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Chapter 6
Realizing that Maddy’s flushed face was a lie, Yulikyan came to his senses as if he had been doused with ice water.
After taking a deep breath, he finally managed to speak.
“Maddy. I know this isn’t the place for this, but I can’t hold it in any longer.”
Maddy lowered her eyebrows and stared at Yulikyan with curiosity, like an inquisitive cat.
As if sensing that Yulikyan was beginning to feel nervous, as if this were a real proposal, Maddy added.
“Your complexion looks dark, Your Highness. Is it something important? If it’s not urgent, we can move somewhere else.”
She was telling him to finish it here.
“I’ve already received such a big bouquet, so I’m happy and grateful enough.”
She was telling him to continue.
“…Marry me, Maddy.”
He didn’t have the presence of mind to add any other flowery embellishments.
As soon as Yulikyan uttered those six words, the vagrants gathered around covered their mouths.
Maddy too opened her eyes wide and dropped the bouquet to the ground.
“I-I’m sorry. I, no, I… I think I misheard something.”
Yulikyan turned her body, which had been standing at an angle, fully towards him, and said once more in a low voice.
“Let’s get married, Maddy. Let’s live together. We don’t need anything else. …Let’s stay together forever.”
The vagrants cackled, revealing their black and yellow teeth.
Their applause filled the slums.
“Maddy! Congratulations!”
“Whoa! Maddy’s made it!”
“Look, look at her red face! Hahahaha!”
But Maddy’s reaction was different from those around her.
After looking around nervously, she turned and started running.
“…Maddy?”
This wasn’t part of the plan.
He was briefly flustered, but Yulikyan chased after her.
Because she was running at a speed that allowed him to catch her.
There was no way a killer who could take down two grown men like swatting flies would run like that unless she wanted to be caught.
Yulikyan caught up to Maddy and grabbed her wrist. The wildflowers adorning her hair scattered to the ground.
“Why are you running away, Maddy?”
“I… I don’t want to get married.”
“What?”
Yulikyan’s eyes widened in surprise.
“No, we have to get married… Why? Why?”
Maddy clenched her teeth, looked up at Yulikyan with reddened eyes, and shouted.
“What will other people say?! They’ll say I was just wagging my tail because you’re the Grand Duke! I didn’t plan on getting married. I never wanted to go that far! I don’t have the confidence to endure it either! Why, why do you keep… trying to give me happy things. It’s already more than I deserve, it’s too much… Hoo, huk.”
Maddy buried her face in her hands and began to cry.
“Uh, well…”
Yulikyan was weak against ad-libs.
As he stammered, not knowing what to say, Maddy began pulling things out of her bosom one by one.
“Take the watch, the ring, the cufflinks! Take everything that reminds you of me!”
When did she steal all of that?
“Wait. Wait. Hey.”
The moment the word ‘hey’ left his mouth, Maddy’s gaze changed.
As if trying to stop Yulikyan’s failed ad-lib, Maddy’s words sped up.
“You’re a noble! A Grand Duke, no less! You’ll take me to get married, but when you hear the opposition and insults from those around you, you’ll cast me out! Just leave me with a good memory and go! Go away now!”
Maddy tapped his chest with her fists, as if pushing him away.
It didn’t hurt at all.
From Yulikyan’s perspective, having seen her take down two grown men with his own eyes, he could only feel even more keenly that she was putting on a show right now.
As proof, Maddy suddenly grabbed him by the collar and yanked him towards her.
Then, in a very small voice, she whispered.
“Hug me.”
Yulikyan quickly embraced Maddy.
Perhaps because of the wildflowers she had been wearing, the faint scent of grass and flowers filled his nose.
“Say it. Say you love me. That you’ll never give up on me.”
“I love you, Maddy. I love you. I will never give up on you.”
Yulikyan repeated the words Maddy told him, like a parrot.
“Touch my lips with your thumb.”
“Huh?”
His mind didn’t immediately follow the command.
While he was spacing out, Maddy grabbed the inside of Yulikyan’s elbow and gently pulled it towards her face.
Just before it looked like he was about to slap her, Yulikyan relaxed the strength in his hand.
The moment his large hand covered Maddy’s face, she pulled on his jacket.
In an instant, his upper body was forced to bend down slightly.
Because of Yulikyan’s build, unless someone was very close and looking carefully, it would look like the two were kissing.
And so, Yulikyan and Maddy’s lips touched, with only his thumb between them.
Maddy’s moist, emerald-green eyes stared intensely at Yulikyan, then slowly closed.
Watching his own dazed face reflected in her eyes, Yulikyan too closed his eyes.
Cheers erupted from the crowd.
The poor people threw the weeds scattered around and sent their own congratulations.
“Congratulations, Maddy!”
“She’s such a tomboy! Haha!”
The warmth of Maddy in his arms grew slightly hotter.
She pulled her lips away and punched the air towards the onlookers.
“Everyone be quiet! Can’t I fall in love too?! What, you think I can’t get married just because it’s me?!”
She shouted loudly, then huffed as if embarrassed, her earlobes turning red—it looked so real.
If the Maddy who played poker that day were to truly fall in love, this is exactly how she would act.
Yulikyan tightened his grip on Maddy’s waist.
