The Maid's Contract Marriage - Chapter 8
“Hey!”
Startled by the harsh hand shaking her shoulder, Reina opened her eyes in panic.
“What happened! Did you sleep with him? Did you sleep with Lord Arthur?”
Shocked, Reina bolted upright in bed.
The soft blanket slid off her body, letting cold air touch her bare skin.
Huh? Bare skin?
“!”
Reina flinched and quickly pulled up the blanket to cover herself.
Behind the black-haired maid who sighed and put her hand to her forehead, another maid stood fidgeting nervously.
“What were you thinking! Do you think the young lady will let you off easy?!”
Reina’s face turned deathly pale as she realized her state.
Clothes. My clothes. Where did they go?
A bright morning dawned for the maid who woke up naked in the young lady’s bridal chamber.
* * *
“You’ll have to wash yourself.”
The two maids set down the bathtub brusquely and announced.
…I don’t particularly want to show you my naked body either, you know?
Reina replied:
“Of course. Th…thank you. For bringing the tub…”
…The words came out stuttering on their own.
It’s not like I wanted to be in this situation.
Perhaps feeling out of place where she shouldn’t be, Reina felt diminished.
The maids grumbled but set up a screen around the tub before sitting down with their backs turned, far from Reina who was still on the bed.
“…”
After confirming their backs weren’t moving, Reina quickly tiptoed out of bed and darted behind the screen.
Then she hurriedly examined her own body.
‘Right? That’s right!’
Reina let out an unconscious sigh of relief.
‘Nothing happened!’
Only the corset was missing, and her body was clean.
If something had happened, she wouldn’t be in such a fresh state.
From her experience five years ago, Reina was almost certain nothing had occurred between her and Lord Arthur last night.
At the same time, she clutched her head with anxiously shaking eyes.
…I was definitely at the victory celebration, but…
‘I can’t remember.’
She remembered waving her hand all night until dawn broke.
She recalled receiving and drinking warm wine… but after that was blank.
What happened after that?
Why am I here?
She couldn’t remember at all where her dress and corset had gone, or how she ended up sleeping in this bedroom…
“…”
Wait, bedroom?
Suddenly feeling uneasy, Reina stiffly raised her head and looked around.
“…”
The black carpet embroidered with gold thread and the chandelier on the ceiling. Fluttering curtains and a high-end fireplace. Familiar paintings on the walls and luxurious decorations.
And the familiar furniture arrangement…
Reina knew well where this was, having been involved in cleaning and preparing this room for over a month, going in and out frequently.
This is…
‘The bridal chamber for the young lady and Lord Arthur!’
Her head spun and every hair on her body stood on end.
The maid’s voice echoed in her ears, asking if she thought the young lady would let her off easy.
* * *
Arthur crossed his legs as he lit the end of his cigar.
To his right sat the Marquis and Marchioness of Julius with indescribable expressions.
And across from them sat the man who had introduced himself as “Rembrandt Eaton von Klein”.
The Empress’s nephew, apparently.
The Marquis and his wife seemed quite mindful of him.
Arthur blew out a puff of smoke to the side and smiled blandly.
“Did you have a peaceful night?”
“…”
The Marquis’s face flushed red and blue at the host-like greeting.
‘Is this your house, you impudent bastard!’
He would have shouted if Lord Rembrandt hadn’t been there.
Arthur continued nonchalantly:
“I heard you came early this morning. I apologize for keeping you waiting. As you know, I just returned at dawn after attending the victory celebration last night, so I woke up late.”
Arthur smiled as he brought the cigar back to his lips.
“To be honest, I’m not used to receiving such fervent attention. It’s probably because I’ve been remiss these past years and failed to deliver news worthy of your interest more quickly.”
There was a barb in his words.
The interpretation was as follows:
His voice continued smoothly:
“I committed a discourtesy, not knowing you would take such excessive interest. I was surprised by the sudden and undeserved devotion. I thank the elders of the family for welcoming me so generously.”
The interpretation was:
The Marquis’s face hardened as he glanced at Lord Rembrandt sitting across the table.
The Marchioness clutched her trembling teacup, recalling the events of the previous dawn.
·
·
·
“I’m at a loss for how to respond to such a warm welcome in the middle of the night.”
Arthur said as he entered the mansion, not even looking at them while adjusting the woman he held in his arms.
“Of course, it’s a pity you couldn’t have welcomed us during the day instead.”
The knight following behind Arthur could be seen turning his head with a cough, trying to hold back laughter.
The Marquis glared at them with clenched fists trembling in anger, biting his tongue.
He wanted to shout according to his temper, but this was in the middle of the mansion’s hallway.
‘Rembrandt, Rembrandt, Rembrandt…’
Swallowing his yell down his throat, the Marquis repeated the name of the distinguished guest who could be anywhere in the mansion like a mantra.
