When Duke Sentoren glanced back, he saw Princess Marianne, dressed in bright, eye-catching yellow, standing at a distance. The Duke was taken aback at the news that Marianne wanted to talk to him.
“The Princess wants to speak to the Duke alone.”
“Why?”
“I’m also in the dark in regards to such, but she did say it was a very important matter.”
Duke Sentoren thought for a moment, before he nodded to Marianne’s maid.
“Follow me,” he commanded curtly.
Duke Sentoren walked through the dark garden with long, fast-paced strides.
Marianne almost threw a tantrum as she tried to follow the Duke. Her short legs made it difficult to keep up with the Duke’s fast walking, which was to her a medium-paced jog.
“Why is he so fast!” Irritated, she grumbled to herself.
In just a few steps, she was out of breath.
“Gosh, uselessly tall!” Duke Sentoren was tall enough to be a giant and had long legs compared to Marianne. His face was hideous and he acted roughly, unlike a proper gentleman.
“Such a barbaric man!”
Marianne had no wish to marry Duke Sentoren and live with him for the rest of her life.
In fact, if she did marry Duke Sentoren, she would either kill him or go crazy.
He was too much for her.
Marianne clutched at the hems of her fluffy dress. As Marianne huffed and struggled along, Duke Sentoren paused to wait for her to catch up. His eyes were cold and apathetic.
“Princess Marianne, did you have something to discuss with me?”
Marianne opened her mouth, but was speechless for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. She thought to herself that she should pretend to be polite in order to persuade the Duke to annul their marriage.
“Duke Lionel, we do have something to talk about. We’re engaged, aren’t we?”
Duke Sentoren raised one eyebrow, turning the full weight of his attention upon her.
“What are you talking about?”
Marianne hated his cold, arrogant attitude.
“Not here.”
“Then show me the way.” Lionel gestured with a tip of his head towards Marianne.
Of course, this simple gesture alone made Marianne feel as if her head was about to burst with fury.
Lionel seemed unwilling to kneel to her, lacking the respect that anyone else would have shown to a princess of her status.
“Come this way.” For once, Marianne managed, barely, to keep her anger from exploding. However, it simmered beneath the surface of words, testing her restraint.
It was always difficult having a face-to-face meeting with this man, like talking to a stone statue. The sooner she got rid of him, the better.
Marianne walked quickly.
He followed suit, though at a casual, sedate pace. This, too, infuriated the Princess.
The dark garden was lined with elite guards. Marianne stopped when she reached the entrance to the maze garden. Marianne’s maids hid themselves cleverly into hedge corners. A thick blanket of darkness covered the pathway, and the shade of the trees encircling them made even their shadows indistinguishable. The only noise to be heard was the steady chirp of grasshoppers hidden between the branches. The two of them stood alone, and for a moment silence reigned between them.
Marianne turned and met Lionel’s gaze.
She hated that she had to look up to him to do that, since he was taller than her, but truly it did hurt her pride.
“I have something to say, Lionel.”
“Go ahead.” Lionel dipped his head pridefully, as if granting her permission to speak.
Marianne fumed, feeling angry yet uncomfortable.
In particular, she hated seeing the scarred, left side of his face, but in that moment she smiled brightly like an angel.
“Do you want to marry me, Duke Sentoren?”
Lionel’s brows furrowed. “The King wishes for such.”
Marianne decided to be a little nicer and spoke in a gentler, less demanding tone. “Lionel.”
“………”
“Will you follow father’s orders?”
“………”
When Duke Sentoren remained silent, Marianne quickly became impatient.
“I don’t know what the Duke thinks of me, but I can’t marry you.”
“And why is that?”
It was time for her to show off her superb acting skills.
When Duke Sentoren asked this, Marianne cried out with faked desperation, “Lionel, I love someone else.”
“Does Princess Marianne want to marry him?”
“Yes.”
“Then marry him.”
Marianne’s eyes grew wide. Her expression softened instantly as she tried to hold back her surprised laughter. In fact, she was too happy to hide her facial expression, and a twinkle of glee danced through her eyes.
“Then, what about stopping the marriage?”
“Princess Marianne can handle it herself. It is only right for the princess to take responsibility for her own actions.”
At that moment, Lionel’s bitter answer spun in Marianne’s mind and it felt like being poured with a bucket of icy water.
“What? Are you crazy, Lionel?”
“I don’t wish to get charged with alimony by the royal family,” he states as he stared at her coldly, “so why am I out of my mind? Princess Marianne wishes to break the engagement, so you should be the one to declare it null and persuade your parents of such.”
Marianne was shaken by Lionel’s comments, but found his direct logic hard to refute.
“Lionel, just end this. Please let me go! Don’t you understand? You have to cancel the marriage!”
Lionel knitted his brows.
“The engagement is a royal order that has nothing to do with my intentions. Your father is the one who insists on seeing through with this marriage.”
Not me, he implies.
“But-”
“If you wish to break our engagement, you should hurry.”
“Why should I break up the engagement? I’m still too young! They wouldn’t listen to me!”
Marianne screamed harshly at him, but Lionel replied without any change in expression, “I’m not as against this marriage as Princess Marianne is.”
