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“If I hadn’t put forward those conditions, you would have rejected it without any hesitation, your highness. For me, it was a bet to increase my chance of success.”
“If that was your intention, it was half successful. All the knights want me to accept Your Imperial Highness’ proposal.”
Khaled wryly smiled as he recalled the conversation he had with the Knights Order’s executives. But he soon erased the smile on his lips and made eye contact with Renato.
“But there are too many things that you are hiding, so I can’t just gloss over them because of the good conditions. Just like today as well

 There are many things that I don’t understand, so I keep wondering. I wonder why it has to be me.”
“What are you talking about

”
“I will ask you straightforwardly. Why me? Why did you choose me as your contract partner?”
He had asked a similar question before, but this time, his meaning was a little different. Khalid wanted to know Renato’s true feelings, not political calculations or deals. With that, he thought he would be able to make a decision.
“But I think I have already told you why I proposed to you, your highness.”
“There is a reason other than that, right?”
Khalid looked at Renato with a confident expression. He came up with this thought a while ago.
‘Kha, lid.’
‘Please, help me

’
Just before fainting, Renato was calling his name. The voice that made his heart ache for a moment was filled with a sense of familiarity as if calling out to someone Renato had known for a long time.
Hearing that voice, Khalid remembered how Renato was strangely welcoming toward him when they first met. Renato was also aware of his subtle conflict with Maryam, which only his closest aides knew.
It was not long before his strange feeling sprouted into clear doubt. Khalid wanted to know where Renato’s one-sided intimacy with him came from.
“I’m sure anyone other than me would have been interested in the conditions that you offered, Your Imperial Highness. And yet you chose me.”
A change of nationality did not mean a change in origin. Renato must have known that it would be less burdensome to hold hands with a suitable noble in the Empire rather than with Khalid, a royal of another country.
However, Renato chose Khalid. And he reached out to him. He said Khalid was the right person, and it could only be Khalid.
“I want to know the real reason why you insist that it has to be me.”
Renato gulped when Khalid stared straight at him. The man’s glistening red eyes were urging him to reveal the secret he was keeping.
I can’t step back here.
Renato raised his neck, not avoiding Khalid’s gaze. Now, he had to be brazen.
“You must have felt something at the last welcome banquet as well, your highness. Do you really think there will be anyone among the Empire’s nobles who will hold my hand?”
“That

”
Khalid muffled his words, remembering the nobles who secretly looked down on Renato in the banquet hall. When the man showed that kind of reaction, Renato deliberately asked further.
“I don’t know what it is like in the Khan Kingdom, but in the Empire, 20 is not a young age. Do you understand what it means that I still don’t have a fiancĂ© at this age?”
A Beta could also give birth to an Alpha or Omega by having a dominant Omega as their companion. According to the Empire’s law, Renato could not become the Emperor, but his children could ascend to the throne.
Blanche and Marquis Medus also initially tried to marry Renato early so that he would have a child that would succeed to the throne. But things didn’t go their way.
The nobles with dominant Omega children had a negative attitude towards marriage with Renato. Not only their families, but the dominant Omegas themselves were also too prideful to become Renato’s companion.
Born as dominant Omegas and raised with love, they were arrogant and had more pride than others. Therefore, they did not want to accept a Beta who did not have the right to the throne as their companion.
Of course, some people showed interest in Renato even under such circumstances. After all, if they gave birth to either an Alpha or Omega child, that would make them the next Emperor’s mother or maternal relatives.
But that also collapsed when Trudy was born. Since an Alpha like Trudy was born, even if they married Renato, there would be no benefit to them. Thus, Renato held his débutante and coming-of-age ceremony without a fiancé.
“You are the best person I can choose at the moment, your highness.”
“Is that really the only reason?”
As soon as Renato finished his answer, a sharp question returned. Khalid fiercely stared at Renato with scrutinizing eyes. The answer that Khalid was the best person Renato could choose was not a lie, but it wasn’t the full truth Khalid was hoping for either.
“I will ask you again. Is there really no other reason?”
Their gazes met in the air. Meeting the man’s blazing red eyes, Renato unknowingly seized the blanket. Facing the eyes filled with a determination to thoroughly dig out what he was hiding, he could feel his neck become cold. Renato felt as if a sharp sword was pointed close to his neck.
If it were you, I thought you would help me this time too.
Renato struggled to swallow the words that came up to his throat. After all, he couldn’t reveal everything here. How can I say that in my previous life, you proposed to me as well?
Suppressing his soaring emotions, Renato lowered his gaze. It was purely because of the memories of his previous life that he planned to marry Khalid by contract.
‘The King of the Khan Kingdom has sent you a marriage proposal. Does this even make sense?’
When he heard from Maximo that Khalid had proposed to him, Renato immediately knew that the man had taken action to keep their old promise.
‘I will definitely come back. Even if I can’t come back, I’ll keep my promise somehow

 So please hold on a little longer.’
Shortly after Maximo became the Emperor, Khalid was forced to leave for the Khan Kingdom. It was because Queen Maryam suddenly passed away. Before leaving the Empire, he asked Renato to wait for him.
And exactly two years later, Khalid, who became the new King of the Khan Kingdom, took action without forgetting his promise to Renato. He sent a letter of marriage proposal stating that he would like to have Renato as his companion.
However, in his previous life, Khalid and Renato never met again. The two never got married, either.
‘What’s your relationship with that goddamn bastard? Just what, that punk

 Fuck! You just pretended to be docile, how dare you!’
‘Just when? Since when have you had that kind of relationship with that bastard? You didn’t? Do you really think I will believe that?’
On the day Khalid’s proposal arrived, Maximo expressed inexplicable anger and terribly pressed Renato. Then the man couldn’t hold back his rage, and


Don’t think about it.
Feeling his stomach become hot, Renato bit his lip. Just thinking about it gave him chills and pain at the scar in his lower abdomen.
In his previous life, Khalid’s proposal caused Renato’s death. But Renato did not resent him. Rather, he was grateful.
He was grateful that Khalid did not forget his promise to him, and that as a result, he had gone back in time.
“Your Imperial Highness?”
When Renato’s complexion turned pale, Khalid had a startled expression. Renato’s cheeks, which had regained their complexion a little, seemed to have turned white again.
“My apologies. I was too agitated and was rude to you.”
Realizing his mistake, Khalid immediately apologized. He thought he was pushing a person who just woke up after several hours too hard.
“

I’m quite slow-witted, so I’m not sure what you are looking for as an answer, your highness.”
Looking at Khalid apologizing to him, Renato avoided answering. In his heart, he wanted to tell Khalid everything.
To him, Khalid was stronger and more reliable than anyone else when the man was on the same side. In the past, Renato also relied on his strength and received a lot of comfort.
But that Khalid was only in his previous life, while it was dangerous to believe in Khalid now. Especially when the man suspected that Renato was hiding something like now.
“Okay. I will not ask any more questions now.”
Khalid softly sighed when Renato refused to answer, then withdrew. When reflecting, he felt that he was too agitated today. He also had this thought before, but it was strangely difficult for him to maintain his composure whenever there was a matter involving Renato.
“Now that this story is over, I have something I want to tell you about your scar, Your Imperial Highness.”
When the talk about the scar came out, Renato’s eyes slightly trembled. The hand that had been stroking his scar a while ago and the strange ticklish sensation rushed to his mind, making his waist stiffen. Renato looked at Khalid with eyes full of vigilance.
“It’s just a scar. The big problem is hiding it

”
“Since you said ‘just’, you seem to be unaware of your condition, Your Imperial Highness. Then again, it must be the reason why something like that happened today.”