WWD 32

Chapter 32. My Butler Is Way Too Rich

“I’m proposing to you right now.”

Even hearing it with her own ears, it was hard to believe. It felt strange. Ever since she confessed her feelings, Cha-eon had been pushing forward with a kind of burning intensity.

Though they had spoken under the premise of “if,” they had already talked about things like living three hundred years without children.

His increasingly deep and persistent kisses. The way he never missed a chance to pull her into his arms whenever Seohyo showed even the slightest opening.

She had vaguely expected a day like this would come eventually.

It would have been more of a lie if she had truly never expected it at all.

But now that she was actually being proposed to, it didn’t feel real.

Cha-eon is proposing to me. He’s asking me to marry him.

If she accepted this, the two of them would truly become husband and wife. They would hold a wedding, lift the bride’s red veil, and spend their wedding night together. From then on, they would wake up side by side every morning.

She had slept alone for over 150 years, but now she would be sleeping and waking with someone else.

And that “someone else” was Cha-eon.

Ugh, this is so strange. What am I supposed to say? What should I do?

“Just nod your head.”

As if reading her thoughts, Cha-eon spoke.

“Just say one word—‘yes.’”

A moment ago, the mountain had been dark and frighteningly silent.

Now it was too bright.

Too many butterflies!

Why was it so bright here!

If she turned her head even slightly, she could read every expression on his face. Seohyo stood up without realizing it and began pacing near the low steps.

The butterflies, unaware of her turmoil, fluttered around happily.

As she pressed a hand over her pounding chest, Cha-eon approached from behind.

He grasped her shoulder and gently turned her around.

“Answer me.”

She was going to become Cha-eon’s wife.

Seohyo’s mind turned into a chaotic swirl of rainbow colors. Random thoughts of someone shouting “Let’s go!” no matter the time or place, and someone else declaring they would handle the wedding feast all appeared in her mind.

Proposal, marriage, wedding, Cha-eon.

Then, a voice she didn’t even know she had inside her spoke.

It was like dropping a solid stone into a rippling lake.

Don’t forget love, Seohyo.

She hadn’t even considered it, but the inner voice reminded her again.

This is finally happening.

“Miss?”

“Y-yes?”

“Answer me.”

Cha-eon urged her again, his tone calm but heavy. Thanks to that sudden inner voice, Seohyo slowly regained her senses and shot him a look.

“Don’t you think this is a bit one-sided? How long has it been since you asked, and you’re already rushing for an answer?”

“How much more mutual does this need to be?”

Even now, he didn’t lose a single word.

“You’re fine kissing me, but planning to marry someone else?”

Cha-eon narrowed his eyes.

“Is that what this is?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“It certainly sounds like it. But if not, that’s good.”

He leaned in slightly, closing the distance between them on purpose, clearly trying to corner her into giving the answer he wanted.

“So, your answer, Miss?”

It really felt like he was pushing her into a corner to get what he wanted.

At this point, she decided she wouldn’t yield so easily.

Seohyo bit her lip.

“…Please accept me.”

Perhaps because he had accused her of being one-sided, her tone turned slightly more pleading.

“I won’t force you to wake up early in the morning.”

“Is that the only promise you have as a groom?”

Though there was already a smile creeping onto Seohyo’s lips, she tried to keep her tone serious.

Sleeping until the sun was high in the sky—what more could she possibly need?

Cha-eon lightly tapped her shoulder.

Then he added another promise.

“I’ll take you to beautiful places you don’t even know about.”

Oh, that was tempting.

Seohyo tried hard not to show her satisfaction. She nodded as if telling him to continue.

“I’ll take you somewhere even humans rarely know of. Every birthday, I’ll bring you somewhere new.”

That sounded amazing.

This marriage… wasn’t so bad after all.

If the god who governed fate had heard this, he would probably have been shocked.

And she would have smiled and said,

“Sounds good to me.”

But the goddess of festivals, A-hee, had once warned her not to give in too easily.

Since it was advice from a friend deeply loved by her husband, Seohyo decided to follow it.

Still not giving a firm answer, she only smiled.

Seeing that, Cha-eon leaned even closer. He whispered into her ear:

“Still not enough?”

