Chapter 10
The only place a mad rabbit belongs is in a stew pot. Even if it doesn’t look dangerous right now, sooner or later it’ll go berserk and tear up the fields.
Don’t wait until then and regret it — better to turn it into stew early and finish a bowl. You get what I mean? Make sure none of your subordinates ever appear before me again.
Well, that was the gist of what she meant.
Of course, Cain Blackwood was the textbook northern duke type of male lead. He said only the first sentence and then coldly went his own way. It’s typical of those types to toss out one meaningful remark and hope others take the hint and act.
“How annoying it would be to have someone like that for a superior.”
Marien felt sorry for some unnamed people who lived in Blackwood Castle. Those who live under Blackwood’s protection both fear and worship their stern master.
“But among them there must be people who are sane like me. They have to make money, but they hate Cain Blackwood with a passion. How awful their days must be.”
Marien shook her head. Compared to that, the work environment at the Prime Minister’s office was delightful. Vailion had always given clear orders, and the other staff — chosen by him — didn’t cause trouble with their work.
If a question came up while handling a task, it was fine to knock on the minister’s office door. The kindly minister wouldn’t choke someone just because he’d been offended, unlike some people.
“Seeing his face in person only made me more certain.”
For thirty minutes Marien had been staring down from under the arched bridge. She didn’t intend to jump. She simply liked this spot inside the palace.
“I will definitely oust that man and put Vailion next to Odette!”
What had started as a selfish plan to replace the male lead suddenly gained a noble justification. Of course Marien trusted Odette’s abilities. Odette would surely make sure her beloved husband didn’t cross the line.
But what crime had those who must accompany the emperor committed?
Someone who bleeds his subordinates dry and only smiles in front of the emperor shouldn’t be the master of the inner palace. Traditionally, the emperor’s spouse is supposed to be benevolent, wise, and highly virtuous. They must also govern those beneath them well.
Looking forward, looking back, even on horseback — there was no one more suitable than Vailion Beersman.
“Now, even for the sake of palace people who aren’t mentioned in the original story… I have to get rid of him.”
The problem was how to get rid of that damned man. While Marien had been worrying for days, he had already come to the capital and secretly met Odette. That meant Odette had noticed his handsomeness.
Indeed, now that she’d seen him properly, he was very handsome. If a child was to be made anyway, a good-looking partner wouldn’t be a bad thing. In that respect Cain Blackwood exceeded a passing grade.
Memories of Odette’s private thoughts came to Marien and her heart ached. To have thoughts about a northern man she hadn’t for the peerless beauty Vailion standing right beside her…
“A child can be made just as well with Vailion. Princess, look at those thick thighs. And the waist — so lithe and firm. With Vailion you wouldn’t have to sign away parental rights. He’s the ready master of the inner palace, a domestic spouse, and a fine seed donor, isn’t he?”
And a man who seemed gentle like Vailion often surprised at night. Marien wasn’t speaking from personal experience — she only added that because Odette seemed the type who responds well to physical attraction.
“Are you Assistant Didi from the Prime Minister’s Office?”
Someone spoke beneath the elegant cream-colored arch. She wore a practical striped dress and apron — the common uniform given to palace maids. Marien asked how the woman recognized her.
“Could you see my badge from there?”
“No, I couldn’t.”
“Then how did you know? I don’t know you.”
“The carriage driver yesterday is my uncle by marriage. I’m in charge of refreshments. Since yesterday I’ve been serving a distinguished guest. That guest… the Duke of Blackwood mentioned a ‘Didi assistant.’”
The enemy’s name was suddenly dropped without warning. Marien leaned over the railing.
“He… he mentioned me as a guest? I thought he wouldn’t remember.”
“It’s not a matter of remembering or not. He’s already looked into Assistant Didi’s background. Earlier he was playing archery with the Fourth Princess and suddenly started talking about a rabbit pelt with pink fur.”
You mean he wants to skin my fur, she thought dumbfounded.
“The emperor asked at random what he meant. From there the assistant’s name came up. My uncle’s involved, and I felt sorry for the assistant, so…”
The maid paused and glanced around nervously. It seemed she feared no one was listening.
“Anyway, be careful.”
“Hmm.”
“Everyone else is jealous and fussing, but I know. I know how scary he is. If he sets his sights on you, it’s best to commit suicide as soon as possible.”
The maid suddenly shut her mouth as if she’d said too much. Marien thanked her for the tip. After the maid left, Marien fell into thought.
An unexpected development.
“Does that ice block remember me?”
