Rose, unable to think of any excuses, decided to be brazen and just close her eyes.
“It’s for my peace of mind.”
“Afraid I might cross that door?”
“…That’s harassment.”
“Harassment?”
He asked plainly, then crossed his arms and questioned.
“Who called me a national beauty and blocked the door with a wardrobe? I think I’m the one who was harassed.”
From the Duke’s perspective, it was reasonable to think that way.
But Rose, being someone who gets a headache from men, wasn’t at all pleased with how quickly the distance between them had closed in just one day, regardless of how luxuriously handsome he was.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t see me as a woman.”
When she rejected him firmly, Khan stared at Rose for a moment and frowned.
“You are a woman.”
The moment she heard those words, her body felt hot.
‘Is he doing this on purpose?’
As she stared at him intently, the Duke asked.
“Why?”
“Because you make me uncomfortable.”
Rose sighed and pulled out a toolbox she had hidden under her dress, grabbing a hammer.
“I want to finish what I was doing and rest comfortably. Would you please leave?”
The Duke didn’t budge an inch.
People who have lived their lives ruling over others inherently don’t listen well to others.
Just as she was about to conclude this was his true nature, the Duke asked her.
“Do you want to remain strangers with me?”
Unlike his usual self who focused on his own words, this was a carefully considered question.
His eyes, waiting for Rose’s answer, were as beautiful as the pitch-black night but remained expressionless.
The Duke had somehow approached her and said.
“I like you.”
“As if you’re the only Duke who’s ever said that to me?”
Even at Rose’s cold response, he didn’t flinch.
She frowned as she looked at the handsome man.
‘This was the last thing I wanted…’
It would be a lie to say she hadn’t considered the possibility, given that he was Aytan.
Just as Rose lacked absolute power, she hadn’t ruled out the fact that what the Duke lacked was ‘a woman who could handle him.’
However, she never expected him to reveal his intentions before even a day had passed.
He really loves being direct.
‘Making a contract and then acting like this… You really can read others’ thoughts but can’t understand their hearts at all, can you?’
The Duke, who absolutely lacked social skills and sensitivity, seemed to be someone who made all decisions and moved based on necessity.
True to someone who lacked understanding of interpersonal relationships that should take time to build, he had bound Rose with a contract as soon as the thought occurred to him.
Despite being inexperienced, he didn’t hesitate to use any means necessary.
‘Though I’m in no position to talk about romance, you really are hopeless.’
Of course, she kept these words to herself.
The Duke, who had been standing quietly waiting, reached down and took out a nail from the toolbox.
As he placed the nail in Rose’s palm, his fingers brushed against her skin like a breeze.
“You seem to have a lot to think about, so I’ll say just one thing. I made the contract because I desire you and want to possess you. I’ll apologize if you didn’t expect this, but my feelings won’t change.”
Completely shameless.
The Duke threw out these words without any consideration for the listener and walked out.
Before passing through the door, he turned back with a mischievous smile.
“Feel free to run away. If you’re confident you won’t get caught. Though that won’t be possible.”
He was also incredibly rude.
Rose glared at the door he had left through with an incredulous expression.
“It’s shocking that he showed his true colors less than a month after the contract, but at least he’s honest. Still, minus 100,000 points.”
Though she muttered smoothly, her eyes were colder than the Northern winter winds.
“Moreover, those eyes… How is that a confession?”
The dry and barren gaze lacked any warmth or passion, resembling a soldier who had set a target and was charging forward.
While the lingering questions in her mind were resolved, her mood turned utterly sour.
It felt like discovering that a trusted partner had been embezzling funds all along.
She found herself resenting the late former Duke more than ever today.
Unable to bear the weight of her body, which felt as heavy as water-soaked cotton, she threw the hammer in her hand back into the toolbox.
“Ah, life is so damn tough.”
The first day in Aytan was finally coming to an end.
*** *** *** *** ***
Not far from her room’s window, a leg dangled from a tree branch, swaying rhythmically in the air.
Soon, a pair of red eyes appeared from the shadows of the coniferous tree.
It was Casa.
He leaned his head back as he watched Rose, who was changing clothes alone behind a partition without letting any maids in.
“Hmm.”
A meaningless sound escaped his lips once more.
“Hm, so that’s how it is.”
Not long after, the light in her room went out, and Casa rose from the darkness.
Walking along the thick part of the branch as if strolling on solid ground, he moved to the narrower section and then leapt down.
The moonlight illuminated Casa’s face as he landed silently on the grass.
The usual sly and cheerful expression was long gone.
His sharp, focused demeanor was evident as his red eyes glanced at the Duke’s window before turning outward.
After walking for a while and leaving the Duke’s estate, Casa arrived at a secluded forest. He looked around and muttered in a lazy voice.
“Stop messing around and come out. I’m not in a good mood right now. If we handle this quickly without getting on each other’s nerves, it’ll be easier for both of us.”
Still, the forest remained silent.
Only the occasional sound of snow being blown and crunching could be heard.
Casa’s red eyes narrowed as he stared into the shadows cloaked in darkness.
“What happens to those who make me wait? Well, I wouldn’t know since I’ve never heard of them.”
Casa smirked, his voice thick with the scent of blood.
“They all died.”
