Chapter 41
All the frustration that had piled up since the previous afternoon burst out at once.
Marienne poured out her anger and sorrow before Vaileon. Her tears wouldn’t stop, like a broken faucet.
“Yesterday, someone claiming to be a servant from the Fourth Princess’s Palace came with a strange message. They told me to come out here without telling anyone… so I came instead of Sir Beers.”
Vaileon started to say something, but then closed his mouth again, deciding to let Marienne finish.
“But then that Duke Cain Blackwood bastard showed up! That damned black-haired jerk tried to destroy Your Highness’s locket necklace. I told him not to, and… hic… sob…”
Marienne roughly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
“I told him I’d do anything… just not to break it.”
She remembered Cain’s eyes, looking down on her from the bridge as if she were something insignificant.
Crazy rabbit.
That was what Cain had called her—because she wasn’t afraid of him and always acted irrationally.
That crazy rabbit had swallowed her pride and even knelt down.
That bastard.
“Sir Beers, I… I did everything he said. I knelt when he told me to kneel, I answered all his questions… hic… and when he said I had to live as a maid in his duchy forever…”
Vaileon’s eyes changed.
“I only said yes because I thought we could get the necklace back first. I hesitated for just one second on the last question. Just one second! It’s not like I wasn’t going to answer! But he couldn’t wait and just—”
“Threw it into the pond?”
Marienne clapped her hands over her mouth and nodded frantically.
Back then, she had thought she could find the necklace easily. She had even been relieved that it was out of Cain’s hands, thinking it was safer that way.
“I’m sorry… I searched the pond until midnight, but I couldn’t find it. Why? Why… I saw it fall into the center of the left pond with my own eyes.”
“Wait a second.”
Vaileon’s tone turned serious.
“You were in the water until midnight? Marienne, it rained yesterday afternoon.”
“Yes.”
Marienne sniffled, then suddenly shouted as if she had realized something.
“Do you think it was the rain? Maybe the locket kept getting pushed sideways by the heavy downpour and…”
Vaileon didn’t answer. Without his agreement, the small hope that had briefly flickered inside her fizzled out.
“Right, that’s probably not it.”
Rain couldn’t possibly reach the pond bottom like a spear. Marienne drooped again.
“I just wanted to do it on my own…”
“Marienne.”
“I guess I got carried away after the opera house success. I was so happy that I finally helped you, Sir Beers, that I thought maybe I could do it again this time.”
Through her tear-blurred vision, Marienne looked up at him.
“It’s just… so frustrating.”
A tear fell.
“And so annoying.”
That was the limit of an extra. Lacking brains, strength, money, and luck.
This world was created for the heroine, Odette. All fortune gravitated toward her, so the insignificant extras always fell face-first no matter what they did.
She didn’t complain—that was just the law of romance-fantasy worlds.
And under those sacred laws, extra Marienne had always failed.
Her one success had been at the opera house. But even one small victory had been enough to make her greedy.
Why did it hurt this much now? She hadn’t been like this before. Back then, even when she felt down, she could shake it off easily.
“It feels like someone’s shouting over my head—‘nothing will change no matter what you do.’”
What if too much time passed like this?
Cain, up close, was much more violent than she’d imagined. What if Odette fell for him, just like in the original story?
Then the political marriage would become real, and their love would deepen.
What would happen to Vaileon then?
He had told her that he was content just to serve the woman he loved from afar. And she had disturbed that fragile peace.
Everything she had done to “help” Vaileon suddenly felt cruel—like she had only reopened the wounds of a lonely, affection-starved man.
When Marienne tried to roughly wipe her wet eyes again, Vaileon stopped her. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket.
“If you keep rubbing, your eyes will swell.”
He pressed the soft cloth gently to her skin, letting her tears soak into it.
It was such a careful gesture. And somehow, it soothed not only her eyes but her heart as well.
“My brave, cheerful Marienne—who’d go through fire and water for me.”
As he dabbed the other eye, Vaileon spoke softly.
“Did I ever tell you? I’ve always wondered what it would feel like… if the person I liked actually liked me back.”
It was a wistful thing to say, yet he said it as if it were nothing.
“You can’t live as a maid in the duchy forever, Marienne.”
“That’s…”
“You have to see for yourself how much affection one person can pour into another. How far Vaileon Beers can go for someone. You’ll experience it—by my side.”
Marienne was confused. She couldn’t tell if these words were real or just her imagination.
To be honest, she wanted to postpone making sense of it.
