Chapter 39
There was a deafening noise for a moment — but Marienne didn’t even have time to be surprised at how loud her own voice was.
Her gaze was fixed on Cain’s hand, which was gripping the necklace.
“Don’t tell me… he’s already broken it?”
He’s the kind of man who only knows how to destroy and get rid of things. Never learned another way. His whole life’s like that. How could someone like him possibly be the male lead?
Marienne fumed — if he had really broken the locket necklace, she swore she wouldn’t let him off.
“So, you came early and waited, huh.”
Cain looked down and said,
“Marienne Didi.”
Standing high atop the cloud bridge, his tall frame elevated even higher, Cain looked down upon the lower world like some sort of god.
If anyone else had seen him, they would probably have used that very comparison.
But Marienne was the exception. If she could, she’d love nothing more than to shove that smug face of his straight into a compost bin.
“Did you get permission from Her Highness the Princess for what you’re doing right now?”
She wasn’t asking out of genuine curiosity. The locket necklace wasn’t something that could simply be borrowed. Cain must’ve stolen it behind the princess’s back.
“That’s my mother’s keepsake! Even if it were just a shabby piece of cloth instead of silver, you don’t destroy what isn’t yours. Especially if it’s a keepsake! What the hell did you even learn growing up, you plague of a man!”
Marienne raged on, hoping that if she kept yelling, she could at least distract Cain’s attention.
Because right now, he was just standing there, staring at her without moving an inch.
But if she went too far…
Before she could even come up with another plan, the necklace would be crushed to dust.
What should I do? She tried to mask her anxiety by glaring back at him.
“You never open your mouth without hiding behind the Fourth Princess’s name,” Cain said. “But is that really what’s in your heart?”
“What are you even talking about?”
“You’re not protecting this necklace just for her, are you?”
Damn it. He’s figured it out.
Still — getting caught was practically Marienne Didi’s specialty.
So Cain’s taunts didn’t scratch her one bit.
So what?
“What matters right now isn’t my feelings,” she shot back. “I’d rather ask you — what do you plan to tell your fiancée after you destroy her mother’s keepsake?”
“She probably won’t even know it was me.”
Cain’s voice was unnervingly calm.
“At the moment, I feel like blaming it on the Third Secretary of the Chancellor’s Office.”
“Bullshit.”
“If I said you did it to frame me, that’d sound a lot more convincing. You’ve been hovering around me for weeks now, catching the eyes of everyone in the palace. You’ve been pretending it’s not a courtship display to the Fourth Princess — you’ve spun that excuse well enough.”
Then he added, “It’s not you they’ll think of, but Chancellor Beers.”
“People don’t just do things like that without reason. So now the Fourth Princess will think: if your feelings for Beers aren’t romantic, then they must be hostile.”
The direction of the conversation was starting to feel dangerous. Marienne tried to change the subject.
“We’re talking about the necklace. Why bring my emotions into this—”
“Hostility. Resentment. False accusations,” Cain cut her off.
“And blind loyalty to Chancellor Beers.”
“…”
“How about it? Doesn’t sound so far-fetched now, does it?”
Yeah. It even sounded plausible. Marienne glared at him, eyes burning with anger — so much that it felt like they might pop out any second.
“You’re strange,” Cain said suddenly.
“Sometimes, crazy rabbit, I feel like you already know what’s going to happen.”
His voice dropped lower.
“The real culprit who hid the Fourth Princess’s earring, the truth behind my hair being stolen… Even today. The Chancellor’s Office is buzzing with excitement for Beers’s birthday, yet you keep staring out the window. Because you know what’s coming.”
“W–what are you saying—”
“So I sent a fake messenger as bait — and you fell right for it.”
He didn’t use the carrot-and-stick approach. Just stick after stick.
“You’re not exactly bright, crazy rabbit. You can’t analyze people or predict behavior. You’re not even intuitive. People must’ve told you you’re hopelessly oblivious.”
“No one’s ever said that to me!”
“Guess everyone around you’s too polite.”
Cain muttered almost to himself.
“Just like Chancellor Beers.”
That was enough. Marienne decided she needed to shut him up.
Unlike her, this bastard was both smart and perceptive — and he was dangerously close to uncovering her secrets.
“What I don’t get,” he went on, “is how someone who supposedly knows the future can be so careless.”
That venomous northerner. Marienne decided to twist his words deliberately, saying with mock apology, “Sorry for being so careless, then.” Then she went straight to the point.
“What do I have to do to get the necklace back safely?”
“Can’t you see the answer in your precious future?”
“I can’t see the future. I don’t know any way out of this. Just tell me your condition already — since it’s obvious this whole trap was set up for me anyway!”
She had a pretty good guess what his answer would be.
He’d probably demand she drop her obsession with his hair. That was Cain Blackwood’s biggest secret.
Maybe he’d even demand she leave the palace — maybe even go to the Blackwood ducal estate up north.
