Chapter 04
“I’ll be a loyal servant during the contract period,” she had said.
The woman likely didn’t realize her gaze wasn’t on his eyes but on his chest. Her heated stare made him feel almost as if he were being teased.
Noticing her gaze, Shanur instinctively looked down at his chest. Then, he remembered how she had tilted her head to his side earlier. She must have thought his face was somewhere in that direction.
Distracted by her stare, Shanur realized a moment too late that she was holding his hand. He hurriedly tried to pull away.
Since being cursed, even the slightest touch brought him unbearable pain. He couldn’t wear proper clothes and had to settle for loose robes. It was a closely guarded secret, but his body had been changing for the past 20 years. Five years ago, when even his face transformed and hiding it became impossible, he finally revealed the curse to the world.
But contrary to his expectations, there was no pain. Instead, he felt relief—almost comfort—from her touch.
The woman kept chattering away, but Shanur barely registered her words. She didn’t realize that he could see her even in the darkness, allowing him to observe her with ease.
She was beautiful, undeniably so. Her golden hair and clear blue eyes sparkled, and her long lashes fluttered whenever she blinked. Her moist, flushed eyes and pale skin made her crimson lips stand out even more.
Although Shanur kept his distance from women, he wasn’t indifferent to them. His aesthetic sense was no different from anyone else’s, and by any standard, she was strikingly beautiful.
But her beauty wasn’t the reason he had accepted her proposal.
As her touch alleviated his pain, Shanur reconsidered her offer—to give his purity to her. It had initially sounded absurd. However, the absence of pain made him wonder. Still, he couldn’t agree immediately, so he decided to observe her first under the guise of a trial period.
“Your Highness,” a voice called, and Shanur looked up.
“Have you accepted her offer?”
Michel, who had overheard the conversation from outside, was taken aback. He had assumed the lady would suggest something clichéd, like breaking the curse with a kiss or a confession of true love, only to leave in frustration when Shanur bluntly rejected her. But her proposal far exceeded his expectations.
The shocking part was that Shanur hadn’t outright dismissed her and even allowed her to stay in the ducal residence.
“I’m just observing for now,” Shanur replied nonchalantly, waving his hand.
“When she held my hand, I felt no pain.”
“Pardon?” Michel asked, startled. He hadn’t known they had even touched.
“It didn’t hurt. In fact… it felt like the pain disappeared.”
Shanur ordered Michel to investigate if any curses could be lifted through such an unusual condition.
“And assign her as my maid.”
“…The lady from the marquisate?” Michel was confused but complied.
It seemed like Shanur intended to test her resolve through rigorous tasks, which Michel found impressive.
“I can’t believe it. You succeeded!” Marina exclaimed.
“Even I’m surprised,” Beloni replied, still dazed.
The two were escorted to a room by an older butler. Beloni, exhausted from her brief encounter with Shanur, slumped into a chair, resolving to prove her worth during her trial period. She wasn’t lying when she had declared herself capable. Her quick wit and resourcefulness had kept her afloat through many challenges.
“Marina, how much money do we have left?”
“Just under 10 gold coins.”
That wasn’t much. Ten gold coins could support a commoner for a month, but as an investment, it was meager.
“Listen carefully, Marina,” Beloni said. “We’ll stay at the ducal estate for about a year. By then, we’ll wrap everything up and leave for overseas.”
The next day, Michel handed Beloni a maid’s uniform. She stared at it, puzzled but unbothered.
“Ah, so that’s how it is,” she muttered. “His Highness must have some old-fashioned views, thinking female servants should only be maids.”
Michel was caught off guard by her composed reaction. Unlike others who would’ve felt insulted, Beloni simply smiled and cheerfully went to change.
Beloni, now dressed as a maid, was led to Shanur’s dimly lit chambers. As she adjusted to the darkness, she cautiously called out, “Your Highness, it’s Beloni.”
Shanur, who had just woken up, remembered the impulsive decision to appoint her as a maid. He prepared to dismiss her, but before he could, Beloni tripped.
The loose robes he wore were tugged open, exposing his chest and stomach to the cold air.
“Ack…!” she winced, startled.
Shanur looked down, equally shocked.
