Chapter 72
I Wish We Could Marry Soon
“Alright, you can go.”
When Kardin gave a curt nod, Larisa quickly shut the door and left.
The room was left with just Annette and Kardin, and an awkward silence lingered in the air.
Annette, embarrassed and self-conscious about the disgraceful scene she had caused earlier, fidgeted with her fingers and stole nervous glances at him.
Kardin, without a word, crouched down in front of her and carefully examined the arm and leg where Larisa had applied medicine, as well as the foot where her slipper had come off.
Trying to break the tense atmosphere, Annette opened her mouth first.
“I’m really fine. Nothing’s broken, they’re just light bruises. Even if I saw a physician, they’d only tell me to apply ointment, so that’s why I said not to call one.”
“……”
“And I recover quickly. By tomorrow, I’ll be good as new.”
“……Is that so?”
When Annette nodded quickly, Kardin forced a faint smile.
“If that’s what Your Highness says, then I suppose so.”
But contrary to his words, his expression stiffened again.
Seeing the laughter vanish from his face, Annette awkwardly pressed her lips together—then suddenly froze.
She stared into Kardin’s heavy gaze and realized something.
It was the same look he’d had in the imperial garden.
Back then, she hadn’t noticed because his face was hidden by a mask.
But now, she understood.
‘Back then… and now… You’re not angry. You’re heartbroken—too upset to even speak.’
Even though it was just a minor injury to her, he hated the fact that she was hurt.
Realizing that melted away her unease like snow under the sun.
As Kardin tilted his head in confusion at her sudden soft smile, Annette suddenly spoke.
“When I fall asleep or wake up, if it’s too quiet, it scares me a little.”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes. Especially being alone in an enclosed space—I really hate that.”
It was something she had never confessed to anyone before.
She had never admitted it even to herself.
It was shameful. Even after all these years, she still couldn’t completely shake off the fear she felt when her nanny died.
And admitting that a seven-year-old child still lived inside her heart—that was hard to accept.
Because from that day, Annette had been alone, forced to grow up too soon.
But when she joined her first demon-hunting expedition at fourteen—
Even when faced with strangers’ wary stares, she had felt a sliver of relief.
Back at the detached palace, she had felt like an isolated being cut off from the world.
But during those hunts, she could ‘pretend’ she was just another ordinary person in a crowd.
The camp noises at night had even felt like lullabies to her.
Only now did she truly realize that some part of her was broken.
And this was a weakness she had always kept hidden, never showing it to anyone.
‘But… with this person—’
She felt like she could reveal everything.
As he listened without blinking, Annette smiled faintly.
‘I really can’t let go now.’
This morning, just the thought of him not being there had terrified her, like the world was collapsing.
Annette reached out toward Kardin’s face.
Her fingertips brushed his cheek lightly before pulling back.
Just confirming he was really there stirred a longing and greed inside her, and she nearly cupped his cheek.
But then, startled by her own small, maple-leaf-like hand, she pretended she had intended something else and raised it higher.
Then she slowly, gently stroked his hair.
“……Your Highness?”
Watching her actions silently, Kardin finally spoke in a flustered tone.
Seeing the tension in his eyes, Annette whispered reassuringly.
“Thank you. For being so good to someone like me.”
And for coming to someone like me.
Not yet ready to confess everything, Annette spoke vaguely.
Kardin tilted his head.
“Someone like you? What kind of person is that?”
……She hadn’t expected him to latch onto that.
Once again forgetting his persistent nature, Annette was struck speechless.
“Someone cute and adorable from head to toe?”
“……”
“Or someone stylish and beautiful, but also utterly lovable?”
“S-stop…”
“Or someone so popular she makes her fiancé’s heart ache with jealousy?”
“Please, Your Highness…”
“Or someone who makes my heart shatter every time she belittles herself, someone who’s basically my everything?”
“……!”
Kardin’s voice was lower than usual, scraping the floor.
Startled, Annette froze as he suddenly grabbed the hand resting on his head and looked at her with eyes filled with raw pain.
