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Chapter 14
A Fairy Tale for Villains
The place they arrived at wasn’t a tower, but a bedroom inside the manor.
“An examination? All of a sudden?”
Isabel glanced back and forth between the waiting physician and the duke.
“Lie down first, Your Highness.”
“Shouldn’t you explain—kyaa!”
“Pardon me.”
The duke scooped Isabel up in his arms.
Perhaps because he had done it once before, his movements as he carried her to the bed were calm and practiced.
Feeling her body go weightless, Isabel curled into herself slightly and looked up at the duke’s sculpted face—then quickly clasped her hands together.
“The physician will examine you to ensure your health, Princess.”
His pleasant low voice washed over the crown of her head, but the explanation barely registered.
Because the steady heartbeat echoing beside her thudded loudly in her ears.
‘What’s wrong with me?’
Blinking rapidly in bewilderment, Isabel tried to compose herself.
But the image of the duke standing in the bustling street, sunlight at his back, kept flashing through her mind.
‘It’s the same face I see every day, so why is it suddenly different?’
Even as the soft bedding wrapped around her, she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.
“We’ll begin the examination now, Princess.”
The physician set a stethoscope to her and checked her pulse.
Embarrassed he might notice how wildly her heart was racing, Isabel turned her face away.
Meanwhile, the duke observed the examination grimly, sinking deep into thought.
If she truly were pregnant…
‘Should I kill her immediately?’
He had dedicated his life to revenge.
Anything that could become a weakness was intolerable.
His hand drifted to the dagger at his waist, his gaze fixed on Isabel’s pale neck.
A slender neck that could snap with one twist. The sight stirred something savage.
‘She’s meant to die on the wedding night anyway, so it doesn’t matter…’
And yet an absurd assumption— that she might survive—kept surfacing.
‘Don’t be a fool.’
His fist tightened as he rebuked himself.
Until he destroyed this damned empire, every uncertainty was an obstacle.
“Hmmm.”
The physician finished and, darting a troubled look at the duke, lowered the stethoscope.
“She is not pregnant.”
“A relief.”
The duke nodded stiffly.
Yes. It truly was a relief.
No need to debate killing her. No troublesome complication.
Still… why do I feel…
Alongside the strong relief came a strange pang of disappointment.
He thumped his sternum, silently calling himself insane.
“What do you mean pregnant?! Are you out of your mind, Duke?!”
Apparently Isabel had reached the same conclusion.
“You think babies just appear?! Immaculate conception?! Something has to happen for that, doesn’t it?!”
“P-please calm down, Your Highness!”
Startled, the physician tried to soothe her.
“What thoughts do you have daily to accuse an innocent maiden of being with child? Unbelievable.”
“My apologies, Princess.”
Instead of excuses, the duke offered a stiff apology, then turned to the physician.
At his cold stare, the doctor flinched and bowed his head.
“How is her health? I heard she sometimes sees illusions.”
“Her heart is strong and lively. Not nearly weakened enough to hallucinate.”
The physician packed his bag and hurried out.
Leaving the two alone.
Isabel sprang upright the moment the door shut.
“Explain.”
“You said we met every night.”
“So why would you assume—wait. No way!”
A man who sleeps like a stone, who probably doesn’t even dream—how vivid must his imagination be?!
“W-what were you imagining?! We really were just playing!”
She complained that all they did was fetch—sticks, slippers, hats—like a dog, or that she brushed his fur.
“And anyway it was YOU coming to the tower every dawn. You kept pacing outside until I came out.”
The duke froze where he stood.
His face, which had turned pale, flushed a deep red again—a rare sight.
‘So the mistaken pregnancy didn’t faze him, but this embarrasses him?’
How did his mind work?
His violet eyes trembled, then hid behind lowered lids.
“Sigh… I made a grave mistake. Even ten mouths wouldn’t be enough to apologize.”
He was apologetic about falsely accusing her, yes—
—but far more mortified that he had fetched fallen objects like a dog.
And at the time, the misunderstanding was inevitable.
He had never desired anyone like that before.
With both mind and body.
Completely.
When he imagined the princess pinned beneath him, helpless—there had been only one thought.
But he could hardly justify himself out loud, so he held his tongue.
His silence came off to Isabel as curt and dismissive.
“Fine, Duke.”
“….”
“But I don’t want that misunderstanding again. So please stop coming near the tower.”
With a steady glare, Isabel marched out of the room.
