When Casa flashed an innocent smile as if asking ‘what’s wrong?’, Rose immediately turned her attention back to the Duke.
She felt a sense of sympathy for him.
From a merchant’s perspective, people who only waste money were a serious loss, which made her heart soften toward the Duke.
Rose asked worriedly.
“Are they at least capable?”
“Why would I feed incompetent people?”
Rose was momentarily speechless. She glanced at Casa again.
Why was she feeding and maintaining such an expensive person?
When their eyes met, his red eyes narrowed as he beamed at her.
‘Ah, he’s just for decoration.’
But when she looked at the Duke, Casa’s face instantly vanished from her mind.
She bit her lip, finding the situation somewhat amusing, while he crossed his arms and silently observed her.
His sharp eyes narrowed as he raised his pale hand to cover his mouth.
Setting aside how elegant the movement was, it was just a hand moving from his waist to his face, yet she found it difficult to look away.
“Hmm.”
When he made that languid sound, she understood why beautiful people were called beautiful.
The Duke, seemingly lost in thought, slowly rubbed his lips with the finger that had been covering his mouth.
It was just an ordinary gesture.
Really, that’s all it was.
Yet why did she suddenly feel dizzy, as if punched in the stomach, and why did her mouth go dry?
‘What? What did I just see?’
It was clearly a meaningless action.
Unless one was possessed by a demon of lust, there was no way that could look erotic.
But why did she have this inexplicable urge to sweep everything off the desk and—
Suddenly, she felt feverish.
Casa, standing beside her, abruptly stuck his face close to hers.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick? Your face is all red.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Really?”
Casa playfully flicked her forehead with his finger.
It hurt so much it snapped her back to reality.
“Work. Work. That’s how you feed me, master.”
“Are you finished?”
When the Duke spoke to recapture Rose’s attention, she blinked.
He looked exactly the same as always, his seemingly cold face still beautiful, but that was all.
‘He just rubbed his lips. What meaning could that possibly have? Get it together. That man isn’t trying to seduce you.’
If just rubbing his lips had such devastating power, she became somewhat fearful of her future with this man.
“No. So, you’re saying they’re skilled?”
“They might not have the strength to hold a fork, but they can wield a sword.”
“……”
There seemed to be some unwholesome nuances in his words, or was that just her lustful imagination?
She looked at him wondering if he was making advances, but his bewitching face showed no sign of wanting to devour her.
‘I must have seen it wrong, right? Yes. This isn’t the time to be worrying about such things.’
Taking a shallow breath, Rose focused on her complicated concerns.
Right now, the possibility of assassination was more important.
The Duke’s ripened sensuality and well-shaped legs were absolutely not subjects for consideration.
Consoling herself that even such beauty would just make an attractive corpse if dead, Rose got to the point.
“Would it be possible to assign the most capable among them for the ball?”
“Is a war breaking out?”
Rose felt a headache coming on.
Why did talking to this man always make her feel like they were living in different worlds?
“Um… are they only available for such situations?”
The Duke briefly wore an expression suggesting he’d heard something utterly ridiculous.
“If you want to demolish the ballroom, I won’t stop you.”
Though she wanted to demand what kind of knights these were, Rose calmly steered the conversation back to normal territory.
“You can control them, can’t you?”
“Why do you want military force so badly?”
“Even if it turns out to be meaningless, I’d rather say it was useless than regret not doing it at all.”
Though the explanation sounded plausible, she couldn’t mention the assassin, so she anxiously watched for his reaction.
He quietly observed her before giving his permission as if it didn’t matter either way.
“If you don’t want chaos, I’ll station a few outside the ball. Would you like to meet them?”
“No. I trust you’ll arrange them appropriately.”
“You always manage to get what you want.”
With that single comment, she understood.
The Duke was reluctant to reveal his hidden forces.
There were actually bigger reasons, but Rose couldn’t know those.
Seeing no reason to stay longer, she nudged Casa.
Rose communicated with her eyes.
‘We’re done. Let’s go quickly.’
‘Oh, okay.’
Though it was meant as a suggestion to leave together, he barely managed a semblance of a farewell before heading out first.
Rose glared at Casa’s back before bowing respectfully to the Duke.
“Then I’ll take my leave. Thank you for your time.”
Just as Rose was about to exit, the door suddenly closed in front of her.
Her eyebrows shot up at the sight of the straight arm and hand blocking the door.
As she tried to turn around, she felt something ticklish.
The Duke’s fingers were tangled in her hair, moving frustratingly slowly.
“What are you doing?”
“Something’s stuck.”
“What is?”
“Fur. Looking at how dirty and reddish it is, must be from a wild beast.”
Rose realized he was referring to Casa.
‘Fur my foot.’
