Chapter 78 - The Answer to Jubelian’s Request

“Well, I still don’t know your name…I’ve asked for it before, but you’ve never answered me. Could you tell me now?” I spoke carefully so as to not hurt his feelings, but he luckily didn’t seem offended by what I said. A brief silence ensued before he opened his mouth.

“It’s… Max.”

Max. If I were to find fault with this name, it would be that it was a little close to the crown prince’s name. Nevertheless, its meaning wasn’t bad. “That’s a good name. Your parents must’ve wanted you to become a great person,” I said.

He stared at me for a while in response. “Yeah,” he finally said. I thought he was going to look away from me again like he did before, but he continued to hold my gaze with his red, sunset-hued eyes. I felt strange for some reason and decided to change the subject. 

“Hey, about—”

He interrupted me. “Didn’t we just decide to call each other by our names?”

I smiled awkwardly because his words had caught me off guard. “We did, Max.” A soft smile appeared on his face when I said his name. I stared at him for a while before deciding to get down to business. “Why don’t we write out an official contract?” At the word ‘contract,’ he scrunched his face at once and glared at me. 

“A contract? Is it necessary to write such a thing? I clearly remember telling you that I didn’t want to be compensated for this,” he said. I sighed in response. ‘What did my father teach him, if not common sense? What if he gets scammed by someone?’ As I sighed, I assumed the position of an instructor to help this pure, innocent man in front of me. 

“All contracts must be officially written out. If you don’t do that, people will think you’re a pushover and take advantage of you. What I mean is, they will refuse to compensate you or do bad things in your name.” Although I could tell he was listening to me, he was looking at me with a clueless expression. ‘Ugh, should I explain it to him again?’ I sighed and contemplated whether I should use simpler words so he could understand me. At that moment, he spoke in a sincere voice filled with conviction. 

“But you won’t do that to me.” 

His words made me feel strange. ‘Until now, no one has ever trusted me…’ I had been living my role as a villainess, so it was natural for everyone to hate me. No one had ever confided in me before either, not even my father. ‘Please trust me,’ Jubelian had told him in the novel, but he merely ignored her pleas and threw her to prison. However, the man’s red eyes, which were focused on me, didn’t reveal a hint of doubt. A strange feeling arose within me, stirring the lower part of my heart. ‘Ah, this isn’t the time to zone out.’ When I barely managed to compose myself, I opened my mouth. 

“Scams are so effective because they’re usually done by people you trust!” 

“…Is that so?”

“Yes, that’s why no matter how close you are with someone, you shouldn’t hold them accountable for their words but write an official contract. Okay?” 

“Alright.” He sighed and nodded at my continuous nagging. His obedient response only made me become more worried. ‘This guy is really naive and ignorant of worldly affairs… will he be able to handle this unkind reality?’ 

I had originally been worried about his fearsome personability, but now I was worried about his carelessness and ignorance. After mulling over my concerns for a while, I made a promise to myself. ‘Since we’re in a contractual relationship, I will teach him a lot of things.’ I actually felt bad that he had refused compensation, so I would repay the favor by teaching him life lessons. 

“Before we write the contract, let’s come to terms about the most important thing.”

“And what’s that?”

When he prompted me, I told him something I had been thinking about for a while. “Geraldine is the leader of the escort knights, and based on his personality, he will definitely interrogate us on how we’ve met. We can’t tell him the truth, so we should make up a story we both agree on.” 

“Ah…I see.” Even he couldn’t deny my reasoning, knowing that our first meeting involved trespassing, threats, and a sword.

“So, I was thinking… How about this story?” I told him a scenario I had been thinking about for a while, but he quickly raised his voice. 

“What? I absolutely hate it!” 

I looked at him and saw that he clearly loathed my scheme. “Do you have anything better then?” I asked with a stern expression.  

“Can’t we switch the roles? What if I’m the one who—”

I cut him off. “No, that won’t make sense. You know I’m always surrounded by knights.” I studied the man who was now deep in thought, then took his hands and held them tightly. “It might be daunting now, but it won’t mean anything later. If it’s still too difficult for you, you can just stand next to me and let me take the lead.”

As I coaxed him, he nodded with a blank expression. “Alright.”