Chapter 20
“Please grant me the honor of escorting a beautiful young lady.”
The prince, with an angel’s face, held out his palm as he spoke. His voice was polite, and his gesture was gentle.
But the way he looked at her, Natalie thought, somehow seemed to say, “I know your sins… do you dare not take my hand?”
Natalie stared at his large hand, then turned to look at her mother.
The baroness, clutching her daughter’s arm as if it were a lifeline, looked utterly bewildered.
Maybe her own face looked just the same.
Natalie gently patted her mother’s hand and slowly let go. She couldn’t bear to show her fragile mother anything worse.
“Mother, I’m not feeling well, so I’ll go back first. Please let me.”
“But how will you go back alone, without an escort?”
Dorothy was busy chatting with a gentleman. The baroness couldn’t leave for the hotel just yet.
The prince gave a signal to Catherine, who had stepped aside. Catherine smiled elegantly and stepped forward.
“In Grand Batten, there are many kind ladies who will look after a young woman who isn’t feeling well.”
With that, Catherine turned and introduced a middle-aged lady.
“Mrs. Bate.”
The woman called Mrs. Bate gave a small bow to the baroness and Natalie.
“…I hardly know how to thank you for this kindness.”
The baroness, pushed by the situation, offered her thanks to the crowd, then whispered to Natalie, lost.
“My dear, is this really all right?”
Natalie thought to herself. Probably not.
“…Please explain things to Dorothy.”
As she turned away from her mother, Natalie met the eyes of the Marquess of Humperwood. He was glaring at her as if she were a cheating wife.
That filthy look was enough to push her into the coffin the prince had opened for her.
‘Better a hand that will kill me in one blow than a pervert’s hand.’
She didn’t want to be treated like a pervert just because she’d written a few racy stories in her youth.
With a shudder, Natalie turned and took the prince’s hand. She didn’t dare meet his eyes.
Instead, she focused on the moment their fingertips touched.
‘He’s called an angel, so he must be generous and kind. He wouldn’t actually kill me, right?’ She clung to that naïve hope.
So, she didn’t see the prince’s fierce smile when she took his hand. If she had, she might have wished for the pervert’s hand instead.
With just the right amount of pressure, the prince wrapped his fingers around hers and began to lead her away.
Walking out of the ballroom holding the prince’s hand felt a lot like walking naked through a crowd.
***
Clunk.
Inside the swaying carriage, Ian stared at Natalie, who sat across from him. They’d met a few times before, but never this close.
‘I thought it ended when I helped her with the trial. I didn’t expect to see her again.’
The carriage was dim, lit only by the lanterns outside. He couldn’t see her expression clearly, but it was obvious she was frightened. Her breathing was uneven, and her eyes never left the floor.
It wasn’t an unusual reaction. Most people, when faced with Ian, either froze, fawned over him, or were so scared they could barely breathe.
‘She stands out, strangely.’
She was a rare, amusing woman, but she didn’t have a particularly strong presence. In fact, he’d completely forgotten about her until he ran into Roger Heaton at the White Tail Club.
So why was he sitting across from her now?
Because the baron’s daughter, who always surprised him, had overheard a secret she never should have.
He’d also been curious… if he followed that fleeing scarlet dress, maybe she’d show him something interesting again.
And she had, giving him another dramatic scene.
The Marquess of Humperwood, a renowned critic with a secret reputation for depravity, was long suspected of being David. The woman who had been running away had been caught and harassed by that very pervert.
He’d followed her with vague expectations, but it wasn’t entertaining. In fact, it left him disgusted.
Seeing Natalie hiding in Charlotte’s garden and Humperwood searching for her, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.
The discomfort of sharing the same air as such a lowlife… this was a feeling the sensitive prince often experienced.
This time, his disgust with Humperwood had moved him. That’s why he’d acted so conspicuously, offering to escort her.
Ian’s eyes sparkled with the curiosity of a boy meeting a strange creature, while Natalie felt like she was dying.
‘Now what?’
For now, he should be kind. Ian spoke slowly.
“Did I do something unnecessary?”
Natalie jumped in her seat at the sudden question.
Her flustered reaction made Ian’s brow furrow slightly.
“…You didn’t seem to have trouble speaking before.”
There was a hint of disappointment in his muttering.
“Th-thank you for your help, Your Highness.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Only then did Natalie realize she hadn’t even introduced herself to the “probably kind” prince.
“Ah, I’m…”
“Yes, Miss Natalie Dawes.”
‘…How does he know me? Is this related to that sudden invitation? Was I invited as one of those odd bride candidates?’
That would explain why the prince knew her face and name…
But the prince’s plan felt more like a national scam than anything else. Her face twisted before she could stop it.
