I Was Told, “I Can’t Leave the Territory Management to You, Brother-in-law!!”, So I Restarted My Adventurer Life in My Mother’s Homeland – Chapter 28

Chapter 28: I Want to Be with You Forever
  Eld was lying on the bed in his room, gazing at the ring he had taken out of storage.
   
  This was the engagement ring he was supposed to give to Marie. It was inlaid with small blue and green stones, the same colors as Eld’s eyes.
   
  Three years ago, Eld and Marie had a request that required them to be apart for a month. When they parted, Eld proposed to Marie. And he wanted to hear her answer the next time they met.
   
  However, a month later, Eld received the news of his parents’ death first. Eld returned to his parents’ home without seeing Marie again and had to take over as lord.
   
  He reunited with Marie a week after his parents’ funeral. Marie had also heard the news of Eld’s parents’ death and came to see him after the funeral was over and things had calmed down.
   
  At that time, Marie didn’t give him an answer to his proposal. She thought that if she answered now, Eld would be burdened with unnecessary things. And she negotiated to be hired as his personal maid so that she could still be by his side.
   
  At first, Eld refused, but he gave in to Marie’s strong will and hired her as a maid. He told Tohlight everything about his relationship with Marie, and at that time, Tohlight also renewed his contract as his exclusive butler.
   
  Three years have passed since then. The mourning period had long since ended, but as Al had pointed out, he had been neglecting Marie because he was busy. Tohlight had suggested marriage to him several times. However, Marie didn’t say anything in particular and had always been by his side, so he had taken her for granted.
   
  “Thinking about it again…… I’m a scum, aren’t I……”
   
  Eld asked himself. Just then, he heard a knock on his door. Eld put the ring in his pocket.
   
  “Eld, Tohlight-sa…… Tohlight-san has gone home too. He said he’ll come back next week.”
   
  Marie said, peeking her face in.
   
  “Oh, yeah……”
   
  Eld stood up but couldn’t look Marie in the face.
   
  “Um, you know…… Eld……”
   
  “Wh-what is it?”
   
  Marie came into the room.
   
  “You don’t have to worry about what Al said. I don’t really care about getting married, as long as I can be with you like this……”
   
  Marie looked down. It’s true that Marie had always said that marriage was a hassle and that she just wanted to be with him. Eld touched the ring in his pocket.
   
  He heard a voice say that he shouldn’t propose again now. However, even if Tohlight and Al told him later that it wasn’t something he should do because someone else told him to, Eld thought that if he didn’t say it now, he would stay like this forever, so he gripped the ring and took it out.
   
  “Marie……”
   
  Eld took Marie’s hand.
   
  “I think I’ll continue to rely on you from now on, just like I have in the past. But I want to be with you forever. I want to protect you. So…… please marry me.”
   
  Seeing Eld’s serious expression, Marie laughed.
   
  “You idiot, why are you rushing into a proposal just because Al said something?”
   
  Marie hugged Eld.
   
  “I’ve always wanted to say it. If I’m good enough…… I want to be by your side forever.”
   
  Eld hugged Marie back.
   
  “I’m sorry…… I’m really…… sorry……”
   
  “Why are you apologizing? I didn’t say anything either, so it’s the same for me.”
   
  Eld took Marie’s right hand and put the ring on her finger.
   
  “Wow……”
   
  Marie’s eyes widened as she looked at the ring on her right hand.
   
  “I’ve been sneaking into the jewelry store, but it was for this.”
   
  “Well, yeah. I actually wanted to make it a red ring, but they said it was too difficult to make, so it’s a normal one.”
   
  “What kind of ring were you trying to make?”
   
  Marie laughed as she touched the ring. And she hugged Eld again. Eld tried to hug her back, but Marie lifted him up and threw him onto the bed.
   
  “Whoa…… what?”
   
  He landed on the bed and tried to get up, but Marie straddled him.
   
  “I came here thinking I’d comfort you in bed because you’re probably feeling down after what Al said, but if you’re going to do something this nice for me, I have to work hard, don’t I?”
   
  She said as she began to take off her clothes.
   
  “I thought your libido had calmed down since you didn’t do anything during the request, but I guess not.”
   
  Eld smiled wryly.
   
  “It’s just that I couldn’t do anything during the request because that baldy was there. If he wasn’t there, it would be the same as before.”
   
  Marie’s face drew closer.
   
  “You’re more of a goblin than I am, even though you call people goblins.”
   
  Eld put his hand around Marie’s head and pulled her closer.