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Chapter 7
“Are you feeling better now?”
The man sitting across from her nodded awkwardly, looking strangely pitiful as he carefully watched her reaction.
After a moment of silence, she could tell he wanted to ask something, so she quietly waited for him to speak.
Before long, his hesitant voice broke the silence.
“But… how did you know… my name…?”
Well, he was a noble. It wouldn’t be strange if people knew his name, right? Surely the curse didn’t stop people from saying it too?
Then again… everyone always called him the Grand Duke of the North. Come to think of it, she had never actually heard anyone say his real name before.
She rolled her eyes briefly, then decided to brazen it out now that things had already come this far.
“Is there anyone in this country who doesn’t know you?”
In truth, she had only remembered his name after overhearing gossip in a café a week ago…
Although she worked as a maid for the Count Wintelia household, she was treated differently enough that she wasn’t close with the other servants.
She was too close to the family to be treated like an ordinary maid, yet she wasn’t officially adopted into the family either. On top of that, her status as a commoner only made things more awkward.
As a result, most people kept their distance and only spoke to her when necessary. She never truly belonged anywhere, and the only people she occasionally chatted with were the older staff members.
That was probably why she had never heard stories about Solard until now.
Lost in thought, she looked back at him and realized his vacant gaze had settled on her hand.
“Hm?”
When she moved her hand, his eyes followed it.
Just in case, she waved it a little.
Sure enough, his head slowly moved along with it.
“…Do you want to hold hands?”
“N-No! That’s not it.”
What’s with the sudden serious reaction?
She eyed the man suspiciously after he barked out his denial. Yet his gaze still trailed after her hand, and the tips of his ears had turned slightly red.
“…A cat?”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Your mouth says no, but your body says otherwise.
Wasn’t this exactly like a cat pouncing after a dangling cat toy?
No way… was that why people called him the white kitten?
If so, that nickname suited him perfectly.
She had never tried romancing Solard in the game before, so she didn’t know what kind of personality he had.
But he seemed much more innocent than expected.
At this rate, he’d probably get scammed someday.
“…Did you hear what I said earlier?”
“A deal…?”
Ever since meeting her, the Grand Duke’s emotions had been swinging wildly like a roller coaster, but after uttering that word, he finally seemed to calm down a little.
“Yes.”
“If it’s something I can do, I’ll do it.”
…What???
Not only had he suddenly calmed down, but his answer came far too easily, filling her mind with question marks.
“Why do you only remember that part? What about everything I said before?”
“…Whatever it is, I don’t mind.”
“No, seriously, how can you trust people this easily?!”
The moment she saw him respond with such naïve sincerity—despite the fact that she had literally approached him intending to take advantage of him—the dormant spirit of a meddling Korean busybody inside her suddenly awoke and started screaming.
“I haven’t even told you the conditions yet! What if someone scams you?!”
But instead of getting angry, a bewildered reply came back.
“…I’d actually be grateful if there was someone willing to scam me.”
…Huh?
Just how terrible was this curse?
No matter what, wasn’t “too cursed to even get scammed” completely absurd?
Hey! Game developers! Get out here! Explain yourselves! Hey!!
While she was internally clutching the back of her neck in frustration, Solard calmly asked:
“So. What do you want me to do?”
You just said you’d be grateful to get scammed, and now you’re calmly asking what you should do… This was hopeless.
And yet, despite herself, her honest mouth quietly blurted out her true intention once more.
“Marriage?”
I already said it earlier. Marriage.
She stared at him firmly, but the man only looked utterly stunned, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
“…?”
Marriage?
Yes, marriage.
His eyes, full of confusion, stared straight at her.
Was he shocked? Horrified?
With that mask on, she couldn’t tell at all.
No… actually, it was probably more than just “shocked.”
Whenever her stress levels built up too much, she sometimes did bizarre things—like a high school senior on the verge of college entrance exams.
And after thinking about it carefully, this definitely felt like one of those moments.
The instant she met those questioning eyes again, her mind rapidly cooled, and cold sweat poured down her back.
Uh…
Did I just mess up again?
The carriage fell silent, leaving behind only unbearable awkwardness.
As the irreversible atmosphere settled in, her sanity slowly returned.
She carefully retraced her thoughts.
What exactly had she just said?
But the more she thought about it, the more hopeless she felt.
Finally, clasping her hands together like someone confessing her sins, she squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out:
“I-I didn’t mean it like that…! Your curse doesn’t affect me, so I thought maybe I could flirt with you a little…!”
The more she talked, the worse the situation seemed to become.
This wasn’t salvageable. Not at all.
“N-No, I mean… I figured there probably wasn’t anyone else willing to marry you… so I approached you… and I kinda wanted to experience sleeping on top of piles of money at least once…”
She desperately tried to explain herself, but the more she spoke, the more she sounded like complete trash.
“……”
Well, to defend herself a little, she had expected at least some kind of dramatic “Oh my!” heroine reaction.
But he started acting weird first, so she ended up blurting out “Will you marry me?” before she could think.
Sob.
She muttered meaningless excuses in her head, not even sure who she was trying to justify herself to anymore.
The nonstop flood of nonsense was making her dizzy.
Had anyone ever seen a romance fantasy where the heroine proposes and then immediately starts confessing all her ulterior motives?
No, right?
This was her first time too.
Seriously, what am I even doing?
