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Chapter 5………………………………………………………………..
“I’ll believe that you are the head of Temno. But how can you guarantee you won’t kill me?”
After seemingly finishing his own confirmation, the Grand Duke spoke. However, the sword aimed at Melina remained unchanged.
Has he been targeted by assassins so many times? Otherwise, there was no reason for him to be this wary.
“If I had intended to kill you, I could have done it even three days ago.”
“Back then, there weren’t many witnesses.”
“They’re my subordinates anyway. Besides, dealing with the knights your Highness had hidden around the auction house would be an easy task for me.”
At her mention of the hidden knights, the Grand Duke visibly flinched.
“Then how should I interpret this late-night break-in?”
“Your Highness kept refusing my requests for an audience, so I had no choice.”
“When did you ever make such a request? Do you think such lies will work on me?”
“How could I request an audience under my own name? You know what kind of consequences would follow if it became known that I, officially, visited Your Highness.”
“Then under what name did you request it?”
“We submitted it under the merchant guild affiliated with us.”
“Haa… and how am I supposed to connect that to you?”
The Grand Duke sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair.
“I met you three days ago, and you knew I was here. I thought you would at least deduce that much.”
It was a bit of a stretch. But what else was she supposed to do?
A Temno merchant group that never usually visited had requested an audience, and around the same time, the head of Temno was in the ducal territory. Wasn’t it natural to suspect something?
“I had no intention of getting close to Temno, nor do I want to. So I didn’t suspect anything.”
His rejection of Temno seemed stronger than expected, which made things difficult.
From now on, she had to bring him to her side, but it was already an obstacle from the start.
“You’ll want to be close from now on.”
“There’s no way.”
The Grand Duke scoffed, and Melina, who was about to retort, suddenly fell silent at an unfamiliar presence.
“Your Highness, we’ll discuss this later.”
“What are you—!”
The Grand Duke, about to reprimand her, also stopped. He felt it too.
“Since I committed the discourtesy of visiting at such a late hour, allow me to take care of this for you.”
“How do I know whether you’re on their side or not?”
Seeing that he still did not fully trust her, Melina clicked her tongue.
“Then test both. Deal with them and also keep watching me. If I may offer advice, it would be easier for you to just monitor me alone.”
Annoyed and irritated, she spoke without concern for making a good impression. Then she moved instantly.
Before the Grand Duke could even lower his sword, she had already moved; the blade barely grazed her neck.
The hidden throwing needles on Melina’s fingers flew out in an instant, embedding themselves precisely in the assassins’ throats.
“Ghk!”
As they collapsed, another needle left her hand and struck the remaining assassin’s leg.
Thud!
He fell, the sound echoing loudly. Immediately after, Melina lit a candle, illuminating the room.
“I am Bertha Monmouth, the head of Temno. It is a pleasure to formally meet you.”
She bowed, revealing her vivid red hair that seemed to burn as brightly as the candle flame itself.
At the slave auction house, she had spoken informally because the Grand Duke had been disguised as a knight, but now the situation was different.
He was royalty. Moreover, she had come to negotiate; there was no need to provoke him unnecessarily.
The Grand Duke slowly shifted his gaze from the dead assassins to Melina.
His silver-gray eyes lingered on her red hair, then slid down to her face and stopped at the blood on her neck.
When he remained silent, Melina straightened and met his gaze directly.
Wearing only a silk robe over loose trousers, her firm figure was partially visible. But what caught his attention were not her curves, but the scars above them.
“I left one alive in case you doubted me. You may interrogate him.”
She dragged the assassin before the Grand Duke and made him kneel.
“Never mind. I already know who is behind this.”
The Grand Duke walked forward and killed the assassin with a single swing of his sword.
At his words, Melina’s eyes sharpened.
It seemed she had gained an advantage.
“Have your misunderstandings about me been cleared now?”
The Grand Duke’s silver eyes looking at her held complex emotions.
After staring at her for a moment, he reached out and gently cupped her neck.
Though his touch was careful, the wound stung, and she frowned slightly. His eyes darkened.
“Let’s treat this first.”
“I’m fine. It’s nothing serious.”
As Melina gently pulled his hand away, his brows furrowed in displeasure.
“Tend to your injuries first. Otherwise, you’ll have to leave immediately.”
He was a man whose intentions were difficult to read.
Since she couldn’t leave until the negotiation succeeded, she had no choice but to comply.
Suppressing a sigh, she sat down. He carefully applied medicine to her wound.
The suddenly close distance was suffocating. His breath and touch on her neck made her unusually sensitive.
Her face felt strangely hot, so she turned her head slightly.
