Chapter 68
Walter, who had come out into the hallway, stood still for a while. How long had it been since he’d revealed his emotions this much?
His heart was pounding unpleasantly. No matter how many deep breaths he took, his anger didn’t subside easily.
He had expected there would be gossip about her, but hearing it directly, facing it head-on, was something else entirely.
He wanted to break the guy’s neck, not just his fingers.
‘So… you want me to continue playing the villain, so they keep talking about me. That way, I won’t fade from their attention, and later, I can clear my name?
‘That’s right.’
That’s right?
What an idiotic answer. He wanted to go back in time and shoot himself for saying that. A faint hiss of frustration escaped through his clenched teeth.
Even he, who could change everything, couldn’t change Hermia’s past. That meant there was no guarantee that the same insults or blatant advances wouldn’t happen again.
She needed to be in an even more solid position than she was now. Not just as a fiancée who could be jilted at any time.
More power. A higher position.
Walter knew a way. It was a very simple matter of making her the Duchess.
He needed to completely revise his plan to catch the author, clear her name, and then get married…
“Wait.”
Just as he was thinking, Elisabeth’s voice flew from behind him.
He slowly closed and opened his eyes before turning around slowly. Elisabeth’s face was still a mess, but her eyes and the tone of her voice were much calmer.
“There’s one thing you don’t know. If you knew about the deal Hermia Vansen made with me, you’d think differently about her.”
“…Deal?”
Elisabeth gained confidence from Walter’s reaction and spoke with an even more dignified attitude.
“Before, when I went to see you, I said I had something to talk about with Hermia alone. I offered her money to give up the marriage.”
“……”
“I won’t apologize. I was desperate, too. Don’t you wonder what Hermia Vansen said then?”
“I’m not curious.”
As Walter ignored her and turned his head, she blurted out anxiously.
“She asked how much I could give her. She asked how soon I could give it to her. She said she would think about it positively!”
Elisabeth shouted at his receding back. The moment’s composure had long since evaporated.
“And yet she shamelessly showed up today and said let’s just forget about it! Can you really marry such a calculating woman?”
The irritating voice continued for a while, but he didn’t hear it anymore.
“She doesn’t love you, Walter! The only thing she loves is money!”
I don’t care. I don’t know how much the Princess offered, but all I have to do is give her even more wealth than that. If I let her live among piles of money and jewels for the rest of her life, she won’t leave.
So I don’t care if she doesn’t like me.
Walter answered himself as if making a vow and moved forward, his feet feeling as if they were sinking into a swamp.
* * *
“What the hell is she saying.”
The clear voice echoing in the hallway was definitely Elisabeth’s. Originally, it was a mosquito-like buzzing sound, so it wasn’t easy to hear beyond the thick door.
Anyway, she must have been dumped if she’s making such a fuss.
Hermia, who was about to go to the door to listen, hurriedly returned to the sofa at the approaching footsteps. As she sat there pretending not to know anything, Walter came back.
‘He doesn’t look too good.’
His face was as blunt and handsome as usual, but Hermia could now vaguely feel the difference.
Hermia, who pulled at his clothes and made him sit next to her, asked impatiently.
“What did the Princess say? Did she just ask you to marry her? You weren’t threatened or anything, were you?”
“The conversation is over. It won’t come up again.”
He made an ambiguous expression, as if he was smiling, and then picked up the glass of water that was there and emptied it in one gulp.
“Oh! I was drinking that.”
“……”
“Just kidding. Wasn’t funny, was it.”
“It was funny.”
The fact that he was saying that with a face that wasn’t funny at all was even more suspicious.
What did the Princess say to him? It doesn’t look like he just got a normal confession. What did she say at the end?
Walter didn’t seem to want to tell her in detail. As she just stared at him, he suddenly jumped up and went and opened the door of the drawing room wide. As if he had deliberately left it shut before.
That was even more suspicious. Judging from the way his chest was heaving, it seemed like the symptoms were acting up again, but does it make sense that he remembered it earlier and forgot it now?
So what the hell is it!
“Were you alone the whole time?”
Walter asked, pretending to be nonchalant.
Hermia knew that he had changed the subject and raised her upper body, which had been lowered. Her lips were pouting, but an unavoidable answer was pushed out of her throat.
“…The Prince came by for a while. He talked for a while and left quickly. I chased him away.”
