Chapter 11
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
When Cassian remained motionless for a while, Damia tilted her head.
Damia was the one who almost fell into the water, but she seemed to wonder why he turned pale.
“What did you find?”
Damia looked at him with a worried expression. Their eyes met, and my heart began to beat faster.
“It’s nothing.”
Cassian let out a deep breath. After a long moment, his heart, which had been pounding relentlessly, finally calmed.
“Really?”
“huh.”
He lowered his eyes, avoiding Damia’s stern gaze. As the excitement subsided, suspicion reared its head.
An ordinary young lady was deeply entangled in his curse.
He created a cure that even those who claimed to be famous had given up on, and with just one contact, he was able to temporarily resist the dragon’s curse.
‘You said you only wanted one thing: to be engaged to me.’
Looking back, everything seemed suspicious. Cassian studied Damia carefully.
Facial features that seem delicately crafted, a personality that seems calm yet secretly bold, and even a somewhat pitiful side.
It was as if he had been created with the sole purpose of weakening Cassian’s heart.
‘All of this is just a coincidence?’
Damia Ponti was only thirteen years old, too young to be entrusted with such a responsibility.
Although I secretly attached people, I never came into contact with any suspicious groups.
I had put aside the suspicion that he might be a spy, but was it too hasty?
“Are you afraid of snakes?”
The word snake broke Cassian’s thoughts.
“Don’t worry, Little Duke. It’s a very gentle snake, so it’ll be fine.”
Damia smiled brightly, holding a white snake in one hand.
“What are you doing? Didn’t you just almost get bitten?”
Cassian’s cheeks hardened at the unrealistic sight.
Her delicate appearance was just a facade, and with that level of courage, the possibility of her being a spy could not be ruled out.
“Oh, that’s right. I heard he’s usually very gentle, so why did he suddenly act like that?”
Despite Cassian’s shock, Damia remained calm. Her expression was too innocent to suggest any hidden agenda.
He seemed completely unaware of the change Cassian had experienced as a result of his contact with him. Was it really an act?
Even in the midst of the chaos, one thing was clear.
Whether she was a spy or just a stroke of luck, he couldn’t let that unpredictable girl go anymore.
One contact with Damia silenced the curse.
There was no way such a miracle could happen to another person twice.
“Put it down and come here. The boat ride will stop immediately.”
“Yes? Why?”
“You’re hurt, and you want me to just stay still?”
He had to keep Damia by his side, no matter what. Whatever the girl’s identity, Cassian had to protect her safety.
* * *
The boat ride was suddenly interrupted by shocking news.
“A snake came out of the boat the little duke was riding on?”
A gasp of astonishment erupted from the boys and girls gathered in the garden.
“Even the Duke’s fiancée was bitten?”
“Oh my, is something serious happening?”
“Was it an accident? Or maybe…?”
Voices of concern and curiosity filled the garden.
‘I hope I didn’t get caught, right?’
Drury, standing in the middle, bit his lips tightly.
My heart was pounding like crazy, but I couldn’t show it.
‘I just wanted to see Damia Ponti get bitten by a snake and cry like a fool.’
But the soft-looking girl didn’t cry, let alone scream.
‘It wasn’t worth risking my life and putting my handkerchief in it!’
Is it because I took it out on those guys every time I got angry?
The snakes raised in the Marquis’ residence were terribly afraid of Drury.
The scent of Drury’s perfume, which was heavily applied to the handkerchief, could make even the most docile snake aggressive.
Because guys have survival instincts too.
“Marquis Soro, are you alright?”
If anyone happened to find the handkerchief, he planned to pretend it was lost.
Because you can just blame one of the maids you brought in for having bad habits.
“Miss Drury!”
Drury looked up in surprise.
The girls around her were looking at her with puzzled faces.
Drury quickly hid his hands behind his back. He had bitten so hard that his fingernails were already ragged.
“Oh, a snake? I was so surprised….”
The girls nodded vigorously at Drury’s words.
“That’s right. Ugh, snakes are so scary.”
In the Belothean Empire, dragons were a scourge. Snakes, even those reminiscent of dragons, were also objects of disgust.
So no one knew that Drury kept dozens of snakes.
“I hope you’re okay, Cassian?”
Tears soon welled up in Drury’s eyes.
Thanks to her secret yawn, Drury looked like an innocent girl worried about the Duke.
“Your Majesty… huh? Are you trying to carry your fiancée yourself?”
What? Drury’s face flushed bright red.
“Is the young lady seriously injured? It doesn’t seem to be that serious.”
“Even so, you can just order your servant around. Why do you have to go that far…?”
I thought it was bullshit, but it was true.
Cassian was heading towards the mansion, holding Damia in his arms.
With an anxious expression, as if he didn’t hear Damia and the servants’ attempts to dissuade him.
A fire suddenly burst into Drury’s stomach.
“Oh my, you really seem to be in love with the Viscountess of Ponti.”
“That’s right. It’s the first time I’ve seen the Duke look so flustered.”
Drury believed Cassian was naturally hers, after all, her father had promised her so many times.
So the little duke had to fall into Drury’s arms without being touched by anyone.
“Don’t you think you two have become much closer than before you got on the boat?”
“Right. I felt it too!”
The girls couldn’t help but whisper, even as they watched Drury’s expression.
I took a risk to try and tease Damia, but I ended up bringing them closer together with my own hands.
‘How dare you, my Countess!’
Drury gritted his teeth. His blue eyes burned with rage.
* * *
“Please come down, Little Duke!”
“Be quiet. You’re in an emergency.”
“It was just a very slight bite. I can walk!”
Cassian pretended not to hear and headed toward the mansion, holding Damia in his arms like a princess.
“Everyone is looking!”
“What does that matter? I’m just doing my duty as a fiancé.”
“No. It seems like you’re unusual!”
Damia struggled, but Cassian did not budge.
Rather, he seemed worried that Damia might fall, and even hugged her tightly.
‘Why on earth are you doing this!’
Damia’s cheeks were burning so hot she was going crazy.
It wasn’t just the princess’s embrace that was the problem. Cassian even tore his own shirt and tied it tightly around Damia’s hand.
“It seems that the young lady of the Viscountess Ponti was seriously injured!”
‘No, no!’
The soft feel of the shirt kept tickling my skin.
This one shirt probably cost more than several years’ worth of Damia’s dresses.
“Oh, Your Majesty. Your fiancée is in critical condition?!”
The attending physician came running, his mind in a daze.
“Is the situation so dire that you have to run while holding her like that?”
“Okay. Time is tight, so let’s hurry!”
I was going crazy from everyone’s excitement. And what about Cassian, who was going a step further?
Damia couldn’t even think of stopping him anymore.
The Duke was already a bit of a quirky character, but after the incident on the boat, he became even stranger.
‘I think I muttered something like, ‘I found it.’
Then Cassian began to become strangely obsessed with Damia’s well-being.
Even though Damia repeatedly explained that the white snake had no poison and that it was only a very light bite, she was fine.
‘There’s no way you suddenly started to really like me.’
It was Cassian who had repeatedly insisted that this temporary engagement was merely a contract.
