Contract Marriage with the Devil Duke (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
The one who appeared in the backyard was Priest Ankedo, whom she had just seen a moment ago. Beside him stood another priest she had never seen before, clad in white vestments.
Their clothing differed somewhat. While the unfamiliar priest’s vestments were simple, Ankedo’s were more ornate, embroidered with golden patterns. Apparently, Ankedo held a higher rank.
Since there was no need to hide, Orentia was about to step out from behind the tree when Ankedo’s sharp voice rang out.
“The one who claimed to have seen me—did you dispose of the body properly?”
‘Body?’
Startled, Orentia quickly ducked back behind the tree and eavesdropped on their conversation.
The fluffy-haired priest nodded, his face pale as a ghost.
“Yes, yes, of course. I put him in a sack and dumped him in the Centmi River. Even if someone finds him later, the body will decompose enough that no one will be able to identify him.”
“And I told you to smile whenever you see me at the church. Is smiling really so hard? Every time you see me, you stiffen up so much and show your fear—who do you think that makes me look like in front of the Archbishop? Especially now, when the Archbishop is grinding his teeth hunting for the embezzler in the church.”
“I-I’m sorry. I’ll do better from now on.”
As this shocking exchange unfolded, Ankedo, seemingly dissatisfied, struck the fluffy-haired priest squarely in the solar plexus. His fist landed without the slightest hesitation.
Orentia was utterly stunned. When she had first been introduced to Ankedo, the Archbishop had spoken of him with such trust, and he had seemed incredibly gentle. Even in the reception room, he had been quiet and reserved, rarely speaking.
But this side of him!
Unconsciously, Orentia shuddered. Murder, corpse disposal, embezzlement—these were events she’d never even imagined encountering.
Just then, her trembling caused her to accidentally step on a branch in front of her.
Snap!
Orentia froze in place, and Ankedo turned his head, scanning around.
“…What was that? Was someone here?”
It was at that very moment that a woman’s voice called out from across the yard.
“Priest Ankedo!”
The woman who had run all the way to the backyard was the dreamlike figure with the orange shell hairpin.
Ankedo turned not toward the tree where Orentia was hiding, but in the opposite direction, and walked over as he spoke.
“Moring, was it you? Why did you come all the way here?”
The woman called Moring looked at him with a face as dark as twilight.
“Thomas, a junior administrator at Odor’s main church and also our neighbor, has gone missing. He knew you were the embezzler, didn’t he?”
“So what?”
“You didn’t hire someone to kill him, did you? My ex-lover couldn’t possibly be that scary a person. Right?”
It seemed Ankedo and Moring were former lovers. And Thomas, the junior church administrator mentioned by Moring, was likely the one stuffed in a sack and thrown into the Centmi River.
Orentia’s heart pounded so violently she thought it might burst. Fortunately, her small frame kept her completely concealed behind the tree.
Ankedo scratched his head irritably, then grabbed Moring’s arm.
“Come here. Don’t you understand how troublesome it is when you keep coming to the church like this?”
With that, the two left the backyard. The fluffy-haired priest had already fled the moment Moring appeared.
Only then did Orentia sink weakly onto the ground, clutching the tree with both hands and gasping for breath.
“Hah… hah…”
She needed to inform the Archbishop of this immediately. But without any magical recording device or concrete evidence, would he even believe her?
‘While staying at Count Odor’s estate, if you require anything from the church, simply ask Ankedo. Count Odor is likely quite busy.’
All she could recall was the Archbishop’s unwavering trust in Ankedo.
Unconsciously, Orentia began biting her fingernails, then quickly snapped out of it.
“This… this isn’t the time to be sitting here.”
Feeling it would be dangerous to go straight to the Archbishop, she left the backyard and grabbed a priest working at the main church.
It was a female priest, who looked utterly bewildered.
“What’s wrong? I just saw you arrive with Lord Count Odor a moment ago. You’re Lady Armenuaka, right?”
Being recognized as a member of House Armenuaka was helpful in moments like this.
Orentia nodded, then cautiously probed her.
“Is it true… that the reason Archbishop Verbu came to Odor’s main church was to find the embezzler?”
The female priest gasped in surprise and quickly led Orentia to a quiet spot. Leaning against the narrow gap between two walls, Orentia spoke in a weary, limp voice.
“So it’s true… what am I going to do…”
“How did you know that? Did Lord Count Odor tell you?”
“No, no. His Lordship didn’t say anything. I just overheard it in the backyard a moment ago. The culprit is Priest Ankedo.”
