Chapter 19
Was this a conversation Larisa shouldn’t hear?
I glanced back.
Larisa was sitting blankly by the window, staring outside.
“If it’s alright with you, could we talk in the next room? I don’t want to be far from my sister.”
“That’s fine.”
Leaving Larisa alone made me uneasy, but the rooms were connected, so it should be okay.
I approached Larisa and spoke simply.
“Larisa, I need to have a quick talk with this man in the next room. Nothing will happen, but if you feel uneasy or something happens, just come straight into the room I’m in, okay?”
She didn’t respond, but I was certain she had heard me.
This was more like informing her than asking permission.
‘Someday, we’ll be able to communicate both ways, right?’
I looked at Larisa for a moment, confirmed that her expression hadn’t changed, and then stepped into the next room.
Fabian followed me in and gently closed the door between the two rooms.
‘What on earth is he about to say?’
I had a bad feeling about this…
“What did you want to talk about?” I asked cautiously.
Fabian stood only a few steps away, looking down at me.
I wasn’t exactly short, but Fabian was really tall.
Standing this close, I had to tilt my head up just to meet his gaze.
‘Huh? His face is getting lower…?’
My eyes followed his movement.
Fabian had gone down on one knee in front of me!
A chilling premonition shot down my spine.
‘No way. This can’t be—’
I froze on the spot.
A high-ranking man kneeling before a woman of lower status—there was only one reason for that, as far as I knew.
“Lady Blick, will you ma—”
“No!”
I screamed, cutting him off mid-sentence.
No, this isn’t right.
You’ve got the wrong person—your partner is supposed to be Larisa!
Fabian let out a hollow laugh from his kneeling position.
“Not a ‘no,’ but a ‘you can’t’?”
“Same difference.”
Is that really the issue here?
You’ve proposed to the wrong girl!
“Do you have no desire to become the Grand Duchess?”
None. Absolutely none. Not even a shred.
I’d never once imagined myself in that position. And I’m not the type to decide to marry a man I’ve only known for two or three days—no matter how fairytale-like this may seem.
Sure, he was frighteningly handsome.
And rich…
I shook my head vigorously and said firmly:
“Try proposing to Larisa. She has three years until she’s of age, so the engagement would be long, but… It’s not like you fell for me, right?”
Fabian stared at me intently for a moment, then stood back up.
“I need a wife immediately. Whatever your conditions are, I’ll accept them. You’ll become the one and only Grand Duchess of this nation.”
His tense expression was gone now.
He didn’t sound like a shy young man proposing. He sounded more like a businessman making a deal.
‘Is he trying to negotiate with me?’
I folded my arms.
“Conditions? That doesn’t sound like a proper proposal. And you’re clearly not set on me. If you’re in such a rush, why not find someone else?”
He narrowed his eyes and smiled.
“You can spend money however you like. Live with unimaginable luxury. Do whatever your heart desires.”
The corners of his mouth curled up faintly.
“I don’t care if you tarnish the Grand Duchess’s name.”
The way he said it, it sounded like he actually wanted me to do that.
But I had zero interest in luxury or titles.
What I wanted was simple: to keep my head attached to my body three years from now.
‘And the person who would cut it off if he married Larisa… is this very man.’
So I was trying to get on Larisa’s good side—don’t try to tempt me with money!
“I have enough to live comfortably on my own,” I replied coldly.
Fabian raised both hands lightly.
“Alright. I surrender. But may I explain my situation?”
I hesitated, then nodded.
I wanted to know what could possibly drive a Grand Duke’s successor to propose to me right after the Duke’s death.
“This morning, the Grand Duke’s will was announced. In short, I’ll become the next Grand Duke—on one condition.”
“Let me guess: marriage?”
“That’s right. To a woman of noble blood. I have to marry within a year.”
“What happens if you don’t?”
“The title goes to my uncle.”
My jaw dropped.
I’d never heard anything like this.
‘Wait—if someone else can become the Grand Duke…’
Then Fabian might not be the prince from the fairy tale!
“Your uncle?”
“Count Dominic Laurent, the second son of the late Grand Duke.”
“If I may ask… How old is he?”
Fabian let out a small chuckle.
‘Of course he knows why I’m asking.’
I might as well ask directly, since my intentions were clear.
Honesty was better for both of us.
“He’s probably forty-one. He’s been married for a long time and has a son who comes of age next year.”
Wait, hold on. That disqualifies him from being the ‘fairy tale prince’ for sure.
A married man with a child? No way.
‘Then Fabian is the prince?’
Wait, no—another possibility.
If this man fails to marry, and his uncle becomes Grand Duke, and then within two years something happens to the uncle…
‘Wouldn’t the title pass to his son? Fabian’s cousin, who’ll be eighteen soon?’
Three years from now, Larisa will be sixteen, and his cousin will be eighteen.
‘That fits the fairy tale prince profile perfectly!’
But I looked up at the man standing before me and shook my head.
‘There’s no way someone who looks like that would fail to marry.’
Just making eye contact with him made my heart feel like it would melt.
He wasn’t just handsome—he was young, rich, and had an insanely high status.
But if Fabian marries within the year, that’s also a problem.
The legal age for marriage is sixteen.
‘Which means the bride can’t be Larisa.’
Finding a fairy tale prince for Larisa is way harder than I thought.
I sighed.
“Why me, of all people? Surely you could marry anyone you wanted. My family is noble in name only—we don’t even have a title.”
It was a desperate question, and Fabian smiled.
“That’s exactly why, Lady Blick. That’s what I liked most. I told you—I don’t mind if you disgrace the title of Grand Duchess. I don’t want a lady from a powerful, noble family.”
Fabian’s eyes looked especially red at that moment.
I wasn’t imagining it—his irises really were crimson, like rubies or flames.
It was an alluring color.
“Do whatever you wish,” he said.
I swallowed dryly without realizing it.
I could guess what he wasn’t saying.
He wanted full control over the family.
And a powerful wife’s family would only get in the way.
‘So this marriage… is just a discarded card for him.’
Merely a means to an end.
And I happened to be in the right place at the right time.
If this marriage is just a tool for him, and I’m the perfect match, then maybe I have a card to play too.
I looked him in the eye and asked:
“Then how about divorce? Can I do that whenever I want?”
Larisa wouldn’t be able to marry for three more years.
But Fabian had to marry within one.
So what if he married someone temporarily and then divorced?
Even at my bold question, Fabian didn’t flinch.
“If you want, I’ll sign the divorce papers in advance. Use them whenever you like.”
“Really? Anytime I want?”
“Yes. Except not within the first year. The will says the marriage must last at least a year.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m planning to keep it for three years—if I accept.”
“Because I’ll fall for Larisa by then?”
Fabian smiled faintly as he spoke.
I replied, completely serious:
“When that time comes, you’ll be the one desperate to stop the divorce.”
I’m certain this world is the fairy tale I read in that book.
Because Larisa is exactly the same as the heroine from the story.
A girl who cried diamond tears, locked in a basement and beaten her whole life.
‘There’s no way that was just a coincidence. It has to be that book.’
So if Fabian is the prince from that story, there’s no way he won’t fall for Larisa.
Assuming the story goes according to the original.
‘But I’ve already twisted the original a bit.’
To survive.
And because I couldn’t bear to see Larisa suffer.
