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CHAPTER 06
“Why would I?”
Su took pride in being a gambler. Run away just because she lost?
If there were no consequences, it wouldn’t be gambling anymore. Well, that would be a different story if the stakes were her entire fortune or her life.
“Let me be clear in advance—I don’t work without pay.”
“Didn’t you lose the game?”
“I said I’d work if I lost. I never said I’d work for free.”
Seeing Su calmly point out the flaw in his words with a composed, almost prim expression, the Duke let out a dry laugh.
“Ha. So you’re saying you will work.”
“I lost, so I have to. Since you said you needed a con artist, I assume you’ve got some con to pull off?”
A con involving a man ranked second only to the king in this country. That piqued her curiosity a little.
“Yes. I do. A very important matter involving my ducal status.”
“What exactly am I supposed to do?”
“Be my wife.”
Su doubted her ears for a moment at the Duke’s flat reply. What did he just say?
“I need a wife.”
“What?”
“The person I need to deceive is the king. Can you do it?”
“…Duke, are you ill somewhere?”
She didn’t explicitly say “your head,” but the Duke clearly understood and frowned slightly.
“I’m perfectly fine. And you don’t have the option to refuse in the first place.”
At his words, Su bit her lip. He was right. She had played the game with him—and lost. She had to pay the price.
Is this guy actually insane?
Who uses marriage as part of a scam?
It’s not like he was an illegal immigrant needing Willetan citizenship.
Suppressing her irritation, Su tried to regain her composure. If she had to do it anyway, negotiating payment was the most important thing.
“How much are you paying me?”
The Duke raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised at her calm demeanor.
Her ability to instantly control her emotions and begin negotiating was no different from Willetan’s Minister of Finance. Of course, the Minister would likely protest furiously at being compared to a mere con artist.
“How much do you want?”
“100,000 gold.”
At Su’s firm tone, the Duke’s neatly shaped brow furrowed slightly.
“…Are you insane?”
“Try finding someone better than me at conning people in this field.”
Her voice was confident—so confident it bordered on arrogance. She knew it wasn’t difficult; it was practically impossible. The Duke leaned back with a laugh, his black hair—like obsidian—flowing elegantly.
“80,000 gold. Expenses during your stay at the castle will be deducted.”
Not bad. Even without wind, his black hair shifted slightly as Su spoke.
“Deal.”
And so, they agreed to a marriage contract.
The Duke was somewhat exhausted by Su’s relentless questioning about contract duration, compensation in case of injury during the con, and so on. Regardless of status or reputation, he was someone few dared to interrogate like this.
In fact, it was his first time meeting someone who so openly demanded things from him, which made it somewhat intriguing.
Most nobles—viscounts, counts, and the like—would have flushed red at her audacity and shouted insults to protect their dignity. But to him, who had always been naturally revered his entire life, her attitude felt refreshing.
This small thing has no fear at all.
“…Are you even listening to me?”
Noticing the Duke half-closing his eyes and ignoring her, Su frowned and asked.
“I am listening.”
“So, about bonuses—”
“I don’t see why I should give you something like that.”
“What? Do you even have a conscience? You’re asking me to con the king, of all people! One wrong move and my head is literally on the chopping block. Of course there should be a bonus for success!”
“Isn’t 80,000 gold enough?”
“Of course not! Oh, and there’s also something called hazard pay in this line of work.”
Despite the Duke’s lukewarm attitude, Su grew more animated, rattling off all the “standard” payments a con artist should receive—payments she had just made up on the spot.
Hazard pay, special bonuses, scam operation fees, and so on. The total would exceed 100,000 gold.
The Duke didn’t even bother arguing. Her shamelessness was unbelievable. Even after being exposed as a con artist, she was still trying to con him.
“Hazard pay refers to danger to your life?”
“Exactly!”
“You won’t be in danger.”
“Hah? And how can you be so sure?”
At her rebuttal, the Duke frowned slightly as if tired, picking up his pen. He intended to revise the contract Su had hastily drafted.
“Who do you think is standing in front of you?”
“Duke Miramonte.”
Su answered as if it were obvious.
Dioner Shantark Del Casa Miramonte. She had memorized his full name already—did he think she was stupid?
“The Sword of Willetan. Remember that title—it is the one most used.”
Su pouted at his words.
“What does being good with a sword have to do with my safety?”
The Duke, finding her stubbornness tiresome, left the hazard pay clause untouched rather than crossing it out. It wasn’t that he was persuaded—he was simply annoyed by her persistence.
“Special bonuses will be given at my discretion when I deem your work satisfactory. I’m not unreasonable.”
As the Duke looked like he might completely rewrite the contract, Su smiled lightly and added,
“I’ll remove the scam assistance fee. Since you already deducted living expenses at the castle.”
“That’s different!”
“How is it different?”
“Ah, just remove it. Remove it! Rich people are always the worst.”
Su grumbled and shot him a side-eye. Anyone watching would have been shocked at her disrespect, but she had no awareness that she was being rude at all.
After all, she had grown up in the back alleys of Ardel—the lowest place in the kingdom. A place outside the normal class system, where law barely reached.
In a place where survival itself was difficult, who would bother with manners or status?
She felt no reverence even for the king of Ba’ha, so how could she possibly respect a duke? Normally she would have adjusted her behavior around nobles, but the Duke’s indifferent acceptance of her attitude was another reason.
And besides—they were negotiating.
She wasn’t about to yield just because the other party was a duke. Her pride wouldn’t allow it.
“Sign there. I’ll do mine too.”
The Duke took the contract Su had scribbled messily and neatly copied it onto another sheet. In the signature line, he drew a small rabbit.
It was the signature of the con artist Roland, but since this was a contract made as a con artist, he decided it was appropriate.
The Duke glanced at Su’s signature and then calmly wrote his own name.
That signature is ridiculously long.
Su thought life as a noble must be exhausting in its own way.
The Duke folded one copy of the signed contract and put it inside his coat.
Su also grabbed the other copy and shoved it into a pouch containing a stolen gold handle.
Now that she had agreed to play the role of a fake wife and signed the contract, she sat awkwardly, unsure of what came next. The Duke beckoned her with a finger.
“Why?”
“Disobedience will not be tolerated.”
Who said I wouldn’t listen? He should at least explain before ordering people around. Am I your pet?
Grumbling inwardly, Su stood up.
The guest room was quite large, and even sitting opposite each other, there was a considerable distance between them. Noticing the Duke’s eyebrows rising slightly in annoyance at her slow pace, she quickened her steps.
As she approached, the Duke suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.
Startled, she blinked—then bang! the heavy door of the guest room swung open.
From behind, their posture looked rather suspicious.
Su’s weight had fallen forward, and the Duke’s face was right in front of hers. From outside, it looked like an intimate embrace.
“Oh—oh my!”
Two or three noble ladies peeking in gasped and blushed.
Su glanced between them and the Duke, then shyly buried her face into his chest. Her ears, still flushed red, remained visible.
The Duke gently held her and turned his head toward the noble ladies.
“How rude. We were in the middle of something pleasant.”
With slightly disheveled black hair and clothing from earlier sword practice, the Duke smiled in a way that was almost indecently seductive.
Neither Su nor the Duke was exposing anything, yet the atmosphere was so suggestive that the young ladies quickly fled, hiccuping in embarrassment.
As soon as they left, Su and the Duke pushed each other away at the same time.
It was almost as fast as a snail retracting into its shell.
Ugh, that was way more disgusting than I expected.
I should’ve asked for a disgust fee too! Su mentally cursed her own oversight.
