(unedited)

I slept the whole way back.

There was no time to enjoy the sea on deck.

‘I thought I’d fall asleep quickly…….’

Last night, I fell asleep quickly.

I couldn’t sleep all night because of the man who suddenly appeared in my dream.

‘I almost died.’

[T/N #1: My dirty mind cannot with these lines lmao im sorry]

[T/N #2: I’m pretty sure she’s referring to the moment she almost died because of the beasts attack lol]

Eventually, after a restless night, I caught up on sleep in my cabin on the ship.

“Ugh, I survived…….”

I stretched and left my cabin at the sound of their arrival.

As I opened the door, I saw the Grand Duke standing with his back against the wall.

“Did you sleep?”

The Grand Duke asked nonchalantly.

“Yes, I haven’t gotten enough sleep.”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t slept all night.

The Grand Duke’s eyes were red and bloodshot.

“Are you okay? Your eyes are very red.”

The Grand Duke rubbed the corners of his eyes with his hand.

“I slept well, that’s strange.”

He smiled a strange smile.

Our first trip here was over.

It was a perfect trip until the leopards showed up.

Beautiful, pretty, healing.

‘Omen, because of him…….’

I thought leaving the capital for a while would be refreshing.

Instead, I felt like I was weighed down.

The carriage ride back with the Grand Duke was filled with small talk.

We talked about the sour juice we ate on the island, the noisy white birds that chirped around the cottage, and how the waves were higher than last time.

The usual stuff.

The familiar landscape comes into view, and the carriage slows down a bit.

“I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all. It’s been a good trip.”

Of all the topics we talked about, none of them are about the leopards we saw last night.

We didn’t bring it up, as if we’d made a promise.

“Thank you, I mean it.”

I thanked him before getting out of the carriage.

Then the carriage stopped.

As usual, the Grand Duke exited the carriage first.

‘Now that we’re back in the capital, we must act.’

Yes, indeed.

I waited in the carriage for the Grand Duke to extend his hand.

“Your Highness……, Denver, what’s wrong?”

But the Grand Duke’s gaze is distracted.

‘What is it?’

I peeked my head out of the carriage.

His gaze landed on the front gate of the mansion.

“Eh, eh?”

What’s going on?

I shook the Grand Duke’s cuff in bewilderment.

“What, what is it? Why do people go there…….”

“That’s what I want to ask.”

There were about ten nobles gathered in front of the Grand Duke’s mansion.

“Did something happen while we were gone?”

The Grand Duke glared at them fiercely.

“I didn’t even send out an invitation…….”

No wonder.

He burns every invitation that flies into his mansion.

There’s no way he’d send one.

Among the nobility, it was considered rude to show up uninvited.

“How dare they.”

The Grand Duke didn’t look away, his voice ferocious.

“We still don’t know what’s going on. Let’s go together.”

I stepped out of the carriage.

I didn’t forget to link my arm through the Grand Duke’s, since there were so many eyes on us.

The nobles who spotted us bowed in unison.

“Is there any reason for you to come to our mansion?”

The Grand Duke’s tone was sarcastic.

The nobles glanced at each other, but no one spoke.

“I see your life was not worth it.”

At the sound of the Grand Duke’s cold voice, someone stepped forward.

It was a man dressed quite splendidly.

He held out a box to me.

“Your Highness, please accept this!”

At that moment, the Grand Duke’s face contorted.

Puck!

“What is this……,”

“What are you doing to my wife?”

The box in the man’s hand fell to the floor with a thud.

“If you don’t open your mouth soon, you’ll only be doing me a favor.”

The man’s face went white.

As the box hit the floor, the lid popped open, revealing the contents.

“……Jewelry?”

It was a very expensive-looking jewelry.

A brilliant violet color, perfectly crafted.

The packaging was also very pretty.

One would think it was a marriage proposal.

The Grand Duke’s face grew even more grim.

“Gasp……!”

“Try talking through a gaping mouth.”

His hand tightens on his collar.

The moment I reached out to stop him,

“Your Highness, Your Grace, please forgive our rudeness!”

One of the women who’d been fidgeting in the back stepped forward.

Her eyes narrowed tightly.

“I see, and I hope you can explain to me what’s going on here.”

