitting various lights, lights in many different colors were shining down on us, and the puddle on the ground reflected those lights. Jung Ha-Yan was standing in the middle of this kaleidoscope of colors, waiting for me to kiss her. Those ignorant of the situation would think that this was a very beautiful scene, and to be honest, I was sure the events of today would be extremely distorted in Jung Ha-Yan’s mind. Others would remember today’s events as horrific, while Jung Ha-Yan would consider this moment a blessing.

The Jung Ha-Yan emitting dark red lights from her eyes and mouth just a few moments ago had vanished. Many married men and women often say bad things about marriage as a joke, but in my case, it couldn’t be considered a joke. This cursed body of mine had no choice but to get closer to Jung Ha-Yan’s lips to survive, and after kissing for a bit, I saw her swollen eyes looking at me. Naturally, she immediately talked about our marriage.

“Hiccup… W-When should we have our ceremony? What about our marriage license…”

“Ah, that’s—”

“What about having children? I-I’m okay with not having children. I’m worried that you’ll focus on the baby, b-but I can have as many babies as you want! We’re going on a trip right after the wedding, right?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

“So…”

“I saved a lot of money! Ah! Are we going to stay at the Blue Guild? Well, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m fine with any place as long as I’m with you!” she continued.

“Ah… yeah,” I answered.

“I think it’ll be nice if we lived in some place where no one can find us, but I know you don’t like that. Still, I’d like to live in a quiet place, d-don’t you agree? For our honeymoon, let’s go to the Mirror Lake since I have always wanted to go there. I want to ride a boat, and if we go to the l-lake together, it’ll be very romantic. I-I’ll also cook for you every morning. I-I don’t know much about this, but… I’ll study hard about the things that are done at night! I’ll study everything! Hiccup… I’m so happy. I’ll also attend cooking lessons,” she added.

“Let’s take our time talking about those things later. What’s important is that we’re both thinking about the same thing,” I told her.

“O-Okay. And—”

“And… don’t tell others for the time being…” I requested.

“W-Why?” she questioned.

“I still have a lot of things to handle. I want to be with you right now, but I’m involved in a lot of things,” I replied.

“What?” she asked.

“And…”

“Yes?”

“The marriage… I want to do it once I’m in a better position,” I added.

Since I started this, I had to fix it. It was the comment of a typical piece of shit who wanted to push back a marriage he wasn’t interested in.

Jung Ha-Yan was surprised for a moment, but she decided to be understanding. If we walk around and announced our wedding, I would be put in a difficult situation because I wouldn’t be able to handle Cha Hee-Ra’s rage.

‘It’s a typical excuse…’

However, it was the last resistance I could do. I was already in the highest position, so there wasn’t a better position I could work up to. Still, saying that made her understand that she had to be more understanding.

“I-I’m okay with that. We can do it however you want. I-It can just be the two of us doing the ceremony… I don’t need anything else. I-I just need you…” Jung Ha-Yan said.

“It’s because I don’t want that,” I told her.

“Still…”

“Let’s talk about this later. There’s no need to feel impatient… What’s important is that we feel the same way,” I added.

“Okay…”

“And it’s… a happy day, but there’s something I need to say about the recent incident. Let’s go back and talk,” I suggested.

“Ah…”

Jung Ha-Yan’s face turned pale when she finally realized what she had done. I was sure she had completely lost her mind earlier. I proposed to her without thinking because I was astonished by the deterioration of her mental health, but considering the fact that this would calm her down in the meantime, I couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t such a bad idea. It was also something she had been expecting for quite a while now. As such, she would naturally be worried that I would cancel our wedding if she made a mistake.

‘Not bad.’

I could control her with this, at the very least. The sweeter the bait, the more effective it was. The only thing I was worried about was when this bait would be no longer effective, but she should remain calm for a year at the minimum. Right now, Jung Ha-Yan looked worried.

‘Regarding her responsibility for the recent incident.’

I was certain she was thinking about it. The incident occurred because she was worked up and went on a rampage, but she wasn’t dumb enough to not realize the seriousness of the recent incident. Earlier, she looked like a complete psycho, but after suggesting that we get married, she looked happy as if she had obtained the world. But right now, she looked like a puppy that got drenched in the rain. Jung Ha-Yan looked more nervous than I thought.

She started talking, “O-Oppa…”

“...?”

“I-I-I think someone’s here,” she stuttered.

Jung Ha-Yan’s pale face looked as if she was asking me what we should do. Unfortunately, before I could thoroughly fix this internal issue, some external issues came up.

“Oh, man…” I muttered.