Chapter 24
Everyone else was also staring at us with shocked expressions. Not a single table was proceeding with the matchmaking as the program intended.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
At that moment, the bald man stormed in angrily.
“I already picked that woman! What’s with you suddenly barging in and telling her not to get married? This is completely unethical!”
Kaien glanced at him briefly, then lowered his gaze arrogantly.
That was all he did.
“Ugh!”
The bald man suddenly fell flat onto his back.
“Ugh—w-what’s wrong with my body?! I can’t move!”
He flailed helplessly on the ground like a frog pinned down with tweezers.
Kaien slowly stood up and pressed his shoe firmly onto the man’s stomach.
Especially targeting the protruding upper right side.
“Your liver’s quite swollen. Bold of you to think you could use my secretary as a free private tutor.”
“Aaagh! Ugh!”
He heard everything…!
Just thinking that Kaien had heard all the nonsense the bald man spouted made my face burn.
Watching the man get stomped on felt oddly satisfying… but this wasn’t the time!
‘The program is completely falling apart!’
I still hadn’t found my contract husband!
But even the staff looked too stunned to step in.
No choice. I’ll have to handle this myself!
I didn’t know why Kaien was here, but he clearly seemed against me getting married—so I had to clear that up first.
“Um… Your Grace?”
I hurried over to Kaien and tiptoed, pressing my lips close to his ear.
His foot, which had been enthusiastically stomping the bald man, suddenly froze.
Taking the chance, I whispered quickly:
“I’m not actually here to seriously get married. I just have… some circumstances.”
“Circumstances?”
Kaien repeated the word, then let out a small chuckle.
“I see. So it was something like that after all.”
‘What do you mean, “as expected”…?’
I had heard plenty about the “mad dog duke” who acted unpredictably, but today was especially overwhelming.
Kaien spoke to me seriously, almost like he was advising me:
“No matter the reason, ignoring your feelings and entering a loveless marriage is the fastest path to unhappiness.”
Why is he assuming I’m going into a loveless marriage…?
‘Ah… well, this is a matchmaking event.’
As I briefly accepted that logic, he asked again:
“So. What kind of circumstances would make you suddenly need to get married?”
At that question, everything flashed through my mind like a montage.
My uncle, who had worn the mask of a “strict but loving guardian” for over a decade just to swallow up the title my late parents left me.
And me—who failed to see through that mask and handed everything over.
The unfairness, the frustration, the sheer patheticness of my situation—it all welled up at once, almost bringing me to tears.
I clenched my teeth so my eyes wouldn’t redden.
“……”
Kaien looked down at me silently as I fell quiet.
Then he spoke in a low voice:
“Fine. Don’t explain if you don’t want to.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to…”
I was about to say it just wasn’t something I could explain here—
“I’ll ask again.”
Kaien’s expression turned firm.
“How much is it worth?”
“…What?”
“I asked how much it would take to resolve your situation.”
* * *
“Good heavens!”
Benjamin, an official from the Department of Population Growth, shouted in excitement.
“52% of all viewing orbs in the capital are watching our program!”
Serra, the assistant officer, stared blankly at the skyrocketing ratings.
She had been grateful just to hope for 3% to help promote the next episode.
Just moments ago, it had barely hovered around 1%.
‘If this episode fails too, won’t Her Majesty the Empress scold us?! She seemed pretty invested in this project…!’
Her dreams of promotion had been fading away.
But the moment Duke Kreutz burst in, everything changed.
Benjamin clapped his hands in delight.
“That ‘catfish’ you said you’d introduce—is that him?”
“No… not at all…”
“How did you manage to cast someone like that?! Serra, your connections must be incredible!”
Not at all…
If Serra had connections like that, she wouldn’t have been stuck in this exhausting position.
She herself had no idea why that enormous figure was rampaging through their program.
‘We did plan to add a mid-entry participant…’
A so-called “catfish strategy”—introducing an attractive new participant mid-way to stir things up.
They had prepared a perfectly normal man—full head of hair, no divorce history, no criminal record.
But instead—
A massive shark had barged in and wasn’t just stirring the ecosystem—he was destroying it.
“Gasp! The Duke is stepping on a participant!”
“My goodness! Is this a love triangle?!”
The staff crowded around the viewing orb.
Duke Kreutz was beating up the man who had just been Freesia’s match.
‘A love triangle?!’
They never imagined the show would become this sensational.
Serra stared with trembling eyes at the ratings climbing even higher.
The staff practically set up camp in front of the orb.
“Does the Duke know that female participant—Freesia?”
“Of course! She’s the Mage Tower Master’s secretary! And the Duke is the Mage Tower Master!”
“Gasp! Boss and secretary?! This just got even more interesting!”
They were completely absorbed, forgetting they were at work.
The only problem—
There was still no sound, only static.
“But why can’t we hear anything?! This is so frustrating!”
“The tech team says they don’t know either! Some unknown force is blocking the signal!”
“What terrible timing!”
Benjamin stomped his feet—not out of duty, but pure curiosity.
“What are they saying in there?! I’m dying to know! Someone go listen!”
“I’ll go!”
“No, I will!”
Just then—
Crackle… fizz…
The orb finally began transmitting sound.
At that moment, the Duke handed something to Freesia and spoke.
His deep, pleasant voice echoed softly:
[“…So stop wasting time fooling around with other men.”]
“Oh my!”
“My goodness!”
What was that overly possessive line?!
The female staff blushed, while even the male staff cheered.
That day, the viewing ratings reached the highest level since orbs had ever been introduced in the Empire.
* * *
“…Wow.”
Clatter. Rattle.
Inside the moving carriage, I stared blankly at the ceiling.
My mind felt completely empty.
What on earth just happened today?
I never imagined it would turn into such a storm.
I looked down at my hands.
In my right hand was a box of high-end sweets Serra had given me.
“Thank you, thank you! If this episode had failed, I would’ve had to write a report! You saved me!”
…I didn’t do anything though.
“I knew you were amazing as the Mage Tower Master’s secretary, but to even bring him here… I’m truly indebted to you!”
…I didn’t bring him…
“Please, have a beautiful relationship with the Duke! I’m rooting for you!”
I’m not in that kind of relationship with him!
It seemed there was a huge misunderstanding about my relationship with Kaien.
Apparently, while Kaien was there, the audio had cut out—so everyone just imagined whatever they wanted about our conversation.