“What? What do you mean by that?”
“Princess Marianne is too young. You seem to me still just a child. I don’t understand the men who feel attracted to you.”
“You – what did you just say?!”
Marianne was so angry that she yelled at him.
“How am I supposed to demand a cancellation without keeping my dignity? That’s what you have to do!”
“I didn’t ask you to break up first in such a vulgar way, did I?”
“Then make an excuse to break the engagement! I don’t care! Just say you have an illegitimate child or another lover!”
“That wouldn’t work.”
Marianne nearly ripped her hair out in anger. Every word with this man felt like throwing rubber balls at a concrete wall – they’d only get tossed back.
However, the Duke’s words were not untrue. It was unclear that the king would break their engagement even if Duke Sentoren made the excuse of a hidden lover or illegitimate child. The king himself had an immeasurable number of illegitimate children and lovers.
Hearing his words, Marianne was furious. “I’d rather die than marry a terrible cold-blooded man like you!”
“Do as you please.”
“What – you – what?! Aggggghhhhhhhhh!” Marianne sputtered as she collapsed screaming, unable to defeat his unflappable demeanor. Marianne’s maids rushed over to help her stand.
“P-Princess!”
“Calm down!”
Lionel remained unmoving from his spot on the stone walkway even after Marianne’s maids disappeared with her back towards the palace.
Returning to the banquet hall to suffer all those burning gazes upon him would be too annoying.
In addition, there was another reason why he couldn’t leave just yet –
A suspicious shadow who’d been following him around for hours. An unknown opponent who irked his nerves.
Turning slightly on his heels in front of the entrance to the maze garden, he glared at the dark, concealing shadows around him.
“You, girl. Don’t hide. Show yourself.”
Earlier, Riv had silently tailed the two when Princess Marianne followed Duke Sentoren outside the banquet hall.
The darkness was a good cover, but it was difficult not to make any sound, so she had removed her shoes and wore only stockings. Hidden securely in the shadow of a tree, Riv watched Princess Marianne and Duke Sentoren closely.
The princess’ maids were scattered all over, so she could not approach them or move to a closer vantage point.
She decided to maintain her distance and keep track of the situation from afar.
Marianne seemed to be angry with the Duke, shrieking shrilly. Their conversation seemed like it would be short, but she was still yelling at him even after a few minutes.
Riv became more nervous as time passed.
‘I think I heard her mention a ‘cancellation.’’
Marianne, whose voice raised incrementally in volume as her anger bloated, swayed sideways dangerously all of a sudden, and she almost fell over. Even after the maids helped her up, Duke Sentoren remained unmoving and apathetic towards her.
‘What do I do now?’
She thought hard about how to approach Duke Sentoren.
Just then, Duke Sentoren’s voice rang coldly in her ears.
“You, girl. Don’t hide. Show yourself.” Riv’s entire body flinched upon being discovered.
Riv agonized over her choices. The only option she had now was to meet Duke Sentoren directly.
She couldn’t think of any of the things she had planned to ask him when they finally met. In her flustered state, it seemed as if her mind was a blank sheet of paper.
How should she behave? What should she say to him? The questions Riv had desperately agonized over the nights before didn’t come to mind.
Her mind was completely blank.
Duke Sentoren had an overwhelming aura that influences everyone, even from a distance. Despite her determination to change her fate, the mere sound of his voice made her shiver and hesitate.
He did have a handsome face, but he also seemed to be a man made of sharp, icy knives, whether it be his cutting words or his intense glare.
Duke Sentoren was nicknamed the cold-blooded duke precisely for this reason, because he appeared to be emotionless and was unable to express himself properly.
It was understandable why Marianne rejected this man so desperately.
“I think I told you not to keep hiding.”
Riv winced at Duke Sentoren’s sharp tone.
‘Did I really get caught?’
It was hard for her to believe that the Duke had discovered her presence.
Riv had been hiding a considerable distance away from him, far enough that she could barely hear their conversation in spite of the princess’ loud yelling. But before she knew it, there was suddenly a dark figure in front of her, with sharp contours illuminated by the moonlight. When Riv looked up, Duke Sentoren towered over her.
His blazing eyes pierced her, and Riv found her knees trembling uncontrollably in the face of his intensity.
‘Don’t be afraid!’ she encouraged herself.
Riv pulled herself together quickly, hiding her tremors by wrapping her arms around herself.
With her back as straight as possible, she faced Duke Sentoren. It was only at this moment that she felt the beginnings of coherency returning to her.
But there was another problem.
‘Why is this man so tall?’
Riv felt baffled standing in front of him.
She was as tall as or even taller than a lot of men. Usually, the men were the surprised ones when they came face-to-face with Riv.
In contrast, Duke Sentoren showed no signs of surprise, let alone amazement, upon seeing her.
He was even taller than she was.
Duke Sentoren’s rough-looking face, which Riv stared at, displayed evidence of a brutal past, and his amber eyes glowed with anger.
In the face of such intense scrutiny and suspicion, Riv found it difficult to think, though the tremor in her limbs seemed to grow worse.
‘I’m scared.’