In the Place where the Golden Rose Was Broken - Chapter 16
Knock knock.
Two precise knocks were heard.
“I have something to discuss with Karen, so come back later.”
Without Karen’s permission, Mark told the person looking for her to come back later.
Knock knock.
But immediately, two knocks were heard again.
“Can’t you understand? I said come back later!”
He shouted again in an irritated voice, but the other person, as if they hadn’t heard anything, knocked exactly twice again.
“Who the hell is it?!”
Mark violently flung the door open. He expected it to be some low-level staff member. However, at the door was someone completely different from his expectation.
It was a tall man with his hair neatly styled with pomade.
“This bastard.”
The man answered playfully in a serious tone.
Pushing aside Mark like he was clearing away an object, too shocked to say anything, he approached Karen with a bouquet.
“Take it.”
“What is this…?”
“Flowers, of course.”
It was a bouquet of roses emitting a strong fragrance.
“I thought it would be impolite to come empty-handed, so I rushed out to get these.”
Arcturus shifted his gaze from Karen to Mark and asked,
“Doesn’t this show that I care?”
It was almost a mutter, but it was clear who he was targeting.
Unlike the quiet outside after Duke Cloen’s appearance, Mark had been shouting loudly inside the dressing room…
The sounds from the dressing room must have been audible outside.
Mark gritted his teeth in shame, gave a cursory bow, and left.
With Mark and the ballet company people dispersed, in the quiet dressing room, Arcturus spoke in a gentle voice.
“Was I a good enough lover, Miss Karen?”
Karen, who had been touching the soft petals, looked up with a dazed expression.
“Are you accepting my proposal?”
“Isn’t that why you shouted that you were meeting me on stage?”
“That was…”
“It sounded like you were pressuring me.”
“…I won’t deny it.”
Karen admitted frankly.
“I didn’t expect Mr. Mallon to be so delusional as to barge onto the stage.”
“What wouldn’t a madman do?”
“You’re right. I overlooked that.”
She decided to speak honestly.
“When Mr. Mallon invaded the stage… you were the first person I thought of.”
Her arms holding the large bouquet tightened slightly.
“Baron Theron is trying to hand me over to Mr. Mallon somehow, and I have no way to stop Mr. Mallon on my own. As far as I know, you were the only one who could stop Baron Theron and Mr. Mallon.”
Arcturus stared intently at Karen’s face as she carefully continued her story.
Who said a woman’s beauty is power?
A powerless and beautiful woman is easily exploited and taken advantage of wherever she goes.
Still, this woman is rather lucky. She’ll be using him as a shield from now on.
Of course, it’s not without a price.
“You don’t need to worry anymore. I’ll give you the contract relationship you wanted.”
“Thank you. But, um…”
Karen hesitated, then asked with a face full of pure curiosity.
“When can we draw up the contract?”
It was once again an unexpected statement, so it was natural for Arcturus to burst into laughter.
Karen, however, didn’t understand at all why Arcturus was laughing.
After fifteen revisions to the contract, Karen and Arcturus’s contract relationship finally began.
“I’ll act comfortably in front of others. That way, we’ll look more like an intimate couple.”
Even the household staff shouldn’t know about this contract. So, while drafting the contract, Arcturus issued an order prohibiting access to the second floor to prevent the staff from approaching.
The staff seemed to think Arcturus wanted to be alone with his lover. And such a misunderstanding was exactly what they wanted.
“Will you be okay with that? Calling me ‘Miss Karen’ politely when we’re alone, then ‘Karen’ when people are around. I think I’d get really confused if it were me.”
“I see. Then I’ll call you comfortably even when we’re alone, Karen.”
“…Please maintain proper etiquette when we’re alone.”
“Alright then, fussy Miss Karen.”
Why does his overly quick agreement seem somewhat annoying?
Despite his tall stature and broad shoulders that stand out even among decent young men, and his toned body visible even through clothes that would intimidate others,
A boyish smile, ill-fitting, hung on his lips.
“Are you… usually this playful?”
“It’s the first time I’ve been called playful.”
“Then, why…”
Do you keep teasing me?
She wanted to ask, but decided not to, feeling it might make her seem childish too.
“I’ll arrange a separate house for you to stay in, Miss Karen, so please prepare your belongings in advance.”
“I’m moving? There was nothing about that in the contract.”
“Think of it as a contract gift.”
“It’s just sudden to hear about moving.”
Arcturus took out a cigarette from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it.
After exhaling smoke lightly, Arcturus rather made a puzzled expression.
“Is there any reason to stay in a house where your location has been exposed to a stalker?”
