Kayvrant Green had always remembered himself as a cold and austere man. Except for the final image of him filled with rage and despair, the Kayvrant Lisi knew in her previous life had been like the wind of the northern ice fields.
But at this moment, the Kay standing before her was hotter than the summer sun.
Kay suddenly lifted Lisi into his arms.
"Ah!"
Held like a princess, Lisi let out a short cry and instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. It was the first time anyone had ever carried her like this, and the height made her nervous.
"You’re quite forward, Lisi."
"You like teasing people, Kay. Put me down."
"I refuse."
Still holding her, Kay began walking toward the main building.
"What if someone sees us?"
"Do not worry, Lisi. No one in my estate would find it suspicious no matter what I do."
"That’s not what I meant…"
"Are you embarrassed?"
If she admitted that she was embarrassed, it felt like she would lose somehow, so Lisi pressed her lips together.
"If you say you’re embarrassed and ashamed, I’ll put you down, Lisi."
"In my own estate, why would there be anything to be embarrassed or ashamed about?"
Kay laughed aloud, clearly amused.
"Well said, Lisi."
Kay did not point out that she had called this place “my estate.” Only then did the tension leave Lisi’s body. Kay was tall, so being held by him placed her high above the ground, but his chest was broad and his arms were strong. There was no way he would drop her.
Still carrying her, Kay entered the bedroom and gently set Lisi down on the sofa.
The sofa was still piled high with Nathan’s clothes.
"Change into my robe, Lisi. I will call a tailor, so until tomorrow it would be better if you wear my robe and remain in this room."
"Kay, I…!"
"I will do the same."
I am not a plant in a greenhouse. Do not think you can treat me however you like.
The words she had been about to say were stopped by his next sentence.
"I will also wear a robe and stay in this room all day. That would make it fair, wouldn’t it?"
Lisi closed her mouth and quietly looked up at him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It’s unexpected."
"What is?"
"I thought we married for our respective positions."
"No matter what comes before it, a marriage is still a marriage. And the fact that you have become my wife does not change. If you hoped for a purely business relationship, abandon that hope, Lisi. This is the kind of man I am."
In truth, Kay was not that kind of man.
Kay himself was currently surprised by his own behavior toward Lisi.
Only one female for life. Only my scent on your body.
What nonsense.
If his subordinates heard him say such things, they would laugh until their stomachs hurt and tease him about it for at least five years.
But…
Kay looked down at Lisi, who sat there with an expression that was slightly dissatisfied and slightly amused. Her silver hair fell all the way to her waist in a beautiful cascade.
She was the Flower of the Whitlow Ducal House, yet she casually wore a man’s clothes without caring. That behavior amused Kay.
It would have amused him even more if those clothes had been his.
‘An interesting woman.’
Kay liked interesting things. Lisi was the most interesting person he had encountered in a very long time. He did not dislike the way he found himself changing when he was around her.
"I will… change clothes."
At last Lisi spoke.
"All right."
"Do not look."
"We are husband and wife."
Lisi glared steadily at Kay. Even that expression seemed cute to him.
"Fine. I will not look."
When Kay turned around, the soft rustling sound of clothes being removed reached his ears. His hearing was several times sharper than that of ordinary people.
A strangely hot sensation gathered low in his abdomen.
Kay cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Hm. Hm."
"I’m finished changing."
"All right."
"You should change as well."
"I will. Ah, but you may watch me change."
"I will not."
Lisi stubbornly turned away. Kay could not help laughing.
"I need a personal maid."
While Kay changed clothes, Lisi spoke.
"Someone from a respectable family, properly educated, and capable of keeping her mouth shut."
"I will tell Jamie."
"And in a few days, Baron Alford Huchis will probably come here."
Baron Alford Huchis?
Who was that again?
Kay belatedly remembered. The man who had been planning to marry Lisi.
"That man will come looking for me?"
"For me. Or perhaps for you."
Even when Kay finished changing into a robe and turned around, Lisi was still facing away from him.
"I am finished changing, Lisi."
Perhaps thinking he was lying, Lisi turned her head slightly to confirm he was properly dressed before finally turning around. She stood with both hands neatly folded in front of her thighs. The posture was polite, yet somehow when Lisi did it, it looked arrogant.
"Why would Alford Huchis come looking for me, or for you?"
"He will probably say he cannot accept our marriage and demand that you hand me over. He might even behave rudely and refuse to leave until I am given to him."
"Hm. You seem to know that man well for someone who has never met him."
"I know many things."
Lisi pointed at the sofa. Without thinking, Kay brushed Nathan’s clothes aside to make a place for her to sit.
