Chapter 4: 4

I looked down at the dozens of baked goods with an ecstatic face.

The pieces of bread were so wonderful in appearance, it was to the extent that I didn’t know if I could eat it.

“Wow …”

On a nearby platter, there was fluffy white bread, butter, and thirty kinds of jam. A walnut pie was placed in a distant dish.

There’s also cake topped with fermented apricots and tiramisu, which must have been filled with cheese.

Other dishes included golden roast turkey and thick meat pie.

But among them, there was another thing that caught my eye the most.

‘It’s expensive, so I haven’t tried it before. Macarons that are piled up like a mountain ……!’

My eyes shook.

I can’t believe it.

Macarons?

I knew what it was but I’ve never tasted one before.

It’s over 1,700 won each, and some macarons even cost 3,000 won each.

Of course, I didn’t have money to spend on something that wouldn’t fill my stomach.

“You were here first.”

However, my eyes stopped shaking after a while.

The sound of the soles of hard shoes, as they landed on the marble floor, resounded nearby.

Even if she wants to deny it, Lacius is the only one who walks around like that in this mansion.

I immediately focused my wandering eyes in place.

Lacius sat down calmly, and then Maynard brought the next dish.

What is it this time?

It was beyond my wildest expectations: a huge steak that was 3.5cm thick.

‘Whoaa.’

The meat is sizzling.

Oh my god, meat! Meat! That’s too much!

It was a pity that I would not be able to eat all that greasy food because I have not recovered yet.

But that’s not the end.

Next was fried food.

‘God, am I in heaven?’

A dish of crispy, fried, chewy shrimp.

It was a few hundred won more expensive than other fried food, so I was always hesitant to eat it.

But now there are vast quantities of them in front of me.

“Eat.”

“Yes.”

I reached out for the fried food in excitement, not knowing that Lacius was staring at me closely.

Judging from the atmosphere, I think he’ll just let go of what happened earlier, and thinking so makes me feel better.

I grabbed a shrimp, peeled off the fried skin, and took a bite.

“Ha.”

The firm texture is crunchy.

I was almost moved to tears.

Although it was not obvious on the outside, the emotion that softened my whole heart, spread.

It’s delicious.

It was really delicious.

I want to eat steak, but I don’t know how to cut it, so I watch Lacius eat first and follow him.

I was going to…

But then, I heard the sound of rustling and scratching the chair, and soon after, a shadow fell on my head.

‘….?’

When I looked up with the meaning of ‘why’, I saw Lacius.

He was slightly frowning.

“Do you hate meat? “

“No……?”

“Then I’ll cut it for you. Eat it.”

….?

Lacius bluntly threw dull words and took the bowl of meat.

I’m glad he’s being nice, but why?

But Lacius acted as if cutting meat was the most important thing to do right now.

I waited quietly because I was thrown off by his momentum.

“Here, eat. “

Like a knight, Lacius cut the meat beautifully into cubes.

I skewered one of the sliced meat pieces, admiring his cutting skills.

“Thank you.”

“If you eat well, your wounds will heal quickly.”

“Yes, that’s … huh?”

I almost felt a little touched, but I flinched at the incongruity contained in the words I heard.

Then I turned my head and looked at Lacius with a look full of betrayal.

Hey, you said you didn’t see anything earlier?

“Ha. Ha. Ha.”

But I had nothing to say even if I had ten mouths.

Laughing awkwardly, I turned to the newspaper in the corner.

“There’s a rumor in the evening newspaper that Archduke Schweiden is dating? But this time another lady is the target.”

As I opened the newspaper and read the headline, I noticed a sign of tiredness on Lacius’ face.

“I don’t care about those things, I just go to that restaurant to order something from the menu, but they always seem to publish scandalous* articles about me.”

*(치정/Chijeong in Kr dictionary it’s described as ‘All sorts of dizzying emotions that results from the love between a man and a woman. In English it’s called ‘crime of passion’.)

“Oh my…”

“Plus, it’s an occasion for the knights to dine all together.”

He looked like he’s sick of it.

As he narrows his handsome eyebrows and frowns, a sense of suffocation sinks into the dining room.

I couldn’t understand at all.

“Have you ever visited the newspaper with that face?”

“What?”

“No, I mean with that expression right now.  I don’t think I can even say anything with that……”

Can’t he just give them a harsh scolding? Or maybe stop them with money.