“What did you talk about?”
“It wasn’t anything special, he acted like a mother-in-law and suddenly said he kissed other women…”
Hermia, who had been answering diligently, suddenly frowned.
“It’s unfair that only I’m answering. I can’t even lie!”
Only then did Walter’s expression soften. His green eyes, which had become much softer, were so annoying that Hermia clicked her tongue even more.
“This is unfair. It’s completely my loss. Until the curse is lifted, I’m going to keep telling you everything in detail, but you can just be vague like before…”
“Hermia.”
He called her name without the ‘Miss.’ that was different from usual. Her eyes widened at the fact that he had taken away the title and called her by her name while sober, rather than cutting her off.
She tilted her head and checked the door. It was open as wide as it could be. Why, when the curse hadn’t even been triggered?
Walter made serious eye contact and opened his moving lips.
“What I said about getting married after catching the author…”
Hermia’s heart dropped to her toes. Could this guy be saying he’s not going to marry her…?
“Are you saying you’re not going to do it? Am I the one being dumped, not the Princess?”
“Excuse me?”
“D, did, did your heart change in the meantime?”
She was so flustered that she forgot that she was going to propose in front of people and hurriedly opened her pouch. And she took out the gold bar that was lying heavily at the bottom and held it out with both hands.
“No. Marry me. Please marry me!”
Walter barely even glanced at the gold. His attention was entirely on her. Hermia shouted in desperation, as if she had been driven to the edge of a cliff.
“You said it yourself! You don’t go back on your word! You said we’d set a date when we caught the author. Even if your heart has cooled, keep your promise like a man! So you have to marry me!”
He grabbed Hermia’s arms as she got off the sofa to kneel down.
“Wait, wait a minute.”
He had no time to worry about the gold bar she had taken out out of nowhere. Hermia, who was forced back onto the sofa, was crying.
“If you’re not going to do it, give me alimony!”
Correction. She was crying and angry.
“……”
He hugged her as if he was possessed by something, not the curse. Hermia kept talking incessantly as she shed tears like chicken droppings in his arms.
“Give me 10 billion… no, 10.3 billion Persos. I have to leave 300 million in the mansion because Mel ran off with it. Or introduce me to a trustworthy fence. Someone who pays the highest price. All the gold is mine.”
Walter was confused. He had no idea if his heart was aching or overflowing.
“…I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“What do you mean? It means I’m sick and tired of this miserable life……”
She answered and buried her face in Walter’s shoulder. He held the limp body even tighter. Her trembling was being conveyed to him as it was.
“Hermia.”
He called her name once again. Walter burst into a low laugh when Hermia answered with a dissatisfied ‘why’.
This wasn’t how he was going to say it, but there was no way around it now.
“Let’s not wait until after I catch the author. Let’s do it now. The marriage”
“Uwaaah!”
The person who made the crying sound after Walter’s proposal was not Hermia.
“……?”
She raised her head at the strange sound and focused her blurry gaze on the open door. Elisabeth, who had been peeking at the two, belatedly covered her mouth when their eyes met and ran away.
The Princess, whose eyes were all black and looked like a ghost, was not the problem. Hermia pushed Walter away and asked in disbelief.
“What did you just say?”
“I asked you to marry me.”
Hermia blinked her wet eyes a couple of times and asked again.
“Who… to whom?”
At that, Walter knelt down on one knee below the sofa. If he hadn’t suddenly become a knight vowing allegiance to his lord, this position was clearly…
“I, to you. So Hermia Vansen, please marry me.”
It was a proposal.
Hermia pinched the back of her hand. It hurts. It wasn’t a dream.
“So… you’re saying you’re going to do it with me, not the Princess?”
He nodded as if it were obvious.
“I’m sorry I didn’t prepare a proposal ring. I got impatient.”
Her vision blurred again. She tried to raise her arm to wipe away her tears, but seeing the expensive dress sleeve, she picked up a sofa cushion instead.
As she was about to bring it to her face as it was, Walter gently intercepted it and put her back in his arms. A hot, solid, deep resonance was enveloping her.
“You’re not going to answer.”
She suddenly came to her senses.
“Not here!”
Pushing her chest out again, she got up from her seat and grabbed Walter’s hand.
“Let’s do it again at the ball! Again in front of people!”
