I Want to Die One Day Before You - Chapter 2.9

Princess Sordid, on the advice of her nanny, decided to invite Rufus to her palace.

‘I’m sure he’s a rough, rustic man.’

Dressed up by five maids at the same time, the princess grumbled.

‘I’ll deal with it properly and send him back. The public is still confused, so if I tell them we decided on a later marriage, they’ll eat it.’

The princess, who thought so, went out to the garden in the backyard of her palace.

“What about that man?”

“He is waiting for you.” The head maid answered with a bowed head.

The maid’s body, which was beaten instead of Sarubia, was swollen from yesterdays ordeal.

A familiar face was seen behind the head maid—ivory hair, golden eyes, and an unpleasant face that always smiles.

The princess frowned and glanced at the maid.

‘I’m annoyed.’ It was a face she didn’t like.

She was going to die in distress because she had to marry someone she didn’t like, but what’s so good about that maid that she could smile like that?

She felt an urge to tear that bitch’s lips with a knife.

‘Why do you laugh like that, cheeky bitch?’ The princess grumbled and headed for the garden.

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A smartly dressed young man who saw the princess rose from his seat.

“Greetings to Your Royal Highness, the noble princess of the kingdom.”

This person was the hero Rufus, who ended the war by killing the devil Audisus.

Rufus had greeted the princess in a dry manner.

‘Heh, looks like he can look and act like an aristocrat on his own.’ The princess, who laughed at the man inside, flopped down across from him.

‘He looks smoother than I thought.’ The princess glanced at the man’s face and lifted the teacup gracefully.

The man named Rufus had never appeared in the capital of the kingdom for his coming of age ceremony.

The nobles of the kingdom valued honour. Therefore, regardless of family wealth or poverty, they were bent on making sure that their own children entered society. Despite this, Rufus has never appeared in society.

Upon hearing the news, the princess thought the man must have some fault on his face or had been born ugly.

But the man across from Princess Sordid was better than she thought.

“Thank you for your invitation.”

No, on the contrary, he was rather good looking. The princess got a bit of interest in that little twist.

“May I call you Sir Rufus?” (efn_note]She using 님 (-nim) for the first time regarding calling Rufus. From Jerk to Sir with just showing his face; I believe he is quite good looking to make the princess change her mind so fast *heh*[/efn_note) The princess asked slightly coquettishly, as she usually does to other nobles.

“Yes.”

“All right, Sir Rufus. I’m glad to meet you like this. Are you at ease in the royal palace?”

“Yes,” replied the man stiffly.

That was the end, and the man didn’t bring up any more words. A chilling silence remained in the garden.

‘What is he doing, this man?’ The princess was perplexed by the man’s reaction who was as stiff as a stone.

Princess Sordid possessed a goddess-like beauty. All men rushed in to win her favour. They tried so hard and couldn’t get a word out of her.

But this man wasn’t. This man didn’t open his mouth like a tight lock.

Thanks to this, the awkward atmosphere continued.

‘Is he nervous?’ the princess glanced at the man.

Yeah, maybe he was so nervous he couldn’t even open his mouth properly.

In fact, there were many nobles like that—young nobles, who were overwhelmed by the beauty of the princess, sweating and wandering around.

The princess beckoned to the table to warm up the atmosphere a little.

“Let’s have some refreshments.”

“It’s all right,” the man did not touch any of the princess’ refreshments.

It wasn’t just that. He didn’t even want to make eye contact with the princess.

‘Look at this?’ The man’s robust attitude made the princess at a loss. So far, no man has ever treated her this way.

The princess deserved to be loved. She had been loved by so many people all her life. So it had to continue like that.

The princess was unable to fathom the existence of a man in this world who did not love her. So she didn’t realise at all that the man’s eyes were on a maid, standing in the furthest corner of the garden.

“What is Sir Rufus planning to do after the victory festival?” The princess asked again to attract the man’s attention.

She was sure the man would bring up the wedding story.

He would say that he will marry the princess as promised before by the king, and ask her to keep that promise—what a brilliant dream.

The princess was about to refuse as soon as the man mentioned marriage straightly.

While she was fully prepared, an unexpected answer came.

“I’m going back to the Inferna Territory.”

“What? No, why?!” Unknowingly, the princess opened her eyes and shouted.

The nanny, watching the unbecoming figure of the princess, gave her a curiosity imbued side-eye, but the princess was genuinely embarrassed.

‘You didn’t mean to marry me?’

The royal wedding must be held in the royal palace. She couldn’t follow him down to the countryside for a ceremony.

“Then, what about the marriage with me?”

“I have no idea.” The man replied bluntly.

In response, the princess almost choked on air. It wasn’t just her. Everyone who stood there listening to the conversation between the princess and the hero was in shock.

‘Uh, how to get married to a princess…’ She was a beautiful princess that everyone envied. Everyone tried desperately to reach one of her fingers.

This man was the one who had the privilege of becoming the princess’s husband, according to the king’s promise three years ago. But he said he would not marry her.