But Lacius shook his head.

“It’s useless. “

“Why?”

“Because the princess is the one behind it.”

The Princess.

The biggest obstacle that prevents the male lead from connecting with the female lead who has a lower status and the villainess no. 2!

Moreover, her power is strong enough to be mentioned as second only to the Emperor.

It just meant that she couldn’t be dealt with recklessly.

I openly gave an expression of interest.

In the original work, the princess had very bizarre tastes.

Because she had some slightly sadistic tendencies, her tastes were bad, she liked making handsome men cry.

Perhaps because Lacius is an archduke, she couldn’t do anything to him physically. So instead, she made the newspapers and magazines, which she held in the palm of her hands all across the country, harass him mentally.

‘Then was she doing it because she likes harassing him not because she liked to get in the way of the heroine?’

It is an unexplained part of the original, so I couldn’t tell while I was reading it, but it feels plausible.

“It became my daily routine to check what nonsense was in the article every morning. Even if I don’t want to, I have to read a newspaper to read other articles, so I have no choice.”

“Well, then … there’s no way you’d know what’s in the magazine that women usually read.”

“… There’s no need to look there.”

Oh, okay.

I was dumbfounded at the extraordinary ferocity of the princess’s way of torturing him.

She is, in a sense, a true princess.

Too bad for Lacius.

Lacius tapped on the newspaper and continued.

“Not only that but also whenever I commute, I can’t stop women from following me. They stick close even when I shake them off. It’s also common for them to bribe the servants. And even if you cut them off, they will just continue placing more people they’ve raised to be a servant here.”

“Oh …”

“That’s why I only have Maynard and Theobalt in the mansion. I can’t let any maids in carelessly because they will only end up stealing my underwear or collecting my hair.”

… crazy fans.

That’s right.

I forgot for a moment, but this man was the best bachelor in the Empire.

He’s handsome, he’s in good shape, and he’s high-ranking.

He’s a triple crowner*, so he must be popular.

*(Triple crown- an award or honor for winning a group of three important events in a sport. But here it was used to say that Lacius was a ‘winner’ that possessed the three categories that make someone popular.)

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However, the reason why so many people are so obsessed with Lacius was not only because of that, but in fact, because other men in this world are too ugly.

Since Maynard is the basic face here, Lacius, who is unique among them, will have no choice but to receive everyone’s attention.

Even my eyes, which are accustomed to seeing idols, think that Lacius is a handsome man.

“Even if I live at the Knight’s official residence, it’s already normal for someone to peep while I’m taking a bath, and even if I say the training ground is a dangerous place, they’ll still run at me and even faint…”

Grit.*

*(으드득- A word imitating the sound of gnashing one’s teeth strongly.)

He grit his teeth threateningly.

Breaking their necks would be easy, but the problem is all of his opponents are ladies from noble families.

It’s even the princess who encourages them, so the battlefield was rather comfortable for them.

I unconsciously shook my head understanding Lacius’s heart.

“I happen to have something to suggest to you.”(Lacius)

“What is it?”

“Marry me. “

What?

Marriage?

‘Marriage all of a sudden?!’

Oh, I think it’s time for me to wear a hearing aid.

Doubting my ears, I did not hesitate to give Lacius an ‘Are you crazy?’ look.

No, it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just so sudden.

I don’t think this was in the original book

“Three years. You just need to be my wife for three years.”

When my reaction didn’t satisfy him, Lacius gave strength to his words and proposed over and over again.

I asked back, tapping on the ‘love rumor’ part of the newspaper.

“If my ears aren’t wrong, are you asking me to marry you?”

“To be exact, engagement comes first, followed by marriage.”

“Well yeah, but the bottom line is still marriage.”

“Yes.”

Lacius’ eyes, who said that, looked very exhausted.

The expression of a man whose soul is tormented by unwanted care and attention.

That’s what he had.

“You’re a painting wizard, so you don’t have to worry about assassins.”

“Um, well, I didn’t say a word yet.”

“Think about it. If you say you’re my wife, you’ll get a lot of bribes from people trying to get close to me. You can take everything. Take all the gifts too. I won’t say anything.”

“Bribes?”

“Yes.”

Hold on.

My ears are starting to flutter.

Although I understand that the prerequisite, “if you survive,” should be added in big brackets before Lacius’ words, I was still greedy.

