Strategic Marriage with the Mad Villain - Chapter 16

As I turned my head, I saw Reus approaching right behind me.

Unlike his usual cold expression, he wore a very gentle smile.

“Roel.”

Reus naturally took my hand and led me to a corner.

Though I pretended not to notice, I could feel everyone in the room glancing at us.

Feeling awkward, I was just clearing my throat when Reus spoke in a low voice that only I could hear.

“A reply has come from Ibelle.”

“Ah…”

‘…Judging by his expression, I don’t need to ask what kind of answer they sent.’

After all, no sane family with a daughter in the Empire would refuse a proposal from the Grand Duke, the current power of the Empire.

Even Feria, who wishes for my unhappiness, couldn’t bring herself to reject it.

“More importantly… could you stop her?”

“Stop what?”

“Lady Shanette. At this rate, she might order three wedding dresses.”

“I don’t see why we need to stop that.”

“I don’t need three wedding dresses, Your Grace…”

Reus stared at me for a moment before speaking in a calm voice.

“Then let’s do this. I like the dress you’re wearing now, so we’ll purchase this one.”

Whether it’s because he saved my life or because of our contract, Reus seems to have become a bit more friendly towards me.

I thought that just a second ago, but then Reus suddenly said,

“Instead, you go over there and tell them yourself.”

“Tell them what…”

“What I just said.”

“Pardon…? Why should I tell them what Your Grace said…”

“Of course, I’d prefer if you used my name instead of ‘Your Grace’.”

“…”

“After all, we’re lovers now, aren’t we?”

Inwardly, I felt there was a world of difference between casually addressing a character in a novel and casually addressing the Grand Duke of the Empire.

Even though I remembered my past life, I had been born and raised in this world.

And acting like I loved Reus in front of people was still…

“Is it that difficult?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean addressing me.”

“It’s not easy to suddenly change how I address you…”

“You found it easy to say ‘hey you,’ but ‘Reus’ is difficult? I really don’t understand your standards.”

“Th-that was a mistake…! It won’t happen again, Your Gra-”

I should have at least stopped calling him ‘Your Grace’ if I couldn’t call him by name…

Reus, as if he had expected this, kindly turned my body around.

“Think of it as practice to get used to it, and go.”

With no choice, I approached Shanette and Celeste.

“Hm? You can talk more if you want!”

“No, we’re done talking. It’s just that…”

“Ah… Did the Grand Duke say he doesn’t like the dress…?”

As I hesitated to answer, Celeste couldn’t hide her great disappointment.

The dress I was wearing now was clearly the one Celeste had put the most effort into among the wedding dresses she had brought.

It was embroidered with tiny jewels all over, giving off a subtle glow with the slightest movement, and towards the upper body, larger and more expensive jewels were intricately set, making it look like a work of art.

So it was understandable that Celeste would be very disappointed by my hesitant attitude.

‘But what am I supposed to do…! I can’t do it…!’

“If you don’t like it, we can prepare another dress in a few days…”

“Celeste, that’s not it…!”

“You can be honest with me, Lady Ibelle.”

Before Celeste could misunderstand further, I hastily spoke up.

“That’s not it…! R-Reus…, said he likes this dress the most…”

“Oh my…”

It was undeniably a familiar form of address. Celeste seemed to think so too, as she kept exclaiming in admiration, saying how nice it was.

“If that’s the case, you should have said so earlier! Why are you being so shy?”

“Haha…”

At that moment, Reus, who had approached without me noticing, gently wrapped his arms around my shoulders and said to Celeste.

“I did say that, but to be honest, it might be difficult to choose just one.”

“What…? Y-Your… I mean, Reus…!”

“So you can leave all the dresses you brought.”

I looked at him with slightly reproachful eyes, but Reus just showed a well-crafted smile.

* * *

Shanette said she had something more to discuss with Celeste, so Reus and I went down to the dining room first.

“That’s not what you said, Y-… I mean… Reus.”

“Is that so? I don’t remember lying.”

“But you clearly said you would only buy that dress…!”

“I said I would buy that dress, but I don’t think I said I would only buy that one.”

…This person had intended to buy all the dresses from the beginning.

When I looked at him with dissatisfaction, Reus continued.

