Chapter – 05
Ian shrugged his shoulders. I trembled in irritation at his shamelessness. Perhaps feeling sorry for me, Lucian quickly added an explanation.
“As you already know, Saintess, now that things have turned out this way, no one will believe the truth. The commander’s purity… is already lost.”
Lost where?!
Chastity is important in this world, isn’t it?! Are you really going to let something that important to your superior just drift away like that?
I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even snap back and just fumbled with my lips.
“Even so… are you really going to admit that you actually s-slept with me?”
“To be precise, the story goes like this. You and I were already in love with each other.”
Ian began speaking in a languid voice. Despite his relaxed tone, the content was nothing short of shocking.
“However, because of my position as the commander of the Holy Knights, I kept my feelings to myself. Then one dawn, the person I longed for appeared in my bed. Believing it must be a dream, we gave in to our desires for each other…”
Ian’s voice grew lower and slower.
Ugh. The more the story continued, the more goosebumps spread all over my body.
Seeing my horrified expression, Ian smiled faintly.
“But it turned out it wasn’t a dream but reality. And the moment you became the Saintess, you corrupted me and claimed me as your own.”
“I don’t even want to claim you…” I muttered in a voice as small as an ant’s.
Ian smiled brightly and asked,
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“Then I’ll assume you understand.”
Ian slowly continued. Until then, I thought there couldn’t possibly be any more shocking statements.
But once again, he exceeded my expectations.
“Let’s announce our engagement. Let’s get married. Just for one year.”
“…What?”
I stared blankly for a second before snapping back to my senses.
“That’s ridiculous. Absolutely not! I can’t even admit we’re dating, let alone marriage!”
“Then are you going to turn me into a man who not only lost his purity but also sleeps around with anyone for a night?”
Ian growled. I opened my mouth in disbelief.
After letting out a small sigh, Ian spoke again in a coaxing tone.
“As I said, we’ll call it a love marriage. We’ll say we’ve been in love for a long time.”
“…What happens if I refuse?”
Ian responded with that angelic, holy-looking smile of his.
“What do you think will happen?”
“…Will you kill me?”
“What are you talking about? How could I harm someone I’ve fallen for?”
Ian smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
“My wife.”
“Don’t call me that!”
I shouted in horror.
“I understand your plan, Commander. I understand it well, and honestly, I even think it’s effective.”
Yes, Ian’s plan was so drastic it made my head spin, but realistically it was the most plausible solution.
If we say now that nothing happened between us, not even a passing ant would believe it.
In that case, using the scandal to our advantage might actually work.
A fateful love story between the commander of the Holy Knights and the Saintess would surely captivate many people.
Yes. From Ian’s perspective, this might be the best solution.
But not for me.
“But I can’t get engaged to you.”
Ian raised one eyebrow.
“And why not?”
Why not?
Because if I marry you, it’ll become even harder for me to escape.
Well, after mentioning the late emperor’s remains, escaping easily already seems impossible.
Still, there’s a huge difference between being ‘the Saintess who knows a secret’ and ‘the Saintess who knows a secret and is also the commander’s fiancée.’
The guards—called protection but really surveillance—would be on a completely different level.
Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud.
After thinking for a moment, I said,
“I have someone I love.”
“…Is that true?”
Ian frowned.
Then, as if something came to mind, he tilted his head and asked,
“The person who left that mark?”
Mark?
Oh… right. He must be talking about the red mark on my neck from when I fell onto the bed.
I was slightly surprised. He had acted like he didn’t know anything earlier, talking about bug bites and such. Was that a lie?
“Lucian told me what that mark means.”
Ian’s face looked unusually stiff as he said that.
As if he were talking about something very unfamiliar and foreign to him.
…Definitely a virgin.
Why is that trait being revealed at such a random moment?
For some reason, I suddenly felt embarrassed looking at his face.
“I… see.”
“Answer me. Did you fall onto my bed while you were with your lover?”
“…Something like that?”
Honestly, I didn’t even know why those marks were on my body.
Well… I could guess.
They probably staged them to make the photos look more provocative.
But I couldn’t say that, so I had no choice but to invent a nonexistent lover.
“Are you close with this lover of yours?”
“Well, not that close…”
“Then break up with them.”
“…What? That would be difficult.”
“You just said you weren’t that close.”
“Even so, we’re still dating!”
Ian clicked his tongue. Worried he might bring up the relationship topic again, I quickly added,
“Actually, we are very close. We love each other very much.”
“Miss Irene, then let’s do this.”
Frowning slightly, Ian made another proposal.
“If you break up with that lover and cooperate with my plan, I will compensate you generously.”
“…Compensate me?”
I should have refused immediately.
But my capitalism-trained mouth asked the question before I could stop myself.
“Anything you want.”
Anything?
This guy is saying something dangerous.
I glared at him slightly. Didn’t he know how the genie in the lamp suffered from exploitation because “anything” wasn’t clearly defined?
“If it’s hard to decide, let me give you an example. How about 10 million Mars?”
How much is that?
I racked my brain.
I remembered a line from “The Saintess Doesn’t Know Love” where the protagonist bought a modest two-story house in the capital for one million Mars.
Wait. If a two-story house in the capital costs one million… then what is ten million?
Ten houses in Seoul!
My thoughts sped up.
I hadn’t had time to think about it since arriving in this world only hours ago, but now that I thought about it carefully, I needed money.
Desperately.
My bank account where I had carefully saved my part-time earnings wasn’t here. Neither was my piggy bank filled with 100-won coins.
I was completely broke.
With no connections at all, I needed money to survive in this world.
At least until I found a way to return to my original one.
Having enough money to live for about a year without working would be very nice.
And most importantly—
Listen carefully, Number 76. You must succeed in this mission.
The whisper that had struck my mind a few hours earlier resurfaced.
Just remembering that low, hoarse voice sent chills through my body again.
I also need to find out who that voice belongs to.
The owner of that voice was probably still watching me.
The scandal had already exploded as intended.
But would that alone make them leave me alone?
Probably not.
If I ran away recklessly, I’d likely end up being chased by both Ian and the mysterious voice.
After organizing my thoughts, I looked up at Ian.
“There’s a time limit, right? You said one year?”
“Of course. I have no intention of continuing a fake marriage beyond that.”
“Please give me time to think.”
That was what I finally said.
I needed time to organize my thoughts. This offer was too risky to accept impulsively.
My head was overloaded with all the information I had received in such a short time. Ever since falling onto Ian’s bed, I had been dragged from one situation to another without a moment to breathe.
After a brief silence, Ian nodded more easily than I expected.
“Alright. I’ll give you time.”
“Thank you.”
“When you’re ready, have a servant call either me or Lucian.”
I nodded.
Ian smiled.
“Then I’ll see you again soon… my wife.”
“I told you not to call me that!”
Finding my protest amusing, Ian chuckled and then instructed Lucian to prepare a room for me.
As I followed Lucian down the hallway, people who spotted me stopped in their tracks.
“Is… is that her?”
“Isn’t it? The hair and facial features… just like the photo.”
“And she’s with Sir Lucian. It must be her.”
“That’s the commander’s woman…”
The whispers made me feel like jumping out of my skin.
After turning a corner, Lucian whispered quietly,
“There are many eyes watching. If you accept the commander’s proposal, you’ll have to get used to this.”
“….”
“Still, most people in the temple are quite simple and kind. The truly frightening ones are…”
Lucian trailed off.
I didn’t need to hear the rest.
The nobility. And the imperial family.
Especially the imperial family. Knowing the current emperor’s dark secrets, they felt like nothing less than a tiger’s den to me.