Meanwhile, the Marchioness was struck speechless at the sight of Arthur carrying the sleeping Reina still in her dress.
‘…She’s asleep?’
What’s with that unseemly state, being carried in a man’s arms like that?
Everyone will think ‘that’ is our Christina!
The Marchioness pointed a shaking finger at Reina in Arthur’s arms and stammered:
“L-look here, Lord Arthur… That child… that… our Christina, why is she… being carried by you like that…?”
Arthur tilted his head slightly with an inscrutable smile.
At that moment, the head butler appeared around the corner of the hallway, his face pale as he approached with quick steps.
Though he tried to maintain composure with a stiff expression, his hurried pace, urgent tone, and the veins standing out on his forehead betrayed his flustered state.
The head butler came close to the Marchioness and lowered his voice:
“My lady. Lord Rembrandt has arrived. He’s just down that hallway…”
And the butler’s troubled gaze shifted to Arthur and Reina in his arms.
The Marquis and Marchioness shouted almost simultaneously:
“Well done! Go upstairs and rest from your journey! The victory celebration must have been tiring!”
“The maids should have prepared the bed! Hurry upstairs and rest!”
·
·
·
And the Marquis and Marchioness stood before Rembrandt, sweating profusely.
Fatigue built up from the all-night victory celebration, catching up with Christina after five years apart…
They broke out in a cold sweat as they rattled off all sorts of excuses.
Fortunately, their efforts seemed to bear fruit as Lord Rembrandt smiled and accepted that he couldn’t meet ‘Arthur and Christina’ right away.
Thankfully, he was also understanding about the Marquis of Julius breaking the appointment he had made.
However, his next words were a question about whether he could look forward to meeting them tomorrow.
If he had been merely a court painter, they could have put off the portrait schedule for later, but he was the Emperor’s nephew-in-law.
As a member of the imperial family, he was requesting a meeting with higher priority than anyone else, so the Marquis and his wife could only nod hurriedly and promise the first appointment for the very next day.
Still, they breathed a sigh of relief thinking they had somehow managed to placate Lord Rembrandt, and now they just had to deal with Arthur somehow.
“…What?”
The Marchioness made an expression she had never worn before in her life when she heard the maid’s report that Lord Arthur had really taken Reina up and occupied the young lady’s bridal chamber.
Her eyes twitched and her mouth fell open at the news that he had even dismissed the servants, saying he didn’t want to be disturbed.
“Huh…”
When we told him to go up and rest, we meant for him to wait for us there for a moment.
We didn’t mean for him to do that.
Yes, even for the couple of the century, that’s not how nobles’ political marriages work.
For someone of that status, they could certainly keep mistresses.
But no matter how upset you are or how much you want to insult us, still.
To bring a mistress into the bridal chamber I prepared for my daughter first?
·
·
·
Though she thought she needed to calm the situation in place of her husband who lacked the ability to improve matters, the Marchioness’s insides were burning black with rage.
That was the room Christina was supposed to use.
How long had I spent carefully preparing that bridal chamber.
Arthur must have guessed that we had put in effort to prepare it as a gesture of goodwill to start anew.
Yet he insulted Christina like this.
“…”
The Marchioness gripped her teacup and opened her mouth.
“What gratitude? It’s only natural. Rather, Lord Arthur, was your rest comfortable? I hope it was to your liking. We put a great deal of thought into the preparations, you see.”
She added with a warm smile, as if chewing her words:
“It’s a room where we couldn’t allow even a single unworthy thing, after all.”
Arthur replied with a smile:
“It was the finest. I appreciate your consideration.”
He tapped off his cigarette ash and continued smoothly with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth:
“Especially ‘Christina’ was the best. My wife, that is.”
A stiff smile spread across the Marchioness’s face.
“Oh, was that so?”
“Yes. Nothing else in the room could compare. She was magnificent. How did you raise your daughter so well? She’s a wife too good for me.”
A chill fell over the table.
The Marchioness finally smiled coldly and countered Arthur:
“You flatter us. She’s a fitting match for Lord Arthur’s overflowing dignity and noble bloodline.”
Translated from noble-speak, this meant:
“My lady!”
The Marquis growled in a low voice.
“Ahem.”
And Lord Rembrandt cleared his throat.
“!”
In that moment, the Marchioness realized her mistake.
Lord Rembrandt was the Emperor’s nephew-in-law. That is, he was the Empress’s nephew.
In her anger, the Marchioness had sneered at Arthur’s origins by mentioning “noble bloodline” in front of the Empress’s nephew, to the Emperor’s illegitimate child.
Whether it was taken as sarcasm or praise, it was the worst thing she could have said.
Dismay showed on the Marchioness’s face.
“Ah, it’s alright.”
Rembrandt removed the hand covering his mouth, revealing a face with a faint trace of amusement.
