YNSYM 9

Chapter 9

Now, all the pieces fell into place. Why I had lost consciousness on the night of the 25th after just a single glass of champagne. And why, no matter how much he was my ideal ‘scent,’ I had pounced on a man I had just met for the very first time.

‘It was all because of this aphrodisiac the Marquis fed me.’

As the truth came to light, my lips trembled violently. I wanted to hurl curses at this madman right this instant, but moving faster than my drug-befuddled mind were the Marquis’s own lips.

“Of course, following that shoe-shiner outside earlier was utterly disappointing. To the point where I felt the urge to strike you from my list of bride candidates for a moment.”

The Marquis spoke casually, as though it were only natural for me to fall into despair the moment I was removed from his list of eligible brides. But there was no way that was true. Rather, what plunged me into a abyss of despair were his next words.

“However, I shall forgive you this once out of my grand generosity. Because I discovered something quite to my liking about you.”

The Marquis’s fingertips slowly traveled up my cheek, now caressing the area around my eyes.

“These eyes. I didn’t notice at first, but looking back quietly, they are the spitting image of your mother’s, aren’t they? I quite like that. Even though I lost her to your father twenty-three years ago.”

Smacking his lips briefly, the Marquis continued with a satisfied smile.

“To think that even her daughter, who resembles that woman, can become mine.”

What kind of crazy bullshit was this now?

Granted, I had heard that my mother was such a renowned beauty back in her day that she received courtships from almost every gentleman around. It seemed this madman was likely one of them. But is that why he wants to marry me? To try and take the daughter of the woman he failed to claim back then as his wife?

What was even more baffling was that even twenty-three years ago, the Marquis was already nearly forty, meaning he must have had a wife. How on earth could a married man have planned to marry my mother?

‘Don’t tell me he was planning to divorce his wife? Unless his wife died, that would have been the only way to take a new wife…’

At that moment, it was perhaps only natural that that story crossed my mind.

‘I heard a rumor. That the Marquis’s former wives were actually all beaten to death by him.’

The rumor about the Marquis that Mr. Sutton had told me. And that rumor sprouted a seed of suspicion in my head.

‘Wait a minute. Don’t tell me he intended to kill his own wife to marry my mother?’

Just then, right on cue, it was the Marquis himself who turned that seed of suspicion into a fruit of certainty.

“Ugh!”

A groan escaped my lips against my will. It was due to the Marquis’s brutal grip suddenly seizing my limp wrist resting on the floor.

“Of course, this forgiveness is a one-time thing. If your wrist is grabbed by another man’s hand again like earlier…”

At his tightened grip, another pitiful groan spilled out, but he paid it no mind and continued his warning.

“I’ll chop off this hand so you can never offer your wrist to anyone ever again.”

I could feel intent to kill in the Marquis’s eyes as he stared down at me. That gaze clearly said it all: this was no threat meant merely to frighten me. This madman was more than capable of doing such a thing.

Then, what should I do?

‘I have to run away right now.’

The problem, however, was that my body was still not back to normal. While I had regained a bit of strength compared to earlier as the drug wore off, it wasn’t nearly enough to overpower the Marquis and escape.

In that case, there was only one way: to scream with all my might. So that anyone outside—anyone at all—could hear.

“Help… me! Is anyone… there?!”

I gathered every last ounce of strength in my body to shout. But looking at me, a wide grin spread across the Marquis’s face instead.

“I knew it! I picked right this time! I used even more drug than last time, so I expected you to be spreading your legs and lunging at me by now, yet you aren’t easy at all! A real—”

Trailing off with a smirk, his fingers slowly pulled on the sash of his robe.

“—noble lady, so hard to come by in times like these.”

Beneath the parted robe, the Marquis’s white drawers and flabby thighs were laid bare.

“N-No!”

I had to escape somehow. I dragged my powerless legs, crawling toward the door. Of course, running away at this speed meant I was bound to be caught by the Marquis, but I had to try as much as I could.

‘First, let’s open that door. If I can at least open the door, someone passing by might spot me and help.’

Holding onto that sliver of hope, it was the moment I barely managed to grasp the doorknob.

“Why? Trying to call for help? It’s useless. My private guards are standing watch outside anyway. Hey, there! Come inside for a moment! It seems I need to tie this wild filly to the bed. Well, that sounds quite stimulating in itself.”

Half-closing his eyes, the Marquis spoke as he licked his lips as if savoring a meal.

“Though being tied up is more to my taste than doing the tying.”

The Marquis was right.

Creak—

Before I had even turned the knob, the door began to open from the outside.

At that moment, only one thought filled my mind:

‘It’s over.’

Now everything was truly finished. It would have been difficult even if I were overflowing with strength, but breaking past the Marquis and his private guards to escape with a body still under the influence of a drug was completely impossible.

Yet why was it that the moment I thought everything was over, that man suddenly came to mind?

At the same time, I wished. How wonderful would it be if he appeared at this very moment like a prince on a white horse?

But I knew. A miracle like that would never happen. In any fairy tale, such miracles only happened to flower-like women who were uniquely beautiful in face, even if everything else about them was unremarkable—not an unnoticed weed like me, blooming who-knows-where.

‘It’s really… miserable.’

Cold tears spilled over. Even though I closed my eyes tightly in utter resignation, the tears refused to stop.

Just then, the tears flowing down my cheek suddenly felt warm. It was thanks to the warmth of a spring breeze blowing through the crack of the opened door. And when the scent carried by that breeze touched the tip of my nose, I thought:

‘No way.’

For the first time in my life, it was a moment I doubted my own sense of smell. Yet, my sensitive nose couldn’t possibly be wrong.

Because the moment I opened my eyes, I saw him.

The man who was quietly looking down at me with chillingly cold, intelligent eyes.

As if comforting me as I doubted whether all of this was a hallucination born from the drug, he asked:

“Do you regret it?”

Only, clear and direct as always.

“Still?”

The man’s gaze slowly swept across the surroundings after tossing the question. That look seemed to say it all: Do you still regret sleeping with me? Even in this state?

It certainly was a baffling sight.

Covered in tears, I was slumped over while clutching the doorknob, and behind me stood the Marquis clad only in his underwear. In particular, the Marquis—flustered by the man’s sudden appearance—stammered and even shouted in panic:

“I-Is no one outside?! Drag this bastard out right now! Hurry!”

However, the Marquis’s shouts were useless. When the half-open door swung fully open, the scene visible behind the man’s back was even more gruesome than the inside of the room. The private guards the Marquis had trusted so implicitly were all sprawled out on the floor, knocked unconscious as if dead.

In other words, there was no one left to come running for the Marquis.

“H-How could this happen…”

Thanks to that, the Marquis—turned as pale as the color of his underwear—didn’t know what to do, his hands trembling violently.

Of course, it wasn’t just a gruesome scene.

This man standing before me—he alone remained noble throughout it all. Seeing him standing alone, he must have dispatched the guards standing watch outside by himself, yet if not for the slightly rumpled edge of his sleeve, one wouldn’t have even noticed.

And at that moment, I realized: there was no longer any reason to hesitate.

No, in truth, I had already made up my mind long ago. Thinking of him and wishing for him to appear before he even showed up—that alone had already given me the answer.

“No. I don’t regret it. So…”

I spoke again to the man, putting strength into my voice:

“Let me take responsibility for you.”

In an instant, the corners of the man’s lips curled up softly—even if the voice flowing from between those lips was not gentle in the slightest.

“Let’s start with me taking responsibility for today. In my own way.”