The Maid's Contract Marriage - Chapter 23
A sudden break came to the busy schedule of the Marquis and his wife, who had been engrossed in ‘Arthur’s special events’.
It was an unexpected occurrence for them.
‘We’ve been stood up…?’
Marquis Julius was lost in thought, dumbfounded.
What happened?
The Marchioness also seemed to find it strange, but as soon as she had a moment, she went straight to Christina, saying she needed to talk about Arthur.
So the Marquis was left alone in the unusually quiet reception room.
The person they were supposed to meet this time, that is, ‘on Julius’s third dinner’, was ‘Count Harman’, one of the highest-ranking nobles in the empire.
He was quite a renowned celebrity, had sent quite an expensive and impressive congratulatory gift, and was also known to run a secret club that only the empire’s most honorable knights and heads of prestigious families could join, so Julius had given him a very precious time slot, thinking he might make an offer to join.
…But why didn’t he show up?
Antonio Julius pondered deeply.
Did he feel slighted because he expected a ‘second’ invitation from Julius, but got the ‘third’ instead?
Or was he put off by the reply that he couldn’t see ‘Arthur and Christina’?
But in the end, a relationship with me would lead to a relationship with Arthur too, so wouldn’t it be valuable just to establish a connection?
Besides, isn’t ‘Julius’s third’ quite a boastful title?
If he was that unwell, it would have been more advantageous for him to send a family member or representative to at least make the meeting happen.
The Marquis couldn’t understand no matter how much he thought about it.
People were lining up hoping to get a seat even before ‘Julius’s ninth’.
To give up the ‘third’ dinner seat and suddenly become unwell…
He did send someone to convey his apologies, but it was very strange.
He should know how hard it is to meet me these days.
Isn’t it rude?
After sending a shower of gifts and being so desperate to meet…
“Master.”
At that moment, the head butler Jim entered the reception room where the Marquis was sitting.
He was holding a handful of today’s newsletters.
Head butler Jim handed the newsletters to Julius without saying much.
Antonio Julius, who had been casually reading through the newsletters the butler brought without looking at his expression, suddenly widened his eyes in surprise.
【 Marquis Julius, allegations of poor supplies confirmed to be true?! 】
【 ‘There were no proper supplies’ War veteran exposes! 】
【 Testimonies pouring in on allegations of poor supplies! 】
【 Anonymous tip from veteran J, shocking supply conditions revealed! 】
“…!”
The hair that had sprung out of the enraged Marquis’s pomade trembled with excitement.
What particularly infuriated him was the last newsletter.
【 Is Julius qualified to be Grand Duke? 】
Below it was a caricature of an ugly Marquis, ridiculed as a ludicrous pig.
The Marquis, his eyes rolled back, stood up clutching the newsletters as if he would tear them apart.
“These… these newspaper bastards, I’ll…!”
So this was the reason!
It was all because of this trash newspaper!
“Contact those newspaper bastards! Find out who that war veteran who testified is right now!”
The Marquis shouted as he was about to storm out, but then stopped abruptly.
“!”
No, no.
“…No! Wait, head butler.”
The Marquis, who had been hurriedly following, raised his hand to stop the head butler and paused to think.
…It will look like I’m shooting myself in the foot.
Rushing like this as soon as negative articles come out.
If it looks like I’m shaking down the newspaper and silencing them, silencing the witnesses…
【 Is Julius qualified to be Grand Duke? 】
The Marquis soon straightened his neck with a resolute expression.
“An honorable Grand Duke doesn’t do such things.”
“…Pardon?”
The head butler made a dumbfounded sound.
The Marquis still looked angry, but calmly lifted his chin and adjusted his collar.
Then he changed his order to sound more dignified.
“Don’t do it. I’ll go see Arthur… Commander-in-Chief Arthur.”
And after pondering his own words once more, he nodded decisively.
He was now an ‘honorable Grand Duke’.
The Marquis, who had come up with a way to solve this problem befitting a Grand Duke with a new perspective on honor and power, moved his steps majestically.
[This is the timeline separator]“You greeted him?”
The Marchioness rose abruptly from the sofa with a surprised face and looked at Christina.
Christina, who had opened her eyes between brush strokes while having her makeup done by Marina, smiled gently at the mirror on the dressing table.
“Yes, Mother. But he didn’t engage with me. He deliberately ignored me in front of people, pretending not to know me.”
“He pretended not to know you?”
The Marchioness breathed heavily, hysterically panting.
“So? You just left it at that?”
Christina hummed melodiously.
“I said we weren’t strangers, that we had met a few days ago.”
“And then?”
“He said it wasn’t enough to call us acquaintances. Haha.”
The Marchioness reacted sharply.
“Did he humiliate you again?”
Christina chuckled.
“No. Humiliation? On the contrary, he was very respectful.”
Christina blinked her long eyelashes as she spoke.
“He said it would be impolite to warmly welcome a lady he barely knew at such a late hour. He refused quite gently. I liked it.”
“…”
The Marchioness rolled her eyes as if gauging Arthur’s words in her mind.
Christina continued with a smile.
