I Don't Want This Marriage

Kenji carried me back to the mansion, and as soon as we got inside the gates, we saw Night standing in front of an older man. The older man looks like he's scolding Night, and Night's just standing there accepting it all. It scares me that my grip on Kenji's neck tightens as I look at the people behind him. They're all looking serious and nervous at the same time. Is that old man the boss of this place? His severe and strict stature makes him look like the boss.

"Oyabun, we're back."

The old man's gaze turned to us, and a smile with a look of relief immediately appeared on his face. "Noelle, my dear." He said, causing me to look at Kenji, but he kept his gaze on the floor. "My goodness, your foot." All attention went to my injury. That's how I got sure that my foot was bleeding again. This wound keeps on reopening, and it sucks.

"Bring the lady to Tricia."

Kenji nodded and went inside the house while I looked back in Night's direction. He's looking down while talking to that old man Kenji called oyabun. I think that means 'boss' in Japanese, so that supports my hunch about that old man being the boss of this place.

"Who was that old man?" I still asked Kenji as he walked into the hallway with me in his arms. How did that man know my name? And did he just call me 'dear'? His voice also sounds gentle rather than scary.

"You'll know soon. For now, we must treat your wound."

That's how I ended up in the infirmary of this mansion and when Dr. Tricia saw my foot, she was beyond surprised. "I told you to take care of your foot, but you chose to run away." Dr. Tricia shook her head. I mean, if she's in my situation where I'm in an unknown place with people telling me that my parents are dead, wouldn't she do the same? "What a brave yet reckless young lady you are. You're exactly like my nephew." She said with a giggle. What? I thought she would scold me, but she shook her head in disbelief.

"Your wound reopened, but did you treat it yesterday? It's not like what I imagined." I mean, it's obvious that would happen, but how did she know that someone tended to it? "If you did, then you did a good job at it. Not until you walked barefooted and splashed it with water." She added, causing me to stay quiet.

"Now, I need you to listen to me, Noelle." Dr. Tricia said as she brought out the medicine and some tools to use on my wound. "You also must remember." She continued talking and talking, telling me things I needed to remember so that my foot could get back to normal without leaving a scar. 'Of course, there's no way this deep wound wouldn't leave a scar.'

Even after receiving treatment, I am still curious about that old man. Who is he? What's his name? Do I know him?

"Why have you come back?" Kenji asked while we were on our way to my room. He's carrying me again in his arms. But is he really going to ask that? "It was a chance to escape from this place, but you came back on your own without anyone dragging you. The lady must still be head over heels for the young master."

I scoffed. "As if." Kenji might not be wrong that there are still lingering feelings for Night inside me, but it's not the same as before, and I didn't come back for him. "You people would hurt my friends if I went to them just like you did to my parents. Why do you even ask?"

I heard Kenji giggle, causing me to frown. "You're quite smart, young lady. I didn't expect that from you." Is he dissing me right now? "I didn't mean that to be bad. It's just, based on our knowledge about the young miss, the young miss is a carefree person who doesn't care about anything else. That's what the young master said."

What? Night describes me like that? How does he know about that when he always ignored me before? "Right, why don't you tell me now who's the old man." Kenji stopped walking even though it didn't look like we had arrived in front of my room. "You really won't answer my question, huh?"

"You'll know." The door opened. That's where I saw Night and the old man sitting on the floor in front of each other. "The lady has arrived."

The old man looked at me as he smiled. "Take a seat." Kenji made me sit beside Night. Really now? Why besides this guy? It feels suffocating when I'm beside this killer. I don't want to sit beside the old man I don't know either, but I despise sitting beside Night. "Hello there, Noelle." I looked at the old man, smiling at me with a soft and gentle gaze. It's completely different from what I saw before when he talked to Night in front of the gates.

"I-If I may ask, how do you know my name?"

Even if this old man might be a criminal, I can't talk rudely to someone older than me. "I am your grandfather." Huh? My forehead creased; what is he talking about?

I gazed at Night. He's strangely quiet. And then I looked back at the old man. "My grandfather is Giovanni Alcantara, and he's dead. You don't look like my pops Benjamin either." A faint smile formed on the old man's face. His eyes have a hint of sadness as they meet mine.

"I am Kenta Yamaguchi, Giovanni's friend, and comrade." He said as he picked up the cup of tea on the low table. "Your grandfather died young and left the young Maki all alone. That's how I became Maki's adoptive father." The old man said after sipping his tea. Adoptive father? How come I'm just hearing this now? I never knew about daddy having an adoptive father.

"That's" — I gulped and balled my fists— "not possible."

There's no way I can trust this old man's words that easily. If he's genuinely daddy's adoptive father, why would he let Night kill them? "My father didn't mention anything about that." This person might be lying to me just to keep me here for who knows whatever reason he has. "You're lying. I don't know you."

The old man placed the cup of tea back on the table. "I know this is hard to believe, but it's true. As you might already know, our group, the Yamaguchi-gumi, is not just a typical group." He said. Is this the explanation I'm waiting for? "It is one of the leading Japanese mafias in Japan. Maki wanted to cut ties with us as he didn't want you to live a dangerous life like him."

"Then why have you brought me here?"

The old man tried to touch my hand on the table, but I quickly moved away. "Your family is in grave danger, and I could not just sit and watch." He said. He speaks fluently, and it's easy to understand. "Until now, someone's pursuing after you, my dear. And the only way we can truly protect you is for you to marry my grandson, Night."

What? Marry? The one who killed my parents? "W-Why would I marry him?" I pointed my finger to Night, who was sitting right beside me. When I realized what I had done, I quickly pulled my hand back as I was afraid that Night might swat my hand or break my finger, but he just sat there. He's sitting still, making me feel awkward yet anxious about what's happening inside his head.

Could it be that he can't act rude towards me because of his grandfather? "Didn't you know how this guy treated me in this house? Like a—" Night immediately covered my mouth, causing my eyes to go wide open.

It's the first time I felt Night's hand on my face, but this doesn't feel good at all. Instead, it's infuriating and disgusting. "It seems like the two of you have gotten closer in the past few days." Huh? Closer?! I pushed Night away from me, and he glared at me. Why? He deserves it. Who would touch a woman's mouth without telling her or warning her? Even if you tell, you still can't do that. You can't do that to anyone, not just women.

"I don't want to get married to this guy."

I heard Night scoff, but it made me want to scoff at him too. "As if I want to get married to you." He whispered just enough for me to hear. This man used to look cool in my eyes, but now he's nothing but a petty jerk who's also a serial killer that I despise the most.

"Why can't you just let me go? If you truly want to protect me, then let me go."

The old man sighed. "As I have said, bad people are after you, dear. Your father asked me for help to protect you." What? My daddy did? H-How?

"How would my daddy do that? This man— I mean, Night! He killed my parents."

The old man's forehead puckered as he gazed at Night. "That can't be." He looked back at me. "Because your parents are still alive."

"What?"