Chapter 4
* * *
It didn’t take long to find Maddie again.
After making some preparations, Yulikian searched a few noisy bars as soon as he entered the remote neighborhood.
Maddie was playing poker at the exact same table where they’d first met, in the same bar.
Though judging by her bloodshot eyes, she seemed to have been playing cards all night.
Yulikian sat in an empty seat and watched her card-holding hands.
How had he not noticed before?
Her hands had calluses everywhere, like a soldier who had undergone years of training.
“Oh, our new customer is back. Joining from this round?”
She was still speaking informally despite knowing he was a Grand Duke.
“Sure.”
Maddie asked with a grin how much money he’d brought to bet.
“Let’s talk.”
“Who, who? Who are you talking to? We’ve got Bain, Karl, Audrey, Hyle, and what’s his name, Gillie at this table. Who exactly are you talking about? By the way, my name’s Maddie.”
“After this round, let’s talk. Maddie.”
“Oh my, what’s this? What’s this? I’m pretty quick on the uptake. What is it~”
Maddie, who had been cackling and slapping her neighbor’s shoulder, suddenly stopped laughing.
“When our new customer asks, I should get up. But just after I win this one hand~”
Maddie only stood up after cleanly winning with a royal straight flush, raking in the money.
When the others at the table jeered, Maddie waved her hand playfully.
“Well, what can I do? When a handsome man asks me to follow, I have to follow. I need to get married someday too~”
“Hey! Looks like Maddie’s going to win her dowry playing poker!”
They left the bar amid sounds that could have been either jeers or cheers.
“Hey. I have something to discuss privately. Not here on the street, somewhere…”
Before Yulikian could finish, Maddie turned around.
“I get the gist, so follow me. My lord Duke.”
As if the whole neighborhood was her home, Maddie walked quickly, weaving through various alleys.
Yulikian had to stay alert to keep track of her brown hair bouncing from side to side as she walked.
Maddie moved confidently even through alleys barely wide enough for one person.
She even cut through what looked like other people’s houses.
“Where exactly are we going!”
“Shh. Quiet.”
Yulikian was beginning to regret following her.
Just because she had saved him from the assassins didn’t guarantee she wasn’t working for the Emperor.
If he got suddenly kidnapped in such a deserted place, there would be no turning back.
While Yulikian was looking around trying to find a way back to the main street, Maddie opened an old wooden door with a creak.
It was a door in a gap between walls, one you wouldn’t notice unless you looked carefully.
“Please come in, client.”
Though startled by the sudden change in how she addressed him, Yulikian maintained his composure as he entered.
It was a modest room smaller than his bathroom. Just a table and two chairs, without even a window.
“Your Grace, please sit here and we can proceed with the consultation.”
Her tone was respectful while maintaining her usual playfulness.
Yulikian deliberately sat in the chair opposite from the one Maddie had pulled out.
Maddie smirked and pulled out a blank paper from her clothes.
“Yes, our client has a suspicious nature, and I understand why, given the regular visits from assassins.”
After scrawling ‘Contract’ at the top of the paper, Maddie sat down, interlocked her fingers on the table, and smiled brightly.
“Now, let’s see. What our client wants to request from me… Personal protection? Should I watch your back whenever you go out in secret? As for fees, let me think, can’t charge per instance, how about 100 dillons per day…”
“It’s not about protection.”
Yulikian asked with a stern face.
“You, are you loyal to this country?”
Before hiring her, Yulikian needed to confirm something first.
“Really now. What country does a drifter have? Wherever I sleep is home, whoever pays is my client.”
“From what you just rattled off, it seems like you want to protect me, but before that, I need to confirm something first. …Whether you’re a spy or not, and whether you really have the skills to protect me.”
Maddie blinked her large green eyes innocently while rummaging through a pocket inside her dress.
So that’s why she wore that many-layered dress – she carried quite a lot with her.
Yulikian’s gaze moved to Maddie’s dress.
“My, where are you looking!”
Without actually blushing, she fanned her face with her hand while suddenly throwing something.
It was too fast to see.
Yulikian turned to check what had flown past his face.
A small dagger was embedded in the wall.
The dagger had precisely pierced through a centipede.
“I can’t handle bugs with my bare hands because they’re so gross.”
Her tone was still playfully glib.
“…Your skills seem excellent.”
“And well, you seem to be wondering if I’m sent by the Emperor. Look here, client. I’m a woman with professional ethics of my own. I don’t switch sides back and forth. Hey, I’m someone who doesn’t even know where internal organs are located. But? If a client pays me? I’ll give them whatever they want. That’s how loyal I am.”
“How can I be sure of that?”
“Why do you think that dagger only pierced the centipede just now?”
Maddie added with a grin.
“Because you’re going to be my client.”
Her eyes, sparkling like emeralds, at least didn’t seem to be lying.
If she really were the Emperor’s person, she would have killed Yulikian the moment he entered this sealed room.
“Did you show interest in me from the start because you knew I needed protection?”
“No.”
“Then?”
Maddie answered casually.