“Honestly, I went there quite prepared, thinking of how I was humiliated in front of people three days ago. But it seems he doesn’t intend to completely ruin things. He’s quite skilled at pushing and pulling. Well, my impression of him has changed quite favorably.”
The Marchioness leaned back on the sofa with a displeased sigh.
“…I suppose it’s fortunate that you like him.”
Christina was silent as she offered her lips to Marina’s brush, then continued.
“I said I would visit again formally at a less late hour and withdrew.”
The Marchioness looked at Christina disapprovingly and muttered.
“…When did you manage to do all that so neatly? I thought you’d just hole up in your room as soon as you went up.”
Christina smiled brightly.
“Mother. I’m not seventeen anymore. I know my duties as a young lady of a noble family.”
While secretly pleased to accept her grown daughter’s “Mother~” as a bit of aegyo, the Marchioness snorted.
“Hmph. Other people’s daughters know that at seventeen. What are you so proud of, cleaning up the mess you made at twenty-two?”
Christina let out a small laugh.
“I’m sorry about that. But who could have known it would turn out like this? Honestly, even if I could turn back time, I don’t think I’d feel it was my duty to accept such a humiliating marriage then. Not even for the family.”
“…”
It didn’t match our status back then.
Honestly, the Marchioness had vehemently opposed that marriage too at the time.
Christina continued.
“But now I like him. His background, his attitude, his looks. Even his haughty aloofness. He suits me.”
Christina turned her face at different angles, examining herself in the mirror.
“Isn’t it charming how he neatly avenges the past disrespect instead of just brushing it off?”
Christina raised the corners of her mouth.
“I like that he seems to match well with me rather than being stupid. We’ll have to spend our lives together, so it’s better to be compatible than to act like a pushover and not get along. I found his behavior delightful.”
Huh.
The Marchioness laughed, exasperated by her daughter’s words.
But on the other hand, she felt reassured by her daughter’s calm and bold demeanor, unlike her own anxious and impatient state.
Christina’s voice continued.
“As for what happened before, I’ll have to appease him and soothe him for a while…”
Christina smiled brightly as she checked her perfect appearance in the mirror.
“But won’t it all become memories later?”
[This is the timeline separator]While Arthur had gone to his private reception room to talk with his subordinates for a moment.
Reina, left alone sitting on the bed, secretly opened the note from under the covers.
It was a note that Professor Lorenson had discreetly dropped into the covers while examining her forehead wound, avoiding the knight’s eyes.
【 Taylor has arrived home safely. Don’t worry. 】
【 If you have anything to say about Sir Arthur, leave a note. I’ll help you. 】
“…”
A note composed so that even if discovered, it could be smoothed over without major issues.
Reina easily inferred the meaning between the lines.
“…”
I see.
With Sir Arthur clearly guarding nearby, I wondered how I was supposed to meet the Marchioness frequently, but…
A deep sigh escaped.
I thought maybe I could postpone it somehow if we couldn’t meet often…
But if the arrangement was to send notes through Professor Lorenson… there was no excuse to delay.
Reina saw Professor Lorenson every day.
If I waited like this, at least within a few days… even if it wasn’t anything major…
“…”
Reina sighed again and again in dismay.
Weakness…
Sir Arthur’s weakness.
“…”
Reina hugged her legs and buried her face in her knees.
…I don’t want to do this.
“…”
I thought it was a condition worth considering dedicating my life to the Marquis’s family…
I thought I’d be glad to do it if they said they’d take care of Grandmother…
No matter how hard I tried to think only of Grandmother, I wasn’t happy.
And to begin with, Reina hadn’t found out anything about him.
Other than that he was very handsome, rather kind, cared for his colleagues, and was a good person…
“…”
Wait… he cares for his colleagues?
Could this perhaps be a weakness…
Reina hesitated.
“…”
But soon, she concluded that such content shouldn’t be written.
That’s… that’s too bad.
It sounds like saying you could threaten and force Sir Arthur to do anything by taking his colleagues hostage.
This is going too far.
She couldn’t bring herself to write something like that.
“…”
Anyway, the Marchioness probably doesn’t expect me to come up with Sir Arthur’s weakness in just a few days, right?
So even if it’s not necessarily a weakness…
At least something that shows I’m gathering information for the Marchioness…
Reina hesitated, then forced herself to think of one line to write.
「He changes clothes very quickly.」
“…”
This sounds stupid.
Reina sighed heavily again, her knees sinking.
…Sir Arthur doesn’t have any weaknesses.
But since the Marchioness had sent a doctor and Taylor to her grandmother, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut forever, claiming she hadn’t found out anything.
“…”
The Marchioness said she would allow frequent meetings and conversations with Taylor.
And Reina had many questions she wanted to ask and discuss about her grandmother’s condition.
To do that, she had to tell the Marchioness something about Arthur.
Anything… information that could be known by someone close to him… something that might give hope of finding out something better someday…
“…”
He seems to trust Sir Tristan and Sir Kay?
No.
That’s too bad for the same reason as before.
Nothing that bad.
Reina hesitated for a long time…
She came up with another uncertain line.
「…He doesn’t seem to be easily swayed by women’s appearances.」
Knock knock.
Reina quickly hid the note in the sheets.
“Yes.”
Soon Arthur entered.
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.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