After he finished bandaging her wound meticulously and stepped back, she could finally breathe more easily.
“Thank you for treating me.”
“I apologize. I didn’t expect you to move so quickly.”
She hadn’t expected an apology, so Melina’s eyes widened slightly.
His softened attitude compared to when she first arrived eased her tension a little.
“Do you trust me now?”
“Not trust… more like I’m withholding judgment. I don’t know you well enough yet.”
She already knew he was not an easy man. Still, this was progress.
“I’ll let go of the discourtesy of breaking in since I just helped you with those assassins.”
“It wasn’t a pleasant visit, but now that I’ve heard the circumstances, I’ll let it pass.”
“Other than Temno members, you are the only one who has seen my face. Even within Temno, only my closest aides know what I look like.”
She was implying that revealing this much meant she wanted his trust.
The Grand Duke, surprised, widened his eyes slightly. Then he understood her intent and nodded seriously.
“I will keep your secret.”
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t just because he was the only heir to the throne that she had chosen him. It was because he was someone who understood trust.
Unlike the Emperor, who smiled in front and struck from behind.
“Does this happen often?”
From how he had immediately assumed she was an assassin target, and how he remained suspicious even after learning she was Temno’s head, she could guess the answer.
“Almost every day.”
He answered calmly, but exhaustion lingered in his eyes. Seeing him like that made her feel strangely subdued.
“More importantly, what is your purpose in coming here?”
Seeing that he did not want to continue the topic, he changed it.
“I came to propose a deal.”
“A deal? To me? From the great head of Temno?”
He curled his lips slightly.
“To be precise… I came to propose marriage.”
“…What?”
His cold, sharp expression turned into one of complete confusion.
“Marriage. You are unmarried, aren’t you?”
“Are you joking?”
“Joking? I am serious. I am proposing a transaction. If the price of marriage is giving you the throne, would that interest you?”
The Grand Duke blinked blankly, then glared at her fiercely.
“Did the Emperor send you? To provoke me into rebellion?”
“Of course not. I simply have a debt to repay to the Emperor, and I am asking for your help.”
At the mention of the Emperor, a sharp glint flashed in her eyes. The Grand Duke did not miss it.
“My goal is to depose the current Emperor. Someone must take the throne afterward. That is why I came to you.”
As expected of the ruler of the underworld, arrogance and composure seeped from her.
“I believe there is no one more suited to the throne than you.”
“Ha. You speak as if you can replace the Emperor whenever you want.”
“Do you think I can’t? You still don’t understand the power of Temno.”
As she shrugged and smiled faintly, the Grand Duke’s expression darkened.
“If you think you can joke with me just because you are Temno’s head, I won’t hold back anymore.”
“Yes, I am the head of Temno. You should understand the weight of my words, Your Highness. Or am I wrong?”
She erased her smile and looked directly at him.
The heavy pressure in her deep green eyes made his aggressive aura subside.
“I revealed my identity and showed my face to you personally. Do you still think I’m joking?”
The Grand Duke looked at her in silence, as if measuring her sincerity.
After a moment, he spoke.
“Fine. Let’s assume your proposal is sincere.”
Just when she thought the conversation might finally proceed, his next words made her click her tongue softly.
“But do you really think I will accept that proposal? I have no intention of marrying. Not you, not anyone.”
“Is there someone you like?”
Royal marriages were usually early. Even his younger brother, the Emperor, had married at seventeen.
At twenty-six, his unmarried status was unusual in royal history.
So she asked if he had a lover.
“I don’t have such luxuries. Can’t you tell?”
He gave a self-mocking smile. Melina, on the other hand, felt relieved inwardly.
Given her past—where the Emperor had killed her due to jealousy over a lover—this mattered.
“No romantic partner, then everything is perfect.”
“You won’t be able to delay marriage forever. Do you think the Emperor will allow it?”
The Grand Duke had no answer.
“He will be anxious whether you marry or not. Unless you marry a woman of his choosing.”
“I know.”
He sighed.
“The Emperor will pressure you into marriage before he takes a new Empress. To stabilize his authority.”
“I won’t let an innocent person live like this because of me.”
His concern for his future spouse, even under pressure, surprised her.
“That’s why I am the ideal choice.”
The Grand Duke frowned, not understanding her meaning.
“As a commoner, I won’t draw the Emperor’s suspicion, and I can withstand assassins. Perfect, isn’t it?”
“Ha. A commoner? Are you like any ordinary one? And even if you were suitable, I will never marry the head of Temno.”
So Temno was the problem?
Then… she still had another card to play.
