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Chapter 9
After the Explanation Was Over
“I know that too! I know, but it’s really not like that!”
“Isn’t it?”
With narrowed eyes, Ain tossed aside the snow pack that had almost completely melted and crossed his arms as he grumbled.
“Even a commoner like me knows that marriage proposals between nobles are basically staged events with 100% prior agreement.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that⋯⋯.”
As if she was already tired of denying it, Serenia let out a long sigh and continued.
“Yesterday wasn’t some pre-arranged event at all. I wasn’t even informed beforehand. It was a completely unexpected situation. And I clearly rejected him!”
Only after hearing that she had rejected it did his sulky expression brighten a little.
Taking advantage of the moment, Serenia quickly added:
“More importantly, calling that a proposal is an insult in itself. It looked like a proposal on the surface, but in reality, it was humiliation.”
“Humiliation⋯⋯?”
Ain asked with a puzzled expression.
Thinking this was her chance, Serenia explained everything that had happened yesterday without hiding a single detail.
The marriage request that was more like an order. Her rejection.
And after hearing that she should repay the debt with her body, she finally lost her temper and slapped Rascal across the face.
As soon as he heard that part, Ain’s expression hardened dangerously.
“You slapped the Duke⋯⋯?”
Noticing how stiff his face had become, Serenia quickly changed her words timidly.
“Well, saying I slapped him is a little exaggerated. I just⋯⋯ lightly hit him. Softer than a clap.”
Then she awkwardly added while carefully watching his reaction.
“So His Grace probably won’t sue the Barishart family or take terrible revenge against us. Probably⋯⋯.”
“Hm.”
Rubbing his chin with a strange expression, he slowly spoke.
“So in other words, all of this was simply the Duke’s whim and cruelty to mock and humiliate a noble lady at the banquet?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
When Serenia nodded quickly, he tilted his head slightly.
“Then something feels strange.”
“⋯⋯What?”
As she stared at him with wide eyes, he handed her the newspaper extra edition.
“The newspaper company that spread this extra edition today is called ‘Gossip in Shedron.’”
“Uh⋯⋯ yes. So?”
“It’s a small tabloid company that covers everything from high society gossip to entertainment news in Shedron.”
At those words, Serenia’s expression stiffened slightly.
A small tabloid company.
Could a place like that really print an emergency edition overnight? And in enough numbers to spread across the entire capital like a carpet?
That was impossible.
Which meant⋯⋯.
“⋯⋯They knew beforehand?”
Ain looked at her with interest when she immediately reached the correct answer from just one sentence.
“In other words, His Grace the Duke did not propose simply out of whim.”
“B-But how could he know I would attend the banquet⋯⋯!”
Halfway through speaking, Serenia suddenly realized something.
“⋯⋯Ah. The notice from the bank.”
For Rascal, changing the date of the bank’s final deadline would have been easy.
Then did that mean everything had been part of Rascal’s plan from the beginning?
“But why?”
The unanswered question escaped her lips naturally.
Watching her confusion quietly, Ain replied:
“Obviously, because he truly intends to marry you, Young Lady.”
“There’s no way⋯⋯.”
Serenia instinctively tried to deny it, but then she recalled everything that had happened until now.
‘Come to think of it, he kept demanding an answer from me until the very end.’
The words about repaying the debt with her body.
If it had only been meant to humiliate her, there would have been no need for an answer.
It was an absurd conclusion, yet every piece fit perfectly together.
If Rascal’s real goal was truly to make her his wife.
But still—
“⋯⋯Why?”
Why would he want the daughter of the man responsible for his father’s death?
She simply could not understand.
The question escaped her lips before she realized it.
She wanted anyone at all to answer it for her.
Receiving her confused gaze, Ain responded in disbelief.
“You’re asking me that right now?”
While Serenia became flustered at his openly reproachful tone, he continued with an extremely dissatisfied expression.
“You keep forgetting this, but I am your fiancé.”
“Pardon⋯⋯?”
“Just hearing that another man was flirting with my fiancée should already be enough to upset me. But now you’re asking me for the reason too? Don’t you think that’s a bit too much?”
