CHAPTER 85……………………………………………………………………………………………
That damn contract!
Anje ground her teeth. The moment she got back, she would memorize every single word of that contract from start to finish without missing even a particle.
“Is it really important how I found out?”
Looking utterly dumbfounded, Anje shouted.
“It is.”
But the Duke still refused to back down.
His blue eyes had darkened, his jaw clenched tight, and his firmly pressed lips showed just how stubborn he was.
Unlike when she first tried to half-heartedly handle everything he assigned her, Anje was now more sincere and dedicated than anyone. And now she was getting suspicious looks?
Anje glared at the Duke, her eyes full of injustice.
“It’s classified work. What Your Grace needs is the information I obtained, not the route I took to obtain it, isn’t that so?”
“At first, yes.”
The Duke leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
“But now how you found out has become important.”
“…Ha…”
Frustrated, Anje let out a sigh and bit her lip.
“And why exactly did it suddenly become important?”
The Duke’s eyes narrowed.
Maybe because the room was dim, but the blue of his eyes appeared tinged with gray—like a wolf ready to tear into its prey.
“Don’t get too bold. You’re not in a position to demand answers from me. You think I’ll be patient forever? Even I show no mercy to liars.”
Liars?
The fiery anger in Anje’s eyes instantly turned cold. A liar? She’d never thought of herself that way… but looking back, maybe it wasn’t entirely wrong.
Out on the street, lights began to flicker on one by one, and then someone shouted that there was a fire.
The acrid smoke drifting into the carriage made her chest feel tight.
“If you’re suspecting me of being a spy… I’m not.”
“I’d like to believe that too. That’s why I’m telling you to explain how you found out.”
“You won’t believe me even if I tell you the truth…”
Anje nearly blurted out the truth before hurriedly shutting her mouth.
“That’s for me to decide. I just don’t want you hiding anything from me.”
“It’s nothing like what Your Grace is imagining. Please…”
Letting out a pained groan, Anje clasped her hands and looked at him pleadingly. But the Duke only shook his head as if it were impossible.
“Are you hoping for the Black Wolves to disappear? Is that what you want?”
“You’re too much.”
“Well, I think I’ve been extremely patient.”
How can someone be this petty!
Anje swallowed a groan. She thought of Grey and every member of the Black Wolves. Some of them were physically weak—leaving the troupe would mean losing their livelihood.
After a long struggle, Anje finally spoke slowly.
“…I can see people’s manse-ryeok.”
“Manse-ryeok? What’s that?”
After choosing her words, Anje lifted her firm gaze to him.
“It’s a calendrical system that calculates astronomical cycles and seasons for the next hundred years. It’s used for reading the four pillars of destiny, made up of the sexagenary cycle. The year pillar represents nations and organizations… Ugh… If you’re going to look at me like I’m insane, could you not?”
“Sorry. Go on. So what are the four pillars?”
The Duke straightened his posture and fixed his expression. But Anje, already deeply offended, no longer felt like explaining.
It was a vast field—so vast that even those who studied it for years often failed to grasp it fully. Explaining all of it in the short time before they reached the mansion was impossible from the start.
Crossing her arms, Anje leaned back and closed her eyes—an unspoken refusal to continue.
“Are you fine with the Black Wolves getting hurt?”
The Duke tried threatening her again, but the anger and killing intent from earlier were gone. Now he almost sounded cautious.
Anje snorted lightly and turned her head away completely.
Silence followed.
From time to time, the Duke glanced at her as if gauging her mood, but that was all. Knowing he was watching, Anje still kept her eyes closed until the carriage arrived at the mansion.
“Your Grace, we’ve arrived.”
The coachman’s voice carried obvious relief just before the carriage door opened.
The Duke stepped out first and offered his hand as he would to any noble lady.
Anje stared at the offered hand… then ignored it and hopped down on her own.
“Anje! How was the banquet? Didn’t everyone fall for you?”
“Fall for me? Everyone glared like they wanted to kill me. Honestly, I’m past being angry now.”
Hearing the carriage arrive, Mariana had rushed out, her eyes widening.
“What happened to you? Why do you look like this? Are you hurt?”
Ignoring her worried reaction, Anje marched toward her room with a stiff expression. But suddenly she stopped, turned around, and walked back to Mariana.
“My lady, there was something I couldn’t tell you because I had to watch His Grace’s mood.”
Anje shot the Duke a dramatic glare before continuing. Mariana flinched at the uncharacteristically fierce aura from someone normally so gentle.
“W-what is it? Is your arm hurt? We should call the doctor—”
Mariana grabbed Anje’s arm, which was red and swollen, and panicked. But Anje lowered it calmly.
“It’s nothing. But you must listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“O-okay…”
With a solemn expression, Anje gripped Mariana’s shoulders tightly.
The Duke clearly thought she was some deranged woman, and after the way she acted in the carriage she might very well be kicked out soon. Before that happened, she had to say what she needed to say.
Anje hurried.
“No matter what happens, you must marry His Highness Duke Algernon.”
“…Huh?”
Mariana glanced at her brother, blushing.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Anje, really—”
She tried pushing Anje away while fanning her flustered hands, but despite her confusion she couldn’t hide the smile tugging her lips.
“That’s the only way both you and His Highness will survive. No matter what His Grace says or does to interfere, you must hold onto Algernon. Even if you have to elope in the middle of the night. Understood?”
Clutching Mariana’s hands, Anje urged her.
“O-okay… yes, I got it.”
“And if, after the marriage, His Highness frequently goes off on sudden trips, you mustn’t feel hurt. That’s how he stays alive. It’s never because he’s lost interest in you. If my calculations are right, it’ll get better as he ages.”
“Okay, but Anje, where are you going? Why are you acting like this?”
“Where else? It was an exhausting day. Don’t worry and go rest.”
Speaking in his usual gentle tone, the Duke stroked Mariana’s head affectionately, then gave an order to Josh.
“It’s late. Escort the lady.”
Once Mariana disappeared inside, the Duke glared at Anje.
“‘Don’t listen to me and run away with Algernon if you have to’…?”
He muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
In truth, the Duke had always intended to separate Algernon and Mariana if their relationship ever started to cool.
They seemed inseparable now, but he knew that love rarely lasted forever. Better to enjoy a brief romance and later find a partner suitable in status than spend a lifetime in resentment from a youthful infatuation.
For Mariana, for the family, even for Algernon—that was the wisest choice.
But he’d never voiced those thoughts to anyone. So how did she know? He’d even willingly provided a carriage and escorts whenever Mariana met Algernon, offering warm support.
“How in the world… It’s like you crawled into my head. How did you know?”
“I told you—I can see Your Grace’s manse-ryeok. From that, I can infer your personality and thought patterns. You’re extremely pragmatic and cold-headed. You’ll keep observing for now, but you don’t actually intend to let the lady be with His Highness Algernon. Though honestly, the fact that you rejected Lady Hildegard was a huge surprise. Why did you dump her, anyway?”
This part I’m genuinely curious about.
Anje glared and pressed him. The Duke grimaced.
“So you knew I’d oppose Algernon and Mariana, but you don’t know why I rejected Lady Crow? Is that what you’re saying?”
Anje’s brows furrowed even more sharply.
“What’s with that tone? Am I supposed to know that too? How could I possibly know everything in Your Grace’s heart? Don’t tell me you think my ability is basically mind-reading—?”