Oddly, his heart sank as her resolute back disappeared.
Good thing he was human.
If he were a beast, his ears and tail would’ve drooped.
Madness. He was losing his mind.
“I wasn’t planning to go twice anyway…”
He muttered belatedly toward the slammed door.
What was a family?
That was the first thought that surfaced when maids whispered the princess might be pregnant.
‘Did I not dream that a great golden egg fell from a tall beanstalk? I looked to the sky, waiting for you.’
A mother’s voice, echoing after so many years.
The duke opened a drawer and took out a small framed painting.
It was a portrait of the previous Duke and Duchess of Bashke.
Faded paint, and dried blood stains scattered across the surface.
Between them, a younger version of himself beamed happily.
With a face that resembled neither parent.
Nearly twenty years now.
He touched the obsidian earring.
With that curse, his family shattered. And he was left alone.
Until I destroy this empire and its royal house, I will take nothing.
Even the one person in the imperial family who defended him—the Crown Prince—lay unconscious.
There was nothing left to stop his blade.
Damn it.
He shoved the portrait back into the drawer.
The polished ebony wood slammed shut with a cracking noise.
I cannot have a family.
Seeking a bride was only to break this cursed fate—nothing more, nothing less.
He buried himself in work. A stack of documents shrank quickly.
Snow glanced over nervously as the duke signed with a thundercloud expression.
Of all times, why did Prince Edwin’s letter arrive now?
Fidgeting with the envelope, Snow finally spoke.
“My lord?”
“….”
“Forgive the interruption, but a letter from Prince Edwin has arrived.”
“The contents?”
At the curt tone, Snow tore the royal seal and skimmed it.
“He… says he plans to visit the duchy.”
“Send a reply.”
“There is also… a special request. He asks for a welcoming banquet.”
“A banquet?”
A banquet while the Crown Prince hovered near death?
Only then did the duke look up and take the letter himself.
“He wishes to congratulate me on my marriage in advance…”
“A man who never liked you, suddenly being so gracious—very suspicious.”
“Find out what he’s plotting, Snow.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Snow departed stiffly.
Left alone, the duke stood and approached the window.
Blue sea, the fortress walls, and in a corner—the solitary tower.
Princess Isabel Dezart.
Her wary expression toward the prince, her urgency to enter a marriage contract—everything aligned.
No doubt, because of her.
Haaa—his breath fogged the glass.
Woof! Grrr—
After her first peaceful sleep in a while, Isabel woke at the familiar sound of a beast.
Rubbing her eyes, she peered out the window to see a large black creature pacing circles around the tower.
Dawn is nearly here… Was he there all night?
Every so often, he howled softly, as if in pain—needling her conscience.
Don’t waver.
It was the man, not the wolf, who caused trouble. If she indulged him again, another misunderstanding was inevitable.
But I should at least tell him to leave…
She opened the wide window and leaned her torso out.
Sniff. Sensing her scent, the beast raised its head sharply—its fierce violet eyes gleaming under fading moonlight.
“I told you I wasn’t going to play with you anymore.”
Her voice from the high tower should have been tiny—yet the beast wagged its tail as if he understood.
Seeing him so delighted made her chest warm.
“I mean it. Go home. Why get attached to a bride who’s going to die?”
Saying she was going to die out loud made her throat suddenly close up.
Why now…?
Isabel let out a shaky laugh, trying to dissolve the heaviness—but her face froze anyway.
You were tired of dying over and over. You wanted rest, didn’t you?
Cold sea air swirled in her empty mouth, poking at the heart beneath her ribs.
A chill sorrow spread through her like she was lying naked in snow.
Her gaze drifted into quiet nothingness, and tears fell like dew.
“Woof!”
He panicked, circling the tower anxiously.
Then, as if making a decision, he began climbing—limbs trembling—up the wall.
Only when he reached the window and barked did Isabel jolt back to herself.
“You came all the way up? I heard you were afraid of heights.”
“Woof, whine—”
“If you shake that hard trying to climb, you’re making me feel bad for refusing.”
Finally smiling again, Isabel wiped her tears and reached toward him.
Each time her fingers brushed his black-furred head, her long golden hair fluttered downward in the breeze.
I want to pet you more but I can’t reach well…
She leaned farther out to touch him properly.
There. Now she could reach—
“Huh?”
She had leaned too far.
Her balance slipped.
And Isabel tipped out of the window and fell.