With a sudden rustling sound, a small figure tumbled out, almost rolling as it emerged.
The small-framed man, clad in black sable fur, landed face-first in front of Casa.
“Here, here, I came out!”
“Nice to see you, rat fur. If you’d been any later, I might’ve killed you. Lucky, right?”
The rat-faced man, pulling his face out of the snow, nervously adjusted his half-crushed gold-rimmed glasses and rubbed his hands together anxiously.
“Hehe, it wasn’t on purpose. You know, in this line of work, you have to be discreet and cautious to survive.”
Casa barely paid attention to his words and extended his hand.
The rat-faced man quickly glanced around before carefully pulling out a glass bottle and placing it in Casa’s palm.
When Casa held it up to the moonlight, the red powder inside the elongated glass bottle shifted smoothly like sand.
The rat-faced man flinched and squirmed nervously, clearly uneasy.
“That’s it, right? This clears one of the debts our guild owes you, right? Huh? It’s freezing, so can you just answer quickly so I can leave?”
“Are you that scared?”
The rat-faced man looked as though he wanted to clamp Casa’s mouth shut right then and there.
His face turned pale, as if a ghost had clung to his back.
“Th-this is Aytan.”
“So what?”
“…There are monsters here.”
“The Duke?”
The rat-faced man panted heavily, shrinking back.
He looked at Casa with an expression as if someone had stabbed him in the stomach with a knife, retreating as if Casa were his mortal enemy.
The drastic change was unbelievable, considering how terrified he had been of the elite mercenary just moments ago.
“Stop it.”
At the man’s growling voice, Casa’s red eyes curved mischievously.
The red irises, illuminated by the moonlight, darkened as they stared at the man.
“If you know something, speak.”
“W-what?”
“The Duke.”
“No, I can’t. It’s forbidden. Aytan has eyes and ears everywhere. Do you know how many people have died here? Risking my life to deliver that drug was already enough. Information wasn’t part of the deal.”
“Why do you think I had you bring this?”
“Ugh…”
“A fist nearby is scarier than a sword far away. Ever heard that saying? I quite like it. Though sometimes, I like the opposite too. What do you think? Isn’t it fascinating? I think so.”
Eventually, the man, defeated by the threat, began to speak, but Casa’s eyes showed no satisfaction.
It was information so obvious that he already knew it.
For someone who dealt in information, it was nothing more than scraps.
Suppressing his irritation, Casa waved his hand, and the man bolted away at full speed.
It seemed likely that someone else would show up for the next request.
Then Casa’s eyes narrowed.
“That bastard… he spoke informally to me, didn’t he?”
It had been so natural that he hadn’t even noticed the backhanded insult at first.
He stared at the forest where the man had disappeared, then smirked and tucked the drug into his coat.
Humming a song he couldn’t even remember where he’d heard, Casa returned to the Duke’s castle, only to feel a sharp tingle at the back of his neck.
Instinctively, he turned around to find the master of Aytan standing there.
“You’re still awake, Your Grace.”
Casa smiled nonchalantly, pushing the half-drawn sword back into its sheath.
As Khan moved without hesitation, even in the darkness, Casa’s smile faded.
His blood boiled, and he instinctively gripped his sword, but a dry voice spoke calmly.
“Did you enjoy your night stroll?”
“More or less.”
The Duke passed by Casa as if he had no further questions.
The killing intent emanating from Khan pierced through Casa’s body, but outwardly, he maintained a calm smile as he walked down the corridor.
When the gaze following the back of his head disappeared along with the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs, Casa finally coughed up the blood he had been holding back.
The suffocating pressure in his chest, caused by the boiling of his blood, finally eased.
Wiping the blackened blood from the back of his hand, Casa’s red eyes burned brightly.
“Truly impressive.”
But he didn’t feel bad about it.
“It was a good choice. With someone like that, I can feel at ease for a while.”
For Casa, good or bad was always measured by Rose.
Straightening his back after spitting out the blood, he roughly wiped the bloodstains on the floor with his foot.
Only after erasing even the lingering taste of blood in his mouth did he follow the stairs where the Duke had disappeared, stopping in front of Rose’s door.
Closing his eyes, he could hear Rose’s slow and steady breathing.
After briefly placing his hand on the door to sense any abnormalities, Casa confirmed there was nothing wrong and glanced toward the Duke’s room.
The voice of the man Rose had acknowledged as a beauty echoed in his mind, pleasing to the ear.
Even the possessiveness that clung to him, though not outwardly visible, was palpable.
‘I made the contract because I desire you and want to possess you.’
Recalling the Duke’s words, spoken as if he could have anything he wanted, an indescribable emotion flickered in Casa’s eyes before vanishing.
“Hmm.”
A slow smile spread across his lips.
Of all the choices, she had to pick a beautiful bastard. It seemed Rose’s taste in men was doomed in this lifetime.
Casa’s humming, as he slowly walked down the corridor, faded into the dark night.
*** *** *** *** ***
Rustle.
Several silent gazes that had been moving across the ceiling turned toward Rose’s room after Casa’s presence disappeared.
Then, as if sensing something, they cast a fearful glance toward the Duke’s room before swiftly retreating down the corridor.
And in the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, a prophetic dream came to Rose.
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