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Chapter 2
After the Proposal Ended
While Serenia Barishart stood there in shock, unable to answer, the men around her added their own mocking remarks one after another.
“A title earned by some common knight whose parents aren’t even known, just because he got lucky in war. Who would covet that?”
“If there’s no history or honor, there should at least be money. But I heard even the little money they had was wasted on hospital bills, and now all that’s left is debt.”
Serenia clenched her fists as tightly as she could and gritted her teeth.
“Well, at least the future wife would have a beautiful face.”
“Oh, you know nothing. Beauty is something you look for in entertainment houses, not in a wife.”
“Ahem. In that sense, my lady, I would certainly be interested in sharing a pleasant night with you.”
“Oh? Me too, me too!”
Only when they started deciding the order among themselves did Serenia finally realize it.
To these people, she was nothing more than a joke.
Or a toy.
Or at best, prey for a single night.
A deep sense of self-loathing overwhelmed her.
Had she really spent the last of her money repairing her dress and renting a carriage just to be treated like this?
‘That money could have covered three months of living expenses.’
Suppressing the miserable feelings rising inside her, she bit her lips tightly and lowered her head.
Meanwhile, a man leaning against the second-floor railing of the banquet hall watched the entire scene with a cold expression filled with mockery.
“You made a foolish mistake, Serenia.”
A low voice slipped through his lips.
Under the shadow cast by his red hair, black eyes looked down coldly with a dark light.
For a long moment, he silently watched the pathetic scene unfolding below before finally pushing himself away from the railing.
“Every mistake comes with a price. Isn’t that right, Serenia?”
Muttering those words, he stepped toward the staircase leading to the first floor.
A dark crimson cloak fluttered behind him as he descended.
The cloak embroidered with the black monkshood flower — the symbol of the Admancanon Ducal House.
Step. Step.
At the slow sound of footsteps descending the stairs, the people on the first floor widened their eyes in shock.
The man famous for locking himself away on the second-floor balcony at every banquet had actually come down into the hall.
Yet Rascal Admancanon ignored everyone’s reactions completely and strode forward with large, confident steps.
Despite the rudeness of walking straight through the center of the ballroom while the waltz music played, nothing dared block his path.
The men dancing quickly dragged their partners aside in panic.
The people chatting with wine glasses in hand hurriedly stopped talking and scattered.
Of course they did.
No one here was foolish enough not to know that clashing with Duke Admancanon in any way only led to death.
And so, Rascal reached his destination without a single obstacle.
Right in front of her.
The woman with hair the color of the night sky flowing down her back without a single accessory, her pale blue eyes wide open.
At Rascal’s appearance, the men who had been mocking Serenia immediately retreated in fear.
Before anyone noticed, the banquet hall had become silent as a grave.
Even the waltz music had long stopped.
In the suffocating silence, Rascal finally spoke.
“Serenia Barishart.”
His low voice echoed ominously throughout the hall.
Everyone, including Serenia herself, held their breath and waited for his next words.
A twisted smile spread across his lips as he continued.
“Marry me.”
Crash—
Somewhere far away, the sound of a dropped wine glass shattering rang out.
At the same time, gasps erupted from every direction.
Marriage?
Rascal Admancanon had just proposed to Serenia Barishart?!
The surrounding spectators immediately began whispering among themselves.
The hall grew noisy, yet Rascal never once took his eyes off Serenia.
As if he could not afford to miss the sight of her blue eyes shaking violently.
The eyes that had not broken even under vulgar mockery now clouded with shock and humiliation at just a single sentence from him.
It was quite a sight to see.
But soon, with the sound of grinding teeth, the weakness vanished, and only a sharp, poisonous glare remained in her icy blue eyes.
Rascal always found her troublesome in this way.
Just when she seemed about to collapse, she would raise her thorns again.
Of course, she possessed no real power, so those thorns could never threaten him.
‘…Still, it’s better to remove anything that gets in the way. Even if it’s more insignificant than a fish bone.’
That was what Rascal thought.
Staring directly into Serenia’s blazing blue eyes, he asked mockingly,
“Didn’t you hear me? Why aren’t you answering?”
When she still said nothing, Rascal repeated himself more firmly.
“If you didn’t hear me, I’ll say it again. Marry me.”
Still receiving no answer, he looked down at her indifferently before suddenly laughing softly.
“Ah, perhaps you don’t understand the word marriage?”
Even at the blatant ridicule, Serenia remained silent.
Looking down at her coldly, Rascal continued mockingly,
“Then I’ll make it simpler. I’ll make you my woman. How about that? Is that easy enough for you to understand?”
The crude line sounded more fitting for some back-alley thug, and the surrounding people gasped in shock.
But Rascal remained perfectly calm.
The shame belonged entirely to Serenia.
Her face flushed red with humiliation as she bit the inside of her cheek hard.
Only then did the people finally realize that this was not a genuine proposal.
Of course not. There was no way.
They whispered among themselves and laughed quietly.
This was simply the duke humiliating Serenia Barishart — the daughter of his enemy and a count’s daughter in name only.
Everyone in the banquet hall thought the same thing.
The long-standing hatred between the two families was famous enough that even spies from foreign countries knew about it.
Fourteen years ago, during the war, Count Barishart abandoned the battle line.
Because of that, the former Duke Admancanon lost his life.
And Rascal had survived that hellish battlefield with his own hands.
All of that had happened during the very first war Rascal ever fought in.
That was why, eight years ago, when Count Barishart suddenly collapsed coughing blood, everyone said the same thing.
That Rascal Admancanon had finally taken revenge for his father.
Although no evidence had ever been found, the circumstances seemed obvious enough.
The Admancanon family had long been famous for their knowledge of poisons.
Serenia struggled to breathe again, forcing herself to regain control of her fading mind.
The whispers around her buzzed loudly in her ears.
What would she say? Would she shamelessly accept?
Or would she cling to that pathetic pride here as well?
Serenia shut her eyes tightly.
‘Is this how an animal in a zoo feels?’
With that thought, she forced the words out of her throat.
“I refuse.”
Even with her eyes closed, she could clearly imagine the expressions surrounding her.
The twisted smiles.
The cruel laughter.
The vicious whispers drilling into her ears.
“She still has pride, apparently.”
“Isn’t she stupid? Pride doesn’t feed you.”
Unable to endure it any longer, Serenia squeezed her eyes shut even harder.
“What a misunderstanding.”
At the indifferent voice beside her ear, Serenia’s eyes snapped open.
Looking directly at her, Rascal added,
“I never gave you a choice.”
“…What?”
Watching her instinctively ask back, Rascal muttered almost to himself,
“I told you to marry me. I never asked whether you would.”
Sensing something unusual, the people nearby immediately focused their attention on the two again.
Completely unfazed by their obvious interest, Rascal calmly continued.
“Fine. Since there seems to be some misunderstanding, I’ll rephrase it.”
“Excuse me…?”
“Repay the debt.”
Debt…?
Her eyes questioned him silently.
Rascal slowly spoke each word with emphasis.
“The price for saving Count Barishart’s life. You will repay it with your body.”
The moment those words struck her ears, Serenia finally lost the last thread of reason she had been desperately holding onto.
Her mind went completely blank.
And before she even realized it, her hand moved on its own.
Smack—
Her hand sharply struck across Rascal’s left cheek.
