KDYG l CH 09

Chapter 09

The Duke of Berg wasn’t just intense—he was obsessed with work.

If Chloe had been a regular soldier, it wouldn’t have mattered much. But she was his aide. And if Brigadier General Berg didn’t go home from work, neither did she.

After going a full week with no breaks and working late every night, Chloe finally understood why there was a bed in the aide’s office.

“I should’ve run the moment I saw that bed!”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only red flag. His obsession with cleanliness and crazy work schedule were just a few reasons why even the navy down south had openings for this position.

The Royal Guard was known for being full of uptight people. And among them, Duke Curtis Shan Berg was the most extreme. A royal in name, but not in behavior.

For example, he’d arrive at work before sunrise and leave past midnight.

So what made him royal, then?

He was harsh. Unbelievably harsh to anyone who made mistakes or underperformed.

Chloe had never met anyone with such a creative punishment style.

• “One-month pay cut.”

• “Drop and give me fifty. Now.”

• “We’re doing a service check.”

It was nonstop. Pay cuts, drills, inspections…

Most members of the Royal Guard were nobles, but Curtis didn’t care. He handed out brutal, unforgettable experiences to all.

The worst of them, in Chloe’s opinion? The pay cuts.

“I took this job for a steady paycheck! And now they’re cutting it?”

Sure, she still got paid for overtime and weekend work, but Chloe didn’t consider that a perk. Getting paid for work was just basic decency.

“I want to quit…”

It only took two weeks before she started saying the same thing everyone else did.

If Curtis had been harsh and incompetent, the Royal Guard would’ve fallen apart long ago.

But from an aide’s perspective, him being good at his job was the real curse.

Not only was he always working, but he also created work. From mundane tasks to state secrets—he handled everything.

The workload was brutal, breaks rare, and just when you thought you could breathe—another punishment came your way.

No wonder all the previous aides either transferred out or got fired.

His aides rotated so often that the army’s top commander, Grand Marshal Victor, was furious. Even if the king had saddled him with this problem, he couldn’t leave the position empty.

So first, they blocked transfers. Aides had to serve three full years before they could request a new post.

Then, aides started trying to quit. And if quitting was blocked, well… desertion was looking like a real option.

So the higher-ups tried offering bonuses. But it was too late. Word had already spread through the army like wildfire.

They were so desperate, they opened recruitment to the navy.

And that’s how Chloe Ambroise got caught in the trap.

Thanks to the nineteen aides who’d already fled, her contract was full of ridiculous clauses: If you try to run, we will not forgive you in the name of the King, Marshal Victor, and the Dragon Ibaneres!—that kind of stuff.

Chloe wasn’t naive. She knew what she was signing up for.

“Big pay means big responsibility.”

And honestly, the paycheck was four times what she made in the navy.

Some might call her foolish. Say that health comes before money.

“That’s easy to say when you don’t have a family to feed,” she would’ve said.

But three months in, Chloe was now seriously weighing her options: Be executed for treason after killing the Empire’s war hero… or just throw myself off the tower of Ibaneres Palace?

And now—finally—an opportunity had come.

A chance to get back at him for everything.

****

To be clear, Chloe Ambroise was feeling pretty pleased with herself.

“You want him to kneel? To you?”

“Yes.”

She answered confidently to Curtis’s suspicious frown.

After learning that this flawless war hero couldn’t swim and got seasick like a child, Chloe found him… a little less intimidating.

And seeing his always-cool face all twisted up in frustration? That was just icing on the cake.

If she’d been just a little bolder, she might’ve added, “Let’s do it tomorrow, at dawn, in the training yard, in front of everyone!”

But something felt… off.

“A sincere act, is it?” Curtis muttered, stroking his chin.

Then, to her shock—he nodded.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

“…What?”

Did he just agree? Just like that?

“Wait, this wasn’t supposed to happen…”

“Do you even understand what I meant just now, sir?”

“I do. Though I seem to have skipped an important step.”

An important step? Chloe tilted her head in confusion.

Then Curtis pulled something from his desk drawer and walked quickly toward her.

Too quickly—she didn’t even have time to stop him.

Before she knew it, he was standing right in front of her, looking down.

And Chloe froze.

“Crap…”

She had forgotten something important.

This man—Prince Curtis—had always been tall and broad. He’d spent six years at war. And three months of overwork had dulled her sense of reality.

But now, standing there, he radiated pressure. Intense. Overwhelming.

His expression was cold, his face almost too perfect to be real. That only added to the intimidation.

Chloe suddenly found herself reviewing everything she’d done.

“Did I… push this too far?”

Technically, she held the power here.

But now that she’d actually demanded he kneel and apologize, and now that he was glaring at her with that expression… she was getting scared.

Should she take it back? Say it was a joke?

But Curtis didn’t wait for her to apologize.

“Warrant Officer Ambroise.”

“Y-Yes?”

Her eyes darted to his hand. What’s in there? Not a gun, right? I’m not about to be executed for disrespecting royalty, am I?

Her hands started to sweat. Panic rose.

And then—whoosh. A breeze.

Chloe closed her eyes briefly.

When she opened them again… she was stunned.

Curtis Shan Berg was kneeling on one knee before her, in a formal pose.

But it wasn’t quite the scene she had imagined.

“This ring was given to my mother by the late king when he proposed.”

…What?

A ring?

In his hand was a luxurious ring box. Inside sparkled a massive amethyst, shining as brilliantly as its owner.

“Please, marry me.”

Sparkle.

Chloe was completely speechless.

Not because the man in front of her was breathtakingly beautiful.

But because she had no idea where things had gone so wrong.

****

At this point, it’s worth looking into what Curtis Shan Berg was really thinking.

To be honest, he actually thought pretty highly of Chloe Ambroise.

He also had a very realistic understanding of himself.

The guards called him things like “crazy” or “the devil” because of how strict, picky, and work-obsessed he was.

And sure, he buried himself in work mostly to forget the frustration of being demoted to the Royal Guard.

Still, he knew that working under him was brutal.

And yet—Chloe had lasted three months.

She wasn’t perfect, but compared to the disaster of previous aides, especially those from that messy navy, she was shockingly competent.

Other aides got buried in work, left their desks a mess, made sloppy mistakes, and didn’t even bathe for days.

Those types? He kicked them out without a second thought.

But Chloe?

She always tied her hair up neatly, kept things organized, and rarely made mistakes.

Of course, a lot of that came from her real-life experience raising her three younger siblings.

Curtis didn’t know that, but he still appreciated her.

Yes, there were reports that she was stingy and occasionally cleaned out her coworkers in high-stakes gambling matches…

But he didn’t care.

In fact, he found it admirable that her money-saving nature drove her to work overtime without complaints.

And if she won money gambling? Well, that was the losers’ problem, not his.

He was serious. He liked her enough that even if she called him a “crazy bastard” behind his back… he might just find it endearing.