The Maid's Contract Marriage - Chapter 48

“Sir Arthur.”

“……”

Arthur, who had been sleeping on the sofa, opened his eyes.

Reina, dressed in a white nightgown, was looking down at him with a surprised face.

Her hair that had been behind her shoulders slid forward and cascaded down.

Reina pushed her flowing hair back behind her shoulders and asked, somewhat flustered.

“Did you sleep here?”

Quietly blinking his eyes as he looked up at her, Arthur unfolded his arms and sat up.

“……”

A breath inhaled slightly deeper than usual.

His half-open eyes and hand casually tidying his disheveled hair made him appear more languid than usual.

Arthur smiled tiredly, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

“Did you wake up early? Why, go back to sleep a bit more.”

It was the first time Reina had woken up early enough to find Arthur asleep.

It was also the first time Arthur had slept in, for that matter.

Feeling somehow shy to say she had woken up because the space beside her felt empty, Reina awkwardly pressed her nape.

“I’ve slept enough. Why are you sleeping uncomfortably here?”

Arthur silently smiled.

“Just because.”

It was a strange answer.

A look of suspicion about herself flashed across Reina’s face.

……Did I kick Sir Arthur or snore or something?

Reina accepted the sheet Arthur removed from his body as he stood up and asked.

“……Would you like to lie down on the bed for a moment?”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you for waking me. I have a morning schedule.”

His voice was more husky than usual.

Whether it was because he was tired, or because it was the first time seeing him just woken up.

There was a somewhat heavier, deeper, languid atmosphere around him than usual.

Reina felt inexplicably restless for some reason.

While he went to the back to change clothes, she turned around to tidy up the sheet he had been sleeping under on the bed,

Reina, who had been very concerned about why he slept on the sofa, turned around as soon as she heard Arthur’s footsteps and asked.

“Sir, do I perhaps have any sleeping habi……”

“……”

Reina froze mid-sentence.

It was because he hadn’t fully dressed yet.

Reina stared blankly at his bare body with her mouth agape.

Broad shoulders and tall stature.

A structure completely different from her own body,

A large skeleton and toned muscles continued down to firm abs below his well-built chest.

“……”

With a somewhat dazed feeling,

After briefly taking in the naked body of the man shining in the early morning sunlight.

Reina turned around in shock.

“I-I-I-I’m sorry.”

“……”

After a moment of silence, Arthur chuckled behind her.

“……Sorry. I just remembered I left what I need to wear today outside.”

“……”

The sound of Arthur’s footsteps heading towards the sofa could be heard from behind.

Then came the sound of him picking up his uniform that he had hung on the chair.

Rustle, rustle.

The sound of clothes brushing against skin as he moved away again tickled her ears.

Reina unconsciously gulped down a dry swallow.

And then she blushed, startled by her own reaction.

Why are you swallowing, swallowing?

She had looked up believing Sir Arthur would be in his perfect uniform as always.

She was just surprised to suddenly see his naked body.

……It was only his upper body that was bare anyway.

He was wearing pants, after all.

But I looked… I looked for too long.

Reina clutched her own head.

“……”

Mistakes can happen.

But didn’t I keep staring at his body in a daze for too long afterwards?

She felt unfamiliar with herself and her face burned hot.

The sound of Arthur changing clothes could be heard from behind.

“……You don’t have any particularly troublesome sleeping habits. I was just worried I might make a mistake.”

Reina thought for a long time about what this meant before finally realizing it was the answer to the question she had asked.

Worried he might make a mistake?

Sleeping habits?

There was nothing for him to worry about.

Arthur always slept neatly, quietly, and in a proper posture.

Reina answered.

“Y-y-you don’t have any s-s-sleeping habits either, S-s-sir.”

“……”

What on earth am I saying?

Amidst the rustling sounds of changing clothes,

A small laugh seemed to be heard.

It was a voice that sounded a bit more languid and pleasant than usual.

“I’m sorry. I must have surprised you.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Tristan looked at Arthur with troubled eyes.

“……Did you really show her all of that?”

It was the first question thrown at Arthur when he returned to his office after finishing his morning schedule.

Arthur rolled a dart in his hand and answered calmly.

“Yes. I even gave it to her, but she didn’t even open it. Seems she doesn’t dare to touch it.”

And he laughed softly.

“She has a small liver, that woman. But she’ll open it someday when she gets curious.”

“……”

Tristan tried not to show his complicated feelings as he asked.

“……Will you be alright?”

Arthur laughed.

“I’m fine. You saw yesterday.”

“……”

That was true.

Last night, Tristan had seen how perfectly Arthur had memorized the documents.

Whoosh.

Arthur threw the dart.

The cleanly thrown dart hit the triple 20 on the dartboard hanging on the wall.

It was already the fourth triple 20 in a row.

“……”

Tristan still couldn’t believe that Arthur had lost his sight.

But at the same time, he could understand how no one had noticed for two months.

Just how was he perceiving the world?

Although he could guess it was confidential and couldn’t ask in detail, Tristan vaguely knew that Arthur had something like a hypersense.

He thought it was just more sensitive hearing than ordinary people,

But he didn’t know it was precise enough to replace vision.

Tristan recalled what he had heard from Arthur last night.

