The Dark Lord Obsesses Over His Fake Wife (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 3

My body, wrist caught, shrank inward.

Johan’s steady gaze slowly traced my eyes, nose, and lips, then returned to my eyes once more. Tense as stone, I couldn’t even breathe properly as I stared back at him.

But the words that came from his mouth were nothing like what I’d expected.

“Don’t wipe it off.”

“Huh…?”

“You don’t look well right now.”

Johan slowly bent his legs, lowering himself until his eyes met mine as I sat.

“Was there something you ate that didn’t agree with you?”

A sudden sense of reality washed over me, and my tension eased.

‘Ah, this isn’t Libertan.’

I must have briefly lost my senses due to the oppressive upbringing at Libertan. That’s why ingrained habits are truly frightening.

Only then did cold reason return to my mind.

‘After all, there’s no way this man would speak like someone from Libertan.’

It wasn’t that Johan was unusually understanding, unlike the Duke and Duchess of Libertan.

He was trying to seduce me to take revenge. Such a man wouldn’t lash out in anger, would he?

“I’m sorry for showing you such an unpleasant side right from the first day.”

After pausing briefly to gather my words, I slowly spoke.

“When I’m tired, certain foods sometimes don’t sit well with me. Today just happened to be one of those days, I suppose.”

“Does this happen often?”

“Not really. I think I was just unconsciously nervous.”

His long fingers tidied my hair, then lightly brushed past my ear. That faint, ambiguous touch sent a strange warmth through me.

‘Now I understand why I was so easily fooled.’

Judging by Johan’s demeanor alone, it didn’t seem like he was treating me as a fake wife to toy with and discard. As he leaned closer, my body stiffened with tension.

Johan asked in a languid tone,

“So there’s nothing wrong with the food itself?”

“No. If anything, it was so delicious I was surprised.”

Right now, I had to be careful about everything I did.

‘It’d be terrible if an innocent cook at the manor suffered because of me.’

Honestly, I didn’t want to become the kind of duchess who caused trouble for the household staff the moment she arrived for marriage. After all, the Blanchet household was already full of people who had plenty of reasons to dislike me.

‘Isn’t there a good way to smooth this over?’

I gave a shy smile, cut a small piece of the Eleon fruit cake I’d been eating with another fork, and offered it to Johan.

“Try it. It’s really delicious.”

Johan looked at me with an oddly indescribable expression, then slowly opened his mouth and accepted the cake.

“…Not bad.”

“Right? It’s tasty, isn’t it?”

Though it wasn’t a cake I’d made myself, I beamed with pride.

After dinner, Estelle stood to return to her room. Somehow, she seemed immensely pleased just by having fed him cake.

“Then I’ll be off now.”

Estelle, who had just reached the door, fluttered her pink ribbon and hurried back to him.

Fidgeting with her fingers, hesitant, Estelle’s pale cheeks flushed as she spoke.

“Dinner was lovely tonight. Let’s have dinner together again next time.”

Johan kept thinking of Estelle’s shy smile as she left. Glancing briefly at the cake she’d left behind, he dipped a finger into the remaining whipped cream and tasted it.

Just sweet whipped cream—nothing more, nothing less.

‘That’s not the taste I remember.’

It couldn’t have changed in such a short time, yet it felt different from when Estelle had given it to him.

‘Must be my imagination.’

But there were more than just one or two things troubling him.

‘S-sorry… It’s just that I…’

Her face pale with fear, her voice tinged with faint anxiety. The hand hastily wiping the whipped cream from her dress with a white handkerchief even seemed desperate.

‘Why did she say that?’

Honestly, something had felt off from the moment she ate that cake.

The Eleon fruit cake was said to be a favorite of the entire Libertan ducal family. Spies had clearly reported that Estelle, though adopted, also loved the cake and that it always appeared at family meals.

That was precisely why the cake had been served as dessert tonight.

‘Having a favorite cake would make her feel more at ease.’

Yet when Estelle actually received the cake, her eyes had flickered slightly. That reaction didn’t resemble someone seeing a dessert they often enjoyed at home.

‘Is that how a beloved daughter would react?’

Especially when she claimed to feel unwell—it was even more suspicious. A typical noble young lady would have demanded an apology from whoever prepared the food.

‘No, if anything, it was so delicious I was surprised.’

But Estelle hadn’t sought any apology from the ducal chef or anyone else. Instead, she tried hard to praise it and let the matter pass smoothly.

‘I just don’t understand.’

Seated in his study, Johan reread the spies’ reports and asked Erich,

“Erich. Are these reports truly accurate?”

“The reports from our spies embedded in Libertan, my lord.”

[The Duke and Duchess of Libertan cherish Estelle so deeply that servants without established trust are never even allowed near her.] [It’s believed the sudden, secret expenditure of large sums by the Libertan ducal couple was due to Estelle Libertan.] [Each year, Estelle’s annual allowance for maintaining her dignity exceeds that of the Duchess of Libertan.] [To enjoy harmonious family meals, they always share Estelle’s favorite Eleon fruit cake once a week without fail.]

“Yes. These facts have been verified multiple times.”

The Libertan ducal family had originally been wealthy.

Fertile lands and profitable gem mines ensured constant income. Yet their sudden downfall wasn’t solely due to Johan’s schemes.

At some point, the once-prosperous Libertan family’s funds had completely dried up.

The cause was excessive donations to the temple. Given the temple’s significant role in falsely accusing the Blanchet ducal house, this wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

Adjusting his glasses, Erich asked Johan,

“But why the sudden doubt, my lord?”

“My wife’s behavior seems strange.”

“Strange how?”

“She might be allergic to Eleon fruit.”