“I’ve grown quite attached to the neighbors…”
“You’ve grown attached to the neighbors while spending more than half the day at the ballet company?”
At Arcturus’s sharp observation, Karen lightly bit her lower lip with her upper teeth and then released it. Arcturus, looking down at her lips that had become even redder with the rush of blood, put the cigarette back in his mouth and inhaled the smoke.
“Do you have any secrets you’re hiding from me?”
“It’s not that, but I don’t feel good when you speak as if you’re giving orders.”
“It seems the problem wasn’t the move, but my attitude.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If I offended you, I apologize.”
The face saying the apology didn’t look sorry at all.
“But there’s no negotiation. A neighborhood with poor security, a house with weak protection, and a stalker who knows the location.”
“……”
“No sane man would let his lover live in such a place.”
It was a reasonable point. Refusing further would only make her seem stubborn.
Karen was about to accept Arcturus’s proposal.
“I underst… cough!”
“……”
“I’m, I’m sorry. I was holding back…”
Karen covered her mouth and coughed, interrupting her sentence.
The cough she had been suppressing since Arcturus started smoking finally burst out.
“It would have been better if you had said something from the start.”
That she disliked cigarette smoke, and to ask him not to smoke.
Was it difficult for her to say that, so she endured it? Arcturus extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, deciding to remember one piece of information about Karen.
He wouldn’t smoke in front of his dear fake lover.
“I’ll assign people to you.”
“You mean watchmen?”
“The term ‘watchmen’ sounds a bit off…”
Arcturus stroked his chin and smiled.
“It’s to protect you from Joseph Mallon.”
“After yesterday’s commotion, do you think he’ll come again?”
“That’s uncertain.”
“I don’t like having people around me, it’s too noticeable.”
“For a rising golden rose to be so shy…”
“Don’t tease me!”
Like the moving issue, this matter seemed to have no room for compromise.
“The rising Golden Rose who surpassed Sierra Miller, and the dancer who’s the lover of Duke Cloen.”
“……”
“Miss Karen, you’re already a celebrity.”
Arcturus meant it as consolation, but it provided no comfort to Karen.
“By now, newspapers with articles about you and me must be all over the capital’s streets.”
“Your grandfather must have already seen the articles too.”
“Additionally, Miss Sierra Miller must have seen the articles as well.”
Arcturus lowered his voice as if telling a scary story to a child.
“If you don’t move and refuse the bodyguards, it might not be Joseph Mallon, but Sierra Miller who comes for you first.”
“Fine. I’ll accept everything. Are you satisfied now, Duke?”
“Absolutely satisfied.”
Seeing his truly satisfied expression, Karen had to suppress the rising annoyance towards Arcturus.
***
The Miller household was in an uproar from the morning.
The cause of this commotion was solely due to one person.
The sharp scream of Sierra Miller, the adopted daughter of Count Miller, echoed throughout the mansion.
“No way, no way, no way!”
Sierra tore the newspaper containing the article about Arcturus and Karen to shreds. She knew it was just a momentary outlet for her anger, but if she didn’t do this, she felt she might go crazy right away.
“How could Arcturus forget me… How could he, with a woman like that…”
A mere dancer?
Sierra felt insulted. And more than feeling insulted, she became afraid.
“If Father finds out about this, I’ll be thrown out…”
That absolutely cannot happen. How hard have I worked to get to this position?
Sierra stared at Karen’s face in the article, already torn to pieces by her own hands.
How should I deal with this woman to easily separate her from Arcturus?
***
Unlike her usual routine of arriving early to practice before others, today she entered the practice room a bit later.
“……”
As Karen walked in carrying her bag, she felt the others’ gazes focused on her.
Karen knew she tended to draw people’s attention. Even on normal days, she noticed people’s glances at her, whether for cursing or admiration.
But today’s gazes were different from usual.
They were like stares directed at a completely unfamiliar being.
The practice of dancers becoming mistresses to nobles under the name of sponsorship was tacitly accepted, so that itself shouldn’t be an issue. Since Arcturus had called her a ‘lover’ rather than a mistress, there was even less reason to criticize her.
Perhaps these unfamiliar gazes were due to the power of the name ‘Arcturus Cloen’.
After all, Arcturus was hailed as a national hero before being an ordinary nobleman.
“Karen.”
While everyone else just stared from afar, only the choreographer, Everdeen, approached her.
“Can you spare a moment before practice? There’s someone here to see you.”
“Who is it?”
After hearing from Everdeen about the identity of the visitor looking for her, Karen understood even more why they were looking at her that way.
Although she had been prepared for this, it was happening sooner than expected.
Swallowing dryly, Karen nodded.
“Please lead me to where they are.”
