Chapter 5

***

“The woman the Prince saw was…..”

The moment the king spoke.

“Your Majesty, Grand Duke Karl Bashke of the Neveland Empire is asking to see you. What should I do?”

The chamberlain hurriedly approached the king and asked.

“You mean the Grand Duke has already arrived?”

“Yes, Princess Isabelle is with him.”

“Isabelle?”

The king remembered Isabelle, who had declared to marry the Grand Duke.

‘Maybe things could have progressed in that short time.’

The king glanced at the Prince and nodded.

“Let him in first.”

With the king’s permission, the parlor door opened and Grand Duke Karl Bashke and Princess Isabelle entered. Snow with a large box behind them also came in.

The servants guarding the surroundings swallowed their breath and bowed their heads. The Princess with a bad personality, the Grand Duke who killed 12 brides, and a lieutenant who served him with a smile.

The three of them were as beautiful as the statues in front of the temple, but the atmosphere they exuded was of a demon from another world.

It was cold like a legion.

“Is that the foreign nobleman who killed twelve brides?”

“Shh, shut your mouth. You could be decapitated right away.”

The servants, who had been whispering with their heads bowed, shut their mouths as they passed by. Isabelle and her party sat down at the table at the invitation of the king.

“Oh my God, Prince! Are you okay?”

Snow, the most sociable of the three, smiled broadly at the Prince.

“Haha, I see Sir Snow White is here too.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

The Grand Duke, who occupied the seat next to the prince, also offered a formal greeting.

“Thank you for coming all the way here for me, Grand Duke.”

The prince tapped the Grand Duke on the shoulder.

The Grand Duke looked down coldly at the Prince’s hand that tapped his shoulder, and then looked back at the Prince.

“Of course.”

“But how did the Grand Duke know my heart?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Grand Duke found the woman I asked you to find.”

The Prince looked at Isabelle and smiled.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, the lady, who abandoned me and ran away.”

“Isabelle Desar, the sixth princess of the Desar Kingdom, greets the Prince.”

Isabelle bowed her head from her seat.

It was a hard tone that was completely different from the first time they met.

The Prince opened his eyes and smiled loudly.

“You used to talk easily, but now you’re a young lady.”

“Well, I can’t remember.”

Isabelle answered with a cold expression and avoided her gaze.

“I was just about to call you, Isabelle. Did you save Prince Edwin?”

The king, who raised the corner of his mouth, pointed out Isabelle’s cheeky attitude with a sharp gaze.

“No, it was another woman who saved the prince. Father. The Prince keeps misunderstanding.”

“You’re saying that again, Princess.”

The prince shook his head and laughed embarrassedly.

The Grand Duke looked at the two with interest, and raised one corner of his mouth as if he understood what was going on at that time.

Isabelle took a few deep breaths and then brought up the subject to the king.

“Father, I am here because I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s the marriage I mentioned earlier.”

Isabelle winked at the Grand Duke, who was sitting upright.

‘This girl!’

The king looked at the prince for a moment and then whispered to Isabelle.

“I did not approve of your decision.”

“I chose the groom from the portrait father gave me.”

“Now things are different. The decision is postponed until later.”

“It is a tradition in the kingdom to choose a groom on the twenty-second birthday, and that is today.”

“Isabelle!”

The impatient king grabbed Isabelle’s wrist tightly. His grip strength, which once rode the sea with a gun, was amazing.

Ugh, Isabelle clenched her teeth and endured the pain of breaking her wrist.

“Your Majesty.”

Grand Duke Karl Bashke intervened, calling the king.

His rudely lively eyes touched Isabelle’s wrist.

‘The Grand Duke who doesn’t even have blood on his head is cocky!’

The king answered his call, withdrawing his hand.

“Why did you call me?”

“I just proposed to Princess Isabelle.”

The lie of the Grand Duke was natural.

Isabelle, who was hiding her swollen wrist under the table, tried to hide her surprise. The king was not alone in panic.

“Are you talking about this Isabelle, Grand Duke?”

The Prince’s eyes widened and looked at Isabelle and the Grand Duke alternately.

“Yes. And now I’m going to officially confess my heart again.”

The Grand Duke rose from his seat and strode towards Isabelle’s seat.

Then he glanced at Isabelle’s feet. I really liked the neat shoes that fit her small feet better than Snow’s big shoes.

“Here you go. Lord.”

Snow, who was waiting, held out a box to the Grand Duke.

He took out a bright bouquet of flowers from the box.

The freshly bloomed peony and Juliet Rose spread the fresh scent of spring in the chilly interior. The appearance of the Grand Duke holding a bouquet of flowers was like a mural in a temple, and the maids who secretly glanced at him.

Unknowingly, Isabelle let out an admiration.

‘People would think that the main character in this novel is this man.’

When Isabelle stopped thinking.

“Princess Isabelle Desar.”

The Grand Duke bent one knee and knelt at her feet. He knelt twice in just one day. (*he knelt when he put the shoes on Isabelle in the earlier chapter, and now he knelt to propose)

The Grand Duke burst out laughing at that thought.

“Please marry me.”

He said and smiled broadly.

Isabelle smiled like an idiot without realizing it, and quickly hardened her expression.

‘Wow, my facial muscles just got out of will.’

Fortunately, no one saw it.

Everyone, regardless of age or gender, only looked at the Grand Duke.

The parlor became quiet in an instant.

The Prince tapped the teacup with a cold face and smirked as he watched the two of them.

‘The feeling of being deprived of the woman I had in front of me is really pathetic.’

