***

It was not the tower, but the bedroom of the mansion that Isabelle arrived along with the Grand Duke.

“Suddenly a medical examination?”

Isabelle looked at the waiting doctor and the Grand Duke alternately.

“Let’s lie down, Princess.”

“I have to tell you from the beginning.. keek!”

“Excuse me.”

The Grand Duke lifted Isabelle up.

Perhaps it was because he had already done it before.

The movement of putting her down on the bed was calm and familiar.

Isabelle crouched slightly as her body floated, looking up at the sculptural face of the Grand Duke for a moment before clasping her hands tightly.

“He’s going to check your health, Princess.”

A pleasant bass sound fell to the top of her head, but no explanation was heard. Her calm heart suddenly pounded in Isabelle’s ears.

‘What’s wrong with me?’

Isabelle blinked her eyes in bewilderment.

The image of the Grand Duke standing in the downtown area with his back against the dazzling sunlight kept coming back to her mind, and it was absurd.

‘What is new about the face I see every day?’

Isabelle tried to calm her pounding heart, and she couldn’t face the Grand Duke until the moment when the soft bedding wrapped around her.

“Then I will start the check up. Princess.”

The doctor put on a stethoscope and checked Isabelle’s pulse first.

Embarrassed that her heartbeat would be detected, Isabelle turned her head to the other side.

The Grand Duke, on the other hand, watched the examination process seriously and was immersed in thought.

‘If you’re really pregnant..Should I kill you right now?’

He decided to devote his life to revenge.

Therefore, we could not tolerate the variable that would become a weakness.

The Grand Duke looked at Isabelle’s white neck, fiddling with the handle of the dagger on his waist. A thin neck that would break if he held it in one hand and twisted it. It stimulated a violent feeling in the viewer.

‘It doesn’t matter because you’re destined to die on the first night anyway...’

Strangely, he kept making assumptions that she would survive.

‘Don’t be stupid.’

The Grand Duke rebuked himself and clenched his fists.

All uncertainty was just an obstacle until he destroyed this damned empire.

“Hmm.”

The doctor who examined Isabelle put down the stethoscope, glanced at the Grand Duke with troubled eyes.

“She’s not pregnant.”

“That’s a relief.”

The Grand Duke nodded his head stiffly.

Yes, he was really glad to hear the negative news.

He didn’t have to think about whether he should kill her or not. Because there were no annoying variables.

‘But this feeling is..’

Between the strong sense of relief, sadness for no reason rushed in.

While he was thinking of himself as crazy as he tapped his chin.

“What ‘pregnancy’? Are you crazy, Grand Duke?”

Princess Isabelle seemed to have thought the same.

“Is the child just created? Did I just conceive by the Holy Spirit? What, what!”

“Ha, calm down, Princess!”

The doctor, embarrassed by Isabelle’s anger, stopped her.

“I’m amazed at what you normally think about making an innocent virgin pregnant!”

“I apologize, Princess.”

Instead of making an excuse, the Grand Duke gave a hard apology and then stared at the doctor.

As soon as that cold gaze touched the doctor, he shook his head.

“How is the Princess’s health? I heard she saw some strange things sometimes.”

“She is very healthy with a fast beating heart. She’s not weak enough to see strange things.”

After completing the check up, the doctor quickly left the room with his bag.

Now it was just the two of them in the room.

Isabelle jumped out of bed as soon as the door closed.

“Explain.”

“Because you meet me every night.”

“Why does that make me pregnant.. no way!”

Wow, what’s so imaginative about this cool-headed guy who doesn’t even dream when he sleeps?

“Wow, what were you thinking! We were really just playing!”

Isabelle exclaimed, saying that it was all about throwing branches, sleepers, or hats, or brushing his hair.

“Anyway, it was the Grand Duke who came to the tower every morning. You wouldn’t leave and walk around the tower until I came out.”

The Grand Duke froze in his standing position.

It was a rare sight to see his face, which was white, dyed bright red again.

‘What. You weren’t too embarrassed when you thought I was pregnant, but do you think this is shameful? What’s wrong with his mental state?’

His purple eyes, which were shaking like convulsions, hid behind his gloomy, sunken eyelids.

“Ha. I made a big mistake. I can’t even say anything if I had ten mouths.”

Of course, he was sorry that he misunderstood the innocent Princess.

It was even more shameful that he had been catching branches and slippers thrown by others like a dog.

‘And then I had no choice but to misunderstand.’

It was the first time he had ever wanted someone so badly. Not only her mind, but also her body.

Perfectly.

There was only one thing that came to his mind as he looked at the Princess lying helplessly beneath him.

However, since it was impossible to give such an excuse to the Princess, the Grand Duke remained silent. His attitude only seemed blunt to Isabelle.

“All right, Grand Duke.”

“..”

“Instead, I don’t want to have that misunderstanding twice. So please don’t come near the tower.”

Isabelle looked straight at the Grand Duke and left the room.

Strangely, his heart sank when he saw her resolute face. He felt glad to be human.

If he was a beast, he would have drooped his ears and tail.

