🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 34
No matter how powerful Obsidian was, assassinating Princess Charlotte and then harming the crown prince’s fiancée would have been too extreme.
‘Right. I’ll just have Bada pretend to be my fiancée for exactly one year. After that, I can assign someone to protect the ex-fiancée properly.’
It was a somewhat reckless solution.
But for now, there was nothing else he could do.
For Damien, the best he could do was to keep her by his side and check every day that she was safe.
‘If I propose properly in this situation, she’ll think I’m insane. So at least I can keep her close through a contract.’
He couldn’t force her into a marriage she didn’t want.
At the same time, he felt guilty for dragging her into a situation she didn’t choose.
If he showed his emotions now, he might ruin everything—or she might figure out the true purpose behind the contract.
‘The less Bada knows about Obsidian, the safer she is. It’s better for her to remain unaware.’
That was why, when he faced her, he deliberately restrained the urge to pull her into his arms and acted coldly.
Bada had only two days.
Within those two days, she had to wrap up her life in Korea and move to Bernhardt.
She had complained to Damien that the timeline was too tight, but he had cut her off coldly.
‘Everything you need is already prepared in Bernhardt. Pack only the essentials, and have people handle anything else.’
With so little time, she had to tackle the most important matters first.
The first thing she did was settle her debts with the advance payment she had received.
When facing the loan sharks, Lancaster accompanied her.
“Morgan… no, Lancaster. You have to look completely terrifying, got it?”
“Don’t worry, Miss Yoo. That’s my specialty.”
Lancaster was not exaggerating.
The moment they entered the offices of Piel Capital, everyone in the building tensed, including the heavily tattooed members of the underworld.
Lancaster stood beside Bada, giving them a look straight out of Taken, as if saying, I have an extraordinary set of skills, honed over many years. If you touch this girl, I will find you and kill you.
Even those clearly from the criminal world cowered like frightened children.
Bada paid the debts and made them all sign a written pledge.
This confirmed that the debts were fully cleared and that any future attempts to approach her would carry legal consequences.
The man who had previously followed her reluctantly signed the document, clearly displeased but without choice.
“Alright, we’ve paid the interest and received the receipts. Hopefully, we’ll never have to see each other again.”
He avoided Lancaster’s piercing gaze.
“…Don’t worry. We wouldn’t want to see you or your companion again either.”
After clearing the debts and leaving the building, Bada felt a sense of relief like a weight lifted off her shoulders.
The second place Bada visited was the hospital where her younger brother, Kangsan, was admitted.
When she entered his room, their mother happened to be there too, gently feeding him porridge.
Surprisingly, Kangsan looked remarkably fine for someone who had just been in a car accident.
“What on earth happened?” she asked.
“Well…” Kangsan confessed that he had staged the accident with a friend to commit insurance fraud.
“Are you crazy? Don’t you know insurance companies have special investigation teams that will find out everything?”
“Ah, don’t worry too much, sis. This is just a one-time thing. They probably won’t even bother investigating.”
How was she supposed to deal with this scoundrel?
Suppressing the curse in her throat, she handed him a document.
“Sign this pledge.”
It was an agreement stating that from now on, neither Kangsan nor their mother would interfere in her life or disclose anything about her to the media or anyone else.
‘The thing I worry about most while pretending to be Damien’s fiancée is that they might blab and ruin everything.’
She wanted to prevent such a situation beforehand.
“Read it carefully. If you break this contract, I’ll reclaim the money I paid off for your debts.”
“Wow, so you really paid off my debts, sis? Okay!”
Her mother and Kangsan were overjoyed.
“Oh, our daughter! You’re the best!”
“For now, don’t try to contact me. Since you signed the pledge, don’t mention anything about me anywhere.”
“Got it. You’re smart enough—we’ll follow your instructions.”
Watching them exchange satisfied glances, Bada narrowed her eyes.
Her daughter suddenly appeared, paid off debts worth hundreds of millions, and would now disappear for a while.
And yet, they didn’t even ask where she got the money.
Bada slowly closed her eyes and reopened them, feeling utterly drained of disappointment.
After handling these urgent matters, she returned home and hurriedly packed her suitcase.
But there wasn’t much to bring.
Her clothes and belongings from Korea wouldn’t suit the fiancée of the Crown Prince of Bernhardt, so she had to leave most of them behind.
For security reasons, all electronic devices, including her phone, had to be replaced with new ones provided by Lancaster.
Ultimately, she packed only her frequently used skincare products, medicines, diary, and other essential items.
Then, at the appointed time, she took a car to Seoul Airport in Seongnam.
Her eyes opened wide—she had never flown on a chartered plane, let alone in business class.
At that moment, she realized her entire life was about to change.
Upon boarding, Damien was already seated on the sofa.
“Sit. We’ll be departing soon.”
“Ah… okay.”
Bada sat across from him and looked around the interior of the plane.
It seemed to have a separate bedroom and dining area.
Unlike her curiosity, Damien seemed preoccupied, busy handling paperwork.
Wearing black-rimmed glasses and an ivory wool sweater, he was signing documents with a fountain pen—a very impressive sight.
Bada, glancing at him briefly, fiddled with newspapers and magazines out of nervous habit.
When the plane took off, a deep fatigue washed over her.
‘I guess it’s from not sleeping properly for the past few days.’
Her heavy eyelids blinked as the engine’s hum became a lullaby, and she fell asleep.
Damien, hearing her soft breathing, finally looked up.
Though he had pretended to focus on paperwork, all his attention had been on her.
Seeing her asleep, he quietly got up and approached her.
He carefully covered her with a blanket, tucking it around her body.
“….”
Watching her pure, childlike face peacefully sleeping, his mind became a whirlwind of thoughts.