“Ahahaha! Haha!”
Despite Orentia’s serious tone, the priest burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. She clearly thought it impossible that Ankedo could be the culprit.
Why?
But the priest immediately explained.
“Priest Ankedo is a saint and hero of the Odor territory. Just last month, he personally rushed into a burning house to rescue children—it was truly incredible. He’s always seeking out difficult places to serve and sacrifice himself. How could someone like him be an embezzler? That’s absurd. You must be mistaken.”
Even the Archbishop seemed to hold Ankedo in special regard. Orentia clutched her forehead, her head spinning. She almost wished what she’d witnessed wasn’t true.
“So you won’t believe me, will you?”
When Orentia asked, the priest gave an awkward nod.
“I don’t know how you came to such a conclusion, but that’s not something to say lightly—especially since the Archbishop trusts Priest Ankedo deeply. He’d be furious. Of course, if you had evidence, that’d be different.”
“Evidence… evidence.”
She immediately thought of the body supposedly dumped in the Centmi River, but had no way to link it directly to Ankedo right away.
Gritting her teeth against her shaking legs, Orentia asked the priest,
“If we catch the embezzler, Archbishop Verbu will be pleased, right?”
The priest beamed as if Orentia had said something obvious.
“Of course! He’s under great stress right now with not even a single clue about the embezzler. He’d be overjoyed if we caught the culprit.”
After parting ways with the priest, Orentia stepped outside the main church. Her mind was tangled with thoughts of Ankedo, Moring, and the Archbishop.
Having heard about the corpse and knowing who the culprit was, she couldn’t just sit idle. And now that she realized catching the embezzler would please the Archbishop, she felt even more determined. After all, there must be no unjust deaths.
Orentia boarded the carriage from House Odor, which arrived promptly in front of the main church.
Her uncle wasn’t there—only a knight bearing a crescent moon emblem on his crest.
She told him,
“Take me to the count’s manor, not the jasmine-field villa.”
[This is the timeline separator]“Thomas isn’t dead, is he? Right? Tell me he isn’t!”
Even as Ankedo dragged her away, Moring kept pressing him.
Ankedo, having pulled her outside the church, released her arm and smiled.
“He probably got scared and ran off somewhere. How would I know where he disappeared to?”
Because passersby were around, Ankedo kept smiling. After all, he was known as a saint and hero of the Odor territory.
He tried to calm the agitated Moring.
“That’s why you shouldn’t just show up like this. We’ve broken up, remember? There’s no need for us to meet like this.”
“I know that. It’s just… I’ve been so scared and terrified lately.”
“Scared of what exactly?”
“Well… it’s nothing. I’ll go now.”
Moring gave up and started walking away. She knew she could never say those words in front of him.
‘Just like Thomas disappeared… I’m afraid I’ll end up the same way someday.’
She kept it all locked inside.
[This is the timeline separator]As soon as she arrived at Count Odor’s manor, Orentia sought out her uncle. She had something urgent to tell him.
“Uncle!”
The moment she called out, both Count Odor and Dimidius turned to look at her.
Count Odor and Dimidius had been drinking tea together in the first-floor hall.
Orentia flinched in surprise. Of course she’d run into Dimidius—he was staying at the manor—but she’d been so shaken by what happened at the Odor main church that she hadn’t even thought about it.
“N-Niece! Why are you here…”
Count Odor, flustered, took a step toward Orentia. His eyes seemed to ask why she hadn’t gone to the villa and had come to the manor instead.
Orentia grabbed the hem of his coat tightly and whispered so only he could hear,
“Please find the body dumped in the Centmi River right away.”
She could have hired mercenaries herself to search the river, but that would take too long. Telling her uncle was the surest way to get it done quickly, so she didn’t hesitate. Thomas surely had family—his body needed to be recovered intact for a proper burial.
Count Odor stared at Orentia, his face ashen.
“You… what have you gotten yourself into? Huh?”
“It’s not something I did! I’ll explain everything later—just search for the body quickly.”
Just then—
Dimidius, who had clearly been sitting on the sofa moments before, was now right beside them. Dressed in a suit of near-black purple, he still carried that familiar bitter bark scent.
“Might this be a conversation I shouldn’t overhear?”
Orentia pressed her chilled hands together and swallowed hard.
‘Did he hear me mention searching for the body? He’d have to be blind not to know!’
Dimidius was infuriatingly skilled at approaching without a sound.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
What about her cousin Sokor? It might explain his personality changes.