..It’s crazy. I’m out of my mind.

“I don’t intend to go there twice.”

He mumbled a late reply to the door closing with a bang.

****

What is a family?

It was the first question that came to his mind when the maids said that the Princess might be pregnant.

‘I dreamed that big golden eggs were falling from the tall beanstalk. So I looked at the sky and waited for you.’

His old mother’s voice echoes in his ears.

The Grand Duke opened the desk drawer in his office and took out a small picture frame.

It was a portrait of the former Grand Duke Bashke and his wife (his parents). Dried bloodstains could be seen over the painted portrait. His young self was smiling happily with them.

With a face that didn’t resemble his parents at all.

‘It’s been almost 20 years already.’

The Grand Duke touched his obsidian earrings.

With this curse, his family was shattered and he was left alone.

‘I won’t take anything until I destroy this empire and the imperial family.’

Even the Crown Prince, who was the only one who defended himself in the imperial family, was unconscious. Now there was no need to hesitate with the sword aimed at the imperial palace.

‘D*mn it.’

The Grand Duke nervously put the family portrait he was holding into the drawer.

The glossy ebony wooden chest of the drawer slammed shut with a shattering sound.

‘I can’t have a family.’

Taking a bride was only to solve this d*mn curse. It was nothing more and nothing less.

The Grand Duke began to immerse himself in his work. The piles of papers that had been piled up quickly shrunk. Snow glanced at the Grand Duke signing the papers under low pressure.

Snow, who had been fiddling with the letter he was holding, carefully called his lord, “Why does Prince Edwin’s letter arrive now?”

“...”

“Grand Duke?”

“...”

“I’m sorry while you’re busy, but Prince Edwin’s letter has arrived.”

“The contents.”

Hearing his lord’s hard voice, Snow quickly ripped off the imperial seal and read the contents.

“He.. he said he would visit the estate.”

“Send him a reply.”

“But he has a special request. He’s asking for a welcome banquet.”

“A banquet?”

A banquet while the Crown Prince was in a critical condition.

The Grand Duke then took his eyes off the document and read the letter handed by Snow.

“Prince Edwin wants to congratulate me on my wedding in advance...”

“He’s really suspicious.”

“Look what he’s up to, Snow.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Snow left the office with a stiff face.

The Grand Duke, who was left alone, got up from his seat and walked to the window. The blue sea, the wall surrounding the castle, and a secluded tower in the corner caught his eyes.

‘Princess Isabelle Desar.’

Her expression, which was strangely wary of the Prince in the kingdom, and the circumstances in which she hastily demanded a contract marriage with him came to his mind.

‘Probably because of her.’

Haa. A heavy sigh clouded the glass window.

***

Kung! Grrrrr!

Isabelle, who had been asleep for a long time, woke up to the familiar sound of a beast. After rubbing her eyes, she glanced out the window and saw a large black beast circling around the tower.

‘It will dawn soon. Has he been like that all night?’

The gesture of howling into the air and complaining of pain once in a while stimulated her sense of guilt without reason.

‘I can’t help it.’

She didn’t know if people were bad and the dog was bad, but she didn’t know if she could get into another misunderstanding.

‘Can I still tell him to go back?’

Isabelle stood up, opened the large window and pushed her half upper body out.

Sniff, the beast smelled Isabelle and raised its head. The ferocious purple eyes gleamed even more in the fading moonlight.

“I told you I wasn’t going to play with you anymore.”

The voice muttering from the tall tower must have been small. The beast wagged its tail as if it understood the word.

It warmed her heart to see such a welcoming beast.

“I’m really not going to play, so please stop. What are you going to do with a bride who is about to die?”

As soon as she said she was going to die with her mouth, She felt strangely choked and couldn’t get the next word out.

‘What’s wrong with me all of a sudden?’

She smirked, trying to offset her serious feelings, but Isabelle’s face quickly hardened.

‘I thought that repeated life and death was boring. I was tired of living and wanted to rest.’

The salty, cold dawn air lingered in Isabelle’s empty mouth, and her heart swelled.

A cold sadness spread through her body as if she was rolling in the snow naked. Her eyes stayed in the still air, and dewy tears fell down.

“Kong!”

The beast wandered around the tower, not knowing what to do.

And as if he had made up his mind to do something, he climbed up the tower while shaking his limbs.

After the beast had come up near the window howled and roared, Isabelle, who was thought in thoughts, suddenly came to her senses.

“Did you come all the way here? I heard that you don’t go up because you’re afraid of heights.”

“Kunnnnn.”

“I’m sorry that I said I wouldn’t play and you came up shaking like that.”

At that moment, Isabelle regained her smile, wiped away her tears and reached for the beast.

Every time she touched the black fur, her blond hair fluttered down.

It swayed gently in the wind.

‘I want to sweep more, but I can’t reach it.’

Isabelle pulled her upper body outward a little more and reached out to the beast.

“There. I can reach it now.’

“Huh?”

As she forced herself out, she lost her balance. Isabelle fell straight out of the window.