Chapter 7: Propose a Deal (2)
“My, isn’t this Brooks? Francis Brooks!”
Francis Brooks who had been greeting a count turned his eyes to a man calling out to him with a unique accent. The exotic man with a mole by his eye smiled widely and tapped his shoulders.
Francis moaned his name out loud. “Langston…”
“Long time no see, Brooks.”
“I had thought the smuggler investigation was going to take some time…”
“Such matter doesn’t need me to resolve itself. Send the guily to the gallows! Simple.”
Langston wrapped his arm around Francis’ shoulders and whispered, “Is it not?”
Swearing under his breath, Francis excused himself from the count and dragged Langston to the corner.
Langston pliantly let himself be dragged away while picking up a champagne glass from the tray a servant was carrying.
“Why’re you alone? Where did you leave your adorable fiancee?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Don’t be so cold. We’re in the same boat. Of course I would be worried.”
“Everything is progressing as planned… so…”
“Our client is worried as well. The rumors are running high that you’re on poor terms with your fiancee, eh?”
Francis Brook’s shoulders visibly tensed.
“…”
As Langston grinend satisfyingly, his mole distorted He put his lips near Francis’ ear and murmured, “I’ll tell you something on behalf of my sister, so clean out your ears and listen, you useless scum. Get your shit together or you’re done.” He tapped Francis Brooks’s face. “Understood?”
Francis furiously slapped away Langston’s hand. “I’ll take care of it. Now get out.”
“Well then, as a groom-to-be, take better care of your fiancee. Don’t let her changer her mind at the last minute.” Langston handed Francis the champagne glass and swaggered away.
Francis stared at Langston’s back, then looked around to fine Raeliana. She had slipped away and was nowhere to be seen.
Francis grimaced and headed to the center of the hall. It was all because of that woman. She’s engaged, so all she needed to do was behave.
The shy woman had transformed, as if she had been possessed by someone else.
I thought she would be easy.
“Tsk.” He felt ire building up. He called a servant and ordered to let him know if anyone seen the young Lady Raeliana anywhere.
The servant nodded and after making rounds, returned to Francis to point him toward the garden where she had supposedly gone off to.
“What a troublesome woman.”
Francis put down the champagne glass on the servant’s tray and walked quickly to follow her trail.
***
Moonlight settle between the leaves of the royal garden. Kayshna, the 13th queen, was said to have held this rose garden dear to her heart.
Calle the Ice Queen, she mobilized all the mages in the kingdom to put a permanent spell on the roses, the only thing she loved, so they would never wither regardless of the seasons.
Though centuries have passed and the garden had devolved into the tryst spot for the nobles, it still retained that eternal beauty.
On its path, Noah took quiet steps.
To not lose the man out of her sight, Raeliana tailed behind him with some distance. She felt as if she had become a stalker, or perhaps she really was the dictionary definition of a stalker…
She had blindly followed him out but had no idea on how to spark up the conversation. Reaeliana had no connection to him and Park Eunha, who been forever single, had no idea how to talk to men.
Raeliana chewed on her lips.
Then, at that moment…
“What is that you want?” Noah, who had been walking with his hands behind his back, turned around and asked.
Flustered, Raeliana looked around to see if she was talking to somebody else. Realizing that she was alone, she bent her knee to curtsy.
“Oh, Duke Wynknight. May the goddess smile upon you. I am Raeliana McMillan, the daughter of Baron Johdein McMillan.”
“Lady Raeliana, may peace be with you. I am Duke Noah Wynknight.”
He had a saintly smile upon his face that would set a tortured soul free and inspire sinenrs to kneel in repentance.
Saintly? No way. Don’t be deceived by that face.
Raeliana refuted her own thoughts and gulped. Her frayed nerves were not only due to the deal. She knew the man’s “true face” from reading the novel.
“I want to propose a deal.” Raeliana went straight to the point and told Noah, who was waiting with a gentle expression as if he would listen to anything she says.
“A deal…?” Noah seemed rather taken aback. Who wouldn’t be surprised by a young noble lady approaching him alone to propose a deal in a garden at night. “A deal, with me?”
Raeliana looked around to make sure nobody was around. “It is rather difficult to say in an open space such as this…” Raeliana’s eyes curved and gave a light smile. “But it has to do wit the royal seal.”
His perfect face was washed away as if a rush of waves passed through. The smiling mask instantly disappeared and his true face emerged. In front of Raeliana stood a man with a face cold enough to make regular people shrink away.
Raeliana held her head high.
She had already read the novel. She knew very clearly as to what kind of a man he was.
A two-faced man.
An arrogant and twisted duke who wore a mask of a man who was gentle and respectful to everyone.
“Hmmm.” As if interested, his voice rang. “How intriguing.”
Noah took a step forward. Raeliana managed to subjugate her instinct to back away. Raeliana tilted her head upward, looked at Noah’s slanted lips and his golden eyes that seemed to spark with a strange vibrance.
Under the night garden filled with moonlight, he looked almost surreal.
“So, what kind of deal do you have for me?”