Chapter 18
In the early morning, the head butler knocked urgently on the office door.
“Your Grace! Are you awake?”
Yulician, who had been sleeping on the floor of the office with his coat spread out, barely opened his eyes. As he reached out unconsciously, he felt something soft.
‘What is this…? It’s warm.’
Half-asleep, he pulled the blanket-like thing over himself and thought.
‘…But why would there be a blanket in the office?’
Only then did Yulician realize the source of that familiar softness.
It was clearly Maddie’s dress—the one he had repeatedly touched in front of the intruder last night.
‘We definitely slept apart! Did I crawl over in my sleep?! Why?!’
Startled, Yulician shot up like he had stepped on a bug, flailing as he sprang to his feet.
Thankfully, Maddie wasn’t there—only her dress lay like a shed skin.
Yulician quickly glanced around and spotted the transformed culprit.
Maddie was sleeping curled up like a caterpillar in a rolled carpet in the corner.
Her corset stood neatly by a vase like an ancient artifact.
Apparently, she had once again ignored instructions and thrown it off as she pleased.
Yulician carefully picked up the dark green dress he had been using as a blanket.
“…She should’ve used it herself. Why cover me with it?”
Without realizing it, he wiped his face, unaware that his cheeks were flushed bright red.
Maddie’s sleeping face, curled in the carpet like a larva, looked free of thoughts or worries.
She hardly seemed the type to take off her dress to cover Yulician.
‘…She probably just tossed it anywhere, and I pulled it over in my sleep because I was cold.’
A coincidence.
He settled on that conclusion.
Meanwhile, the butler’s knocking continued relentlessly.
Philip’s anxious voice called for Yulician.
“Your Grace, are you awake?”
Yulician walked over to Maddie and tried to wake her.
“Hey. Wake up.”
Normally, she’d shoot up right away—but today she didn’t budge.
“…Hey. Are you sick? Maddie.”
Worried, Yulician whispered into her ear.
“I’ll give you a bonus.”
Maddie’s eyes snapped open immediately.
She swiftly pulled her arms out of the carpet and unbuttoned a few of Yulician’s shirt buttons.
Then, she mussed his hair wildly.
“I love that smile.”
She gave a big thumbs-up.
Yulician raised his hand to his mouth and felt the corner of his lips. It was lifted.
He must’ve smiled without realizing it. Probably out of disbelief.
The monster of capitalism that sprang up at the mention of a bonus—this was his fiancée?
Maddie didn’t seem the least bit interested in why he smiled.
She only cared about how it looked.
“Right now, it’s perfect. You look so lovable. Go answer the door just like that. But don’t open it all the way.”
Yulician nodded, still smiling.
“Maddie. The fact that the butler came to the office instead of my room this early in the morning… means he knows what happened here last night.”
“I know. Glad all that desk shaking paid off.”
Yulician answered calmly and walked to the door.
Just as Maddie said, he cracked it open so the inside of the office couldn’t be seen.
Philip, his expression desperate, looked like he’d just seen salvation as he was finally granted entry.
Yulician coughed deliberately and asked in a hoarse voice,
“…Ahem, hem! What is it, this early in the morning?”
“Your Grace, Sir Vainyl has arrived. He was heading straight to your chambers, but I barely managed to guide him to the parlor… You need to get ready and see him.”
“Alright then…”
Yulician glanced behind him as if hesitant and scratched his brow.
“…Philip. Make sure no one walks down the hall from here to Maddie’s room. Just quietly summon Rayley to her room.”
“…Ah, yes, Your Grace.”
Philip nodded quickly and turned away.
Once Philip was out of sight, Yulician closed the door and turned around.
Maddie, who had been wrapped in a carpet just a minute ago, now wore Yulician’s coat over her undergarments.
“…Why are you wearing my coat?”
“My dress is ripped.”
“It was fine. Why is it ripped?”
“I just ripped it.”
“…Why?”
“Because with the mood last night, it felt appropriate.”
She was clearly planning to keep using informal speech.
Yulician tried switching to polite speech deliberately.
“So, you’re going to wear my coat to your room?”
“Yep.”
Useless.
Maddie’s attitude was still a blaring yellow warning light.
Yulician gave up on receiving formal speech and asked,
“What am I supposed to wear?”
“You’ve got your shirt.”
“Go to my room looking like this? I’ve never walked the halls disheveled like this…”
“Start now. Staggering around drunk in back alleys doesn’t impress the Emperor. That’s why you’re doing this, right?”
She wasn’t wrong about any of it.
Yulician looked at her sheepishly.
Maddie, wearing his oversized coat over a thin petticoat, looked ridiculous… and cute.
Cute? Am I insane?
Yulician punched himself in the face.
His brain rattled, and clarity returned.
“Maddie. Get ready and come downstairs. I’ll introduce you to Sir Vainyl.”
