After a whole week passed by quickly, Shin sat down on a chair, leaning back and breathing heavily.

When Shin closed his eyes, he could remember the first day, the scene with Kali when he proposed to her, hugging her for over ten minutes before he had to go somewhere else.

A smile appeared on Shin’s face, then the scenes changed. On the same day, he was standing in front of Peutoa, asking her if she wanted to marry him. Shin blushed when he remembered Peutoa lifting him up into her embrace while spinning around.

Shin shook his head, the scenes in his memory changed to the next day, he was standing in front of Azane. Shin’s cheeks turned red as blood when he remembered being kissed on his cheeks by Azane when he proposed to her.

Shin’s cheeks turned redder when he thought of the night of the second day he asked Zura to marry him, Shin gulped heavily as he was engrossed in the memory of Zura kissing his lips.

“Uwa…”

Shin lowered his head, mumbling in a low voice.

“Maybe Zura likes my taste…”

On the third day, he tried looking for Shenya almost all day, only to find her hiding in his and Aria’s bedroom. After Shin conveyed his thoughts about marrying her… Well, Shin could only remember Shenya pushing him down on the bed before her body went flying…

After Aria confirmed that Shin was safe from Shenya's reach, Shin did leave and look for Lia. That wasn't hard because Lia was always in the shadows near Shin. When Shin proposed to Lia, he saw Lia taking off her mask, only to see a very young and beautiful face. Lia had brown hair and brown eyes, but it was shining brightly in the sun, with tears running down Lia's face, she accepted him with a very long kiss which made Shin faint...

The next day, on the fourth day; Shin stood in front of Mekina asking her to marry him. The last thing he could remember of that time was her hugging him tightly and not wanting to let him go.

On the night of the fourth day, Shin did also propose to Murutha. He had to hug her because she was crying for half an hour.

Shin smiled bitterly as he thought about that, but even while smiling bitterly, Shin was happy. Happy that they all wanted to stay with him.

On the fifth day, Shin held to his promise and proposed to Lola. He couldn’t remember much of that day because Lola was hugging him from the morning till the evening.

Just thinking about that made Shin shiver.

Yesterday, on the sixth day. Shin stood in front of the room Eline was staying in. Shin could remember that a gloomy aura came out of the room, he was really worried about Eline at that time.

After knocking on the door, Shin entered quietly, only to see Eline crying in bed.

When Shin asked her why she was sad, she replied him like this; ‘Because I will be the only one left out…’

Shin couldn’t understand what she meant by that, so he sat down with Eline on the bed for hours to make her calm before proposing to her.

When Eline heard Shin proposing to her, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes in shock.

While thinking about it now, Shin felt nervous that Eline might have wanted to reject him. But, she did accept with tears running down her face, and in the end, sleeping in his arms till the next morning.

In the course of the one week, Shin managed to hear news from Aria about the returning civilians. Because there are limited threats along the path, it would require the children and elderly two weeks to return, whereas the fastest group arrived within a week.

Shin was hearing a lot of people in the city working day and night, rebuilding the houses and even half of the castle. While having his eyes closed, Shin could hear footsteps coming his way.

When Shin opened his eyes, he could see Aria waving at him with a smile on her face. Shin smiled back and jumped off the chair, running in Aria's arms.

“Mother!”

Shin said happily as he was hugging Aria.

“Shin, I got good news that I want to tell you.”

Aria spoke with a smile, but her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“What is it?”

Shin tilted his head, asking Aria with a curious expression.

“Your weddings will be held in two weeks.”

Aria's mouth continued to smile, but her eyes narrowed as she sneered deeply in her heart.

I will not let any of those witches take advantage of my son...!

“Oh, I remember Eline talking about a wedding.”

Shin said with interest as he hugged Aria tighter.

“Eline said that a wedding is the most marvellous day for a couple.”

If Shin wasn’t in Aria's embrace, he would most likely have jumped up and down in joy.

After having calmed himself down, Shin lowered his voice a little bit.

“Mother.”

Aria could hear that Shin’s voice was serious, therefore, Aria calmed her thoughts and gazed deeply into Shin's eyes.

“What is it? Shin, you can tell mother anything.”

Shin intertwined his fingers while trying to say something.

“Uhm... What about Laura?”

After hearing what Shin asked about, Aria was about to refuse without a second thought.

How can he think about Laura? I can’t believe it that Shin didn’t figure everything about Laura's betrayal because of that God.

“Shin, I will not tell you to do anything. I know that you understand a lot more than we can ever imagine, therefore if you decide to do something, I will know that you have thought it through.”

Aria spoke her mind without hiding anything, Aria would trust Shin no matter what.

Shin’s cheeks turned slightly red when he heard Aria say that.

I, I knew it that mother would understand me the best!

“It does seem like that you have already decided what to do.”

Aria smiled helplessly, she sighed deeply at the thought of it.

“Laura should be inside right now, why don’t you go and talk with her?”

Shin nodded before leaving Aria’s embrace, slowly turning around towards the castle before walking to the entrance.

After entering the castle, Shin started running slowly around, trying to find Laura.

It took Shin five minutes before he finally found a figure cleaning in the castle all alone.

Shin could see that Laura wasn’t dispirited and was working very hard, in fact, Shin did not see Laura take a single rest for a whole week. But, Shin’s smile vanished as he watched Laura’s back, he could sense the loneliness from Laura.

I have to do my best…

Shin took a deep breath before revealing a bright smile as he started walked towards Laura.

Laura heard the sound of footsteps behind her, she turned around with haste, wanting to know who it was. When she saw it was Shin, her heart started beating faster. Not because of happiness, but because of guilt. Laura’s face paled, but she respectfully bowed deeply towards Shin, not making a single sound.

Shin froze for a moment before he continued to walk, he stood in front of Laura. Usually, Shin would have needed to raise his head to look at Laura’s face, but, Laura was bowing deeply that even Shin had to lower his head to watch her.

“Why don’t you raise your head?”

Shin asked carefully as he watched Laura, wanting to see her reactions.

Laura trembled slightly, but she had already decided what to do.

“Young Master, I do not deserve it.”

“For what I have done, I do deserve death. Even if Young Master asked me to take suicide, I would comply without hesitation.”

Laura managed to speak without stuttering, but her body was trembling.

“Then, let me order you.”

Shin raised his voice as he narrowed his eyes.

“Raise your head.”

It took Laura a good ten seconds before she raised her head, but she avoided looking at Shin.

Shin stepped forward and hugged Laura tightly. He could feel that Laura was trembling. Therefore, Shin opened his mouth and spoke sincerely.

“It must have been hard on you…”

“You must have felt horrible. You had no other choice to comply. But, even with the risk of your own life, you stood tall and rebelled against that God.”

Shin breathed in and out for a moment before continuing.

“I respect your courage and I love your bravery…”

Laura had tears running down her face, she couldn’t stop crying when she heard Shin say those words.

At first, Laura thought that Shin would blame her, but Shin had only been complementing her. No matter how many times Laura tried to wipe her tears, more appeared the next moment.

Shin took a step back, staring at Laura’s crying face. With a soft smile, Shin opened his mouth and spoke.

“Laura.”

“Will you marry me?”

Laura didn’t know what to say, her legs felt weak and she dropped on her knees. Laura could only raise her head and stare at Shin in disbelief. For the past week, Laura had felt dread, but she pushed herself into continuing to work off her life long debt. But, when Shin proposed to her, she felt all her burden being lifted off her heart, she finally could feel that everything she had done in her life wasn’t for nothing…