Each word was spoken in a low, pleasant voice that resonated at her ear.

“To be honest, these butterflies you see—they’re spirits borrowed from the mountain god. I asked permission. If you don’t answer, they’ll have to keep dancing until dawn tomorrow.”

Seohyo’s gaze drifted to the fluttering butterflies.

They did seem a bit tired compared to earlier.

They had been flying intensely for quite a while, almost like fireworks bursting into the sky.

Dozens of times over.

“Poor butterflies.”

Cha-eon whispered, sounding anything but sympathetic.

“Not convincing at all,” Seohyo muttered.

In the end, she burst into laughter.

Cha-eon asked once again.

And Seohyo, burying her face into his chest, finally nodded.

The sound of his heartbeat in her ears was louder than her own.

The wedding preparations proceeded swiftly.

If A-hee had known, she would have been saddened, but both of them agreed to hold a simple ceremony, so there wasn’t much to prepare.

No need to invite the entire village.

They had already told newcomers they were a married couple anyway, so there was no need for a public ceremony here.

But it would be lonely with no guests, so they decided to invite only close acquaintances among the gods.

A-hee, the fox girls, and a few others would be enough.

Seohyo only had to nod at Cha-eon’s suggestions.

A quiet, intimate wedding was exactly what she wanted. With A-hee’s group added, it would already feel like a hundred guests.

Though it seems Cha-eon would prefer something even quieter if I said it was fine.

That was the only strange thing.

Is it just his personality?

While writing the wording for pink invitation cards Cha-eon had ordered, Seohyo suddenly fell into thought.

Cha-eon showed strange inconsistencies while preparing the wedding.

What he said yesterday didn’t always match what he said today.

He had suggested a simple ceremony, yet now he was talking about renting a secluded venue.

She agreed with that part too.

But as she listened to the places he suggested, it slowly felt like they were moving further and further away from where they lived.

Not just farther—

If left alone, it felt like he would hold the wedding deep in a deserted mountain.

“Why not just do it on an island?”

She said it jokingly, but Cha-eon’s eyes lit up.

“Shall we? That’s quite novel.”

“Is that even something to consider seriously?”

“An island…”

He seemed to seriously consider it.

She had to quickly stop him.

Her question—whether they were getting married or fleeing like fugitives—seemed to work.

Cha-eon calmly said he was just considering options.

Is that really all it is?

At times like this, he looked like someone who wanted to hide Seohyo away somewhere no one could see and hold the ceremony there alone.

Yet at other times, he was the opposite.

He would casually order extremely expensive and extravagant items as if Seohyo were a royal princess.

“Do you prefer this color or that one?”

If she hesitated even slightly, he would just order both.

Everything he ordered was absurdly expensive.

Jewelry worthy of a noble mansion—or even a royal palace.

Wedding dress aside—

Why did she need a necklace made of pearls from the Eastern Sea?

She wasn’t going to prepare a dowry and marry into another house—she was just going to keep living with Cha-eon!

Why did she need a gold-inlaid lapis lazuli ring, ruby earrings like blood, and silk embroidered with golden phoenixes?

“Wait, is that a phoenix? Or maybe a mythical bird…?”

Whatever it was, it was large, colorful, and extremely expensive-looking.

A craftsman personally delivered the fabric and insisted the outfit be tailored in a prestigious place, ensuring the embroidery was displayed properly.

Not wanting to be rude by asking the price directly, Seohyo secretly checked the account books behind Cha-eon’s back.

And began seriously worrying about their future.

They might have to tighten their belts for at least 500 years.

At this rate.

Could they even afford it at all?

“We’ve arrived. Please get off.”

At Cha-eon’s words, Seohyo opened the carriage door.

Today was the day they were visiting the wedding venue.

It felt like she had barely managed to stop her overly enthusiastic butler from dragging them to the edge of the world.

Even so, it was still a carriage ride away.

“You said it’s a cozy house with a yard, right?”

“Yes. If A-hee’s group attends, a yard is necessary.”

“That makes sense.”

She had asked that question several times during the ride.

It’s not too big, right? Not excessively large? How many times bigger than our house?