“Do I have to kill him?”
“Geez! Just try not to kill anyone!”
A sudden thought hit him.
She’s not in her right mind either—maybe a punch would help her too.
[“Why keep this guy alive? I’ll kill him fast and clean. Been waiting for this. Ready when you are.”]
[“Just! Be! Quiet!”]
He remembered the nonsense she spewed when they caught Mayley, who tried to poison him.
Yulician gave her a stern warning.
“Maddie. Absolutely. Sir Vainyl is my friend. My one and only true friend I trust.”
“Pfft. No one in this world is worth trusting.”
“You can trust him. He’s on our side.”
“You’re way too trusting, you know. Honestly, how would you even survive without me?”
She sounded like they were truly married.
It was so absurd that Yulician couldn’t help but laugh.
When he laughed, Maddie followed suit.
Both of them had tangled hair and were dressed in a total mess.
As they giggled together, Yulician suddenly grew self-conscious and rubbed his neck, clearing his throat.
‘…Why am I laughing?’
Just last night, an intruder had come.
And now he was laughing like it was nothing.
As he blinked quickly and pressed a hand to his forehead, Maddie was mid-transformation.
Somehow, her cheeks flushed red, and her slightly swollen lips looked fuller—like a love-struck maiden.
‘Fuller…?’
Yulician smacked his head again.
Only the pain brought him back to sanity.
Maddie glanced at him and kindly asked,
“Got a headache? Want me to smack you instead?”
She clenched her fist.
A hit from that could knock him unconscious forever.
Yulician shook his head, and Maddie shrugged, then left the office.
“Alright, I’m going. See you later. Bye, darling.”
She walked briskly down the hall and up one floor.
Yulician watched her go and repeated to himself endlessly.
It’s all a lie. She’s acting. It’s all fake.
After washing his face with water brought by a servant and brushing his hair, Yulician finally looked presentable.
Even before, due to accumulated fatigue, his face wasn’t exactly glowing, but today it was obvious he’d had a wreck of a night.
Maybe no one else would notice, but to his friend Vainyl…
“Shocking! I had a totally wild night last night!”
He didn’t want to give off that kind of vibe.
Standing in front of the parlor door, he suddenly felt nervous.
To introduce that woman as his fiancée to his real friend…
Yulician let out a dry laugh and fiddled with his cuff.
“Crocton. Don’t you think barging into someone’s home this early is a bit rude?”
Despite the words, a smile played on Yulician’s face.
Crocton Vainyl, who had been jittery in his seat, bounced up.
“Sorry! I was in a rush. But—you’re getting married?!”
Crocton spoke casually to Yulician when no one was around. Of course, today it was more out of shock.
There was a class gap between the Duke and the knight, but since childhood, they’d spoken informally.
Yulician preferred it that way and had told him not to bother with formal speech.
Even when Yulician’s father—the Crown Prince—was unjustly killed, Crocton never left his side.
After Yulician’s uncle became Emperor, everyone else had become wary. Only Crocton returned after finishing knight training and earning his title.
Still, Yulician never appointed Crocton as his bodyguard.
Because of the shadow of death looming over him.
He didn’t want it to extend to his one true friend.
Though they didn’t meet often, Yulician and Crocton shared everything—until the sudden engagement announcement a few days ago.
Yulician awkwardly smiled and ran a hand through his hair.
“Yeah. I’m planning to.”
“Wow… you—wow. Without even saying a word to me… wow.”
Crocton was clearly shaken. He clutched his head and collapsed onto the chair.
He couldn’t sit still.
He slammed his head on the table, ran a hand through his hair, and then repeated it.
Then he looked up again.
“Yulician. Do you even know what kind of person you proposed to?”
“I do.”
“No, like—not just that she’s from the slums. I mean, I heard she was a pickpocket. And… I hate to say it, but she did some small-time thievery too…”
“I know. I fell in love with her knowing all that.”
“…Really?”
Crocton’s deep black eyes stared straight at Yulician.
Yulician thought of Maddie.
The expressions she made in front of others.
How she blushed bashfully in front of servants or lit up at rare treasures.
But when it was just the two of them—she acted like a seasoned snake who’d lived a hundred years.
Swearing, using informal speech.
She tossed all propriety out the window in front of him.
No—knowing her, she probably sold that window at a good price.
The Maddie no one else had seen.
That face only he knew.
A strange laugh bubbled up, and the corners of his lips curled.
Crocton’s jaw dropped when he saw it.
“Crazy. You’re laughing just thinking about her? …You really must like her.”
Crocton hesitated, then added in a low voice,
“Hey. Are you sure she’s not fooling you?”
“She’s not.”
No, you are the one being fooled, Crocton.
At least until Crocton said his next sentence—Yulician was still smiling.
“Someone said they saw that woman… with another man.”
