Chapter 5

Dating?

Out of nowhere?

“……”

Since when had the word dating become another way of saying, I’m going to crush someone into the ground?

Unable to believe what she was hearing, Kassia stared straight at the Grand Duke’s face.

The expression on Grand Duke Penminid’s face as he confessed his feelings looked exactly like that of a murderer.

Which part of the body should he cut off first?

Where should he cut to cause the most pain?

That was exactly the look he had.

Did he look anything like someone who had fallen in love?

Not in the slightest.

It seemed a Grand Duke had far too much free time on his hands.

He had pretended to forgive her, only to approach her like this and make her life miserable!

What a dirty trick!

Annoyed by the Grand Duke for no particular reason, Kassia snorted loudly.

“I’m going to have to refuse.”

The moment she rejected him outright, the Grand Duke’s eyebrow twitched.

He probably hadn’t expected to be rejected.

Then again, neither had she.

She hadn’t expected such a clear refusal to come out of her mouth either.

“Dating someone as outstanding as Your Grace would be too much for me.”

“I am rather outstanding, aren’t I?”

The Grand Duke immediately raised his chin in pride.

Kassia was speechless.

Seriously! Who knew a handsome man’s arrogance could be so irritating?

What was even more annoying was that she couldn’t deny it.

Just looking at his face made her think, Well, I suppose he has a point.

And she absolutely hated that.

That only made her more determined.

She would reject the Grand Duke’s proposal, even though he was probably used to getting whatever he wanted.

And she would do it without mercy!

“Yes, yes. I really don’t want to date someone like you. So I hope we never have to meet again. E-ver.”

“I see.”

What did he mean by I see?

Despite the Grand Duke’s calm tone, Kassia flinched.

She had heard him say those same words during their negotiation a few days ago.

By now, she knew that when it came to the Grand Duke, the words I see could mean something very troublesome.

That was why she couldn’t bring herself to leave just yet.

While she hesitated, bothered by an unpleasant feeling she couldn’t quite explain—

“Ah.”

The Grand Duke let out a sigh, as though he had just remembered something.

Ah? What does he mean by that?

She couldn’t help being curious. It was beyond her control.

The moment she leaned forward, unable to hold herself back any longer—

As if he had been waiting for that exact moment, the Grand Duke reached out his right hand.

“……”

Even his hands were handsome.

His fingers were long and delicate, yet his hands had strong, solid bones.

They looked more like the hands of an artist than a swordsman.

As that hand reached toward her—

Kassia instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.

So this is it. My head is going to roll.

He kept me alive all this time just so he could play with me before killing me.

Mom, your unfilial daughter is going to die before you—

Huh?

No matter how long she waited, she felt no pain.

That’s strange.

Kassia cautiously opened one eye and peeked ahead.

“AAAH!”

The Grand Duke had leaned so close that the tips of their noses were almost touching.

And he had done it without warning!

Startled out of her wits, Kassia flailed both hands and pushed her upper body backward.

The chair tilted back from the force.

And as a result, her body began tipping backward too.

“W-wait!”

She desperately flailed her arms, trying to grab something—anything.

Are you not going to catch me?

Even as she silently pleaded with him, the Grand Duke simply sat there and watched.

So he really wasn’t going to catch her.

I wasn’t expecting you to anyway, you jerk!

“Tch!”

Kassia clicked her tongue as the back of her head moved closer and closer to the floor.

She was now only a hand’s breadth away from meeting the ground in a rather painful way.

Just as she was about to crack her skull—

THUD!

The Grand Duke suddenly grabbed her wrist with lightning speed and pulled her toward him.

He must have taken the stamina potion she had left behind at his residence.

There was no other explanation for the incredible strength with which he yanked her back. He pulled her so hard that her ribs nearly slammed into the table.

“Ow, ow!”

Kassia returned to her proper position, and so did the chair.

Thanks to the unpredictable Grand Duke, she had managed to avoid an embarrassing fall.

But even so!

She wasn’t grateful. Not one bit.

If you hadn’t been playing these ridiculous games in the first place, I wouldn’t have—

What, did you think I’d be grateful just because you caught me?

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

For a brief moment, the corner of the Grand Duke’s mouth twitched.

Kassia noticed the movement, and her heart twisted with anxiety. She was about to say something, anything, when the Grand Duke placed an object on the table.

It was a box covered in blue velvet.

When he opened it, a brilliant black gleam flashed from within.

“It’s a ring.”

He stated the obvious in a completely emotionless voice.

As if she couldn’t see that for herself!

Kassia looked at the Grand Duke, then at the ring, then back at him.

Was he trying to show off his wealth?

Was there anyone in the Empire who didn’t know the Grand Duke was rich?

He was the wealthy one, not her.

Who cared about someone else’s fortune!

Seeing her unimpressed reaction, the Grand Duke spoke in his usual cold voice.

“It was crafted from the finest diamond. Talpiot, if you agree, I will give it to you.”

“Give me what?”

“Dating.”

Had some monster that died without ever dating possessed him?

Honestly, there were so many ways to make someone’s life miserable.

If he wanted to torment her, a fake confession was certainly an effective method.

He’s already investigated everything about me!

Otherwise, why would he have used such tactics?

Deploying his knights throughout Talpiot Street to pressure her.

Confessing to a woman even though he knew she wanted to remain single.

These were petty methods, but they were also effective ways to corner her.