After considering whether jealousy could exist without love, she concluded it didn’t matter either way.
Rose tried to turn around again but found herself trapped between the Duke and the door, unable to move.
“This is uncomfortable, please step back.”
The sound of the Duke’s clothes rustling against her dress made her earlobes burn.
As he leaned forward, his weight pressed slightly on her shoulders.
Every time Khan’s low breath touched her skin, the fine hairs on her nape stood on end.
Though she couldn’t see him standing behind her, all her senses seemed heightened to an extreme.
Khan whispered in a deep voice.
“I know far less than you think. But I’m willing to make an effort.”
Just as Rose was about to kick him in response to this unfamiliar feeling she’d never experienced before—
The door opened in front of her.
When she turned, she found his beautiful face staring directly at her.
“So give me a chance. You won’t regret it.”
“What are you doing there?”
At Casa’s voice, she turned to look. His red eyes narrowed before he swiftly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her outside.
When she looked back, the door was already closed.
*** *** *** *** ***
Rose wandered aimlessly through the garden with Casa.
Her heart, which had been pounding wildly because of the Duke, still hadn’t calmed down.
‘He’s more dangerous than I thought.’
It felt as though his voice, as soft and unsteady as his breath, was still clinging to her ears.
‘Give me a chance. You won’t regret it.’
It seemed he was ready to begin in earnest, but she had no idea how to defend against it.
Rose found herself having dark thoughts.
‘Should I just let the prophetic dream have its way so he can remain a beautiful corpse?’
Above all, when she thought of the Duke’s barren face, full of sensuality but devoid of emotion, her fists clenched involuntarily.
It was pitiful that she had to worry about assassination even in this situation.
Rose wrinkled her face, mixing irritation with frustration.
Seemingly disliking that expression, Casa grabbed her nose.
“Hey, snap out of it.”
“Let go of my nose.”
When Casa released his grip, Rose glared at the damned fox.
“Your manners have gotten worse.”
“Are you hurt? I’m used to street methods, but I was gentle.”
Seeing Casa’s worried face as he examined her from different angles suddenly made her laugh.
“I really got played by the Duke, didn’t I? ‘Give me a chance,’ my foot.”
Casa shrugged and said lightly.
“How can you fend off someone who’s coming at you with determination?”
“Hah.”
Watching her repeatedly gulp the cold air, Casa’s expression briefly clouded before brightening again.
“What’s this? Why is our great mastermind acting like this? It’s fine, it’s fine. You can handle everything anyway.”
“What?”
“Or should I do it?”
Rose glared at Casa.
“You’ve got that sharp tongue, but no brains to actually help me, do you?”
Casa scoffed and pulled an apple out of his pocket, taking a bite.
“You just let things you can’t control be. For now, he’s the best option, isn’t he? Then you should try your best until you’ve gotten what you need out of him. If you quit now, you’ll end up with nothing.”
Chewing on the apple, Casa continued.
“Whatever the Duke does, just play along. It’s not like you’ll be seeing him for the rest of your life. At most, this will all be over in five years, and even if it drags on, it won’t go past ten.”
After saying that, he lowered the hand holding the apple and smiled warmly.
“Even if the Duke has ulterior motives, it’s fine as long as you don’t waver, right? Or are you not confident? Or maybe… you were actually swayed? Hmm, I must’ve underestimated you. Turns out you’re really into looks, huh? Well, thinking about how you were exchanging glances with him, calling him a national treasure or whatever, I guess I wasn’t too far off—”
“Casa, come here. Be a good boy, okay?”
Rose reached out toward his foul mouth, but Casa leaned his head back and quickly darted away, laughing.
“Slowpoke. So, are you going to catch me?”
When she didn’t immediately chase after him, Casa crept back and, seeing her visibly annoyed, reached out to fix her hair while laughing.
“Aww, were you upset?”
“Don’t.”
Casa chuckled softly and began adjusting her cloak.
For some reason, he kept redoing it several times, as if dissatisfied, before whispering in a slightly subdued voice.
“What I’m saying is, this has already happened, and it’s unavoidable, so don’t stress yourself out over it. And don’t forget—I’m your worry doll, remember? You’ve told me, so now you just focus on what you need to do and stop wasting energy on unnecessary things. Got it?”
When she looked at him, Casa, seemingly uninterested in hearing her response, gazed beyond the dense coniferous forest.
His red hair swayed like flames in the wind.
Amid the occasional flurries of snow, Casa looked like a bonfire crackling and burning with a soft crackling sound.
Casa turned his gaze to Rose, staring at her for a long moment before suddenly blurting out something completely out of the blue.
“If it’s so hard, why don’t you abandon the merchant guild and run away with me?”
“No.”
“Do you want that man?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
Casa’s smile deepened.