Lisi sat down without thanking him, as if it were only natural that he would do such a thing for her.
"How would you like me to deal with that man, Lisi? Shall I cut off his head so he never appears before you again?"
Lisi smiled calmly.
"There is no need for that. Simply make him transfer the Lavent gold mine. And then give that gold mine to me as a wedding gift."
Lisi knew Alford well.
Even if he learned that she had married Kay, Alford would not give up easily. He was probably staying at the ducal estate at this very moment, behaving rudely and demanding they bring Lisi back.
She also knew Brittany well.
Brittany would never accept the fact that Lisi had gained the Count of Green. Even now she was probably unable to sleep from jealousy, racking her brain to devise schemes that would drive Lisi and Kay apart.
Because Lisi knew both Alford and Brittany so well, she also knew the limits of their abilities.
Alford would definitely come here.
"A wedding gift…"
Kay’s voice turned cold.
Lisi looked up at him without the slightest hesitation.
"You seem to misunderstand something, Lisi. I have no obligation to give you a wedding gift. You agreed not to reveal that I am a beastman, and I agreed to take you from the Whitlow house and make you the Countess of the Green House. As far as I see it, that settles the balance between us."
"Count Green seems poor at calculating. What I hold is your lifeline. Do you not think that makes this marriage rather uneven?"
"I do not think so, Lisi."
Kay stepped forward across the table and lifted Lisi’s chin with his index finger. A dark killing intent flickered in his gray blue eyes.
"What I hold… is your lifeline as well."
Even then, Lisi’s eyes did not waver.
Even though the killing intent surrounding her was strong enough to tear out someone’s throat at any moment, Lisi showed no fear at all.
Kay liked that attitude.
But he did not withdraw the killing intent.
Within that pressure squeezing her throat, he wanted to see how far Lisi would go.
"What a petty man…"
Unexpected words slipped from between Lisi’s full lips.
The killing intent collapsed instantly.
The corner of Lisi’s mouth lifted slightly.
"I had no idea the great Count Green was the sort of man who could not even gift a single gold mine to his stubborn and greedy wife."
Lisi murmured casually.
Kay burst into laughter.
"Do not make me sound like such an incompetent man, Lisi."
"That depends on what you do."
"Stubborn, greedy, and now demanding as well."
"You will have to get used to it."
Kay’s eyes curved like crescent moons. He stared at Lisi for a long moment before asking,
"What do you intend to do with the Lavent gold mine?"
"After living a while, I learned that the world runs on money."
"How long could you possibly have lived?"
"Long enough to surprise you."
Lisi stood and walked toward the window.
Sunlight pouring through the window made her silver hair shine brilliantly.
As she walked, the hem of the robe swayed softly. Kay watched it in a daze.
She was only a small woman walking across the room, yet he could not understand why it felt as though the gravity of the entire world was drawn toward her.
"The Green family is greatly honored. Even without wealth, everyone respects them. But respect alone is not enough."
Lisi spoke while looking out the window.
Surrounded by sunlight, she seemed as though she might disappear somewhere beyond Kay’s reach.
Kay walked toward her.
"Lisi, what exactly do you want to do?"
"First the scorching south. Then the harsh west and the frozen north. And finally the prosperous east."
Lisi turned her head toward him.
"I will place them all beneath my feet."
Kay frowned slightly.
"That is quite an ambition, Lisi. Even the emperors of the Gabizar Empire have never achieved such a desire."
The Gabizar Empire was the most powerful nation on the Elereond Continent. Throughout history, its emperors had tried countless methods to place the entire continent beneath their feet.
None had succeeded.
Kay thought Lisi, who had lived quietly in the Whitlow Ducal Estate, simply did not understand the world well enough and had therefore dreamed such an impossible dream.
"Who knows? Whether the Lavent gold mine becomes a purse for my personal greed… or the first step to placing this continent beneath my feet remains to be seen."
Lisi poked Kay’s chest lightly with her finger.
Her pale violet eyes looked up at him with a hint of playfulness.
"If you are a man with courage, invest in me."
In truth, Kay could easily give Lisi something like the Lavent gold mine. Whether she used the profits to buy dresses or necklaces did not matter to him.
He simply enjoyed this meaningless conversation with her.
Kay did not believe her ambition to place the continent beneath her feet. Even if she used the gold mine for luxury, he would simply tease her later by reminding her of today’s conversation and laugh it off.
Thinking that, Kay nodded.
"Very well, Countess of Green."
"I will gift you the Lavent gold mine."