There’s no problem with daily life.

I’m using other senses that can substitute for vision.

But it’s a bit troublesome that I can’t read letters,

And it seems ‘Christina’ or the Marquis shouldn’t find out, so I’ll need your help from now on, he said.

After staring blankly for a while at Tristan’s face, which had lost words from shock and bewilderment,

He said they would talk in detail tomorrow, as Tristan must be confused after suddenly finding out.

However, before leaving, he asked Tristan to confirm if the contents of this document were correct,

Saying he would read it aloud, and to let him know if there were any mistakes or unnatural parts

He laid out several important documents related to Arthur’s assets, including the marriage contract, in front of Tristan.

And Arthur read them flawlessly.

So accurately that it was hard to believe he was blind, even pointing to various parts of the documents.

When Tristan couldn’t continue speaking as he looked at Arthur,

Arthur smiled as if guessing he hadn’t made any mistakes.

He said he had memorized all of them.

That he remembered what content was written where on each document based on the thickness and texture of the paper, how many pages each document was, and so on.

“……”

Tristan silently looked at Arthur.

He had prepared for the possibility of losing his sight.

That meant this wasn’t an unexpected accident.

He knew he would go blind.

A foreseen misfortune.

“Who else knows besides me?”

There was no subject, but Arthur answered.

“Crown Prince Kyle knows.”

Whoosh.

Arthur threw the dart again.

The dart hit triple 20 again as if it were only natural.

“……”

Tristan asked what he couldn’t ask yesterday.

“……Was the last battle the cause?”

Arthur fiddled with a dart.

“It’s not the ’cause’, but the timing is correct.”

“Then may I ask what the cause is?”

Arthur spoke calmly.

“It’s due to a chronic illness. There’s an issue where I lose my sight if I overexert myself.”

“What level of ‘overexertion’?”

Arthur answered after a short pause.

“The level of overexertion where I have to push my abilities to the extreme. It’s fine unless it’s a life-or-death situation.”

So it was because of the last battle after all.

Tristan’s face hardened.

Tristan tried not to show his emotional turmoil

but Arthur laughed lightly.

“That’s enough.”

The implication was that the problem wasn’t the cause, but the solution.

Thud.

The dart Arthur threw lightly hit triple 20 again.

“……”

Tristan collected himself.

He was angry that Arthur hadn’t relied on him sooner,

but what he needed now was not an emotional aide, but a calm and helpful one.

“Is there any possibility of treatment?”

“No.”

At the calm answer, Tristan gritted his teeth.

Another dart cleanly hit triple 20.

Tristan composed himself and asked next.

“Is there a possibility it could worsen from the current state?”

Arthur picked up a new dart as he answered.

“There’s a possibility it could worsen if I overexert myself again. But now that the war is over, it should be fine.”

Thud.

The eighth dart hit triple 19.

Tristan turned his gaze from Arthur to look at the dartboard where seven darts were stuck in triple 20 and one in triple 19.

“……”

He still couldn’t believe it.

Blind?

Even people with sight couldn’t do that.

“……”

Arthur had been famous for shooting down birds without even looking from before.

But to think he was really hitting without seeing.

It was mind-boggling.

“……”

Arthur picked up a new dart again.

Tristan sighed as he watched the dartboard where he was perfectly creating the score he wanted.

“……You can stop the dart show now. I understand well enough that you’re not impaired.”

Arthur quietly raised the corners of his mouth as he said.

“I’ll show off a little more since I might get scolded.”

Thud.

The ninth dart hit double 12.

Exactly 501 points. It was a perfect nine*.

[This is the timeline separator]

Arthur changed the subject and asked.

“What about the additional investigation on my wife?”

Tristan paused for a beat before answering.

“Luchan and I are proceeding with commoner methods, while Lord Kay and Lord Lionel are using noble methods. We will report if there are any results.”

Arthur said.

“I see. Focus on whether there are any financial difficulties.”

Tristan looked at Arthur.

“Did you have any clues?”

Arthur rubbed his eyes tiredly as he smiled.

“No. Just……I thought it might be possible.”

He was bothered again by the fact that she had looked at Arthur’s property-related documents.

Although he understood why Arthur was trying to recruit her.

It seemed dangerous to show her the documents as well.

Moreover, doesn’t that woman spend quite a lot of time with Sir Arthur?

He didn’t want to say it, but Tristan couldn’t help but advise him again.

“Be careful not to let that woman notice. She’s not particularly safer than ‘Christina Julius’. She’s a spy until we succeed in recruiting her.”

Arthur said nothing and just smiled.

[This is the timeline separator]

“……”

Reina became dazed as she unfolded the new note left by Dr. Lorenson after the morning examination.

【 Both of them were very satisfied. 】

【 The Marquis was especially delighted to learn about the ‘picky eating’. 】

“……?”

Reina wrote on the next note with a dubious face.

【 ― Sir Arthur is also picky about sardines. 】

―――――

*Perfect Nine: The best record in ‘zero-one darts’ where 501 points are deducted to make exactly 0 points. It refers to making exactly 501 points with just 9 darts without a single miss. The highest scoring triple 20 is hit multiple times, mixed with triples and doubles of other scores to make 501 points.