Kassia looked straight into the Grand Duke’s dark blue eyes.

She wanted to figure out what on earth he was thinking, but—

His icy eyes merely reflected her image. They revealed nothing about his feelings.

“Sigh.”

Feeling utterly frustrated, she let out a deep sigh.

She couldn’t understand why the Grand Duke was pursuing her again after she’d already rejected him.

Ugh. Even if I knew why, what difference would it make?

Kassia pressed both hands against her throbbing forehead.

The most popular man in the Empire—or rather, on the entire continent of Shardenya.

The fact that Grand Duke Penminid had confessed to her meant absolutely nothing to her.

There was only one thing that mattered right now.

How do I reject this Grand Duke properly without getting on his bad side?

That was the only thought spinning wildly through her mind.

After several minutes of struggling to come up with an answer, Kassia suddenly curved her eyes into a smile.

“I really don’t understand why you’re acting this way. Now, Your Grace, please calm down and listen to what I have to say.”

“I shall listen. With a calm mind.”

“Your Grace, you’re the most popular man of this age. So I’m sure you’ve had countless one-night stands.”

“……”

There he went again.

The quiet Grand Duke had nothing to say.

Whether he remained silent or not, Kassia kept chattering until the muscles around her mouth nearly cramped.

“Enjoy yourselves together, then part ways cleanly! That’s what adult dating is all about, right?”

“……”

“So there’s absolutely no need for Your Grace to feel responsible. Responsibility? Come on! You can just put that away.”

“‘Absolutely no need,’ you say.”

The usually tight-lipped Grand Duke seized on her choice of words.

In an instant, the air around him seemed to ripple, growing even colder.

Kassia shivered and faltered for a moment, but she didn’t stop talking.

“Exactly! No need! Do adults really need things like obsession in a relationship?”

Honestly, if anyone was going to get obsessed, it should have been me.

“That night was my first time, and I don’t even remember it.”

Her sense of injustice was so overwhelming that the words escaped her mouth before she could stop them.

Startled, Kassia clapped a hand over her mouth and nervously watched the Grand Duke’s reaction.

For some reason, the Grand Duke, who rarely answered her questions directly, began to move his lips.

She had no idea what he was about to say, but she absolutely had to stop him.

Whatever he was going to say, it probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

She hurriedly tried to add, “I didn’t mean to pressure you into anything.”

But then the arrogant Grand Duke spoke first.

“It was my first time.”

“Yes, yes. Of course it was your first—wait, what?”

His first time?

What was his first time?

Kassia was completely bewildered.

Then she became even more bewildered.

She blinked repeatedly, her mouth falling wide open.

People had always said things like—

“His Grace is so passionate that he has three or four lovers in a single night!”

“I heard he likes to have rough fun with several women at once!”

These rumors had been circulating for ages!

His first time…

No matter how hard she tried, her mind simply refused to accept those words.

…Fine. Let’s just move on.

If she dug any deeper, she felt like she would be willingly throwing herself into a trap that had been prepared just for her.

Kassia glanced sideways at the expressionless Grand Duke and awkwardly fiddled with the vodka bottle.

Umm… so…

“Please spare my life.”

“Whenever you see me, you ask me to spare your life.”

Well, there was a good reason for that!

Honestly, could this man be any more frustrating?

Filled with indignation, she slammed the vodka bottle onto the table.

The impact caused a generous amount of liquor to spill across the surface.

What a waste! My precious vodka!

…Wait, this wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“Now, try actually thinking about this.”

“I’ve heard that I think too much, but—”

“Enough. No more small talk.”

Kassia, the rabbit who had somehow grown bold enough to let her courage get the better of her, rudely cut the Grand Duke off.

She even gave him a look that seemed to ask why he was interrupting her.

At her audacity, one corner of his mouth lifted.

But regardless of his reaction, she stubbornly continued, determined to say everything she needed to say.

“I hate saying this about myself, but there’s a rumor that if you lined up all the women who follow you around just because of your face, you could build an entire kingdom with them.”

“Are there really that many?”

“Yes, there are! Anyway, if I became the lover of such a popular Grand Duke, my head would become public property.”

“Public property?”

“Because I’d become a target for the assassins’ guilds! Jealous women would start placing requests like, ‘Kill Kassia Talpiot!’”

“Haha. ‘Public property.’ That’s an interesting expression.”

Interesting? How could he find that funny when she was talking about something so serious?

Kassia was too busy huffing and puffing like an angry bull to notice.

The Grand Duke’s intimidating presence had softened considerably.

If she’d seen his handsome smile, her anger might have melted away in an instant.

Instead, she was too busy nursing a headache caused by the Grand Duke’s awful personality.

Cruel, selfish, arrogant, conceited, and downright unpleasant. That’s what everyone said about him.

And now she understood.

Whoever said rumors couldn’t be trusted?

Grand Duke Penminid was exactly as terrible as the rumors claimed.

No, he was even worse!

A textbook villain!

Now, how am I supposed to defeat this evil villain?

Unfortunately, she was so busy racking her brain for a solution that she failed to notice something once again.

The Grand Duke was gazing at her lazily.

He was quietly watching as her expression changed from a frown to a relaxed look and back again, displaying a whole range of emotions.

As he watched her, he unexpectedly spoke first.

“Judging by how hard you’re thinking, I suppose your life isn’t so bad after all.”