The Rogue’s Provocative Proposal
“It’s been a while since the marriageable age, hasn’t it? Honestly, Your Grace is going a little too far. You should have held the ceremony before the age passed!”
Noah reclined against the sofa, one arm draped lazily over the back. The one being too much was Adeline, not him. The engagement had been struck because of her, after all.
Adeline’s hidden motives were intriguing, but the urgent issue now was simple: there was no legitimate reason to break the contract.
“Noah, are you marrying me?”
A woman who had been sitting obediently on his lap, peeking up at him with wide eyes, suddenly asked.
[Noah.]
The voice from her past—forgotten for so long—slid into his ear like a blade.
Silver hair fluttering in the wind, lavender eyes turning back to look at him, lips curved so beautifully red…
The image of a demon with every feature perfectly arranged made his stomach churn.
Yet Noah was a gentleman. He forced a polite smile, the kind a noble should wear for a woman who had once been his lover.
“Would you like that?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Then shall we skip it?”
What was her name again?
He had no reason to remember a one-night stand. Noah kicked the leg of the man sitting across from him. Normally, the man who had been avoiding women and sinking into cards raised his head in shock, only to crack a nervous smile the moment he realized who it was.
Ah, Anna. That was her name.
“Anna, go find my fiancée and break the engagement for me. For my sake.”
“Then what will you give me in return?”
Noah raised an eyebrow. He had thought her naïve, but she was actually bold. That made things interesting. He reached out and stroked her chin gently, like patting a dog’s head.
“Would you like me to keep you as a mistress?”
“Tch. What about Celia, then?”
Noah’s brow furrowed slightly.
“She’s not my mistress, is she?”
“Liar. I heard you keep summoning her to the mansion every day. I have ears, you know.”
The smile vanished from Noah’s face. It grated on him that this disposable woman acted as if she were his lover.
“I’ll handle it,” Anna said quickly, sensing the shift. “Just don’t summon Celia again. I can do it better.”
“Tell me how you plan to help.”
Anna leaned in close, her voice a whisper near his ear. Noah had asked her to break the engagement, but he held no real hope. Anyone in the noble circles knew that a social engagement could not be canceled so easily.
Instead, she revealed the method her recent acquaintances had used to divorce.
“When the wife fell ill, the husband demanded a divorce?”
“That’s the way of it,” she continued, “though it requires divine will. But in the end, no one wasted time with compensation arguments. The woman was already dying anyway. So the husband had no choice but to accept.”
Anna stroked Noah’s shoulder with a hand that held a hidden hint of expectation.
“What if I gave my fiancé something that would make her sick?”
“Sick?”
“Make her ill. Who in their right mind would marry a woman with an illness when they could have a healthy wife? It’s pitiful, really. Even a wealthy man treated his wife poorly.”
Noah’s lips twisted into a smirk.
“There’s a better way.”
He crushed his cigar against the arm of the sofa. The leather hissed as it blackened.
The air turned cold in an instant.
Anna’s eyes widened. She tried to slip away.
“Just for a moment, I need to—”
Noah caught her wrist and yanked her down. Her body tumbled onto his. He grabbed the back of her neck with a grip like a hunting dog’s jaws.
There was no escape. The eyes staring up at him were startlingly clear blue—too innocent, too sincere. Before emotion could take root, the murderous glint beneath them sent a chill down his spine.
“Wouldn’t it be faster for her to know I’m the kind of man who rolls around with any woman?”
“S-Sir Noah!”
“Right in front of Adeline.”
Noah lifted the corner of his lips in a gentle smile.
“If you show me how you’ll look when I ruin you, perhaps I’ll make you my mistress.”
Anna’s face drained of color. Climbing the social ladder was the only path for a low-ranking noblewoman—either through marriage to a highborn or becoming a mistress.
Noah Miller was an extremely attractive man. Possessing everything he desired and possessing a good character to boot, everyone praised him. But Anna now understood.
That gentle smile was only a mask.
“Before that, why don’t you demonstrate it right here? Prove to me that you’re not running away embarrassed when you see Adeline. I’d hate to have to worry about your true nature.”
Anna instinctively realized this man never spoke idly. Her eyes filled with tears of terror.
“If you can’t do it, keep your mouth shut and get out.”
Noah released her when interest waned. The moment she was free, Anna bolted, tears streaming down her face.
The men who had stopped playing cards to watch the exchange exchanged uneasy glances. Noah, who never lost his temper, was now furious. He had gone so far as to threaten a woman in this manner. His emotions were clearly unstable.
They broke the tense silence with light words.
“Why take it out on the wrong person, Noah?”
“Exactly. It’s time for marriage. Marriage is an obligation, damn it. What’s so serious about it? From the outside, you can fulfill duty while secretly pursuing pleasure. Look at me—I’ve been married for three years and I’m not trapped by that complicated wife yet. It’s easiest to deceive a woman. If you don’t want it, try the method the earlier girl suggested.”
“Yeah, no need for anything so dirty as murder. What does it matter to you if the Billet young lady suffers? She even sang about wanting a divorce?”
Noah drained a bottle of iced whiskey in one swallow. That woman… those idiots. Pleasure-seekers like them probably had a rotten core, Noah was certain. Anyone with sense wouldn’t encourage such filth.
“I don’t commit crimes.”
The men laughed, thinking he was joking.
But it was the truth. Noah never slipped drugs into his drink, never gambled in dirty places, and never forced women into bed.
How could he possibly poison Adeline for the sake of breaking the engagement? He wasn’t that insane.
“If it were me who got sick, I wouldn’t mind…”
Noah’s eyebrow twitched.
To outsiders, the situation looked identical to any other day. But Noah drew a clear line between himself and others. Albert, watching him with disgust, felt a surge of strength return to his eyes.
Noah had noticed the change in his expression.
“Your Grace. Are you… contemplating something irrational right now?”
“Have you left yet?”
Noah looked at him with surprise.
“Don’t even think about it. It’s impossible. Absolutely not.”
“What do you think you’re going to do?”
Noah grasped the swirling thoughts in his mind and gave them form. The more he thought about it, the more acceptable the idea felt.
By the time he finished an entire bottle of whiskey, a smile bloomed across his face.
Noah’s daily routine consisted only of drinking, parties, and sex. All official duties were handled by Albert, who received an exorbitant salary in return. Being a money-obsessed man who loved his sick younger sister, Albert had no complaints.
But today was different.
Noah had summoned Albert first thing in the morning. “I have business to attend to,” he had said, waving a pen and paper. Albert had felt a chill.
What kind of wind had blown through the castle? Summoning him to the lakeside, no less, as if he were a normal employee.
A short while later.
“Have you gone mad?”
Albert’s voice echoed across the lake.
Noah had suddenly decided to send a letter of divorce to the eldest daughter of House Billet. “That part is possible. Divorce is officially a state matter.”
But the strategy Noah proposed as a “method of divorce” was absurd. No, it was unrealistic!
“You want to fake a breakup now and pin it on me? You’re threatening the Miller Dukedom?”
“That’s the only way the leech will finally let go.”
Noah shuddered at the thought of Adeline Billet.
Adeline Billet. That woman who clung to him like a leech without even loving him—wouldn’t it be easier to simply remove her from his sight?
“I won’t allow it. I can’t tolerate it.”
“Then you marry me instead? I’ll let you handle my duties, replace the wedding, and take my place in bed. Oh, and if you give birth to my child, I’ll raise it as my heir.”