“I told you before. You’re far too good for me.”
“……”
“So don’t speak like that again. If you do…”
If I do…?
Annette swallowed hard, nervous, as Kardin declared gravely:
“I’ll go around telling everyone every single day how lucky I am to have the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing princess in the world as my fiancée.”
“……!”
“And once we’re married, I’ll say the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing princess is now my wife—”
“W-wait, please don’t do that!”
Just the thought of him bragging everywhere like some lovesick fool sent chills down her spine.
Seeing her shudder in protest seemed to amuse him, and his serious expression gave way to laughter.
He even rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Now that I say it, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”
“Your Highness?”
“Maybe I should hang banners across the entire duchy—”
“No way!”
Annette shivered violently in horror, vehemently refusing.
Kardin burst out laughing again at her reaction.
Laughing until tears formed in his eyes, he wiped them away and said,
“I’m joking. Honestly, I’m too possessive for that. You’re already so beautiful and perfect in my eyes—what would others think? Why show you off and invite competition? Honestly, I’m already troubled by how popular you are.”
He placed a hand on his chest and shook his head slightly, in that usual cheeky, effortless manner of his.
Annette could only gape for a moment, but soon, she realized the earlier tension and discomfort had completely vanished—and it made her happy.
Kardin seemed to feel it too, because he cleared his throat awkwardly and said,
“But actually, I really am thankful.”
“…For what?”
“For coming to me. I’ll be grateful for it for the rest of my life.”
When he smiled shyly with those sparkling blue eyes, Annette’s heart pounded wildly.
The phrase she had planned to say—‘Thank you for coming to me’—sounded unbearably cheesy now.
And coming from Kardin’s lips, it felt like a proposal, making her ears burn red.
Perhaps noticing her embarrassment, Kardin whispered slyly:
“By the way, if you hate being alone that much, and silence scares you when you sleep or wake… then we have no choice. We need to marry soon.”
She flinched, meeting his gaze—now full of playful mischief.
“If we share the same bed every night and wake up together every morning, you won’t be startled or scared anymore, right?”
He clearly expected her to fluster and glare at him for teasing her.
But Annette didn’t.
“You’re right. I wish we could marry soon.”
She knew this was the perfect chance to speak her heart while he was joking.
Sure enough, Kardin blinked in shock, lips opening and closing soundlessly.
Then, as if jolted awake, he clapped a hand over his mouth and turned away.
But the blush creeping over his eyes, ears, and even the nape of his neck was impossible to hide.
Annette couldn’t hold back her laughter.
“Ahahaha! You’re blushing!”
Pop!
Unlike the rather anticlimactic burst earlier on the stairs, this time the fireworks rained down beautifully like flowers from the sky.
The butler, head maid, and other key staff had taken it upon themselves to set them off with a sense of mission.
As Kardin led her into the dining room, saying people were waiting, Annette blinked in astonishment.
She had suspected they were planning to celebrate her birthday.
But the huge cake on the table, topped with twenty-four candles…
The people surrounding the table, all wearing ridiculous party hats…
And most of all—
“Happy birthday, Your Highness.”
“Congratulations, Princess!”
“Happy birthday, Milady!”
From Kardin to everyone else, voices rang out in cheerful celebration, but to Annette, it felt utterly unreal.
Like a dream.
No, not even in her dreams had she imagined this.
Everyone smiling at her and wishing her a happy birthday.
‘I can’t believe it…’
Her birthday had always been the late Queen’s death anniversary.
The cursed day when the benevolent, beautiful queen died giving birth to the spawn of a beast.
A day she wished could be erased from existence.
Even Sarah, who always told her she’d be happy one day, wore a grief-stricken face and stayed silent all day on this date.
“This is the first time… anyone’s ever wished me happy birthday.”
“……”
“……”
At her trembling words, the once-lively dining room fell into a brief hush.
“I should have killed him…”
And the man who stole the first chance to say those words from her—Samuel—muttered darkly.