They called him the lord of the north with a cold heart. Because his heart was cold, people assumed his brain was frozen too. Strong, powerful, with nothing lacking — he usually didn’t bother to remember others.
So Marien had thought he’d quickly forget the commotion she, Didi, had caused yesterday. After all, the number of assassins sent to him must equal a whole company.
The threat to make rabbit stew to Vailion had been said in the same context. Marien was the only one shivering. The person who made the threat would naturally forget the instant they turned away.
“But he said he’d investigated my background.”
Marien blinked wide-eyed.
“Wait, this… could become an unexpected breakthrough.”
It felt like a familiar plot. The man thinks the woman is a strange creature; the woman despises and hates the man — yet they keep getting involved. Little by little, each starts to notice the other.
A cliché romance — and she was an outsider possessed into an extra!
“Yeah. I’ve seen countless stories where the person possessing the body falls for the male lead instead of the original heroine… And he remembers me. He seems determined not to leave me be.”
Love and hatred are two sides of the same coin. Love can breed hatred if it goes too deep, and digging too deeply into hatred can turn it into intimacy.
Marien had already succeeded in leaving a vivid impression on Cain Blackwood. He was determined to teach the insolent rabbit a lesson. She would use his determination as kindling.
In short: what if she stepped in before the main romantic pair got close?
“Ugh.”
She gagged involuntarily. The image was too dreadful. This would require more stomach than she had imagined.
“Must focus… ugh!”
All of the things Cain had done to Odette flashed through Marien’s mind: shoving her against the wall, grabbing her wrist and pulling her in, deliberately thrusting his tongue into her mouth and kissing in front of others.
“Wretch.”
What else was there? Ah, right.
Marking territory and showing off publicly that she was his, forcing Odette to wear his preferred dresses and insisting she keep wearing them because they suited her, scowling when noble youths showed interest in Odette after she dressed up as her fiancé told her to, jealousy turning into crazed eyes, and violent kisses in the hallway.
“That bastard needs to be jailed.”
Marien ground her teeth.
“The creepy part is he did all that because he likes Odette. Hah… a filthy bug who doesn’t know how to cherish a lover. Can he be stripped of the male lead role?”
Marien took a deep breath to calm down. She couldn’t afford to lose reason already. She decided to focus only on drawing Cain’s attention to herself. She hoped the luck that often accompanies those who are possessed would visit Marien Didi as well.
“But if the plan succeeds and he comes to like me… he’ll do to me what he did to Odette, won’t he?”
Marien was not Odette. The moment he thrust his tongue in, she had a burning urge to clamp her front teeth shut and tear his tongue in two. Still, she would endure a while. She would wait for Odette and Cain’s contract to break and give full support to Vailion.
Thinking of Vailion all of a sudden, a tender sigh escaped her.
A gentle person. An endlessly gentle person. Vailion wouldn’t stick his tongue into a kiss abruptly. He’d never kissed before, but their first kiss would surely be as soft and sweet as his nature.
“The kiss I’ll receive later will be worlds apart.”
Tongue-thrusting and sloppy slobbering. One small consolation was that Cain kept hygienic standards almost to the point of obsession. At least he’d clean himself afterward. Marien frowned and thought about things that hadn’t happened yet.
“Shall I try a classic shock therapy?”
A man who assaulted someone at their first meeting suddenly showers them with courtship. How would the northern duke react?
He’d probably be shocked, thinking she’d lost her mind because it was that extreme. Fine. Shock, astonishment, embarrassment, bewilderment — all positive in the long run. In any case, anything but indifference.
Marien clenched her fists. She intended to serve Cain Blackwood an unprecedented spicy surprise.
She hoped he would get swept helplessly into this new kind of courtship, the first of its kind for him. She wanted Odette, annoyed at a woman who kept getting entangled with her contracted man, to quickly take care of Cain.
“If I ever feel my life is in danger, I’ll quickly hide behind Sir Beers.”
Gentle Vailion. Trust me alone.
I will sacrifice myself to bring you happiness.
Your wish is my wish. If your love is fulfilled, I can return to where I originally lived with a proud heart.
“I’d like to at least see the wedding…”
They’d make the most beautiful pair in the world, she thought, picturing Vailion in a white ceremonial suit smiling. A tiny insect of longing seemed to buzz in a corner of her chest.
She would do anything for that moment. Vailion was someone worth giving her all for. Thank you, Assistant Didi. The warm look that would pause on her briefly during the ceremony before moving on.
That was enough for Marien Didi.
