A Fairy Tale Written by a Villain

Chapter 4

“I’ve already heard all about the rumors. It’s a proposal I’m making despite knowing everything.”

“It sounds like you chose me because you want to die.” The grand duke took off his hat slowly, placed it on the table, and brushed back his hair. Isabelle looked at his clearly exposed features as if hypnotized. Seeing how apathetic he was at her reaction, it was clear that this man was used to women’s attention. Plus, didn’t he speak rudely to her just now?

“I definitely said I wanted to get married to you, not that I wanted to die,” Isabelle said to him with a casual air.

The grand duke, eyes narrowed, smirked at her. Then he was back to his expressionless look. “Proposing to me means that you will die soon. Now go back, silly princess.” The grand duke’s response was much harsher than she expected.

I guess he believes his good looks give him a pass for his rude behavior. Isabelle gritted her teeth. “I met you for the first time today, but I’m sorry to hear that I appear silly to you.” Do you think that you’re the only one good at hiding your expression? I am also an infamous practitioner of that art. Isabelle responded with a cold expression, “I am destined to die in exactly three months, Grand Duke.”

Even though she said a quite shocking statement, the grand duke’s expression did not change at all. He just stared intently at Isabelle’s swollen left cheek, which was still inflamed after being slapped by the king.

“They say that the grand duke married twelve brides. And everybody died on the first night.”

“Princess,” the grand duke said.

“I understand that the loss weighed heavily on you every time one of your brides died, but...” Isabelle, who was looking down at the table devoid of any decorations, slowly lifted her gaze. “You must have had a specific goal when you continued to hold wedding after wedding, even after everything.”

Grand Duke Waschke’s eyebrows twitched. He only thought that she was a woman who was jumping in, whispering love in vain, looking at his title and face. What exactly was she up to? No matter how meticulously he searched her haughty tortoise eyes, he couldn’t find any answers. They looked like a deep ocean hiding its secrets.

“I won’t ask what that goal is. Use me. I will become your thirteenth bride.”

“I should rather ask you: Why are you making this kind of proposal to me, Princess?”

“Let’s just say... I’d like to die in the best way.”

“To die in the best way?” he repeated.

“Yes. If I am fated to die anyway, then shouldn’t I become a corpse in style?” Isabelle, who said such words without any grace whatsoever, formed a circle with her thumb and index finger and waved it. It meant that he should pay well.

Looking at that motion in a daze, Grand Duke Waschke scoffed. “I just can’t understand.”

“What I need now is not your understanding but an answer. I also don’t know the reason why you are so hesitant when you are the one who sent the portrait to me.”

The grand duke frowned at those words. Who exactly sent a marriage portrait to the princess? Since a marriage portrait was no different from a marriage proposal, one had to be very careful when sending it. Seems like that bastard Snow did something useless. The grand duke brushed at his forehead, becoming flustered. “I need some time to think, Princess.”

“The man in charge of this huge warship is more indecisive than I thought.” Isabelle deliberately provoked him. She had to get his confirmation by today. If she went back to the castle now, she would meet the prince and her father would sell her off to him.

But this grand duke was colder than she thought. “I’m sorry, but that kind of provocation won’t work, Princess.”

Damn, really. He’s being cautious when he only has his face to show for. Isabelle gripped the bouquet of wildflowers in her hand and got up from her seat. She went around the table and walked briskly to the opposite end of the sofa the grand duke was sitting on. Although Snow’s big shoes clattered comically whenever she walked, she paid no mind to it. Isabelle got down on one knee at the grand duke’s feet.

“Princess?”

“Will you marry me?” Isabelle gripped the bouquet of wildflowers with both hands and pushed them to the grand duke. Would she really not be able to get his confirmation even if she went this far?

Becoming flabbergasted as she expected, the grand duke’s eyes shook tremendously. “Stop joking and stand up now, Princess.”

“You need to give me an answer.”

“Princess.”

Did he perhaps need to hear something more? Isabelle recited the critical line she prepared. “Grand Duke Karl Waschke, I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you.” But there still was no reply. He’d clearly heard it all before. “There are two things I can promise you if I get married to you, Grand Duke.” She started making promises like someone running for office. “One: I will not bother you until the day that we get married.”

Maria had told her that Grand Duke Waschke was a man of great wealth. He apparently gave the brides a huge amount of money just until they died. If that were true, she would eat and live well by herself. She had zero intention of hanging around the grand duke.

“Two: On the first night, even if I meet my fated death, I will not resent you—not even a little bit.” Isabelle placed the bouquet of wildflowers into his hands, which were frozen like wood and stone. The flowers drooped helplessly just like his desire to get married.

The grand duke sighed once again, looking at the lifeless bouquet. Since the portrait was sent from my side, if the princess chose me I would have no other choice but to go forward with this marriage... Still, what was the reason for her getting on one knee while saying such embarrassing things? Skepticism for marriage rose at the same time as curiosity about the woman, and these two things helped him come to a quick decision. He looked down at the wildflowers in his hand and asked, “Are you confident you won’t resent me?”

