🌸Chapter 2🌸

The Day Before the Wedding

After the short chaos, Herina calmed herself and opened her eyes.

“Ares, put that sword down and sit here. If you still don’t trust me, you can keep me tied up. But I don’t think I’m the only one who has a big problem right now.”

Herina’s mind was racing.

If the wedding did not happen, all the suffering and insults she had endured would become meaningless.

No, forget all of that.

If she did not marry this man right away, how could she survive after her family fell apart?

But Ares still stood far away, holding his sword and watching her carefully.

“Come on! If you really don’t believe me, then just stand there and listen. You may not want to believe it, but you and I are getting married in about twenty hours. The Emperor has even approved our marriage.”

As soon as Herina mentioned the Emperor, Ares’s expression changed.

“If that is a lie, do you know what punishment you will receive for saying it?”

Herina stared at him with an annoyed face.

“You know what the Emperor’s approval means, don’t you?”

Ares’s face became serious for a moment.

Then he walked over and untied her hands and feet.

“Don’t even think about running away.”

Herina rubbed her wrists and quickly explained the situation.

“Even if you’re seventeen, you should know how important your family is. The Habinent family is one of the five Sacred Families of the Empire. And the head of that family is Duke Ares Habinent. That’s you.”

When she mentioned his family, Ares’s face became serious.

Even though he was younger, he had been raised to become the heir of the family. Reminding him of his responsibility was the best way to make him understand the situation.

“Why am I suddenly the Duke? My father was perfectly healthy yesterday.”

Herina sighed.

“This is the time when you were twenty-four. And right now, you are… in the future, seven years later.”

Ares frowned deeply.

“Stop saying things that make no sense. Marriage is already strange enough. And now you’re saying this is seven years in the future?”

Herina hit her chest in frustration and stood up.

“No! To be exact, you went back seven years into the past. This is the present! Only you went back in time!”

She wanted to shout, You’re the only one who became young, you brat!

But she forced herself to speak calmly.

“So everything you said before was actually true?”

Herina pointed toward a portrait hanging on one side of the wall.

“If you don’t believe me, go look at it! Look at how you will look seven years from now. And look at who is standing beside you!”

Ares walked toward the portrait.

It showed a much older version of himself standing beside the woman he had just seen.

“This… is really me?”

Herina walked behind him.

“Do you understand now? Do you understand how serious this situation is?”

“So you’re saying you are really going to become my wife… If I marry you, then this must be a political marriage. Which family are you from? Is this an arranged marriage?”

Ares was finally starting to accept the truth. His way of speaking had also become more polite.

“I am the daughter of Count Obelia of the Aden Empire. And no, it’s not a political marriage. To be exact, you fell in love with me. You chased after me very passionately.”

“Pfft!”

Herina turned toward the sound of laughter in shock.

“Did you just laugh? What was funny? I didn’t say anything funny!”

“Ah… I’m sorry. It’s just that this isn’t really the time to laugh…”

But Ares was still trying hard not to smile.

This little brat!

Herina was getting more and more annoyed.

“Is this funny to you? I’m trying to speak nicely to you. Don’t you understand how serious this is?”

Ares shook his head.

“No… that’s not it. It’s just that you’re really not my type. I was wondering if the twenty-four-year-old me had very different tastes. I couldn’t help laughing.”

“What?!”

Herina was completely shocked by his honest words.

It was true that twenty-four-year-old Ares had not fallen in love with her at first sight.

And she had been the one who had actively chased after him.

Still, in public, everyone believed he had fallen for her and chased after her!

“No! That’s not true! The twenty-four-year-old you said I was very beautiful! You treated me like I was precious, as if I would break if you touched me! You told me every day how beautiful I was!”

Of course, that was a lie.

Herina knew that Ares loved her, but he was not someone who expressed his feelings very openly.

Still, she refused to lose to this little brat.

“Hmm. Is that so? Well, I suppose that makes sense. The Obelia family doesn’t have much to offer. Unless there was some other practical reason, I don’t see why I would decide to marry you.”

Her husband had become a rebellious teenage boy.

His words were making Herina’s eyes twitch.

“Y-You half-grown brat!”

Herina finally lost her dignity as an adult.

“Are you talking about me when you say ‘half-grown’?”

Ares looked shocked.

“Who else here is still growing besides you? You’re a seventeen-year-old Duke!”

“Don’t you know that you’re much shorter than me? And you’re calling yourself an adult while getting this emotional in front of a minor?”

Herina glared at Ares angrily.

Ares also refused to back down.

“How childish. Fine. I’m the adult, so let’s stop here. What can I even talk about with a child?”

Ha!

Ares agreed with that too.

Herina was older than him now, but her behavior was even more childish than what he had done when he was ten.

Ares was starting to feel sorry for his future self for marrying such a woman.

“Just in case you forgot because you’re confused, our wedding is tomorrow.”

When Herina reminded him again, Ares turned his head away with an unhappy expression.

“You wouldn’t be making that face if you knew what our situation really is.”

Herina explained everything about their current situation.

Ares sighed, looking even more frustrated.

“Then what are we going to do about the wedding? Let me tell you now. Even in this situation, I have no intention of canceling it.”

Ares sounded threatening.

But to Herina, this was actually good news.

“Really? A moment ago, you said all of this was nonsense. And now you suddenly want to get married?”

Ares crossed his long legs and nodded.

He’s just as arrogant as his adult self.

“It was nonsense when I thought I wasn’t the Duke. But now I am the Duke. Surely you don’t think I can simply cancel a Duke’s wedding at the last moment. The Emperor has approved this marriage, and it is a marriage of the Habinent family. Do you understand what we would have to risk by canceling it?”

His tone sounded like he was trying to teach her something at every opportunity.

Herina was annoyed, but she patiently held it in like a proper adult.

“You’re probably the only person who didn’t know that. So, Your Great Duke of Habinent, do you actually have a plan to make this wedding happen safely? I’m sure you have some brilliant idea that someone from a weak family like mine could never think of, right?”

This time, Ares looked uncomfortable.

“Oh, don’t tell me you said, ‘We have to have the wedding!’ without making any plan like a child?”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan. First, I need to understand the wedding route. So, Lady Obelia, you will have to help me.”

Ares quickly began getting ready to leave the bedroom.

But Herina remained sitting with her arms crossed, watching him.

“What are you doing? We don’t have much time!”

Of course, Herina was also in a hurry.

But she would happily follow the twenty-four-year-old Ares, who would give her everything.

She had no intention of being pushed around by this young boy, who did not even know what he possessed yet.

“If you really need my help, then ask me properly.”

Herina smiled.

“And since you’re using your young age, try to be cute about it.”

“You can even call me Noona if you want.”