CH 16.2

It was kind of him to procure a good carriage just for her entirely, but somehow it made her feel uncomfortable.

If it’s this high-end,  he could have only bought them at the foreign carriage shops at the capital.

Such places are difficult to identify since they only operate on a thorough reservation system.

Just because he had money, he couldn’t buy five top-notch carriages in a day or two.

“My father said he had waited for a year to get the foreign carriage he had.”

Of course, Cade was of a different rank, so it shouldn’t have taken  him that long to get them.

Come to think of it.

She clearly remembered Cade telling his men to bring the carriage he had prepared.

When exactly did they prepare these carriages?

Something flashed through her mind.

That had happened before Cherryl announced her willingness to accept his marriage proposal.

“It’s as if you knew this would happen.”

“…….”

“Were you planning to abduct me in the first place?”

Cade lifted one eyebrow.

“Abduction. You picked the wrong word.”

“Then what?”

“How about a willing companion? I was planning to convince you so that I could bring you with me.”

She couldn’t believe he had prepared a top-notch carriage for the abduction and asked her for permission, afterward.

How kind of her abductor to plan this well because she fell right into his trap!

Now, Cherryl felt like she was exposed to melted ice cream.

Not knowing what to say, she scooted away from him.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, Your Grace. What’s the point of asking me to marry you if you’re just going to——”

She found it hard to understand why a young knight with huge wealth wanted to possess her when she had nothing to brag about.

As Cherryl stared into space, contemplating, Cade spoke, “Do you still want to marry me, Lady Cherryl?”

She shook her head slowly. “It was my choice, Your Grace. I’ll take responsibility for it.”

Cade was the only way out of that beggar’s mansion and she didn’t intend to argue with him about this anymore.

“Actually, my father and my stepmother planned to sell me to a strange old man. That is why I wanted to marry you, instead.”

Cade looked at Cherryl without saying a word.

It was embarrassing to tell him straight up that she almost married a bald grandpa.

She would also feel disgraced once Cade knew her parents had done such a sinister thing for a few pennies.

Cherryl brushed the hair out of her cheek, trying to avoid Cade’s glare as he continued to listen.

“I feel glad that I had accomplished my mission without getting blood on my hands.” He said in a low voice. “I predicted this wouldn’t end well but fortunately, no one was hurt. It’s all thanks to you, Lady Cherryl.” He said calmly despite telling her that he could have killed or seriously harmed people earlier.

Eyes widening in shock, Cherryl immediately shut her mouth.

Cade smiled.

“You prefer honest men, so I’m telling you the truth.”

She was already in a muddle when she got out of the mansion she had spent her entire life in.

However, Cherryl’s heart had beat faster because of this mysterious man.

“Do you mind me saying that a lying husband is troublesome?”

If it wasn’t, this couldn’t have happened.

He could have fumbled or lied because he made a bad impression.

Cherryl wondered if he could tell her easily.

“You don’t need to be bothered.”

Cade said with a good-natured chuckle. “I promised you, didn’t I? I’ll be an honest husband.”

His earlobes reddened once again if she wasn’t mistaken.

“Why are you blushing when you said that, Your Grace? It wasn’t like you want to marry me because you love me.”

How did this cliché moment manage to soften the awkwardness between them?

He was making her shy as well.

“I don’t know.”

Cherryl lowered her head to cover her flushed cheeks.

A breathtaking time had passed and she had no idea how long they had been on the road since then.

The carriage did not stop by any city as they drove through between middle and high speed.

It wasn’t until the sun went down that Cherryl’s tension eased.

She wanted to rest but she couldn’t.

Just as she was feeling distraught, a low voice spoke to her.

“It’s a long way to Carlsvik, Lady Cherryl. You should get some sleep first.”

She watched his large hand brush against the ceiling as he grabbed something to turn the lights off inside the carriage.

Cherryl had dozed off in secret so how did he know?

Cade’s senses must have been as alert as an animal’s.

Her eyes drifted close and she felt a blanket covering her limp figure.

Cade observed Cherryl in silence as she fell asleep in his arms.

She was a strange woman.

She was always on high alert but now she had fallen asleep while shaking her head back and forth despite being in an enclosed space with a strong man.

Lady Cherryl’s stiff neck had also caused her to groan before she dozed off again.

Cade thought about making a simple bed by pulling a pedestal under the seat to make her feel more comfortable but he decided to leave it alone because  his head was also shaking so much from the carriage’s motion.

Instead, Cade  pulled her head carefully and let her left cheek rest against his shoulder.

“Well…”

Then, she dug into Cade’s chest while letting out a soft moan.

The Duke tensed from the sudden contact.

It wasn’t that it was bad.

He was trying hard to suppress his desire of petting the woman’s hair and holding her petite figure crumpled against him in the moonlight.

It was his darkest obsession.

Wasn’t she scared of him?

It wasn’t her intention to hug her.

He didn’t hate it, but he also didn’t want to be accused of touching an unconscious woman.

Suddenly, the message she told her maidservant came to mind.

“I had to leave this place because I had no choice.”

His sensitive hearing caught her voice from upstairs at once.

“I had no choice.”

The woman who helped him achieve breakthroughs and overcome his hopeless life in the gutter only married him because she had no choice.

“I don’t feel very good.”

Still, there was no way to stop his affection from soaring like crazy.

“Cherryl.” He whispered her name gently as he watched the sleeping woman rest her cheek against his chest.

A smile of deep satisfaction spread over Cade’s lips.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t exist in her memory now.

He was confident that he could fill her mind with new ones once they were married shortly.

Cade grazed Cherryl’s hair with his fingers as his chuckle scattered in the breeze.

At this moment, he felt like he had the whole world at his feet.