‘Ah, right. This is the first time inviting a lady to the mansion, of course. That makes sense.’

Satisfying himself with that conclusion, he once again adopted a manner as hospitable and respectful as possible towards Alicia.

“……”

“……”

After the butler had poured the tea and left, the two sat in silence for a while.

When their eyes met, Eric awkwardly smiled and offered the tea.

“Please, have some.”

“Ah, this is Orange Sylhet tea.”

“Yes.”

As he watched Alicia sip her tea, he started speaking.

“Sylhet region was once known for its oranges. So they thought it would be good to grow a tea with an orange scent or taste. It seems they tried various things, and during the first test, it did taste like oranges.

However, when they began to cultivate it in large quantities for commercial sale, something in the conditions didn’t match, and it ended up having the scent and taste of a different fruit.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“In a situation where the promotion and product packaging were already decided, they couldn’t change the name.”

“Ah, so the name is still Orange Sylhet.”

“I remembered that I hadn’t told you about it last time, so I looked it up.”

“You remembered. Thank you.”

“Yes, well.”

Eric had been worried that it might be awkward when they met, so he had looked into the affairs of the Sylhet territory for a distant relative who was a viscount. It proved useful.

As Eric was thinking about what to talk about next, Alicia took a sip of her tea and then carefully opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Count.”

“?”

“It wasn’t just your problem. My mother also…um. I didn’t think she’d go this far.”

“Ha, haha.”

Alicia watched Eric, who was laughing awkwardly, for a moment before she grasped the edge of her sleeve and began to speak.

“In truth, I was worried. I thought you might consider me a strange woman.”

“Ah. That’s not it. I’m not in a position to think like that either. And it’s not like we wanted to come this far.”

At his words, the situations they had experienced so far flashed through her mind like a slide show.

Then their eyes met, and both of them suddenly burst out laughing.

“When you think about it, it’s really disconcerting.”

“I agree. I’ve never been tossed around like this before.”

“Me neither.”

The absurdity of the situation made them laugh again.

But thanks to that, the awkward atmosphere was lifted, and they were able to deal with each other much more comfortably than before.

Feeling relieved inside, Alicia met Eric’s eyes.

“?”

“Shall we get engaged?”

“……Excuse me?”

“Let’s get engaged, us.”

At first, he thought he had misheard.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden.”

As Eric tried to stutter a response with a perplexed expression, he met Alicia’s serious gaze and straightened up.

“I’m sorry. It was so unexpected. May I ask why?”

“Neither you nor I have any thoughts of marriage.”

“Well…right.”

“But our parents don’t seem to be giving up.”

“That’s true.”

“So what if you make a contract with me?”

“A contract?”

“Yes. An engagement contract, so to speak.”

“Why such a disadvantageous proposition? If we break off the engagement later, it will tarnish your reputation.”
He didn’t care about worsening his own reputation, but he assumed it would be different for Alicia.

Yet, Alicia shrugged it off as if it were no big deal.

“Thank you for worrying about me. It’s my problem to deal with. Although it’s odd to call it a reward since you said it.”

“?”

“Would you employ me?”

“Employment?”

“I need a job.”

“A job? Why?”

“Because I’m having a hard time making ends meet. As you know, my father has been absent for a long time, my mother is frail, and my siblings are still young.”

Alicia spoke calmly, as if unfazed, but Eric was taken aback.

Usually, people would want to hide such matters, not openly discuss them.

More than that, he had heard that the Lancaster earldom was a quite successful family in the past generations. He found it odd that the earl’s daughter would be in need of a job after only one generation.

“Do people know about your family’s circumstances?”

“They do. I haven’t hidden it.”

Eric and the Duchess had even visited the mansion, but they had not noticed at all.

Even the Madam at the dressroom where the Duchess met Alicia didn’t notice.

Then the conversation he had with his mother, the Duchess, popped into his head and began to align with Alicia’s story.

‘I guess it’s fate. The Earl of Lancaster’s wife also frequents our dressroom. That dressroom, they don’t just give out clothes to anyone, right? Of course.’

‘Mother, she must’ve earned those from working at that dressroom.’

‘So she helps needy neighbors with the goods or money she gets.’

‘Mother, it seems like she’s the needy neighbor.’

‘The mansion felt so old and full of history.’

‘Mother, it’s just old.’

“Earl?”

Eric came out of his thoughts at the sound of Alicia’s voice.

He stared at Alicia who was waiting for his reply after looking at him for a moment.

‘My parents would never give up. A few quiet months in the capital would be enough.’

A contract requires a mutual giveandtake to be established, and since both parties’ desires were clear, wouldn’t this be an excellent contract?

Moreover, as the Madam of the dressroom had guaranteed, if Alicia was competent, there was no loss for Eric.

“Let’s do it, engagement.”

The decision was quick.

“As equal partners, we contract to get what we want.”

“Yes. That’s what I wanted.”

“We’ll announce it as betrothal for now. As the Earl of Lancaster is absent, we won’t actually be engaged. Even if we break off the engagement later, it won’t be a big deal.”

“Ah, that’s a good idea.”

“One more thing. I’ll decide on the reason for the breakup.”

“Why?”

“Well, because I’ll have more reasons.”

“What are these reasons?”

“That’s for later.”

Eric didn’t particularly want to say it himself, so he deflected with a laugh.

“Should we talk about the contract in detail?”

Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman

When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…

One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.

Synopsis

During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.

Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.

Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”

Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.

Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”

With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.

Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?

He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”

_____

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