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Chapter 8
It was well over an hour before they arrived at the Grand Duke’s estate.
The delay was mostly because Maddy had fallen asleep halfway, so they’d walked slower.
Looking down at Maddy, who was fast asleep with her head resting on his shoulder, Yullikian whispered softly.
“…Hey. We’re here.”
She didn’t respond.
“Maddy, we’ve arrived.”
“Ugh…”
A groan came from Maddy’s sleeping lips. She seemed to be having a nightmare.
“…Watch out, not that way…”
“What are you talking about? Hey.”
Just as Yullikian was about to wake her, the stablehand came rushing out of the estate.
Yullikian quickly signaled him to be quiet.
The moment he put a finger to his lips, a very small voice came from within his arms.
“Just walk around the garden. Say you didn’t want to wake me.”
Maddy’s expression was so peaceful that it was hard to believe she was the same person who had just been sleep-talking. Her rosy cheeks and limp body made her look every bit the part of someone sound asleep.
Yullikian did as she instructed and told the stablehand:
“She’s sleeping. I don’t want to wake her, so I’ll walk a few laps around the garden. Don’t follow.”
Leaving behind the stablehand who looked up blankly with a puffy, sleep-swollen face, Yullikian slowly strolled through the estate’s garden.
About thirty minutes passed when Maddy, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke.
“Oh my. I slept through everything, didn’t I? Did I keep you from going inside?”
“…We just got here, so don’t worry.”
Yullikian dismounted first, then helped Maddy down by the waist.
She usually jumped on and off the horse by herself, but there were too many eyes watching from the windows inside the estate now that people were starting to wake.
He held Maddy’s hand and led her inside.
“You must be tired from our early morning outing, Your Grace. I’ll head in and get some sleep.”
Maddy opened the door to the guest room on the second floor without hesitation. Just as she was about to disappear behind it, Yullikian called her.
“Maddy!”
“Yes?”
“That room hasn’t been cleaned yet.”
“…It looks clean to me.”
“Still, it’s not good enough for you to sleep in. It’s too late to have the maids clean it now, but I’ll order it cleaned in the morning. For tonight, you’ll sleep in my room.”
“…How can we sleep in the same room?”
“We’re getting married anyway. Just come with me.”
Yullikian grabbed her hand a bit roughly and pulled her toward his room. Maddy, though surprised at first, followed without resistance.
“No one is allowed near the room.”
He firmly ordered the servants who stood awkwardly in the hallway at a distance.
As soon as the door shut, Yullikian turned to Maddy with a stern face.
“Hand it over.”
“What?”
“My ring. The one with the family crest. You stole that of all things?”
Maddy grumbled and pulled the ring from inside her dress, holding it out to him.
“You never noticed anything else I swiped, but how’d you notice that?”
“Because I always wear it. If you took anything else, hand it over.”
“Why? If you didn’t even notice it was gone, it can’t be that important.”
“If the maids start noticing missing valuables, who do you think they’ll suspect? You’ll be tossed out as a thief and lose your 1 billion. Is that what you want?”
“Fair point. Fine, here.”
Maddy lifted her dress without hesitation. Yullikian immediately turned around. From behind him came jingling sounds—lots of them.
“How much did you even steal in less than a day?!”
“Hold on. This is about trust. If I’m returning it, I have to return it all. Just wait.”
“If it’s about trust, you shouldn’t have stolen it in the first place.”
Chuckling at his grumbling, Maddy finally said, “I got everything.”
Silver spoons, a watch, tie pins, Yullikian’s wallet, a few gold coins, and several rings were laid out on the table.
“Oh, right. This too.”
Maddy reached behind her back like she was scratching it and pulled out a sheet of paper like a warrior drawing a sword.
It was the contract they had drawn up together.
“That’s supposed to be with me—…you stole my copy?!”
As Yullikian shouted, Maddy raised both hands and calmly explained.
“Look. You didn’t even notice me taking all this. How can you be so careless? What if some other pickpocket had stolen our contract? We’d be exposed instantly. I’d be thrown out, you’d be dead, and I’d die shortly after. So I kept it. Because my future husband’s useless.”
“Don’t make excuses. You just stole it because it was there.”
“…That’s true.”
“God…”
“Seriously, who keeps something so valuable in their chest pocket? What if someone reached in there?”
“Who the hell would reach into my chest pocket?!”
“Well, you think no one would want a body that good? With pecs like yours?”
“What do my pecs have to do with anything—enough! Stop.”
“They’re big. Too big. It’s distracting. That’s not okay.”
As Maddy gestured dramatically, Yullikian’s face turned beet red. He buttoned up his jacket.
Big pecs…
It bothered him. Fixing his outfit, he barked again.
“Then where should I keep it? In a drawer? What if someone finds it?!”
“Well, hiding it in your chest pocket isn’t a bad idea.”
“…Damn it.”
“You look sexy when you curse and frown like that.”