Did my proposal work!? Isabelle relaxed and smiled brightly. His gaze on the dying wildflowers moved to Isabelle’s smile, which was overflowing with life. “I would be happy, rather. Thanks to you, Grand Duke, I will be able to live my life until the moment I die.”

***

After Isabelle left the commander’s office, Grand Duke Karl Waschke called for Snow White. “Was it you?” he asked.

“What do you mean, my liege?”

“The one who sent my portrait to Princess Isabelle Dejar?”

“Oh, am I caught?” Swish. Snow dodged the tip of the grand duke’s shoe as it came flying at him swiftly. “If that hit me just now, my leg would have been broken, my liege.”

“Why did you do such a useless thing like that?”

“Then are you going to give up on marriage?” At Snow’s question, the grand duke could not answer right away. “See? You were thinking about looking for someone who could bear it.” The grand duke remained silent. “The rumors about you within the empire are at their worst now, my liege. That’s why I was searching abroad.”

Snow lifted his glasses up, feeling wronged. There was no way that the rumors would be good. As many as twelve brides had died in the past five years. The grand duke’s numerous marriages within a year slowly intensified the world’s criticism of him. Regardless, the reason why he went forward with the marriages was not just due to the many women who had thrown themselves at him, but also because he was in pain every night due to the curse. “There definitely will be a bride who can take on your curse. Even the high priest said so,” Snow said.

The grand duke, who turned into a beast every night from the curse, took on a horrendous form and roamed the mountains at night. On some days, the livestock within the estate died. On other days, it was people. In the beginning, he didn’t think of it as a big deal since he wanted to wipe out everyone in the empire that he hated anyway. Even while watching the women collapse, his heart remained frozen. But his self-loathing, deepening as time passed, slowly destroyed him.

“Exactly how many more times do I need to get married to meet that damned bride?”

“Just wait a little longer. Even though the high priest seems like a fraud, the divine message is miraculous. The high priest guessed my father’s remarriage as well. No one in the empire would’ve thought that that corpse-like person would get remarried.” Snow laughed it over ruefully. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about the bride-to-be! I am sure they all have ulterior motives as well, my liege.” Snow recalled the grand duke’s brides from the past and shook his head. Women who had planned to run away did not accept the challenge in the first place. It was either women whose greed was greater than the fear of dying or arrogant women who believed that they were special.

The grand duke generously gave material goods to the bride-to-be and their family, and they lived as luxuriously as the imperial family until the first night came.

“It’s the road you already chose to go down. Are you going to give up?”

The grand duke sneered at Snow’s words. His aide was right. What was he hesitating for when the blood he spilled at his feet had already formed a river?

“On the first night, even if I meet my fated death, I will not resent you—not even a little bit.” He remembered the proud princess who said that her days were numbered, and a dumbfounded laugh came out of him. “Prepare a bouquet of flowers, Snow,” he said.

“When?”

“Now. Not something that’s all dying away like this.” The grand duke threw the bundle he had in his hand roughly to Snow.

“Wait, these are the ones the princess picked out herself at the beach. Why do you have these, my liege?” Despite Snow’s question, the grand duke simply left the commander’s office without saying anything. “Seems like he got quite the romantic proposal.” Looking at the grand duke’s back, a chuckle came out of him.

***

King Dejar was drinking tea with the prince in the parlor.

“I cannot believe what you went through. It’s a relief that you are safe, Prince.”

“I am just thankful that you accepted me.”

“Haha, there are a lot of guests from the empire in my country these days. I also heard my first princess’s stepson visited the Mage Tower.”

“You’re talking about Snow White.” Why did that rascal visit the Mage Tower? The prince’s eyes narrowed.

“I heard that Grand Duke Waschke’s ship is also arriving soon. You will be able to head back to the empire safely. I hope you have a comfortable rest before you go.” King Dejar stroked his white beard and chuckled.

“Thank you. But would it be okay to ask you for one more favor?”

“Of course.”

“I want to find a woman.”

“A woman?”

“She was a beautiful lady... with gold hair and a slightly peculiar personality...”

Clink. The king placed his teacup down noisily.

“Are you all right?” the prince asked. Worried about the flustered king, the prince handed him his handkerchief.

“I guess there is a woman you have in mind.” As suspected, she was a woman with a high enough status to be known by the king—obviously so, since she realized that he was a prince the moment she saw him. And blondes would not be common.

“Did that woman cause you trouble, Prince?”

“No—on the contrary, she saved me.”

At those words, the king relaxed his very tense shoulders. “Thank goodness.”

“Although I could not catch her because she ran away so quickly, I’d like to return the favor.”

“Return the favor?”

“Please help me to invite that woman formally to the empire.”

It was not a common thing for a prince to formally invite a lady from a foreign land. He liked Isabelle. And if he’s the prince of the empire, there would be quite a lot of things I could get as marriage gifts. It’s finally time for that useless thing to play her role. King Dejar’s eyes sparkled.