“Our marriage is somewhat sudden, so it’s better to have at least a minimal justification to convince people, isn’t it?”

“Well… that’s true.”

“The boutique staff will spread rumors before the official announcement of our marriage. Everything from the fact that you’re staying here to how I’m completely smitten with you.”

“Even so, it doesn’t seem necessary to spend so much unnecessary money…”

“Roel. Sometimes exaggerated rumors that spread by word of mouth can be helpful. So this is a kind of investment.”

“…”

“This was my unilateral decision, so you don’t need to worry about it too much.”

Reus was right. It wasn’t something he had discussed with me, nor had he explained it, so there was no need for me to worry about it that much.

But it wasn’t just about the money…

“I feel sorry for Lady Shanette. She genuinely likes and congratulates us, but it feels like we’re deceiving her…”

“We’re already deceiving her.”

“…”

Once again, unable to refute his accurate statement, I couldn’t help but glare at Reus.

“You don’t have to point it out so precisely. I was just saying I feel uncomfortable…”

“Roel.”

“Yes… Reus.”

Satisfied with my response, Reus continued.

“I think you also know that marriages between nobles are usually contracts between families.”

“Yes… I know.”

“So you can think of it simply. It’s just that the subject of the contract has changed from families to individuals.”

“…I understand what you mean.”

“If it still bothers you, feel free to blame everything on me. After all, I’m the one who held onto someone who didn’t want to stay, aren’t I?”

“No…! I don’t think that way… I’m the one who listened and accepted the proposal.”

Reus stared at me silently for a moment.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright going alone? When you’re this soft-hearted, I’m a bit worried about sending you by yourself.”

I’m leaving the Grand Duke’s castle in a few days to return to the Ibelle Count’s residence.

That day is also when my father returns home after a long time, so I planned to meet him in person to tell him about the marriage and also talk about the Silent Forest.

Originally, we were supposed to go together, but due to Reus’s sudden urgent schedule, I decided to go to the Count’s residence alone first.

“We could also stay here for another week and go together.”

“It’s okay. After all… it’s my home. You don’t need to worry too much, I won’t make any mistakes.”

That’s how I answered, but to be honest, I didn’t want to return to the Ibelle Count’s residence alone.

‘I have no idea how Feria will react.’

But we had already announced the marriage without properly settling the broken engagement issue… If we made them wait any longer, it might make Feria irreversibly angry.

So even if I had to go alone, I needed to return to Ibelle as soon as possible and explain everything.

* * *

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and finally, the day came for me to return to the Ibelle Count’s residence.

According to Reus, rumors that we were about to get married had completely spread throughout the central social circles.

The focus of the rumors was, as Reus intended, on our dramatic love story.

About how Reus had actually held me in his heart for a long time, how he succeeded in persuading me and winning my heart, how seriously he was taking the marriage, and how much money he was spending.

It seemed that the news of the Ibelle Count’s family officially sending a letter of engagement annulment to the Ercian Marquis family had spread appropriately, making the rumors even more sensational.

Thanks to this, whether they liked it or not, no one could easily cancel this marriage now.

This would be especially true for Feria, who would accept me as her daughter out of fear of social rumors and treat me affectionately in public due to others’ gazes.

So now the only hurdle left was to appease Feria well and get her permission…

“Sigh…”

As I was fiddling with my cold fingertips, the carriage slowly came to a stop, signaling our arrival at the Ibelle Count’s residence.

Pushing back my nervous and anxious feelings, I slowly made my way towards the Count’s mansion. But not far away, I saw Feria quickly approaching me.

“Roel!”

“M-Mother…”

I tensed up because she called my name so loudly, but Feria didn’t look as angry as I had thought.

No, rather, she seemed to be in a very good… mood.

“Was the journey not too difficult?”

“Um, no. It was comfortable.”

“Instead of standing here, let’s go inside first. Your father has already arrived and is waiting for you.”

Though the words were clearly directed at me, Feria’s tone was surprisingly gentle, unlike her usual self.

‘Why…?’

I thought it might be because she was conscious of the Grand Duke’s knights visible in the distance, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Feria genuinely appeared to be in a good mood.

Feria led me as I stood there awkwardly. Then she even wrapped her arm gently around my shoulders.

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