Serenia hurriedly tried to close her mouth in realization, but after rolling her eyes around for a moment, she still spoke.
“B-But Rascal proposed to me before I signed the contract with you, so technically he wasn’t flirting with ‘your’ fiancée⋯⋯.”
As Serenia continued rambling, she suddenly noticed Ain staring at her with an extremely sulky face and immediately shut her mouth.
“Ahh. So I’m just ‘you,’ while the other man gets called ‘Rascal’?”
Under the criticism pouring from his gaze, she lowered her eyes obediently and spoke like someone voluntarily paying taxes.
“I’m sorry. I misspoke. Please forget it. From now on, I’ll call His Grace ‘that person.’”
Even after her polite apology, he still pouted as if dissatisfied about something.
After remaining like that for a while, he finally spoke with a twisted expression.
“At this point, I can’t just let this pass.”
“⋯⋯What?”
To the nervous Serenia, he replied firmly:
“Please postpone the marriage registration until after December 8th.”
“Wh-What?”
She could not bring herself to say:
‘Then what about my three million crovats?!’
After all, she felt guilty.
‘Who knows when Rascal— no, when that person— might send a poison gift set. If I die before getting those three million crovats, what will happen to my hospital bills and bank debt?’
Ain had absolutely no idea she was worrying about something like that.
“And during those seven days, let’s create some evidence.”
“Evidence?”
When she asked in confusion, he smiled brightly as if his earlier serious expression had all been a lie.
“Yes. Evidence of our relationship.”
“What kind of evidence? Like, couple rings?”
“No. Something much more convincing than that.”
“Something⋯⋯ more convincing?”
Seeing her suspicious expression from a bad feeling, he smiled sweetly.
“For now, shall we go outside first?”
A little later.
Inside a small forest near the Barishart estate, two figures suddenly poked their heads out from between the short bushes.
The two had secretly escaped through the mansion’s underground emergency passage and disguised themselves using the wigs and clothes hidden inside the box Ain had arrived in.
The men’s wig and hat were understandable enough.
But Serenia could not understand why there had also been a woman’s wig and dress, so she asked him about it.
The answer she received was ridiculous.
“If there hadn’t been a secret escape route, I was planning to leave disguised as a woman.”
Serenia imagined him— a whole head taller than herself— wearing a long-haired wig and a dress.
She thought it would definitely look ridiculous.
Yet because of his unnecessarily handsome face, the image in her mind strangely suited him perfectly without looking awkward at all.
For some reason, she suddenly felt like she had lost to him somehow, and her expression twisted slightly.
Meanwhile, Ain caught a carriage nearby.
After traveling for nearly thirty minutes, the two finally arrived in front of a large building.
As Serenia awkwardly accepted his escort while getting down from the carriage, she froze stiff after seeing the sign on the building.
< Neriad Hotel >
Horrified, she violently shook off the hand she had been holding and shouted:
“W-What exactly are you trying to do?!”
“Hm?”
“Y-You⋯⋯ pervert!”
Suddenly accused of being a pervert, Ain looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Young Lady, what exactly are you imagining?”
“⋯⋯Huh?”
As she blankly asked back, Ain sighed dramatically as if deeply hurt and grumbled:
“My profession may make misunderstandings like this common, but I’m not that shameless.”
“Th-Then⋯⋯ why are we here⋯⋯?”
“The restaurant in this hotel has a good view, excellent security, and most importantly, the owner knows many good photographers.”
Only then did Serenia realize what he had meant by “solid evidence.”
“Ah. So the evidence you meant was photographs?”
“Yes. More specifically, ‘photos secretly taken by a persistent reporter who followed our dates for about two years.’”
Serenia tilted her head at his explanation.
“Do we really need to add the detail that they were secretly taken?”
At that, he gave her a wink and replied:
“Evidence provided by a third party is always more trustworthy than evidence provided by the people involved.”
Ah. That made sense.
Serenia nodded without much suspicion.
Seeing that, Ain smiled meaningfully and guided her into the hotel restaurant.
