Robert was trying to say hello from the capital.

I muttered involuntarily as I looked at the shiny ring.

"How long has it been since we arrived..."

Suddenly, Ian's gaze was also embedded in the ring.

"You seem very concerned."

It was when I talked to him without thinking.

"Yes, Bell."

Naturally, we had our arms outstretched as we walked along the trail.

Then he grabbed my hand with the ring on again.

"I am by your side."

He spoke in a relaxed tone and even interlocked our hands.

An unfamiliar body temperature slowly intertwined between his fingers.

Despite the gentle touch, I felt like I was suffocating.

I looked at Ian with a surprised face, and he pointed forward with the tip of his chin.

"There, Castle of Lord Caronda."

"Ah."

A fairly large castle was already in front of us.

Now that I was going to meet the lord, Nick, I was going to pretend to be a real lover.

I nodded, trying to forget the sweet whisper that had stuck in my ear.

Paul, who was in front of us, looked back and said:

"I told you I was guiding you on a shortcut. You should thank me. If the other kids had come, it would have taken an hour more."

In fact, it must have been a path that people didn't know well since the forest trail was very isolated.

Still, I was not the type to praise children right away, so I deliberately let him down.

"About an hour, huh? ...It would've been okay to just take a look around the estate."

"But what you didn't know was,"

Paul said confidently, not at all dismayed.

"You would be a day and one hour late?"

"... A day?"

When I said that I was puzzled, Paul replied with a smirk.

"Yes. He told me to bring all those who were not sure whether they were qualified outsiders or not, to the lord's castle."

Paul was excited and continued to explain.

"But they look so closely that it takes several hours for each couple. So the wait is quite long."

"Wait, you mean he will see everyone all by himself, even though it's going to take a long wait?"

When I asked in amazement, Paul said coldly.

"It's an important job, so you can't trust others. Plus, the original lord doesn't trust anyone and he's a bit eccentric."

Paul tilted his head and spoke.

"He must have been very handsome when he was young, but it is not strange that he is single. Since he has a very special personality..."

In the first place, it was unusual to have two servants in this large castle because it was a waste of money.

"Did you say there are two servants? What kind of people are they?"

"One stable keeper and one butler. Both of them are grandfathers."

It seemed that no other lords had such a simple life.

When I showed a tired expression on my face, Paul spoke as if he was a bit sympathetic.

"Still, he's really good at managing the estate... He just seems to be under a lot of stress as things start to get weird."

"I see."

If the lord was not under black magic, it would be a bit pitiful.

If he manage the territory to the extent of meeting outsiders one by one, the human trafficking should have been caught, but it has been several years.

Paul led us all the way to the gates.

"Grandpa Odor! These two are strangers planning to get married!"

An old man with white hair sat in front of the gates, nodding, and then he looked at us and opened his eyes.

"Originally, he was a stable keeper, but these days he is also a gatekeeper. He will guide you from here."

Paul spoke quickly and disappeared without saying goodbye.

The stable keeper glanced at us and handed Ian a key.

"There is a lot waiting, so you will not be able to see the Lord until tomorrow afternoon."

It was until tomorrow afternoon anyway, so I thought I'd have to hold on to it, and I quickly reached out my hand.

"What?"

The stable keeper looked at my hand and asked bluntly, and I answered as if it was natural.

"You should also give me the key to my room."

The stable keeper frowned at my words.

"What do you mean?"

The stable keeper asked firmly, as if blocking the protests at the source.

"Now everyone is assigned one by one. The room is big enough for two people."

He said, narrowing his eyes.

"Right now, we don't have enough rooms, but you two can stay in one room."

"Ha, but..."

Ian and I had to try desperately not to look surprised.

Because the stable keeper looked at us with suspicion.

"You said you were going to get married anyways. It's not a big deal. You can use the room marked 312, and wait there until the butler calls you."

Moreover, in the distance, a child was fetching what appeared to be outsiders from the street.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing..."