“See? Simple, isn’t it?”
Then, his red eyes suddenly widened.
“Whoa, what are you doing?!”
Rose narrowed her eyes as she watched him jump around, flailing, after she shoved a handful of snow down his collar.
“Where does a younger guy like you get off acting so cocky?”
Even after brushing off the snow, Casa flapped his clothes irritably and glared at Rose.
“How ridiculous. You don’t even know when I was born, so how am I younger? I’ve been taller than you since the day we met!”
Rose packed another snowball and threw it at Casa.
“All men are the same—useless!”
“Why are you taking your anger out on me? Are you bipolar?!”
“You’re a man too!”
“This is so unfair! Hey, aren’t you a woman? You female supremacist!”
After being hit by several snowballs, Casa, with his now-soaked red hair, grabbed Rose and began shaking the water off mercilessly.
“Ahhh! Casa, get away from me!”
“Hmph! Go take out your bad mood on your boyfriend. Exploiting an innocent guard like me—you’re a terrible master.”
Grumbling in frustration, Casa stormed off with a sulky expression.
As Rose wiped her wet face and started walking, something flew toward her.
She instinctively caught it, only to find it was an apple.
From not too far away, Casa’s voice rang out.
“Apples are good for mental health!”
Even from a distance, Casa’s grinning face was clearly visible.
Watching him wave his hand wildly as he disappeared, Rose muttered to herself.
“You know what? The Duke suits you better. Let’s see how you enjoy suffering as a guard at the ball.”
She was smiling, as if the earlier turmoil had never happened.
“Seriously, what an idiot.”
Rose whispered words Casa couldn’t hear, laughing at how he had deliberately teased her to cheer her up. But then, the memory of her prophetic dream suddenly made her frown.
“An assassin… What kind of person are they, exactly?”
To think they’d dare to target a Sword Master—it was clear they had nerves of steel, or perhaps just a death wish.
And to have put her in such a troublesome situation as well…
“The price will be very, very steep.”
Rose’s cold gaze turned toward the Duke’s study.
Just thinking about Khan made her irritation rise, and with a flick of her dress, she walked away from the spot.
*** *** *** *** ***
After Rose left, Khan, now alone in the study, furrowed his brows and opened the bottommost drawer of his desk.
A considerable number of books, with blatantly suggestive titles, cluttered his view.
Titles like “Marriage First, Love Later”, “The Night’s Conqueror: Courtesan”, “The Rose and the Thorn”, “The Great Seducer”, “The Law of 19+ Quotas”, and “Hold Me” caught his eye as he scanned through them.
Khan muttered to himself.
“Am I… lacking in knowledge?”
He was following the advice given to him, yet somehow, he felt as though Rose was drifting further away.
He recalled the conversation he had with the owner of the bookstore, which was said to be the most popular among women.
‘Uh… books that women like the most?’
‘They want romance novels.’
The moment Khan saw the hesitant expression on the bookstore owner’s face, he pulled out a handful of silver coins and handed them over.
The bookstore owner responded in a very sincere tone.
‘There are soft genres and decadent genres. Which one would you prefer?’
‘I’d like there to be no way out.’
At that, the owner nodded deeply, as if he truly understood what Khan meant.
‘My lord, I see you’re a man of culture. ‘A door with no exit’… what a poetic expression. Let me guide you to some bewitching books that no woman can resist. However, these novels are quite… explicit. A lady encountering them for the first time might find them rather embarrassing.’
‘So they dislike them?’
Though the conversation was clearly going off track, the bookstore owner, completely oblivious, smiled confidently and said.
‘Not at all! Women have their own fantasies. How could they resist romance novels full of romantic and passionate love? Please wait here while I fetch them.’
Khan waited with a dubious expression, and the bookstore owner, who had briefly disappeared, returned with an armful of books bound in red covers.
‘I guarantee it! These books are the very essence of romance!’
Khan completely believed these words because the bookstore owner was a woman.
However, at this point, Khan was realizing that the knowledge gained from devouring these novels came with considerable complications.
Khan pulled out and opened his red notebook where he had organized his plans.
[Step 2. Use everything at your disposal to seduce.]
He moved his pen thoughtfully, writing with serious consideration.
[If the target is oblivious, a more direct approach may be necessary.]
Though Khan felt something was still unresolved, he concluded that the novels couldn’t be wrong in suggesting that beauty and physical appeal were the answer.
After all, wasn’t it the same answer given in all thirty books, as if stamped from the same mold?
Looking at the red notebook containing his plans, Khan picked up his pen and drew a star next to the word ‘direct.’
After a moment’s consideration, he added two more stars.
The stars were drawn with such perfectionism that one could feel the drawer’s obsessive attention to detail.
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