The End Of The Special Contract Marriage (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 22
The couple ran into each other at the entrance for the first time in a while.
It had been so long since they last saw each other—just last week—but they’d already begun to fade from each other’s memories, so this meeting felt timely.
Today, Damian wore a crimson cloak draped over his shoulders. His already large frame appeared even more imposing beneath its folds.
‘Ah, since ours was a love marriage, we ought to show everyone we’re getting along well.’
Aracila, who had been stealing glances at his sharp profile, suddenly had this thought. They’d both been so busy lately that they’d forgotten how to act like a devoted couple.
Aside from Marquis and Marchioness Hugo, who worried endlessly about their daughter, no one else had ever criticized their lackluster marriage—which made it all the easier to neglect.
Even House of Duke Vandermir, after the wedding, had refrained from interfering at all…
Remembering her parents’ recent nagging about focusing on their new household, Aracila approached Damian instead of walking past him.
The servants who had gathered at the entrance to greet her followed her movement with their eyes. Since it was the first time in a long while that the master and mistress were meeting face-to-face, everyone watched with mild curiosity.
“You’re back so late, Damian? After not seeing each other for so long, I’m truly delighted to finally meet you like this.”
“Yes, my lady. I’ve missed you greatly as well.”
Sensing the expectant gazes fixed upon them, Damian played along. He, too, remembered they ought to appear affectionate in front of others.
As they stepped closer, the contrasting colors of their formal attire stood out sharply.
“I suppose the Magic Tower has kept you terribly busy. I heard you’ve been returning home late every night.”
“It is quite busy, yes. But thanks to our research, the world progresses toward greater convenience.”
While nodding as if listening intently to Aracila, Damian subtly adjusted his arm to casually drape it around her shoulders.
“Don’t overwork yourself. A life spent solely on research without even seeing sunlight isn’t healthy.”
He offered this advice sincerely, not to provoke her. Seeing Aracila’s pale skin and slender frame, he couldn’t help but worry.
After all, many mages collapsed from malnutrition or exhaustion…
Wait—why am I even worrying about this woman?
This sudden realization prompted Damian to add gruffly,
“If you happen to lose your mind and cause an accident, I’ll be held responsible for the duration of our contract, won’t I?”
As a result, his words sounded perfectly like petty provocation to Aracila—from start to finish. Moreover, he’d whispered them just loudly enough for her alone to hear.
Yep, this is definitely provoking me. No doubt about it.
Maintaining a shy smile on her face, Aracila gritted her teeth and retorted,
“Don’t worry. Even if I end up taking care of you, Damian, I’ll never give you a reason to take care of me.”
The servants had been straining to catch the murmured conversation between their master and mistress, but nothing was truly audible.
All they could observe was Aracila gently pushing Damian away with a faint smile playing on her lips.
Feeling irritation rising at the thought of continuing the conversation with her husband, Aracila quickly ascended the stairs. But as she stepped onto the second stair, her foot caught, and she stumbled.
“Mistress!”
Before Audrey could rush over in alarm, Damian swiftly moved and caught Aracila by the waist. Her waist was so slender it could easily be encircled by one arm.
Having lost her balance, Aracila unintentionally fell into his arms. Her hand, which had instinctively reached up, found his shoulder—broad and solid.
Less than a finger’s width separated them.
“Have you been eating properly?”
Damian asked in a low voice, his brow slightly furrowed. His warm breath brushed against her as he spoke.
“…Of course I have.”
Aracila blinked slowly in reply. It was true—she needed to eat regularly to keep up her strength for prolonged magical research.
Damian cast a disapproving glance at her slender, fully exposed neck—her hair tied neatly up—and spoke slowly.
“Then take even better care of yourself. What if you faint and people start spreading rumors that I neglect my wife?”
“If I ever collapse, you can be sure I’ll leave a note naming you as the culprit.”
Aracila snapped sharply, pulling herself free from his embrace. Then, raising her voice deliberately for the watching servants to hear, she said,
“Thank you, Damian. Because of you, I wasn’t hurt.”
“Protecting my lady is my duty. I’m relieved you’re unharmed.”
Damian placed a hand over his chest and bowed courteously—a knight perfectly observing decorum even toward his own wife.
Aracila gave him a brief smile, looking up at his handsome face, which still towered over hers even though she stood one step above.
She concluded their exchange with a warm farewell and returned to her room.
After changing into a comfortable dress, Aracila settled onto the sofa, leaning back as Audrey began carefully brushing her hair.
Half-dozing to the sound of the brush, Aracila faintly heard a cautious voice call out to her.
“Um… Mistress.”
“Yes, Audrey.”
“The mood among the maids lately doesn’t seem quite right.”
Aracila, now fully closing her eyes, replied in a drowsy tone,
“Is it because they’ve been making too many mistakes while serving me?”
“…You knew?”
She gave a soft chuckle. Though she’d been away for a while, she wasn’t so oblivious as to miss the subtle tension in the air.
Besides,
“I’ve had a perfect maid by my side my whole life—of course I’d notice.”
Having experienced Audrey’s flawless service, the slight shortcomings of the other maids in House Vandermir had become even more apparent.
“But then why do nothing about it?”
“If I nitpick every little mistake from the start, it’ll only breed resentment. It’s better to overlook what I can.”
If she truly wanted to, Aracila could crush the maids’ spirits and assert her authority at any moment.
But it was bothersome. And she did want to show some respect to the long-serving maids of the household.
More importantly, having always been treated with respect in House of Marquis Hugo, she didn’t grasp the seriousness of the current situation.
“Time will resolve it.”
