Chapter 178 178. Kidnapping, Part XIV
Editor: Aelryinth
Killian admired Julietta’s guts to say she should be a real princess of Kiellini, because she didn’t want to run away for life. It was dazzling to see her proclaiming proudly that she deserved it.
But he leaned back in the chair, deliberately ignoring Julietta who looked at him with high expectations, as if her offer was that good. He made her nervous, pretending as if he didn’t feel like it.
"When I suggested you take the seat of the Queen, there was a calculation that the Duke would support me. But if you take the position of the Queen, wouldn’t I expect the backing of the Duke?"
Julietta was slightly embarrassed. She thought he liked her, as he wanted the ugly maid to be a concubine. ’Did he change his mind? Or is this guy’s taste attracted to the ugly maid, and not a refined beauty, Princess Kiellini?’
Thinking he really did have unknown tastes, Julietta looked straight at Killian and spoke with the conviction of someone who wanted to survive, "You won’t get the support of the Duke of Kiellini, so it’s okay to take the lady of the good family that can support Your Highness and take me as your concubine. You said you don’t care about my birth status, so take the heir to the family of Kiellini into the concubine and make your greatness stand out even more."
Killian was now in a tug-of-war with Julietta. In fact, if he slightly pulled the rope here, Julietta’s feet would be over the middle of the line. But he was not satisfied. He wanted to pull the rope as hard as he could, and get her all over the line.
He decided to move carefully to hold Julietta in his arms. "Whether you would be a Queen or a concubine, the scenes you’ve seen in my bedroom won’t be gone. What about that?"
Julietta agonized over Killian’s question for a moment. "Thanks to the curtains, I didn’t see it myself, so I think I can appreciate it."
"Appreciate?"
"Yes. I decided to think it was just appreciation. When I substitute the naked silhouette with Your Highness, we’ll be distressed with each other. I’ll just think of it as a scene of a man and a woman having sex." Julietta’s brow was slightly furrowed upon saying "The naked silhouette."
Killian’s back straightened slightly at her expression. If he could undo the past, he would blow up both himself and Harrods’ mansion.
Julietta shook her head vigorously to erase the past that had come to mind for a while and kept speaking, "But it doesn’t mean I don’t feel like I’m losing something at all. I’m far below you in terms of birth, but I am a noble princess in the eyes of others, so there’s nothing to keep me down. So, there’s one thing I want to tell you."
"What is it?"
"If you take a Queen and I go into the seat of a concubine, I want to maintain a business relationship with you."
"Business Relationship?"
"Yes, I’m not a Queen anyway, so I don’t have to produce a successor."
Julietta had no intention of living a life of self-denial, though she demanded marriage under unavoidable circumstances. If it wasn’t for him to be a man of her own, she’d rather he be a stranger for the rest of her life.
Killian laughed at the bold proposal. "What if I let you in as the Queen? I could get very tired, because your great status as Princess Kiellini is envied by people, while I’ll be talked about behind my back. In addition, it’s also a problem, because I can’t give a Queen seat to someone below your status. The women of higher status than you are only the empresses or the queens of another country, but I have no intention of handing over the future empress position to women of another country."
Julietta nodded at Killian’s words. "Then, would you please take me as the Queen? But if you get me as the Queen, you can’t take any other concubine or a woman passing by for a while. If you have a woman other than me, the face behind the curtain in my head will change into yours. I don’t think I’ll have the confidence to live with you for the rest of my life."
Killian had no intention of bringing in another woman if he were to marry Julietta, anyway. If Julietta had not escaped from Bertino and had come as his own concubine, the woman he loved would have been only one. He intended to maintain an ostensible relationship with the Queen he chose to appear before the public.
Now Julietta appeared before him in a perfect form to add to her identity, and he did not need another woman. Killian frowned deliberately so as not to broadcast his thoughts. "What if I have another woman I like?"
"Please divorce me."
"What?"
"I’d like to put that condition in the marriage vows from the beginning. I heard that in a marriage concerning the property or land of the royal family or a noble, a marriage pledge made in front of the priest is important. I heard that if you break your promise, I can ask for a divorce, right?"
"That’s right. But most people don’t divorce to avoid gossip."
"I don’t want to spend my whole life in hell because I’m afraid of such gossip or people’s eyes."
Killian wondered what Julietta would do if he said he didn’t want to. But he didn’t want her to bounce out of the tug-of-war by pulling the rope so hard. "I don’t feel the need to comply with any conditions that don’t benefit me at all." Killian rubbed the middle of his forehead as if he was tired, blurring the lines.
"You get Princess Kiellini, a competent business associate, and Julietta you were going to use as your concubine. I think this is a great benefit for you."
Julietta hid her anxious thoughts and looked at the Prince defiantly. There was no one to lean on in that situation. He was the only one who could press the Duke of Kiellini.
Killian rose from his seat as he faced Julietta who rolled her eyes, telling him to hurry and choose her. Julietta’s eyes shook, bewildered by his actions and silence. As he walked toward the door without saying anything, Killian looked back as if he had changed his mind.
"I’ll accept the proposal. It would be pretty profitable to get Princess Kiellini, a competent business associate and Julietta, as you say."
Killian left the room without waiting for Julietta’s answer.
Surprised by his sudden agreement, Julietta stood dazed in the empty room and chased him out. "Your Highness, Your Highness! So, from now on, am I going to be your future fiancée?"
Killian was walking down the stairs and past the first-floor hall with long legs, and nodded, without looking back at her.
"Your Highness, you’re nodding, right? You can’t retreat. A man has to keep his word," Julietta cried out as he was acting mean and nasty.
Killian just raised his right hand as if he knew it, without turning his head once in a cold-hearted manner.
"If you turn around, would you be a stone? Let me look at your face and say it."
But Killian, whose face was full of smiles could not look back. "I’ll make a visit to the Kiellini mansion tomorrow." At the end of the remark, he disappeared from the dress shop.
"What is he talking about? Engagement?" Simone, Maribel, and the rest of her people of the dress shop who had arrived with the Prince, but had to wait outside came to Julietta.
"I’ve decided to marry His Highness." Julietta’s eyes twinkled with joy.
Maribel laughed at the sight. Julietta had been having dry heaves, but they suddenly disappeared; instead, her liveliness was overflowing again and she was relieved to see it.
Julietta looked around in a lighter mood and found Simone. With astonishing care, she quickly apologized, "I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to make such a fuss about it, but I was careless."
She didn’t think of Simone’s feelings of turning her back on her family; she was just as selfish this way. It was really the worst.
"What is this? Oh, my God." But Simone, contrary to her thoughts, was more worried about what had happened to Julietta than caring about her position.
Maribel soothed Simone, who was tired, and looking at Julietta’s face, said, "Please enter the room once again, ma’am. It’s too late, so I think we’ll have to fix the child’s face before you go back to the mansion."