Last night? Rough like a beast? Victoria Owello glanced at me as if mocking.
She was hanging on Sidney’s neck ostentatiously.
Sidney Warden, who would even pretend to die at my words.
The fact that he, who used to keep his distance from both men and women, doesn’t push away Victoria Owello’s touch…
Are they really lovers?
No, that can’t be.
Sidney Warden entered around 6:50 PM. Calculating the distance from Mayfield Avenue to the hotel, Victoria Owello must have taken the carriage around 8 PM.
Marien. She has never entered this apartment.
Moreover, when she went out, Victoria Owello’s only visitor, Sidney Warden, was sleeping in the apartment.
Is it really just a coincidence?
It can’t be. If so, then the efforts I made for two days…
[This is the timeline separator]Two days ago, after Sidney Warden collapsed like that, Logan changed his strategy.
Rather than relying on intuition that the two were the same person, he decided to pressure Sidney with solid evidence.
If Sidney was Marien, she would reveal herself, and if not, she would have no choice but to disclose Marien’s whereabouts.
For this, the Imperial Law was the surest way. Even the Emperor of Asnel couldn’t ignore Asnel’s Imperial Law.
By Imperial Law, the right to search for a missing woman is limited to family and fiancés.
Especially if that woman is a noble, even royalty must cooperate with the search and investigation.
Logan Redford immediately went to see his grandfather, Marquis Theodore Redford. Then he presented the documents he had brought.
“Marien? You want to get engaged to a woman without even a surname now?”
Marquis Redford threw the proposal letter on the desk and leaned back in his chair. He glared at his grandson fiercely, as if daring him to speak.
“I can’t marry anyone but her.”
“You dare… to threaten me?”
Marquis Redford jumped up, slamming his hand on the desk with a bang as he raised his voice.
The old marquis’s anger, his eyes bulging and body trembling. It was no different from what Logan had anticipated.
“I’m just telling you the truth. It’s not that I won’t, but that I can’t.”
“You mean, you can only marry that woman?”
“Yes.”
Marquis Theodore Redford was speechless, his face incredulous. It must be because of the declaration Logan had made a year ago when he returned from the battlefield.
Logan Redford was Theodore’s pride and joy.
He must have thought there was no way his perfect grandson and heir, who lacked nothing, could be like that.
Until now, the Redford family had never been lacking or incapable in that area, if anything, they had been excessive.
He had thought so too.
His grandfather wasn’t one to just believe those words. Of course, he had confirmed with Ernest Holden that Logan had been unable to be with a woman.
Logan calmly looked at his grandfather, Marquis Redford, who had gripped his shoulders. The marquis’s eyes and voice were trembling.
“…You were able to?”
“There might even be a great-grandchild already.”
“Well done! Well done indeed! Hahaha!”
Theodore Redford, the Marquis. He hugged Logan tightly and laughed heartily. Then suddenly, he turned serious and shouted.
“Then we should have a wedding right away, not just an engagement.”
“I don’t want anything from you, grandfather.”
It meant he wouldn’t ask for anything since he wouldn’t receive anything. Logan placed a pen in Theodore’s hand and nodded towards the documents on the desk.
Theodore signed the proposal letter and even stamped it with the family seal. Then he threw the documents at his grandson’s chest as he slipped away like an eel, glaring at him.
“Such an impudent brat.”
Logan neatly folded the proposal letter and put it in his breast pocket, then held out another document. After checking it, Marquis Redford retorted accusingly.
“Ha! You say you don’t want anything while handing over a document transferring 10% of the porcelain business rights?”
“She has disappeared.”
“Are you saying the Duke of Owello kidnapped my grandson’s bride?”
The old marquis was so angry he seemed ready to wage a territorial war. Logan shook his head and lowered his voice.
“I need his help.”
Give up the porcelain business rights, which are like a goose that lays golden eggs, just to get some help? He’s not the type to do something that’s clearly a loss…
His grandfather’s thoughts were clear as day. But Logan wasn’t worried. No matter how much he calculated, giving up the porcelain business shares would be profitable.
As expected, the marquis smirked and sneered.
“Logan, since there’s no guarantee you’ll find the missing woman… I can’t give you anything.”
It meant he wanted something certain in return.
Now the real negotiation begins. Logan raised one corner of his mouth and asked back.
“…What should I give you?”
“If it was possible once, why not twice. If you can’t find this Marien woman after three months… marry the woman I choose and continue the family line.”
Marriage confirmation and succession of the title. Things that Marquis Redford had been pestering him about.