“I’m sorry. I think I temporarily lost my mind. Let’s just pretend none of this happened—”
After rambling frantically for so long, she suddenly noticed something strange.
Why wasn’t he reacting at all?
In a situation like this, shouldn’t he at least look disgusted? Or horrified? Something?
But there wasn’t even the sound of breathing.
She narrowed her eyes.
“Your Grace?”
His eyes stared blankly ahead, completely unfocused.
Seeing the man utterly motionless suddenly made her uneasy.
Hey, excuse me? I just proposed and confessed my greed in the same breath. Please say something…
With growing dread, she cautiously brought a finger beneath his nose.
Good grief.
“Y-Your Grace! Breathe! Please breathe, Your Grace!!”
Mom, he’s not breathing. Sob sob sob.
Seriously, had she ever seen someone this fragile in her life?!
The elegant old gentleman, perfectly suited to the phrase silver fox, let out a long sigh.
“This is worrying.”
The servant standing beside him nodded and quietly followed behind the butler, Eloy.
Lately, Eloy’s greatest concern had been that the prestigious Arzensia family, with its long history, might truly fail to continue its bloodline.
“Phew. He probably skipped another meal again. Let’s stop by the carriage first and buy him something light to eat.”
Solard had abruptly disappeared, claiming he had personal business to attend to, so Eloy and the accompanying servant, Gilein, had gone to eat lunch before returning.
Honestly, hearing Solard say he had “personal business” had worried Eloy.
Normally, even if one washed out one’s eyes and searched for it, Solard having private activities was impossible to imagine.
After all, the master’s schedule was usually managed entirely by the butler.
“It would be nice if he at least told me where he was going… hm?”
As Eloy approached the carriage, he blinked.
The curtains were drawn, making it difficult to see clearly, but the silhouette reflected in the carriage window was definitely not Solard’s.
Sensing something strange, Gilein silently exchanged a glance with the butler before nodding once and drawing his sword.
And beyond the opened carriage door—
“Eek!”
“Hm?”
There lay Solard, collapsed as though dead, with a woman giving him a lap pillow.
After taking in the scene inside the carriage, Gilein quietly sheathed his sword again.
Apparently, this wasn’t a dangerous situation.
No, actually… wasn’t the dangerous one that young lady?
“…Huh?”
Faced with a completely unimaginable sight, Eloy blinked repeatedly.
What in the world was going on here?
“I-I’m not a suspicious person! I-I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding!”
The woman turned pale and cried out tearfully after the door suddenly swung open and Gilein pointed a sword at her threateningly.
Gilein awkwardly opened and closed his mouth before glancing helplessly at Eloy.
But Eloy no longer seemed mentally capable of responding.
He only stared back and forth between Solard and the woman.
Then, without thinking, he quietly shut the carriage door.
“…Hm?”
He stood there blankly for a moment before opening it again.
“…?”
Even the servant was beginning to look at the butler strangely, but Eloy merely continued repeating the action several more times.
Watching the butler repeatedly open and close the carriage door, Gilein sighed and gently pushed him aside.
He then scribbled something into a notebook and held it out toward the mysterious woman.
—We apologize. Since no unfamiliar person ever enters this carriage, we were startled. If I may ask, what is your relationship with His Grace?
As the woman read the elegant handwriting, her pale straw-colored hair swayed softly.
“Ah… no, it’s okay. It makes sense that you’d be surprised. This is our first meeting too. As for my relationship with His Grace…”
Her muted blue eyes briefly swept over Solard’s face.
The expression that had finally calmed into a dazed blankness tightened slightly again.
“Well…”
“…?”
“I think… I’m currently trying to make a move on him…?”
Gilein pointed a trembling finger at the Grand Duke.
This man?
“I-I proposed to him… and then he fainted…”
The woman covered her face with both hands, looking utterly ashamed.
If one listened closely, she was mumbling, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” over and over through clenched lips.
Normally, people couldn’t even touch Solard.
Most fled while suppressing nausea the moment they made eye contact with him.
Even Eloy and Gilein—people with unusually close relationships to him—struggled to treat Solard like a normal person.
But a proposal?
Who in the world was this woman…?
As Gilein stood frozen with his mouth hanging open, Eloy suddenly widened his eyes and shoved him aside.
The butler’s face had gone deathly pale, and even his hands trembled.
“My lady… what exactly did you just say?”
“Ah, um…”
As though doubting his own hearing, the butler pressed her again.
“My lady?”
“…I proposed… to him.”
“Gah!”
Inside the dim carriage, it almost looked as though a holy light shone around her.
The tiny young woman with ordinary straw-colored hair—the kind of face one could easily pass on any street corner—suddenly appeared saintly in that moment.
Thank you, oh God.
No… perhaps this lady was God herself.
“…!”
“W-Wait? Sir?! Sir!!”
Eloy promptly collapsed backward.
If Gilein hadn’t rushed to catch him, he might have cracked his head open.
Yet despite nearly suffering a serious injury, the butler was smiling through tears.
Eloy Chezar, butler of House Arzensia.
Age 68.
At long last, he had fulfilled the greatest wish of his life.
It had been the burden he could never let go of.
If Solard would only marry, Eloy could die without regrets.
While Gilein and the woman exchanged utterly baffled looks, Eloy simply closed his eyes in blissful happiness, unable to regain his senses at all.
