CHAPTER 23: I WOULD LIKE TO BE YOUR WIFE.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the woman as she threw a stern, suspicious look at Dorian.

Noticing she was awake, Dorian uncrossed his legs and sat properly. He also paid very close consideration to her body movement as she tried to sit upright.

The moment she was upright, there was a hint of strain on her face. It was further proven after she gripped the side of her head while her head wiggled around for a bit.

"Looks like you haven’t fully recovered; you should take it easy for now," said Dorian, before standing to his feet and walking towards his working table.

He reached for the jug of water he had asked one of the maids to bring earlier and began pouring water into the cup.

Suddenly, the system alert popped up in front of him.

[Your skill analysis is currently tracking the condition of your target.]

[Target is anxious.]

[Tip: Prove you’re not here to harm her.]

Dorian stared at the system notification with suspicion. It had never shown him something like this before. He figured it must be linked to his analysis skill; still, being able to track her mood was indeed going to be a huge help.

Speaking of, he noticed his mana was draining a bit too much while he was waiting in the room.

His first thought was that Diggy was chasing away some intruders at the mining ground. Turns out it was just his ability to be active.

Finally filling the glass cup with water, Dorian turned around and walked back to the bed, making sure his expression was as innocent as possible.

"Here, take this," he moved the cup closer to her.

The woman was indeed thirsty. Even if she tried to be stubborn, she wouldn’t be able to resist it, especially when it was dangling in front of her.

"T-thank you," she showed her appreciation before taking the cup.

Following that, she stared at the cup weirdly, making sure there was nothing harmful in it, before she then began drinking.

That said, as she lowered the cup, her gaze accidentally fell on Dorian, who was staring at her with such a devious look it felt like he was violating her with just his eyes.

Panicked, she quickly dropped the cup on the side table and stuck her leg out of the blanket.

"I—I should be going—"

Before her feet could even touch the ground, her eyes turned dizzy, and she fell back down on the bed.

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at Dorian.

"W-what did you put in the water?" she asked with fear.

Dorian simply sighed.

"Relax, it was clean water. Geez."

"That is not what I—"

Dorian pointed, "You’ve been asleep for three hours, and you have an injury on your leg. I did help you heal it, but it left a toll on you. There is nothing in your water; you’re just tired, is all."

True, she could remember the spider beast scratching her leg during the attack. But still, how was she supposed to take him seriously when just a few moments ago he was staring at her like she was lunch?

"I see..." She settled back down on the bed. "I apologize for my rudeness. I didn’t ask for your name, even though you helped me. Though I don’t know how you were able to save me from spider beasts."

Dorian had his arms folded when he replied.

"The name is Dorian Aurelian, the young lord of this territory."

[Notice: The target is aware of this and is cautious.]

’Oh? So she must have heard of me then—’

Just as Dorian turned his gaze towards her, he suddenly found that the woman was kneeling on the bed, her arms in front of her with her head bowed.

"You’re Lord Dorian?! Pardon my ignorance as well. I was not aware I was in the Aurelian barony!" She yelled at the top of her voice.

Dorian didn’t give much of a reaction at this sudden turn of events.

He was still calm, but his eyes had gone completely blank, as though he was embarrassed for her.

Upon first observation, she was very pretty with a cold demeanor, so seeing her bow her head in such fashion...was kind of a turn-off.

"Yes, I am. I take it you’ve heard of me somewhere?" he gave a response, though half-assedly, as he wasn’t sure what reputation she must have heard of him.

The lady lifted her head.

"Yes, you did business with my uncle not too long ago regarding some dragon ores. Umm, you may know him as Gilbert."

Dorian was in shock, his butt cheeks pressed against the chair as he stared hard at the lady.

’That damn idiot!!!’ he yelled in his mind. ’I knew I should have made him sign a contract of silence. Is he going around telling people about the mining ground? I expected him to be smart about it. Is he trying to get others to get the jump on him or something?’

Dorian continued thinking deeply even though the lady was calling out to him.

’No, wait, I may be reading too much into this. Seraphina said he was her uncle. So if he indeed told her about the dragon ore, then it must be for a specific reason, and I don’t think it will be one I’d like.’

"Lord Dorian?"

Dorian snapped out of his subconscious state.

"Gilbert, yeah, I remember him. You’re his niece, eh?"

"Y-yes, my name is Seraphina. I am a trader in the Foriam barony."

’Foriam barony? It’s not too far from here. I remember my father tried to do business with them, but they refused him. The hell is she doing here?’

"Should I take it that the reason you were in Jilo forest was to come here, to Aurelian?" he asked out loud.

"Yes, I was in search of this barony when I and my hired bodyguards got attacked by wild beasts." Seraphina smiled. "Seems fate has a way of working out for me. The person I was looking for was the one to rescue me instead."

Of course Dorian was not buying her innocent act.

"Did your uncle send you here? Or are you here of your own accord?"

Seraphina sat upright, a serious look on her face.

"I’ll be honest," she began. "Yes, my uncle did send me here; however, he only asked me to observe you and make my decision for myself once I have seen you with my own eyes."

"Uhn? What decision?"

Suddenly, Seraphina took a deep breath.

"I would like to be your wife, if that’s alright with you."