~Chapter 2~
“Huh…?”
A flash of lightning lit up the face of the masked man.
Even then, I couldn’t tell what kind of expression he was making.
‘What did this guy just say?’
While I stood there, frozen—
“Hey! Who do you think you are, trying to take my woman?!”
The fat man—who had just stood by and watched my father slap me—suddenly shouted angrily.
“Do you know how much money I spent on her? 9,000 gold! I spent 9,000 gol—”
Tap.
The masked man, who had been kneeling in front of me, stood up and silently placed a piece of paper on the table.
The fat man looked at it in confusion, but a few seconds later, his face stiffened as he muttered,
“Damien Maledictus…?”
As soon as that name was spoken—the royal-blooded, most famous and most secretive Grand Duke of the empire—my father quickly snatched the paper from the table.
“Two… two hundred million gold…”
My father’s hands trembled as he held the check.
With greedy eyes, he pushed aside the old nobleman who had proposed to me first and rushed toward the masked man, bowing and scraping.
“Thank you, Your Grace, for taking interest in my humble daughter. Please, don’t just stand there—let’s talk, just the two of us…”
Now, my father had completely forgotten about the old fat man.
That man didn’t say another word and quietly left the parlor.
“By the way, Your Grace, didn’t you attend the last ball? I think I saw you there!”
The Grand Duke Maledictus said he wanted to speak with me, and my father asked Cecilia to guide him.
The whole time we were walking to the room, Cecilia smiled brightly and kept talking to him.
It was the kind of fake, friendly smile you see at social parties.
“I wondered if you saw our Rubiana there! Too bad. Maybe you could’ve talked to me instead.”
“…”
Even though Cecilia was clearly showing interest, the Grand Duke stayed silent.
Cecilia’s smile twitched, but she quickly smoothed her face and kept chatting.
“So, how did you end up liking our Rubiana?”
“This room will do.”
That was the first thing the Grand Duke said after leaving the parlor.
“Huh? But we haven’t arrived at the room yet…”
Before she could finish, the Duke had already opened a random door.
‘Did he just pick any door?’
Looks like Cecilia was annoying him more than I thought.
“Please, go in first,” he said.
I nodded and stepped into the room.
As the Duke followed, Cecilia quickly tried to come in too.
“Your Grace, Rubiana still doesn’t know much. Maybe I should stay to help—”
SLAM.
The Duke shut the door in her face without hesitation.
Then he calmly sat across from me and said in a steady voice,
“Finally, just the two of us.”
Outside the door, Cecilia’s angry breathing could be heard.
“You… you f***ing—!”
Eventually, she stormed off, and the room grew quiet.
I looked at the man sitting across from me.
At the ballroom, we barely had time to talk, and things had been so hectic I hadn’t really seen his face until now.
Even while sitting, he was so tall I had to look up at him. Broad shoulders.
And in contrast to his big frame, he had long, elegant fingers.
His silver hair shimmered strangely, and beneath the emotionless white mask, I saw a sharp jaw and high nose.
Tired-looking skin and intense purple eyes.
‘I get why they call him the Mad Killer Duke.’
He gave off a dark, heavy aura that felt different from normal people.
But honestly, I thought that nickname didn’t quite fit him.
‘He feels more like a Ghost Duke than a Killer Duke.’
Just looking at him made me imagine a cursed Gothic mansion with crows crying in the distance.
Then his voice pulled me back to reality.
“Is your cheek okay?”
That’s when I realized—it still stung.
Everything felt so surreal that I had forgotten.
“Oh, yes. I’m fine.”
Since he seemed worried, I tried my best to smile naturally.
He looked at me behind the mask, then suddenly pulled something out of his coat.
“If it’s alright… take this.”
It was an ointment—one that was famous for being hard to find.
“It should help a little if you use it.”
I smiled softly and shook my head.
“No, I can’t accept this. Just helping me earlier was more than enough.”
I looked up into the purple eyes glowing gently behind the white mask.
“Thank you for pretending to propose. Because of you, I escaped marrying that old nobleman.”
The Grand Duke looked at me silently, then replied after a slight pause.
“…I wasn’t pretending.”
“What?”
His voice changed—strong and certain now.
“I wasn’t acting. I came here to propose for real. I want to marry you.”
At first, I couldn’t understand what he said.
And when I did, my mind went blank.
“W-What? Why?”
Was he being serious?
‘We only met once. Why would he propose?’
He was the Empire’s most powerful Grand Duke. There was no reason for him to propose to the nearly ruined daughter of a count.
Especially someone like me, who people say is creepy and brings misfortune.
“…Actually.”
He spoke slowly.
“I fell in love at first sight.”
The tips of his ears turned just slightly red.
The problem was—he said it so stiffly, like reading from a textbook.
‘That sounds completely fake.’
No doubt, this had to be a scam.
There’s no way someone proposes to a stranger after just meeting them once.
‘He must be planning something. Anyone who lies this easily on day one could turn dangerous later.’
So I decided to politely reject him with a clever excuse.
“But are you really sure about this?”
I spoke seriously, but added a touch of madness to my eyes for effect.
“I’m very sick. Being with me will cost you a lot of money.”
I covered my mouth and coughed on purpose, watching his reaction.
‘That should make him hesitate.’
It wasn’t even a total lie—I’d been sick for no reason before, and even got dumped once after coughing up blood.
Just when I thought this was over—
“I’m not short on money. That’s not a problem at all.”
Right, he’s from a filthy rich family.
Trying to hide my annoyance, I went even further with my fake sick act.
“…Cough. The doctor said my illness has no known cause, but it might be contagious.”
“Great. Then I can share your pain.”
Even with such a scary warning, he calmly said something totally weird.
I started to feel like something was really wrong here.
“I’ve been dumped four times.”
“Really? Then I’m lucky I got the chance to propose. Would’ve been trouble if you were taken.”
He replied so casually I bit my lip and came up with another reason.
“People say I have a gloomy personality. That I bring bad luck.”
Honestly, if he wanted to marry me, he had to know at least some of the rumors.
Someone from the Duke’s house couldn’t possibly ignore—
“Is that so? Can you prove it?”
“What?”
“Whether you bring misfortune or not…”
He leaned forward and whispered softly,
“We won’t know until we live together.”