If you keep acting like this, you’re only going to make the Grand Duke angrier.

She picks up the box from the floor and dusts it off.

“It’s…….”

***

“That’s not funny.”

Denver was irritated.

To make matters worse, Flotty had been in a bad mood the entire trip back from Omen’s interference.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I should have done something about it.”

“You knew better yet you let it happen, Harton.”

An arrow of unnecessary anger shot toward Harton.

“I was at the palace to fulfill your orders, I apologize.”

He said, sounding a little resentful.

Denver knew he had done nothing wrong.

He was just in a bad mood right now.

“How long has it been?”

“……Sire, it’s been less than ten minutes.”

Right.

Denver fidgeted nervously.

He didn’t like how slowly time passed.

The Grand Duke glared fiercely at the tightly closed door.

The nobles in front of the mansion, each holding a precious gift, were none other than Flotty’s guests.

Guests?

They were merely humans who had come to see her with bribes.

“Apparently, what happened at the party a few days ago has spread like wildfire through social circles.”

Harton tried to explain as little as possible without offending the man.

There was a reason they’d come all the way to the Grand Duke’s residence with a costly bribe and no fear.

“There is no way the Lady would allow them to do this…….”

“Harton.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Stop talking.”

Ah, I’ve touched it. His feelings.

Harton kept his mouth firmly shut.

The nobles had come for one reason.

Flotty’s abilities.

The nobles in the ballroom, all of them, spent the night talking about Flotty.

From being a cursed child, to becoming a grand duchess, to being the heroine of a fake oracle, to her extraordinary abilities.

“Cursed child,” you say, isn’t that a terrible ability?

And there are others who say,

‘It’s a great ability.’

The opinion of the nobility was divided.

And today, the nobles who came to the Grand Duke’s residence were the latter.

“We’ve heard that you have a great ability.”

“Please listen to our grievances…….”

A dozen or so people crowded around Flotty and he wondered why he felt unpleasant about it.

Denver ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

Without a second thought, Flotty welcomed the nobles.

“Flotty, what is this?”

“Why?”

What are you doing, using your powers on these people?

He swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

He wondered if he had the right to say this.

“I have an idea.”

Flotty laughed as she said it.

It was no wonder he couldn’t stop her.

All he could do was stand guard in this parlor, until she came out.

***

“Don’t get mixed up with that family.”

“Oh my…….”

“They say too much greed makes a man angry, and there are some who do, so it’s best not to tangle with them.”

“Then my daughter’s marriage is…….”

“What are you asking? You know the answer to it.”

I gestured for him to leave.

“Next.”

“Thank you, thank you, Your Grace.”

Five people later, I’m starting to get tired.

‘Did I do this for nothing…….’

Every time that thought crosses my mind, I look at the bribe pile next to me.

Yeah, there’s no way I’m going to let this go.

These are the best of the best, as far as I’m concerned.

I laughed quietly before the next person came in.

‘Ah, I’ll make a business out of this.’

I’ve never been into shamans or anything.

No way.

It was the profession that got my mother judged.

And what got her killed.

“Money, money, money.”

But I’ve come too far for such sentimentality.

I’ve come to terms with it, and I’ve even used my powers to help the Grand Duke.

So this is, like, a part-time job.

That’s how I rationalize it.

It’s not that I feel inadequate living on the Grand Duke’s dime.

It was just…….

“Your Highness, may I come in?”

“Come in.”

I paused in my thoughts.

A woman with dark skin and blond hair stepped inside.

Like those before her, she bribes me.

“This cloth is not produced in the Empire, Your Highness.”

“Leave that here.”

“Yes, yes.”

I waited until she had placed the bribe and taken a seat before opening my mouth.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“…Yes?”

“The one you’re thinking about. I’m asking if you have to do it.”

After talking so much, my mouth went dry.

I took a sip of my lukewarm black tea.

“I haven’t told you anything yet…….”

“If I didn’t know enough to tell you, I wouldn’t have let you in.”

She looked at me and swallowed dryly.

I see her throat flutter once.

“Don’t do it.”

“……Is there a reason?”

“Of course there is.”

She waits nervously for my answer.

I give her a crooked smile.

“A Husband-to-be.”