But before I become bewitched by those sweet words, I have something to ask.

“Why me?”

Before I knew it, I put down the fork and the warning signals in my mind lit up.

That’s what I thought the most while I was trapped in the slaver’s crate.

If I’m villainess no. 4, then…

I have to hide well and never get involved with anyone.

Especially the male protagonist; he is prohibited.

Since I was a child, I grew up being told that I would live well by myself even if I was thrown into the desert.

Even if it’s a ridiculous world found inside a book, I’ll be able to live somehow, so I should avoid it as much as I can.

Even if you roll in a dog poop field, it is said that this world is better than the underworld.*

*(It’s a proverb in Korean that means: it’s still better to live than to die even if you’re living poorly and hardly.)

“How can you trust me?”

“You have a lot of doubts.”

“Of course. I don’t trust you, but how can you trust me and say something like this?”

“…….to be quite blunt. “

Lacius swept his chin as if he found the situation interesting. I folded my arms around and waited for his answer.

“The auction house. I was originally supposed to wipe out the guys there.”

Yes, I know that.

I also know that you’ll cover villainess no. 4 with clothes after seeing her and that you’ll let her go immediately after taking her home.

Shay of the original left Archduke Schweiden’s residence a few days after she wrote her statement.

But Lacius never said a word to me about leaving here.

“The moment I saw you, there was a flash in my head. Even though you were intoxicated with drugs, your gaze seemed to want to rip everything to pieces and kill everyone…it was admirable.”

…?

Is that an insult or a compliment?

I made an ambiguous expression.

No, wait, what do you mean, rip to pieces and kill?

Of course, I wanted to poke my fingers through the eyeballs that were staring at me, but I’m not thinking of something as terrible as that.

Oh, maybe it’s because he’s the head of the knights, that would explain why his thought process is bloody.

“If it’s you, I believe you’d be able to do wicked acts* full of spirit. You talk informally to me so I’m sure you wouldn’t feel intimidated even if it’s the princess.”

*(패악질을/Wicked acts can also mean to conduct badly)

Lacius’ blue-gray eyes flashed.

It seems that the princess is quite annoying.

I was in a dilemma for a moment.

Money and a glamorous life are in front of me.

I could get a table* like this every day.

*(Referring to the dining table)

I don’t have to envy people eating delicious food anymore.

Moreover, accepting bribes was a very attractive condition.

No matter how powerful a painting wizard I am, I have to draw with details comparable to the level of a masterpiece, in order to make a decent gem or a chunk of gold.

And I still need money to buy painting tools and canvas.

‘If I think about the possibility to live here for the rest of my life… It’s a great opportunity.’

Even if I go back to my original life, it’s better than being a slave.

‘I still have one year before the original female lead shows up.’

It was at the time of the princess’s birthday party, and considering the weather, it was probably around autumn.

Well, it’s spring now, so there’s still a lot of time left, right?

However, I didn’t respond willingly.

Then Lacius opened his mouth again.

“Again, I’m not a person who is interested in marriage, and I don’t intend to marry anyone.”

I know that well. Very well.

But I promise to immediately leave when the stupid female lead appears. Yeah.

“But I’m going to marry you. We’re going to look like a couple who’s madly in love with each other.”

“Aha.”

“So sell my name and behave as you please. You can talk to anyone like you do now.”

“… and I will not be executed?”

“I will protect you at all cost, but try to be the most gorgeous and wicked woman in this empire so that no one will dare come near me when they see you.”

So you’re going to call in a tiger to stop the wolves?

Well, there’s nothing I can’t do

I opened my eyes suspiciously and asked.

“What about the pay? “

If you ask me to use such drastic methods of acting, of course, the cost of buying me alone won’t be enough…

100 million is a price where you can’t even buy a house in Seoul.

Then he whispered in a low voice.

That’s the number.

“What?”

I asked again because I thought I misheard.

Lacius returned the answer to me with very clear pronunciation.

“10 billion gautes. “

“I’ll give you 10 billion.”

What the……

One gaute is 10,000 won

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The conversion method in the original book was like that.

Besides, the prices are low here. Oh….?

Far from being angry, as a humanitarian should be, at the idea of selling a marriage for money, she willingly decided to become a crazy bitch in this area.

“I’ll take care of it, customer-nim!”

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