Continuing the family line was something he’d have to do eventually, but marrying another woman wasn’t very appealing.
But someone like Marien wouldn’t be bad. She didn’t seem to dislike it either…
“…I’ll find her.”
That’s why he needed to see for himself. Who Marien was, whether she was the same person as Sidney Warden…
He couldn’t let Sidney manipulate him any longer in this neither-here-nor-there state. Logan clenched his fist and steeled his resolve.
“I’m getting old now. That’s enough, so take off your uniform and continue the family line.”
“Understood.”
With that, he left the Redford marquis’s residence and went to see Duke Owello.
For the past 200 years, the Redford marquis family had monopolized the porcelain business.
Even if it’s just 10%, the symbolism cannot be ignored.
After adding the condition ‘excluding physical harm, restraint, and arrest’, Duke Owello signed the consent form allowing the investigation of Victoria.
That’s how he obtained valuable information from John Durfman, the manager of the apartment where Victoria Owello lived.
That day, Sidney Warden had entered this apartment, and the only person who came out was Marien…
It couldn’t be a coincidence. Logan Redford snorted as he looked at Sidney Warden’s profile.
[This is the timeline separator]Sidney sat far away, diagonally across from Logan Redford. It was an unconscious action born from the desire to keep as much distance as possible from him.
A moment later, as the carriage started moving, Victoria and Sarah, who had been waving, faded into the distance. The same was true for the people hurrying to work and the street scenery.
Looking at the rapidly changing landscape, he recalled what Logan had said.
Does he still not have concrete evidence? Sidney stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb. It was a habit that came out unconsciously when he was nervous.
It was thoroughly calculated.
To observe and analyze his reaction using unexpected time and place, unexpected people, and fabricated facts.
Moreover, to find out the truth about Marien.
The fact that Logan Redford went to such lengths means he suspects that Sidney is Marien…
It must be because of the kiss mark. Or maybe she missed something.
No matter how much he thought about it, only fragments of hazy memories from that night came to mind. Sidney frowned and pressed his index finger against his lower lip.
It was just one night.
As the pieces of memory came together, he resented his body for craving the pleasure he had shared with him.
Perhaps Logan, like himself, was looking for Marien, driven by physical desire.
Was I that good? Sidney speculated on the possibility that he had greatly satisfied him.
Logan’s face contorted with pleasure, his blue eyes half-lidded, filling him completely…
Enough. Sidney cleared his throat and blinked rapidly. Then he frowned as he scratched the widely spread breath on the glass window with his index fingernail.
A cold-blooded person like Logan Redford is looking for Marien just for carnal pleasure? Even getting consent from the Duke of Owello’s family?
Impossible. Sidney slowly closed his eyes and opened them again.
Why? What’s the reason for Logan Redford’s obsession with Marien? To look for her to such an extent… Here we are back at square one.
Without realizing it, he glanced at Logan and their eyes met.
“Commander, why are you looking for Marien?”
“My fiancée has disappeared, so I must find her.”
There’s no way he would fall for it twice. Sidney didn’t react to the word ‘fiancée’ and calmly asked back.
“Have you thought about why she disappeared?”
“Well, what do you think?”
“Is my opinion important?”
“Very much so.”
Judging by his mocking gaze and tone, Logan seemed to be speaking on the premise that ‘Sidney is Marien’.
Since he’s being this blatant, perhaps it’s better to confront him head-on for once.
But how? Let’s argue that it’s unpleasant to be mistaken for a woman. Any man would feel that way.
Sidney steeled his resolve and calmly began to speak.
“Commander, please tell me why my opinion is important. I’m uncomfortable with you seeming to regard me as Marien.”
Logan smirked as if surprised and slightly bowed his head. Then his eyes narrowed as if measuring something.
“I’m at a loss too. My intuition keeps telling me ‘you are Marien’.”
Intuition? Despite being confident he could explain any suspicion. Sidney was momentarily dumbfounded by this word so unlike Logan.
If he had asked about how Marien and Sidney had similar height and build, or how Marien, who had never entered the apartment, managed to come out. Such questions wouldn’t have been so bewildering.
“Are you saying you see me as a woman right now?”
“Can you prove otherwise?”
What does he want me to prove? That I’m not a woman? How? Even in this situation, he was looking at me with a very serious face, expecting something.
“Do I need to take off my clothes right here, right now?”
Despite trying to stay calm, his voice and body trembled. That’s how perplexing this situation was for Sidney.
“That would be definitive.”
Sidney Warden’s face crumpled terribly.
As a bonus, he glared at Logan as if looking at utter trash.
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