He had found the right person.
A smile bloomed on his face.
Yulikyan pulled out a ring from his pocket and slipped it onto Maddy’s finger.
“My life since meeting you has become a completely different world. It will be… the same from now on.”
He could become ‘safe.’
Seeing Yulikyan’s smile, Maddy grinned widely.
“Your Highness. Are you really sure about me?”
“It has to be you.”
He had been prepared even before writing the contract, from the moment he first made the plan.
Prepared for the repercussions this fake marriage would bring.
Maddy buried her face in his shoulder, as if shy, and embraced him again.
The cheers from the crowd grew louder once more.
Ignoring the coachman’s shocked gaze, Yulikyan took Maddy’s hand and together they boarded the carriage, returning to the Grand Duke’s residence.
Thanks to the loud and public proposal, that evening’s papers were filled with articles about the love story between Yulikyan and the slum girl, transcending class barriers.
It was such a shocking event that all who remembered the childhood of the beloved son of the late Crown Prince Heldun could scarcely believe it.
Of course, the servants at the Grand Duke’s residence, having already seen the woman Yulikyan had brought in, were in a state of utter astonishment.
“Why did His Highness bring such a beggar here?”
“She’s after his status, isn’t she?”
“Didn’t you see him holding her hand when they came in? He seems completely smitten already!”
The head butler, Philip, silenced everyone.
“Everyone quiet down! His Highness has made his decision, so we must follow it.”
“But, Philip, sir. It seems like our innocent young master has been completely hooked by that woman.”
“…There’s nothing we can do! He grew up lonely! He must have a void we couldn’t fill! And that woman might be able to fill it…”
He said that, but Philip’s expression was also one of disapproval.
At dinner, the woman appeared, flaunting the ring on her left ring finger.
The chef, who had no choice but to prepare a meal for two, cursed under his breath while grilling the meat, and poured salt all over only the steak the woman would eat.
Maddy, seated diagonally across from Yulikyan at the large table, smiled brightly.
“This is the first time I’ve ever been in such a clean and spacious house.”
“It will be your home now.”
At Yulikyan’s reply, the maids and the chef waiting in the dining room felt a pang of anxiety.
‘Oh, what are we going to do with our innocent young master!’
“Are you not going to bring the food?”
“Oh, yes. Yes!”
The steak in question was placed on the table.
The chef inwardly sneered at Maddy, who couldn’t even cut the meat properly.
She must have never eaten such high-quality meat before, given her lowly origins. She surely didn’t know proper dining etiquette either.
“Let me cut it for you.”
But Yulikyan’s kindness was unexpected.
Only after cutting all of Maddy’s meat did Yulikyan begin his own meal.
“Ah—”
Everyone in the dining room stared wide-eyed at Maddy.
Maddy picked up the largest piece of meat with her fork and brought it to Yulikyan’s lips.
“Say ah. I’ve always wanted to do this. We’ve only ever met indoors, so we never had a meal together, did we, darling.”
Smiling as if embarrassed, Maddy didn’t withdraw her outstretched hand.
Briefly flustered, Yulikyan slowly opened his mouth and ate the meat.
Cold sweat ran down the chef Ivan’s spine.
He was about to lose his job because of that woman’s antics. Since he’d poured salt all over it, it would be salty with every bite.
“Hmm.”
Yulikyan chewed the meat a few times, then looked at Maddy and said tenderly.
“Maddy. Shall we swap plates?”
“Oh my, why?”
“Your steak seems more well-done than usual. I have a picky palate. Ivan must have made a mistake preparing two portions today.”
“Oh, is that so? It’s fine with me. I can eat any meat!”
Maddy quickly swapped their plates.
Yulikyan thought he’d have to sternly tell Chef Ivan not to tamper with the food, and looked at him.
Their eyes met, and Ivan’s expression was filled with deep despair and guilt.
Yulikyan, who had been eating with his back straight and without blinking, caught sight of Maddy.
She tilted her head while eating, then smiled faintly.
“…The butter on top of the sweet potato is so soft. It seems they added honey too.”
“Is that so? Ivan?”
At Yulikyan’s call, Ivan quickly answered.
“Yes! Your Highness. It’s top-grade butter that even the poor can only dream of, mixed with premium honey, and placed on top of the sweet potato!”
“So he says.”
“Could you give me your sweet potato too, honey?”
“Huh? Haha. Yeah, sure.”
Yulikyan handed his sweet potato over to Maddy.
Even while eating the salt-drenched meat, the Grand Duke smiled pleasantly, his eyes crinkling.
—
[During meals, look at me. At least once every three seconds, look at me. With a smile.]
[It’s not polite to stare at the person you’re eating with.]
[If you’re going to worry about manners, why not marry some other woman?]
—
Remembering Maddy’s advice before coming down to the dining room, Yulikyan smiled at her every three seconds.
—
That dawn, someone grabbed the back of a man who had sneaked into the pantry.
“So you’re the pretty one who put poison in the sweet potato.”
“…Wh-who… Gah!”
Maddy struck the back of the man’s head, knocking him unconscious.
Although he was a large man, much bigger than her, Maddy easily hoisted him onto her back and slipped out of the pantry.