“…But, Mistress, some seem to harbor ill will toward you without any real reason.”
Audrey set down the brush and knelt beside Aracila, who opened her eyes and looked down at her maid.
“Especially Rosalyn concerns me.”
“Could it be she’s just taken a fancy to my face?”
Even at this silly joke, Audrey didn’t smile—she was serious.
“It feels… off. If we leave Rosalyn alone, I fear she’ll cause you harm.”
“Oh, our Audrey’s instincts aren’t something to ignore lightly.”
Aracila patted the maid’s shoulder affectionately, her face warm with amusement.
“Alright, Audrey. If she crosses a line, I’ll handle it immediately.”
“…”
“So you tell me right away if you feel she’s overstepped. I’ll deal with it at once.”
Audrey already knew that Aracila could resolve any issue anytime she chose to.
She also understood that her mistress was deliberately showing leniency and consideration toward the maids.
“I understand, Mistress.”
Thus, Audrey accepted Aracila’s decision and stepped back. After all, the maids hadn’t committed any concrete wrongdoing yet.
‘I’ll just try even harder myself.’
Someday, the household maids would come to accept both Aracila and her.
They’d see for themselves just how kind and gentle Aracila truly was.
Even if her kindness wasn’t immediately obvious, everyone would come to feel it with time.
Audrey believed this wholeheartedly.
[This is the timeline separator]While Aracila generously overlooked the strange atmosphere in the mansion, Rosalyn grew increasingly brazen.
She openly excluded Audrey and formed her own clique among the maids. She gossiped about Aracila and dressed herself extravagantly, far beyond a maid’s proper station.
The Head Maid, who should have reprimanded such behavior, remained passive due to pressure from House of Duke.
“They say the master and mistress get along better than expected. They’re just busy—that’s all. Look, he even saved her when she nearly got hurt.”
Then one day, Rosalyn overheard a maid who had witnessed the Vandermeer couple that day.
Rosalyn’s face instantly soured. She’d worked hard to plant the image that Aracila was merely using Damian, not truly fond of him; this story contradicted that narrative.
‘Have they grown close again?’
The suspicion flickered briefly, but quickly faded when she once again saw the two acting distant as usual.
He probably just caught her because she fell right in front of him.
Still, to be safe, she decided it was time to stop scheming against Aracila and instead make her move toward Damian.
‘If their marriage improves even slightly, it’ll ruin everything. I must strike before that happens.’
Convinced of her plan, Rosalyn claimed it was difficult to serve under Aracila and Audrey’s watchful eyes and requested to swap duties with Damian’s personal maid.
Dressed in a slightly-too-small maid uniform, she went to attend to Damian upon his return home.
“Who are you? I’ve never seen your face before.”
Damian paused, narrowing his eyes as he handed over his jacket. Rosalyn replied with the purest expression she could muster,
“I was originally assigned to serve the mistress, but today I was reassigned to attend to you, sir.”
“Why?”
“…I must have been too clumsy and made too many mistakes. I think I’ve fallen out of favor with the mistress.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Rosalyn put on a pitiful expression and slightly rolled up her sleeve, revealing marks she’d deliberately made to look like punishment inflicted by Aracila.
Her goal was to gain Damian’s sympathy while tarnishing Aracila’s image.
Damian, however, merely gave a curt nod as if he understood, showing no further reaction.
‘Huh? Did it work?’
Damian’s expression was so unreadable that Rosalyn couldn’t tell. But since he didn’t immediately send her away despite her admission of clumsiness, she assumed it had partly worked.
In reality, seeing Rosalyn’s marks, Damian thought,
‘How could those thin arms have earned such injuries? Was she punished by the Head Maid? Just how many mistakes did she make?’
He also wondered,
‘How unbearable must she find someone with Aracila’s straightforward nature to be transferred to me?’
‘She must truly be incompetent if she’s a new maid.’
Though Damian didn’t want such a maid under his care, he couldn’t just dismiss her outright, so he let her stay.
Unaware of his thoughts, Rosalyn gulped with excitement.
‘Maybe… maybe the master finds me attractive!’
After all, why else would a cold, aloof man like Damian accept a maid who’d been dismissed for repeated errors without question?
‘He must secretly like my looks… or my figure.’
Rosalyn silently applauded her decision to wear the tight-fitting maid uniform.
Failing to realize that while Damian was indeed cool-headed, he was also not the type to easily tolerate subordinates, she fell into the wrong assumption.
‘Right—men always stray, even when they have a beautiful wife.’
Brimming with confidence, Rosalyn began subtly adding more revealing elements to her maid uniform and overdoing her makeup more and more each day.
Yet Damian never commented on it.
He simply had zero interest—but how could Rosalyn possibly know that?
‘I’ve probably made a decent impression by now. Maybe it’s time to be more direct?’
A week after being assigned to serve him, she decided to make her move.
Having sent nothing but secretive glances until now, she resolved to confront him directly.
“We’ll take our leave now, sir.”
After exchanging farewells with the other servants and exiting Damian’s study, Rosalyn quietly slipped away.
She waited until the other staff had chattered their way down the hall before returning alone to the study.
Knock knock. With a trembling heart, she tapped on the door. A low, deep voice answered from within.
“Come in.”
She entered cautiously and saw Damian already changed into a light shirt, seated at his desk.
“What is it?”
Damian asked, but Rosalyn couldn’t answer immediately—his muscular frame, visible through the thin fabric of his shirt, held her gaze captive.
Swallowing her greedy desire, Rosalyn finally replied,
“I have something to tell you, sir.”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
Thank you for translating/sharing this. Such an adorable story!