Given his history of buying extravagant items, she couldn’t help worrying.

But he had assured her it was an “admittedly small house,” so she tried to calm down.

Still, there was a limit to how many times she could ask.

He had said it was fine, so—

This time, it would really be simple… right?

“Where are we going?”

As she headed toward the quiet house gate in sight, Cha-eon stopped her.

“Hm? Isn’t that the gate?”

“That’s someone’s residence.”

“Oh, really?”

She almost made a mistake.

Just as she was about to ask where their rented place was, Cha-eon pointed somewhere else.

“Over there?”

“Yes.”

“…Seriously?”

Cha-eon looked at her quietly.

“I like teasing you, but I don’t lie about trivial things.”

“Trivial? This?”

Seohyo looked along the long stone wall stretching endlessly before her.

It was massive—enough to occupy an entire street.

“Inside, it’s not as big as it looks.”

A place with this massive gate and wall, and yet “not big inside”?

She had never heard of a house that shrinks as you enter it.

And her prediction turned out to be correct.

The “cozy house with a yard” turned out to be only technically true in that it was a house.

It did have a yard for guests—

But that “yard” was actually a vast garden, an inner courtyard, and a rear garden combined.

There was also a pond, a stone bridge, and a pavilion beyond it.

The number of buildings? She couldn’t even count.

At a glance, there were easily seven or eight buildings—maybe twenty or thirty rooms, perhaps more.

“Cha-eon, this is not a secluded house. It’s not even remotely small.”

She held her aching head.

“Where did you even find this mansion?”

“It looks quite modest to me.”

“As in your eyes.”

“I mean mine.”

Seohyo looked at the swing hanging in the garden, imagining A-hee’s group playing on it.

The fox girls would run happily around the estate.

And collapse from exhaustion after a few laps, saying it felt bigger than their mountain.

“If you don’t like it, we can change it. There are places even bigger than this.”

What, did he rent a palace?

Exhausted, Seohyo sat down.

It might already be too late, but it felt like it was time for a serious talk with her future husband.

Their financial crisis.

What on earth were they going to do?!

“Cha-eon… I’m honestly confused. You always used to say that as long as we’re alive, we need to work, eat, and earn money. That if we’re in human form, we need money to survive.”

She spoke calmly.

“But lately… you’ve been buying jewelry I don’t even recognize, and dresses fit for a queen—dozens of them.”

The list of Cha-eon’s strange spending was endless.

“What’s going on? Are we starting married life in debt?”

The mansion was part of it too.

Honestly, she wanted to ask whether he had bought it instead of renting it—but she was afraid of the answer.

Cha-eon looked at her quietly, then nodded as if he finally understood.

He asked if all her earlier discomfort was because of this.

So that was the mystery solved.

He remained silent, but it felt like his voice echoed anyway.

“I understand your concern.”

Seohyo prepared herself for an explanation.

“However, we are not going bankrupt.”

He continued, saying there was something she didn’t know.

“You don’t have money. I told you that before, yet you were carefree, so there was no need to mention it.”

Even now that they were engaged, his bluntness hadn’t changed.

That stung a little.

Seohyo said nothing.

“But I do.”

“…You do?”

“Yes. I still have far more than we’ve spent, so don’t worry.”

How much had he even spent to say that so confidently?

Just one white plum blossom hairpin could probably buy an entire house.

And yet—

He had even more than that left?

“I don’t understand. When did you even manage to accumulate that much money?”

“When you were sleeping?”

“That’s not funny at all. What are you even talking about? Did you hunt rampaging magical beasts and get rewarded by the Heavenly Emperor or something?”

It was a random guess—but honestly, it seemed the only way someone could have that much money.

No.

Even hunting magical beasts wouldn’t be enough unless he had killed dozens.

Cha-eon laughed at her confusion.

He said it was something similar.

She probably wouldn’t believe the full explanation anyway.

She just needed to know it wasn’t obtained illegally.

He reached out and gently stroked her cheek.

“Shouldn’t you be happy that your husband is wealthy, by common sense?”

It was nice, in theory.

Better than being buried in debt that would take a hundred years to repay.

But his wealth was simply beyond common sense.