“By the way, hearing you speak of her like that makes me even more curious about ‘Lady Christina’. I was actually looking forward to finally meeting the couple of the century together today.”
Rembrandt continued, addressing Arthur:
“It’s already a great honor and pleasure to meet you like this, Lord Arthur, but I must admit I had some interest in the famous ‘Lady Christina’ as well. Of course, only to an extent that wouldn’t be disrespectful to your wife, with whom you’ve made sacred marriage vows.”
Sensing that the Marquis and his wife were extremely mindful of Lord Rembrandt, Arthur smiled calmly at Rembrandt.
“Is that so? I heard you’ve been staying here for nearly two weeks, but it seems you haven’t had the chance to greet my wife.”
The Marquis and Marchioness stared anxiously at Arthur’s mouth, their palms sweating at the thought that he might say, ‘I’ll introduce you to my wife right now. Shall we go meet her?’
Rembrandt was inwardly smiling as he recalled his meeting with ‘Reina’.
‘It’s not that I haven’t greeted ‘that wife’. But I can’t say that.’
Rembrandt answered based on ‘Christina’:
“Yes, I’ve only caught glimpses of her from afar. She’s such a modest lady, you see.”
Male lead Asks for a Divorce Every Day
It’s not often you come across a plot like this in the female-dominant genre — make sure to check it out!
This is a novel I’m planning to reread as well.
The male lead is strong, skilled in martial arts, and not the usual fragile type you often see in matriarchal novels.
Meanwhile, the female lead is a scientist—rational and logical. Even when she falls for the male lead, she doesn’t let her emotions cloud her decisions.
If you push through the first few chapters, you’ll gradually find the story really intriguing.
It has a mix of mystery, detective elements, and romance.
The author’s writing style is like crafting a puzzle—except they deliberately leave out a few pieces, making it hard to predict what happens next, yet keeping you hooked.
In the end, everything will come together and be explained.
One-sentence summary: Wife, stop playing with beakers and look at me!
In a laboratory accident, research scientist Zhu Wansheng accidentally travels to a matriarchal world. The original owner of the body is an eighteen-year-old only daughter of a wealthy rouge merchant, already married with a handsome young man.
Zhu Wansheng grins: Nice! She always said she was heaven’s favorite granddaughter. After a life of toil in her previous life, she can enjoy blessings in this one.
However, her joy lasts no more than three seconds as bad news arrives: the original owner’s family is about to go bankrupt, and her husband wants a divorce.
Even worse, she’s stuck with a research system full of restrictions.
Zhu Wansheng: ? Is this the destiny of a research dog?
——
Faced with this mess, Zhu Wansheng pours herself a bowl of wine to drown her sorrows. In her drunken haze, her husband arrives.
His figure is imposing, holding a long sword, with a dignified air that captivates Zhu Wansheng.
Gu Yingqing, however, looks at the alcohol-reeking Zhu Wansheng with undisguised disgust and coldly asks, “Divorce or not?” The intoxicated Zhu Wansheng mumbles vaguely, “I think… it’s not… it’s not… impossible!”
——
The next day, after sobering up, Zhu Wansheng is full of energy, rolling up her sleeves ready to make a big move. As for yesterday? She has no memory of it.
Zhu Wansheng is ambitious; a research dog fears nothing!
Upgrading rouge, extracting fragrances, producing perfumes, researching lipsticks… all shall bow to the power of modern technology!
The original owner’s dying rouge shop is revitalized. Her mother is pleased and with a wave of her hand, passes on the family business to her. As she takes control and her experimental results gain popularity, it’s the pinnacle of her life…
——
But there are always those who can’t stand to see her doing well. Jealousy, scheming, assassination attempts – they want nothing less than her life.
The person who has always kept his distance from her suddenly holds her tightly in his arms, eyes full of concern.
She is unharmed, but he falls into a pool of blood…
Zhu Wansheng feels guilty, “I can grant you one wish.”
Gu Yingqing tentatively circles his arms around her, carefully resting his head in the crook of her neck, pleading softly, “I regret it. Can we not divorce?”
Zhu Wansheng: ? When did I agree to a divorce?
[Small Theater]
The newly developed rouge is beautifully packaged, and Zhu Wansheng is eager to try it.
Gu Yingqing suddenly appears: “My lady, may I apply it for you?”
Cool fingertips lightly brush her lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he leans in for a light bite.
Zhu Wansheng: ?
Gu Yingqing: It smells so good, I wanted to taste it…
On a warm spring day, Zhu Wansheng tries a new perfume: “Spring Night.” Gu Yingqing corners her against a wall.
Warm breath lingers on her neck.
“My lady, from now on, may I test the fragrances for you?”
[Humorous female scientist vs scheming live-in son-in-law male lead]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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