I was forced to nod my head.

In the first place, I was the one who suggested pretending to be a lover, so I couldn't blame anyone.

"Unless you leave Caronda, you cannot leave the castle until the lord's permission is granted."

"Then are you going to serve me food?"

When Ian, dressed as a commoner, was polite, asked a question, the stable keeper answered bluntly.

"There is a kitchen on the first floor, so make your own meal and eat. We have prepared a lot of ingredients."

I suddenly had an ominous feeling. I intervened carefully.

"Then laundry and cleaning..."

"All the extra clothes are in the closet, and if you need anything, ask the butler."

After all, this was a place where even the lord took care of himself.

So we entered the lord's castle with only one key.

We entered the room marked room 312 and remained silent for a while.

As the stable keeper said, it was the perfect room for two people.

We were standing idly, helpless, and the door opened with a knock.

An old man who looked very tired looked at us indifferently and greeted us.

"You are outsiders who came to see the Lord. I am the butler of this castle."

The old butler continued to speak dryly.

"Maybe tomorrow afternoon... If you are lucky, you may see the Lord sometime tomorrow evening. So, if it's nothing special, just leave Caronda."

"Sorry. It's a big deal."

At my words, the butler sighed deeply, with all hopes extinguished.

"Alright. If you have any questions, pull the string over there. But I'm very busy, so please take care of it yourself as much as possible."

"Uh ...Yes."

"When it is your turn, I will come back to guide you. Then come on."

After facing the old man who looked so exhausted, I vowed never to pull the string.

The butler left the room with a blank face, and we were left alone again.

"Ahaha."

I looked up at Ian awkwardly and laughed.

I pretended to be his lover to avoid that moment, but I never thought that such a result would come out.

I was rolling my eyes about how I could ask for forgiveness because I had committed a crime, but Ian said with thoughtful eyes.

"The lord here seems like a more decent person than I thought."

"Huh?"

"He gave certain instructions to the person below him, and if they can't decide, he'll decide himself."

"Why?"

"It means that he will not hold anyone accountable when something happens. Even if he's busy, he will be responsible for everything. It's not comfortable as a subordinate."

Perhaps because Ian was also leading the Knights Templar, he had a quick insight into the physiology of the group.

Surely, if the knights of the territory had been instructed to 'let them in or out at your discretion', they would have been very upset in the same case as before.

However, by commanding 'If you don't know, hand it over to me', they became more comfortable, and Nick, the lord, became very troublesome.

For example, he already had a lot of outsiders he needed to meet.

"I was expecting something like this to happen, and the system was better than I expected..."

That was it too.

Even though there were only two servants, the division of work was clearly established, and each room was assigned a number like a hotel, making it easy to wait.

Of course, because the room had not been used for a long time, it was not in excellent condition.

"Still, I think he's a bit of a strange person. But why did you say two years?"

I frowned and asked what I wanted to ask earlier.

"We first met eight years ago. What context did the two years suddenly come from?"

"Didn't both of us become adults then?"

Ian said naturally.

"If you want to go for a relationship with marriage in mind, you must of course become an adult..."

"Wow... It's like letters coming out of a textbook, so that's why it's so uninteresting."

It was a moment when I thought there might've been a different personal reason.

It was then. Once again, the ruby ring, which was on our hands, glistened.

"Uh..."

I muttered awkwardly.

"He must be thinking about us again."

Ian was looking at me pressing the jewel of the ring with a firm look.

Then he sighed and turned around.

"First of all, you wait here. Just in case something happens."

I asked in a hurry as I saw him trying to go out the door.

"Huh? Where are you going to go? The stable man said we can't go outside the castle..."

"We should have lunch."

He spoke bluntly.

"I'll make it roughly."

"You?"

Was Ian Wade making my meal now?

I was blinking because it was such an unexpected situation, but he spat it out.

"Then, would you starve your lover who's been with you for a long time?"