The prince gave her a pretty smile, as if to reassure her, but it had no effect on Natalie, who was already panicking.
“You walk very fast.”
Apparently, he had no intention of calming her down and went straight to the point.
“Tell me, how much did you hear in the garden?”
“…I don’t know what you mean…”
“Haha. I don’t have time to waste.”
His angelic face and cold laughter didn’t match. Natalie instinctively looked up.
“……”
His face was still beautiful, but he now seemed like a completely different person. No, this was the first time she truly saw him.
In the faint lantern light, his eyes looked so dark and cold she couldn’t even tell their color. When he’d held out his hand, it hadn’t been her imagination that his gaze felt icy.
“Judging by your reaction, you heard everything.”
So much for kindness. The “gentle” prince was a lie.
“Unfortunately.”
Now she realized his tone and smile were only polite on the surface.
Overflowing with confidence and that bold attitude. He looked more perfect and arrogant than anyone she’d ever met.
‘He doesn’t seem nice at all. Who called him an angel?’
Natalie quickly bowed her head and lowered her eyes. In truth, she’d suspected something was wrong when Mrs. Bate, her supposed escort, didn’t get into the carriage.
“Miss Dawes, eavesdropping is a serious crime, and there are many ways to silence someone. What’s the easiest, do you think?”
“I, really…”
“You’re a writer… use your imagination.”
The prince even brought up David. He knew far too much about her. Her anxiety grew sharper.
“For the record, my aide and the princess are scarier than I am.”
“I, I didn’t…”
“Consider yourself lucky you got caught by me.”
Lucky? That was the last word she expected from the man who’d just made this the worst day of her life. The moment Lord Humperwood recognized her, today had already become one of her worst days.
“Miss Dawes, I’m merciful, so I’ll give you a choice.”
“A c-choice?”
Natalie couldn’t help glancing up at him.
“Yes. Two options.”
When their eyes met again, the prince smiled with deceptive warmth.
“You can be eliminated the moment you step out of the carriage, or you can marry me.”
“…What?”
Natalie couldn’t help but let her face twist as she asked.
“What else can I do? You heard everything.”
The prince didn’t scold her for her disloyalty. Instead, he spoke kindly, as if he had no choice because she’d heard all his secrets.
“Personally, I recommend you spend a year as my wife and then become a divorcée. As you heard, my dream is to be a divorced man.”
The prince beamed.
“…Please spare me.”
When Natalie whimpered, the prince looked at her with a rather sympathetic expression.
“Of course, I want to spare you too.”
A flicker of hope passed through Natalie’s eyes.
But the prince had no intention of fulfilling that hope.
“But since you heard everything, there’s nothing I can do.”
He sighed softly, as if he really had no choice.
“But I really…”
“I don’t want unnecessary sacrifices, and with your background, you’re actually a perfect bride. I won’t have to explain this plan twice, so it’s efficient.”
How much did I really overhear? Natalie felt a bit wronged.
“The more I think about it, the more I realize there’s no better bride for me than you. What do you think?”
A Cinderella story where a mistreated girl marries a prince is a fantasy.
In reality, a baron’s daughter can’t marry a prince.
Maybe someday society will change, but for the next fifty years, that wall isn’t going anywhere.
So this wasn’t a sweet confession.
‘He’s just asking me to roll in the mud with him.’
Natalie shook her head as pitifully as she could. But it was useless against the unstoppable prince.
“There’s no better man for you than me.”
He must have eaten something strange… He spoke of divorce as if it were the greatest honor.
“A year as my wife, and you could do a lot.”
At that moment, moonlight filtered through the clouds and half-lit the prince’s face. His blue eyes sparkled transparently.
“For example.”
Natalie sensed he was about to say something she couldn’t handle.
“Your reputation, and your family’s, ruined by writing obscene novels.”
Of course. Natalie stopped breathing, as if stabbed.
“Once a reputation is ruined, it’s hard to restore.”
But the prince didn’t stop.
“If you become my wife, you could at least open the way for your sister’s marriage.”
Natalie let out a thin breath. Dorothy’s tearful, accusing face filled her mind.
If only she could turn back time and live her life over. She’d imagined that hundreds of times.
But there were no fairy godmothers, and time just kept moving.
The prince was talking about miracles only a fairy godmother could grant.
“If you do nothing, nothing changes. But you…”
Maybe she should have done nothing. Bianca’s voice felt like a curse.
“You look like you want things to get better, even just a little.”
Maybe it was because she’d done nothing but hide for three years. Even now, she couldn’t do anything.
“I think we could help each other, Miss Dawes.”
She met him for the first time when she was at her most ashamed and small.