“Stop changing the subject. Repeat after me. One, don’t steal things.”
“That’s in the contract? I’m doing all this just for that billion, huh.”
“If you don’t behave, none of it matters. So stick to it.”
Maddy pouted and repeated after him.
“…Tch. Don’t steal things.”
“Two, don’t kill people recklessly.”
“Don’t kill recklessly? Why? What if I’m threatened? What if I’m in danger?”
“That’s why I said ‘recklessly.’ And lastly—three, don’t run away from me.”
“Oh my, how romantic.”
Yullikian glanced at her, scratched the back of his neck, and finally spoke.
“…I reported the corpses of those men you killed to the city guards. They’re looking for witnesses and suspects.”
Maddy’s playful demeanor instantly cooled.
“…Didn’t you say it was handled quietly?”
“I meant I handled it by reporting it. So if I say I witnessed it, you’ll go to prison for murder.”
“They tried to kill you, and I helped you. And now you’d throw me in jail?”
Her emerald eyes, which had sparkled in the public eye, now turned icy.
Yullikian avoided her gaze and replied.
“…So don’t run. It’s the only way for you to get your money, and for me to stay alive.”
Once again, his mother’s coughing echoed in his ears.
[Never die, Yullikian. …Don’t die for nothing.]
Yullikian flinched, instinctively tilting his head and pressing his ear to block out the phantom cough.
“…Fine. I get it.”
Maddy surprisingly agreed. Relieved, Yullikian looked at her again.
“Since we understand each other’s goals, we should see this through to the end—wait, why are you taking off your clothes?”
He switched to formal speech out of sheer shock as Maddy casually stripped off her coat and flung her shoes aside.
She was unbothered.
“Well, we’ve got a job to do.”
“W-what job?! I didn’t bring you here for that! And you said you wouldn’t either in the contract—”
She stripped off her dress in one quick motion and slung it over a chair.
“Why are you stuttering like a fool? I’m already here—should I just leave now?”
She was far too calm—no, confident.
Only Yullikian was panicking.
As Maddy casually walked past him, she shut all the curtains, blocking out the moonlight. The room was lit only by the dim candlelight.
Yullikian’s face twisted with a mix of emotions—discomfort, embarrassment, maybe shyness.
“Stop messing around and put your clothes back on.”
“Lower your voice.”
“…What?”
Maddy leaned against the bedpost, arms crossed, giving him a look of tired patience, like an adult worn out by a child’s endless questions. She even shook her head.
“Think about it. You brought me back from the slums like you were madly in love.”
“…Yeah.”
“You announced publicly that we’re lovers.”
“I did.”
“And now you’ve brought me into your room at this hour.”
“Hey, we agreed this was all an act. I don’t want to sleep with someone I don’t care about. You don’t need to do anything either.”
“I’m not saying we do. Just pretend.”
She ran her hand slowly down the bedpost. Yullikian jumped.
“Pretend what?! How do you even pretend that?!”
His red face confirmed his emotion: pure embarrassment.
Maddy studied his face for a moment, then muttered:
“Ugh, we’re so out of sync. Where do I even start?”
“What?! Y-you have to explain it!”
“Come here and shake the bed with me. These old floors carry sound really well.”
She grabbed the bottom-right post of the bed with both hands and began to shake.
“What are you—oh.”
He finally understood.
Maddy wanted to pretend they were doing “that” by making noise.
Normally, even engaged couples wouldn’t do such things before marriage.
But Yullikian was supposed to be a man gone mad over a slum girl. It had to be convincing.
Awkwardly approaching, he grabbed the left bedpost.
“We need to match the rhythm.”
“Got it.”
“When I say ‘one,’ push. ‘Two,’ rest. One. Two. One. Two.”
They silently shook the bed for several minutes.
Only the creaking and their breathing filled the room.
Creak. Squeak. Creak. Squeak.
After a while, Maddy paused with a soft hum.
“…Why’d you stop?”
“We should pick up the pace now. More dramatic. Louder.”
Yullikian couldn’t take it anymore. He rubbed his red face.
“Do whatever you want…”
“Why me? Surely you have a rhythm, Your Grace.”
“…I—I’ve never even brought anyone to my room before…”
“Ugh, no breaks. Talk while you push.”
He resumed the rhythm and spoke.
“H-hey, Maddy. I’ve never had a lover. My life’s always been on the line…”
Why he was explaining this, he didn’t know—but he did it sincerely. And added:
“A-and what do you mean, ‘no breaks’? Why?”
“Can’t have people thinking our Duke only lasts five minutes. That’s just sad.”
“…What?”
He stared blankly, then immediately turned his head away, unable to meet her gaze.
He glared holes into the bedpost instead.
“We only paused for like 20 seconds. They’ll think we just changed positions.”
She added, but he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
He briefly fell into a pit of existential dread, questioning if this was really necessary.
But there was no helping it. Their lives depended on this absurd little act.