Allergies to Eleon fruit were extremely rare. Moreover, the symptoms differed from typical allergic reactions.

Initially, it appeared as sudden weakness, followed later by fever and pain—a condition easily mistaken for a mild fever by most.

Johan knew about Eleon fruit allergies because his childhood nurse had suffered from one.

‘Could she really not even know she’s allergic?’

Perhaps, in her eagerness to fulfill her role as his wife, she’d overdone it. But even that wouldn’t be considered normal behavior.

At that moment, Erich frowned and countered,

“So you’re saying she knowingly ate the entire cake despite being aware of her allergy?”

“Probably.”

“That’s a remarkably foolish ploy.”

Erich scoffed as if Estelle stood right before him.

“Does she really think showing such weakness will make others pity her?”

Johan leaned back elegantly in his chair and replied,

“Her motive is unclear.”

“She likely assumed the Blanchet household didn’t know she usually enjoyed Eleon fruit. So even with an allergy, she acted as if she still loved the fruit she was supposed to…”

At those words, Johan’s lips tightened faintly.

But the change was so subtle that even Johan himself didn’t notice it. Thus, Erich continued heatedly,

“So even without blood ties, a Libertan remains a Libertan. To believe such tricks would change anything…”

“Enough.”

Erich’s steel-gray eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Johan. But Johan’s expression remained as indifferent as ever.

“There’s no action more dangerous than baseless speculation.”

“…”

“In any case, it’s true that her behavior contradicts the spies’ reports—whether she’s scheming or not.”

“…That’s fair.”

Conceding to the valid point, Erich reluctantly nodded.

‘Right. This was just unreasonable nitpicking.’

Erich often lost his composure whenever Libertan was involved. He must have spoken too harshly, thinking the other party was the detested daughter of Libertan.

‘As expected of my lord.’

If anyone in the world hated Libertan more than Erich, it would be Johan Blanchet.

Yet even facing the detested daughter of Libertan, Johan maintained a calm, impartial demeanor without letting personal feelings interfere.

Erich once again realized just how extraordinary Johan was. No matter what anyone said, Johan was the man who had successfully rebuilt a ducal house utterly ruined by false charges of treason.

“Before the Libertan ducal house is officially condemned for treason, I’ll contact our spies to verify these facts.”

Once even his aide Erich departed, Johan’s study was enveloped in dark silence. His desk—impeccably tidy, allowing no disorder while he worked—looked unusually spacious today.

‘Try it. It’s really delicious.’

That innocent voice overlapped with hazy memories of the family he’d lost long ago. Unconsciously, Johan’s hand tightened.

He looked at Estelle’s portrait atop the report.

In the painting, she smiled faintly, as if gazing directly at him.

“Estelle Libertan.”

His long finger brushed the corner of the smiling woman’s lips.

If there are too many uncertainties, simply eliminate them one by one. Keep shaking her until a genuine reaction surfaces.

After all, he had plenty of means at his disposal.

I returned to my room and lay comfortably on the bed.

‘I never thought I’d be this glad to see this room.’

Honestly, the room I’d been given wasn’t particularly nice. It wasn’t that the furniture was lacking—rather, everything, from the furnishings to the curtains, was entirely black, giving the place a rather eerie atmosphere.

‘Still, I’m so happy to have a space of my own.’

At Libertan, I’d never truly had a room of my own.

Though I’d been given a private chamber as an adopted noble young lady, it wasn’t really mine. I couldn’t even sleep alone—the servants always hovered nearby, watching like guards.

‘Not that I could have run away anywhere anyway.’

Sometimes, they’d pick absurd faults with me, leaving me unable to sleep properly.

So this quiet solitude felt like true rest. Gazing blankly out the window, I hugged a pillow.

‘Did I do okay today?’

I hadn’t particularly earned any points, but I didn’t think I’d made any major mistakes either. I did drop my fork, but I handled it well enough.

‘From now on, I’ll keep trying, little by little.’

Though my situation still seemed hopeless, my mind felt lighter than it had at the Libertan ducal house.

Knock knock.

A knock sounded from outside the door.

“Betty?”

But it was Johan who entered my room. In the original story, he rarely visited unless something serious happened. Besides, taking direct action wasn’t really Johan’s style—he preferred working from the shadows.

‘Why on earth did he come?’

Eyes wide, I sat up straight to look at him. Johan shrugged his shoulders with an air of ease.

“Am I making you uncomfortable by coming suddenly?”

His slightly undone top button and relaxed attire enhanced his languid aura. Meeting his gaze, I shook my head and replied,

“I was a little surprised, but it’s fine.”

Though “a little” was an understatement—I was thoroughly startled. It was probably better to show my flustered feelings honestly than pretend otherwise.

“But why are you here, Your Grace?”

“It’s your first night as my wife.”

Johan asked with deep concern in his voice,

“Was there anything uncomfortable?”

“No, everything was fine. Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Don’t thank me. It’s only natural for a husband to do so.”

Had I not known they hadn’t even filed their marriage registration, his gentle tone would have been utterly convincing.

Johan approached and sat casually on the edge of the bed, smiling sweetly. Each time this aloofly handsome man smiled, the gap in his demeanor softened—and my heart began to race.

Then Johan leaned back leisurely onto the bed. Surprised, I blurted out,

“Why are you suddenly on my bed…?”

“Suddenly?”

Johan looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Isn’t it natural for a married couple to share a room?”

“Well, yes, but I was told this was my room.”

“That’s right—it’s your room.”

Johan gave a small, amused smile as he looked at me.

“But there’s no reason we can’t share your room, is there?”

Johan’s presence filled the bedroom not with warmth, but with tension. Or perhaps it was just my imagination—but I felt heat rising to my head.