If it was just her imagination, that was too embarrassing—she’d have to admit she was daydreaming about Vaileon confessing to her. Cain would have been right to call her crazy.
And if it was real—well, she couldn’t even think that far.
Because just assuming it was real made her heart pound so hard it felt like it would burst.
Maybe he could see her confusion on her face, because Vaileon spoke again—firmly, like sealing the moment.
“I like you.”
Her body reacted before her brain did. Her face flushed instantly.
“I like you, Marienne Didi.”
He even said her full name. Oh my god. It felt like her heart had just exploded.
“I know it might make you uncomfortable for your superior to confess like this. You like and support me, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you want to date me.”
Vaileon tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket.
“That’s why I wanted to give you space—to like me in your own way. It sounds silly, but I was confident in my patience.”
He gave a faint, bitter smile that disappeared just as quickly.
“But that patience evaporated last night. While I searched every street in the capital for you, all I could think about were terrible things—regrets about what I hadn’t said, and everything I wanted to do if I could just see you safe again…”
He suddenly stopped talking and took a slow breath, as if trying to steady himself.
Marienne’s gaze caught his trembling lips.
He’s nervous, she realized.
Not just his lips—his clenched fists were trembling, too.
He said he had searched for her all night.
“Sir Beers… did you not sleep at all?”
He gave her his usual reassuring smile.
“A single night’s fine.”
“Oh my god.”
“You searched the pond all night too, didn’t you? In the rain, no less.”
“I… I slept a little. It was so dark and… I was tired…”
“Then I’m glad.”
His voice was gentle enough to melt anyone.
“Where did you sleep?”
“At the aide’s quarters. My old room.”
“Ha…”
The moment he heard her answer, Vaileon squeezed his eyes shut.
“Why didn’t I think of that? I never even guessed you’d be there. I really must’ve lost my mind last night.”
When he opened his eyes again, he was back to his calm self.
“You can reject my confession, you know. Of course, I hope you won’t—but it’s really okay if you do. I’ll make sure you won’t feel awkward at work.”
“How?”
“If you stay as my aide, I’ll treat you no differently than before. But if you want to transfer, I’ll arrange it. Even to another department, if you’d like. But… are you really going to turn me down?”
His tone softened, like he was pleading just a little.
“I’d treat you really well.”
Wow. How could one even describe that expression?
Unfair.
He listed all the ways he’d protect her comfort even after a rejection, then completely destroyed her defenses with one vulnerable look.
“I… I don’t think I could make you happy, Sir Beers.”
Vaileon froze, not sure how to take that.
“Oh—n-no, that’s not a rejection!”
Marienne waved her hands frantically.
“I mean, I do like you, but I’m not sure I’m good enough for you…”
Saying I’m not as amazing as Odette out loud was just too pathetic, so she worded it indirectly.
Vaileon gave a helpless smile.
“So… it’s not a no. Right?”
“Right…”
“And you like me too, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Ha… what am I going to do?”
He bit his lower lip softly, looking at her.
“Then the only ending left is that we become lovers.”
“Yes… wait, what?”
Marienne, who had been answering automatically, widened her eyes. Vaileon laughed, clearly amused—and fond of her.
That look made her heart ticklish all over.
“I could take that flustered answer as a yes and start dating you right now. But I like to be sure of things. So, I’ll give you time to think.”
“O-okay…”
He gently tucked a stray pink strand of hair behind her ear.
“You already make me happy, you know. Thanks to you, I smile more these days. So don’t worry about that.”
Vaileon knew exactly how to comfort someone. Marienne finally managed a faint smile.
And the next moment—something that only happens to romance heroines finally happened to her.
Her vision blurred, and strength left her body.
She didn’t even fall awkwardly—she collapsed perfectly into Vaileon’s arms.
Tragic heroine score: 10/10.
Timing score: 1000/10.
Wow! I actually fainted for the first time in my life! This is amazing!
Marienne, who’d never even had a nosebleed before, was genuinely moved.
This wasn’t some villainess pretending to faint for attention—it was a real blackout. Even as consciousness faded, she couldn’t hide her excitement.
“Marienne, can you hear me? Why is your body so hot… too…”
Vaileon, on the other hand, sounded deadly serious.
“Marienne… rie… n…”
His voice calling her name grew faint.
She thought she heard him mutter a curse in frustration—but she couldn’t catch it clearly.
Vaileon swearing? What a rare sight… too bad I missed it.
That was her last thought before Marienne’s consciousness completely slipped away.
