Married To A Savage Duke

Their future wedding ceremony wasn’t made out of love but it was made through dirty deals from behind the scenes.

The rumors said that Cherryl’s father, Marquis Milose, had sold his daughter to Cade under the pretext of selling a building, which had spread covertly and became a fait accompli. Since Cade was a man who was hard to read, no one knew why he accepted the Marquis’ offer. Considering the circumstances of their marriage, anyone could see that love couldn’t exist between the man and the woman. Nevertheless, Rosaline was dumbfounded to hear that Cade was blatantly faking his love for her.

“You can bring a knight or a companion with you if you wish.”

“Never mind. I’ll walk on my feet.”

Rosaline spun the handle and closed the window. When she opened the carriage door and went out, the unpleasant drizzle wet the princess’ hair. She didn’t expect to be welcomed like this by none other than Grand Duke Blkanov. What was her stupid older brother thinking when he asked her to visit the Grand Duke before dawn when he wasn’t good enough to treat her politely?

Rosaline strode past two knights dismounting from their warhorses.

‘No. I know what he was thinking very well.’

According to her experience, dawn was the most vulnerable time for men.

She could fully understand the meaning behind her brother’s grin.

Teeth chattering from the cold, Rosaline passed the barn, stepped onto the rain-soaked lawn, and found a man sitting arrogantly on the bench with only one leg stretched out. The man appeared strangely boyish, dressed in black all the way up to his neck. He tossed a dagger into the air like a toy and skillfully retrieved it with one hand. Suddenly, Rosaline met the man’s eyes. His gestures didn’t change as he played with the dagger, but he observed Rosaline with a piercing yet amused gaze. Those glittering orbs reminded her of a wild beast before it attacked. There was a rumor that Cade Blkanov had bandits as escorts since he had taken over the dukedom. Was it true?  Then, the man emitting such a strange atmosphere must have a very high position as a guard.

“Lecter!”

At the sound of his name being called, the man stopped playing with his dagger and looked over his shoulder.

The barn door opened and another man came out with a bucket of fur. He was a man of great height and stature, which was rare in the empire.

“Come over here and stop the cubs. Despite feeding them snacks, they still don’t want to listen to me.”

As the man who just came out of the barn rubbed his forehead with the blade in his hand, the owner’s blood had smeared.

The man kept talking regardless of the blood trickling in the middle of his face along with the pouring rain.

“Come on. One pretended to eat the meat and bit my finger instead. I’ve already been bitten twice.”

“Have you tried giving them deer meat instead of goose? Maybe, they’ll become a bit calmer.”

“That’s not the problem. Ding, Dong, and Daeng are running like demons sweeping the herd inside. They are quiet in front of you, but they’re not normal.”

“We are not able to talk to others about that.”

The man holding the dagger threw a glance at the knight standing next to Rosaline and got up from the bench.

Rosaline looked at the tall men as they walked, then took her eyes off them and walked back to their original destination.

***

Two royal knights were standing in front of the drawing room’s heavy wooden door on the first floor of the main castle.

Wearing silver armor with prominent breastplates, they secretly exchanged glances the instant they saw Cade walking at a speed that was neither slow nor fast.

Grand Duke Blkanov, whom they had only heard from the rumors, was handsome but he looked so cold as if he wouldn’t bleed even if he was cut with a knife.

Even though he was completely unarmed and dressed in a black shirt, his stocky physique created a terrifying sense of intimidation.

The knights, who had instincts as military officers, felt menacing tension as he approached them.

It felt like a tip of a sword was being aimed at them.

‘Doesn’t he sleep as a normal human being would according to the rumors?’ One of the knights mused.

Even at well past four in the morning, Cade hadn’t shown the slightest hint of having just woken up.

He maintained a tidy appearance as if he had been going about his daily work all this time.

When Cade arrived at the drawing room’s door, he stared at them with indifference.

Right now, two royal knights had accompanied the princess. However, there was no way she would have had only two escorts on her way from the royal palace to his territory close to the borders. If the princess had another companion she had deserted along the way, it meant that, regardless of what their ulterior motive was, they had attached more knights to themselves than the women born in the royal family.

‘Seeing as he prioritizes his lifeline, he must be a scum with many sins.’ Cade guessed as he knocked lightly and opened the door.

What immediately caught his eye was long, red hair.

Rosaline Viate, who was running her hand through her rain-soaked hair, flashed Cade a delighted smile.

The princess stood up from the sofa and greeted him with gentle elegance.

“Long time no see, Grand Duke Blkanov. We’ve met before, right?”