“Because you’re handsome.”
“What?”
“I talked to you because you’re handsome. I’ve always liked silver hair. Blue eyes even more. But if you’re making a request and paying me, I’ll really do my absolute best to protect you.”
Feeling somewhat dizzy, Yulikian pressed his forehead.
That must have looked like he was considering the request, because Maddie put down her pen and continued earnestly.
“I brought you here today because it seems our Grand Duke is in a life-threatening situation. I can really protect you well. But now, depending on the amount, it differs whether I quietly take care of things, or butcher them right in front of you. I can also just take their heads and send them to someone, but that has a separate shipping fee. It’s usually double for remote regions, but since you’re handsome, I’ll waive that. Oh my, I’m so good at business. Really!”
Despite talking about taking people’s heads, she spoke like a street merchant.
Yulikian squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them as he spoke.
“…There’s no need to handle things in front of me. I had people clean up those bodies from last time.”
“I thought so! When I went to clean up, they were gone!”
“What? You should have cleaned up the bodies right away!”
“I was really hungry.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“Since it was an empty alley, I went to get dinner first, planning to clean up later! Does Your Grace do the dishes right after eating?”
“You’re comparing killing people to doing dishes?! How lacking in common sense are you!”
Yulikian, who had raised his voice without realizing it, decided to stay quiet, judging that her lack of morality might actually help with ‘that plan.’
Meanwhile, Maddie wrote something in the corner of the contract.
“Hmm, seems to do dishes right away. ‘Domestically inclined.'”
“Why are you writing that kind of thing in the contract?!”
“Why do you keep shouting? In someone else’s office where the soundproofing isn’t even good.”
The conversation just wasn’t progressing.
Yulikian closed his eyes and opened them again with a long sigh.
“…Where did you receive your training?”
“Don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
Maddie scratched her head with the pen as she spoke.
“Sixteen… or seventeen? Not sure about the age either. Anyway, I don’t remember anything before that. But I found out I was good at this stuff.”
The dagger Yulikian always carried danced impressively in Maddie’s right hand.
Setting aside when she’d stolen it, watching her familiar handling of the knife suggested she hadn’t trained for just a year or two.
“Using knives like this, modifying guns, loading them, shooting, fighting… I guess I must have lived doing this kind of thing before too.”
“Any chance you’re from a noble family?”
When Yulikian asked about this possibility, Maddie smirked and rolled up both sleeves.
Not satisfied with just that, she suddenly lifted her dress.
Yulikian quickly turned his head away from the suddenly exposed light brown skin, but even in that brief moment, he clearly saw them.
The numerous scars covering her body.
“Too much for the legs? Want to just see the arms then?”
Maddie lowered her dress again and walked in front of Yulikian’s line of sight, extending both arms.
Old scars covered her arms from wrist to upper forearm.
“No noble family would raise their daughter like this, right? I’m just Maddie. Just an errand runner Maddie, with no background, no parents.”
After finishing her self-introduction, Maddie knelt on one knee like a knight taking an oath and gently took Yulikian’s right hand.
“So if you entrust me with your protection, I’ll keep our client safe from harm.”
“…I wish you’d decide whether to use formal or informal speech first.”
“Is there any need when I’ll be protecting you secretly from behind anyway? Now, if we’re done confirming things, shall we discuss the amount?”
Just as Maddie released his hand and tried to stand up, Yulikian grabbed her wrist.
“I told you I didn’t come looking for you for bodyguard services.”
“Then what, want to date?”
“No. Marriage.”
“…What?”
For the first time, Maddie’s face, which had been giggling at her own joke, froze in surprise.
“I can give you whatever money you want. Since it could be life-threatening work, I’ll ensure the compensation is more than adequate.”
Maddie tried to pull back her captured wrist, slowly retreating, but Yulikian wouldn’t let go.
Yulikian continued with his striking, handsome face:
“I can tell you’re not the Emperor’s person. Plus, you seem hard to kill. This isn’t something I can ask just anyone, and you’re perfect for it.”
“W-wait a minute. I don’t do that kind of thing! Why would I get married! Let go! Won’t you let go?”
Maddie shouted and kicked one leg of Yulikian’s chair.
The chair shattered and Yulikian rolled on the floor.
Yet the light of madness in his eyes didn’t disappear.
Yulikian looked up at Maddie, supporting himself with both hands on the floor.
“Marry me.”
“You think money can buy everything! How dare you try to buy someone’s life!”
“100 million.”
“…Sorry, could you repeat that?”
“1 billion.”
“Darling, where have you been all this time? I’ve found you.”
“…I’m not joking. Specifically, 1 billion dillons as divorce settlement after three years. If you want to leave this country, I’ll prepare separate asylum funds. Just pretend to be married in public. I don’t want skinship either. How about it, Maddie?”
Maddie swallowed hard.
It was too much money to refuse.
His blue eyes were flashing with strong determination.
And with a touch of madness.
Maddie should have known then. That handsome men could go crazy too. That he wasn’t the only clear-eyed madman in the world.