So I can’t spill his secret. He’d lock me up in a tower and cut off all contact with the outside world. Classic move.
Marienne decided her priority was the necklace’s safety. She’d do anything — after she saw it returned to its rightful owner.
“Fine. Tell me what you want.”
But Cain’s response was completely off the mark.
“Do you just shut down whenever something involves Chancellor Beers?”
There was irritation in his tone.
“What makes you so sure I’m going to order you to do something?”
“Oh please. You’ve got the necklace, of course I have to play along. Stop picking fights.”
“So you really would obey whatever I say?”
Now he was practically grinding his teeth.
“If I told you to quit tomorrow and go to Blackwood Castle, would you obey?”
Ha. The bastard.
He said she was bad at reading people — but this time, Marienne Didi had guessed right.
She gave a scoffing laugh.
“Stop stalling and just say it.”
After a brief silence, he finally gave his condition.
“Come here and kneel before me. Answer my questions honestly. Regardless of your answers — when the alliance with the Fourth Princess ends, you’ll come to my castle as my maid.”
…What?
He could’ve ordered her to leave right now. But instead, he was giving her time — until the alliance ended?
Before he could change his mind, Marienne ran up the cloud bridge.
Kneeling? Ha, that’s my specialty!
As soon as she reached him, she grabbed her skirt and slowly went down on her knees — meeting his eyes deliberately, so he couldn’t accuse her of being insincere.
It wasn’t because she was afraid of cracking her kneecaps on the stone floor.
“So? What are you going to ask?”
Facing her kneeling like that, Cain’s expression was… complicated.
At first glance, it looked like he was smirking because his prediction had come true. But somehow, it also looked like he wished he’d been wrong.
“How far would you go for Chancellor Beers?” he asked, rolling the round locket between his fingers.
“Could you kill?”
“…Depends who the target is.”
A bluff, of course. She’d never even cleaned a live fish before — could she really kill a person? She’d be lucky if she didn’t just drop the knife.
But in her heart, she meant it. Especially if the target was Cain Blackwood — she’d already killed him a hundred times in her head.
“What about taking the blame for murder?”
“I’d rather rot in prison than see Lord Beers there. A strategist like him needs to stay free. If I endure long enough, he’ll clear my name anyway.”
“And what about sharing a bed with someone you despise?”
What kind of question is that?
“If Lord Beers’s life were on the line.”
“So if it’s just his leg on the line, you wouldn’t?”
“Why are all your questions so damn twisted?”
“Answer.”
Marienne glared daggers at him — as if to say, You’re offering way too tempting a deal.
“If he lost even a finger because of me, you’d better run.”
“…”
“Are we done yet?”
“You pretend to support Beers’s love,” Cain said, stepping closer, “but really, you want his side for yourself. Why not just admit it?”
“If the Fourth Princess really took Beers’s hand, you’d die of heartbreak.”
“No, I wouldn’t!”
“Maybe not at first. But your attitude’s changed lately. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”
Marienne frowned. She didn’t want to understand what he was saying. It felt wrong.
“Can you really swear you have no ulterior feelings when you look at Beers?”
“I—”
She wanted to say of course. But then, memories flashed — the ice cream shop, staring at Beers’s lips and daydreaming. And earlier, peeking through the partition at his body, her cheeks burning for hours afterward.
I just wanted to touch him once.
Her lips froze.
“Ah…!”
Cain’s face suddenly twisted in anger. He hurled the necklace with all his might.
The silver locket flew in an arc through the air.
Marienne didn’t even blink as it disappeared beneath the surface of the pond.
Center of the pond, to the left of the bridge — she memorized it instantly.
She pulled off her jacket and hung it on the railing. Unbuttoned her blouse, rolled up her sleeves, took off her shoes and socks.
Just as she was about to step in, she paused.
Wait. I should wear my shoes. Who knows what’s on the bottom — glass, debris, infection… I could die before I even find the necklace.
So she slipped her shoes back onto her bare feet — and waded straight in.
Ugh.
The feeling of wet clothes clinging to her was disgusting. With every step, her skirt twisted around her legs.
At least it was the palace pond — cleaned daily by attendants, clear and odorless. The water came up to her waist, cool but not murky.
Just absurdly large.
“So you’re really doing this…”
Cain glared down from the bridge.
“The sun’s about to set, Marienne Didi.”
“Funny, coming from the guy who breaks promises!” she shouted back without turning around.
He’d promised to return the necklace if she knelt and answered truthfully — then threw it away in anger.
When had she ever refused him? She’d even been happy about the delay, answering all his questions diligently.
“You bastard,” she muttered again.
She heard his footsteps fade away. Dark clouds gathered above, and the sky grew darker and darker.
“It was around here…”
Then — plop, plop.
Heavy raindrops began to fall on her shoulders.
It’s intriguing to think about if the og ml became interested in her, but I don’t want him to! He should be with the ogfl.. I don’t want a love triangle!