It wasn’t that he would consider a little more or look at the situation. It was a complete rejection without even a grace period.

‘How could he not know his place!?’

The princess clenched her fist under the table. It seemed she felt insulted; abandoned by a man who has nothing.

The princess, the most precious and exalted in the kingdom, was rejected by a baron’s successor.

Of course, the princess wanted to avoid marrying this man. But she didn’t want to end it this way.

“Why do you want to leave the capital?” Asked the princess, bending her pride.

On the surface, it was asking about the reason for leaving the royal capital, but the intention was clear.

Why do you want to abandon your only chance with a princess and go down to that empty countryside?

Then came an unexpected answer from the man’s mouth.

“My grandmother’s health is not good.”

‘Grandma?’ The princess frowned.

Isn’t this man’s grandmother the baroness of the Inferna estate? An old woman came to her mind who took on the title of her deceased husband without knowing her place.

The princess remembered hearing about Baroness Inferna through her father, the king.

“Baron Inferna, you damned old wench!” The king, who was reading the report of the nobles who ruled the land, shouted.

“Are you asking for royal aid to revitalise the Inferna territory? Hah! What are you going to do in that wasteland of old beggars? Do you think the royal family is full of money?”

The king had resented reading Baroness Inferna’s report. After that, he burned the paper straight away.

If the princess’s memory was correct, Baroness Inferna was a stupid old woman who lived in a hustle and bustle for that useless piece of land.

After a while of making such a fuss, Princess Sordid guessed it was finally time for her to die.

“Well, it’s time for Baroness Inferna to die, too.” The princess lifted the teacup and sipped.

For a moment, the man’s face hardened. “What did you say?”

“Isn’t that right? When a person gets old, they should die. If you live for a long time for nothing, you’ll be a nuisance to other people.”

The princess looked at the man as if she were asking some obvious questions.

“…”

Rufus raised his eyes and glared at the princess, who was sitting opposite him. His hidden fists shook under the table. The lumpy tendons flinched like they were about to burst.

It was an insult.

The princess was insulting his precious family.

“Your Highness the Princess,” Repressing the rage that was about to erupt immediately, Rufus finally opened his mouth. “If His Majesty the King is ill, would Your Highness say the same thing now?”

“You are rude. How could you make such a comparison?” The princess took Rufus’ words lightly. “It’s different from my father. We are direct family.”

“My grandmother is my precious family.”

“Really? I was not that close to my grandmother, so I don’t know.”

As she put a piece of cake in her mouth, the princess retorted:

“I don’t have a good memory when I think about my grandmother. That’s what all the elderly do. Their body smells weird, and I can’t understand a word. Plus, they keep trying to hug me when I say no.”

Rufus couldn’t say anything.

How? How can a person be so ignorant?

Rufus already had no good feelings about the princess who had touched Sarubia’s body. And now, the last remaining respect towards royalty has completely faded.

But the princess, who interpreted Rufus’ silence as an affirmation, continued to talk while eating the cake.

“So I wasn’t very sad when my grandmother died. Honestly, it’s amazing how many people cried when my grandmother died. I don’t even know why they were crying. The one who’s going to die is dead anyway, what’s so sad about it?”

Rufus pressed the sword on his waist. He felt the urge to draw his sword right away.

He wanted to get rid of this abominable woman who doesn’t know anything, tries to count the sadness of others, and makes fun of them with her mouth.

He was a man who was already familiar with the battlefield. Getting rid of the annoying things felt so natural to him.

Moreover, the shock from the prophecy that he had heard from Sarubia yesterday had not gone away.

Half lost, Rufus raised his hand towards the sword. The moment he was about to touch the hilt, he could see Sarubia standing far away.

‘No,’ said Sarubia, muttering silently.

‘Ah.’ When he saw Sarubia’s face, he finally came to his senses.

Rufus’ hand on the sword went down. He raised his head instead.

“Your Highness the Princess.”

“What can I do for you?”

The princess, who dropped her fork, deliberately raised an alluring smile as if tempting him.

The princess’ smile was undoubtedly enchanting—the hearts of the people standing around beat faster. But Rufus didn’t want to have such a princess’ smile in his eyes anymore.

It was abominable.

The smile, which was made solely to decorate oneself beautifully, was so abominable that it was without any consideration for the other person.

“If you don’t have any more business, I’ll leave.”

“Yes… okay?”

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Rufus did not wait for the princess’ answer.

Standing up, he passed the frozen princess, and instead strode towards the maid.

Everyone was embarrassed by the sudden act. But the man was not free enough to pay attention to their gazes.

“Let’s go, Sarubia.” The man reached out his hand at the maid.

“Rufus, but…”

“It’s all right,” the man looked into the maid’s eyes, “You said you wanted to see the fuchsia flowers.”

The people in the princess’s garden didn’t understand what the man was saying, but the maid, who understood the meaning of his words, smiled quietly and held the man’s hand.

No-one dared to stop the man and the maid from leaving the princess’s garden.