Also to that Karl Bashke.

‘Every time I see you, you annoy me!’

‘How dare a cursed murderer who cannot show his face even in the social world dares to do this in front of me. That Princess would run away if she knew the truth about the Grand Duke. I will make you regret that you did not choose me first.’

The Prince had dark thoughts, but he had a gentle smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Isabelle was receiving the bouquet from the Grand Duke.

“Oh, I’m happy, Grand Duke.”

Isabelle tried to react naturally, but the corners of her lips kept trembling. This body had never had a smile in her life, so it was hard every time she put on a long smile on her face.

“Princess Isabelle, I fell in love at first sight the moment I saw you.”

But as soon as the Grand Duke spoke the words, the corners of Isabelle’s lips drooped quickly.

“Please marry me. Grand Duke Karl Bashke, I fell in love at first sight the moment I saw you.” (Isabelle)

‘This man is saying the exact words I said to him!’

Isabelle opened her eyes wide, barely keeping her smiling face. The Grand Duke blinked once, but there was no change in his expression.

“If the Princess marries me, I promise you two things.”

“Promise?”

‘Is he going to say the same thing I said to him?’

Isabelle held the bouquet tightly.

“I will give as many gifts as the Princess wants. To the king and to the Princess.”

It was King Desar who liked the word the most. His face is filled with smiles. But Isabelle could not be purely happy.

Because the Grand Duke was sarcastic while penetrating the meaning of the conditions he had put forward.

“The second thing is that I will do my best until the day you run out of breath. I won’t let you live with resentment.”

“Thank you, Grand Duke. They are perfect conditions.”

Isabelle raised the Grand Duke who was kneeling.

‘And I guess you’re a knife-like person who returns what you received.’ Isabelle thought sarcastically.

“If the person in charge of a large warship is indecisive, will he be used?” (GD)

“The man in charge of this large warship is more indecisive than I thought.” (Isabelle)

The Grand Duke once more sarcastically smiled at Isabelle.

‘Wow, your personality is really bad. Did I make a mistake while trying to avoid the Prince?’

Isabelle glanced at the Prince.

It was only for a short time, but the standard of beauty that was raised while watching the Grand Duke properly recognized the features of the Prince.

She could tell the Prince was holding back his anger and smiling.

‘Still, the Grand Duke is better than the Prince. Let’s think that personality is the price of that face.’

Isabelle raised her chin proudly.

“Please allow me to marry him, Father.”

“Oh yeah. If that’s the case, I’ll give you permission.”

The king gazed at the Grand Duke as he brushed his white beard.

“Grand Duke Karl Bashke, I have raised my daughter preciously. I hope you value her more than any other jewel.”

“Don’t worry, I will do better than Your Majesty.”

The Grand Duke replied, staring openly at Isabelle’s left cheek and wrist, which were still swollen.

‘You’re rude as the rumors say.’ (King)

The king swallowed the words inwardly and coughed.

Although the Prince’s expression did not look good, he did not obtain permission to marry.

‘If Isabelle’s temper is like that, she will not be able to withstand the Grand Duke and return to the kingdom again. The Grand Duke might get tired of her first and cancel the marriage.’ (King)

Since the Grand Duke has many flaws, he (the king) can somehow find fault and take the gifts he originally had to receive as consolation money.

‘Then I can use* Isabelle again.’ (*Sell her to get gifts and money)

The king blessed the two lovers with a fishy smile.

****

A wizard in a gray robe looked around the tower.

He was the chief wizard of the Tower, who was teased for his stuttering.

“Where the hell did he go?”

When he tapped the elongated magic wand, a sparkling light fluttered from there, but there was nothing caught in the tracking magic.

“Well, no way he would leave a trace.”

The wizard diligently ran to the beach beyond the wall.

Fortunately, the person he was looking for was standing idly on the beach. Red hair braided to one side.

Is he cold? A man was wearing trousers in a long dress with side slits from the East Continent.

Looking at the back, the wizard couldn’t tell if it was a woman or a man.

“My, my, my lord! You have a meeting to attend.”

“Why am I going to a meeting where the idiots will figure it out on their own?”

The gender was clear at least with the low voice.

The man called the Lord of the tower was looking at something lying on the beach.

“Well, you still have to keep your seat. Lord, what are you doing here?”

“I think someone committed suicide here.”

The magic tower lord beckoned to the pair of shoes he was looking at.

It was the shoes Isabelle had taken off while walking on the beach with Snow, but he had no idea.

“Well, it’s just a pair of shoes.”

“Well. It’s strangely familiar.”

The tower lord picked up the shoes lying on the sandy beach.

Every time he moved, dozens of bracelets on his arms made a jingling sound.

“I like it. Red shoes.”

The wizard chuckled and looked at the shoes.

“… My, my lord, isn’t it too small for you to wear?”

“No, I just look at it.”

“Wh, what?”

“I just want to sit still and watch the shoes.”

“Oh, you really have a bad hobby.”

“Among my hobbies, it is the most respectful.”

The tower lord tossed the shoes he was holding in the direction of the wizard. The shoes he threw without looking hit the wizard’s face.

“Ouch!”

“Keep it in my lab, Dodo. It will be used for something important.”

The tower lord raised his red lips bewitchingly and walked slowly towards the tower.

“I, I really hate that nickname!”

“That’s perfect.”

“I, I was, wow, originally brave…… . let’s go together, Lord!”

The wizard straightened out his robe fluttering in the sea breeze and followed the Tower Lord.

***