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Chapter 4

The ‌‌‌atmosphere froze in an instant.
*Thud.*
Dale suddenly rose from his seat, turning his back to me as he stared at the wall.
"Excuse me?"
Was this an unreasonable request?
Well, this was certainly my first time proposing marriage as a commission.
But I was tired ‌‌‌‌of this ‌‌‌‌life—wandering for weeks at a time, sometimes months between assignments.
'If I put this man forward, I won't have to do that anymore, right?'
I'd considered marrying some other man before, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't marry just ‌‌anyone.
None of the men I'd met matched my taste.
But this man... he was quite my type.
I do prefer handsome men, but even among the handsome, there are specific preferences.
And besides, we wouldn't actually have to marry.
'Isn't a clean break with a mercenary easier than a contract marriage with some tasteless nobleman?'
A mercenary ‌means no family management?
Not necessary.
A husband's relatives whose eyes I'd have to deceive?
None of that either.
'Perfect.'
He was a first-rate (contract) groom candidate.
And handsome, with separate living quarters, no interference required.
I ‌‌‌gazed at Dale's broad back.
If I had to do a contract marriage, it should be with a man like him.
I stared intently at my ‌perfect prospective groom's firmly tensed back muscles.
But why wasn't he answering?
Was the ‌‌payment insufficient?
"Sigh..."
I thought I heard a deep sigh, but I decided it was just my imagination.
Then Dale turned to face me.
"Why do you need a husband...?"
"Pardon?"
"Why do you need a husband...?"
His expression grew confused, his face flushed, then twisted as though he ‌‌‌might cry, ‌‌then he pressed his brow—he was a complete mess.
"I think there might ‌be a man who likes you, Miss Enya."
"Me?"
"Why do you want a contract husband instead of a proper marriage?"
"Because I don't want to get married."
"...!"
Dale's expression crumpled like ‌‌‌‌a squirrel who'd just had his acorn stolen.
"Marriage. Why...."
"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that."
"Have you... received a proposal before?"
"Of course?"
He'd just said I seemed popular. So wasn't he really asking ‌‌‌‌if I'd received a confession?
"It's a long story. That proposal became a problem, so I've been running for my life for three years now."
"...."
"I received a proposal from a very dangerous, terrifying, and cruel man."
"Dangerous, cruel...."
Dale's expression grew even more serious than before, his brow furrowing deeply.
His face even appeared to grow pale.
"What is the name of this dangerous and cruel man?"
"If I tell you his name, will you recognize it?"
"Ah...."
Dale's expression went blank.
"I ‌apologize. I don't know."
"I thought so too."
I'd found it strange that the S-rank Mercenary seemed to know every citizen's name in The Empire.
"I can't tell you his name. You haven't accepted my commission yet."
"...."
"Are you interested in my commission?"
Dale stared at me for a long moment, then ‌‌his face twisted with conflict as he deliberated ‌intensely.
"Never ‌‍‌‌mind. I'm not forcing you."
The moment I stood to leave, he grabbed my arm.
"I'll do it. That commission."
"Really?"
"Money. Give it to me."
Dale answered quickly.
"I'll be it. Your husband."

* * *
‌
"So this man is my father, Duke Lockhart. My real name isn't Enya—it's Enya Lockhart. I'm ‌a noblewoman of the ‌‌‌‌Lockhart Family."
Once Dale accepted the commission, everything resolved swiftly.
‌
Base salary: 1 million Crobats.
Additional payment: 10,000 Crobats per day, deposited in the jewelry box in the living room every morning.
※ ‌‌If direct payment is impossible due to overnight absence, leave an advance payment before departing.

And then ‌‌‌there was the contract.
Dale ‌‌and I drafted the agreement by mutual consent and each took a copy.
"But Dale, aren't you surprised?"
Dale tilted his head at my question.
"You said the person who proposed to me was His Majesty The Emperor, yet you didn't bat an eye. I thought you'd be shocked given how extraordinary this situation is, but you're not ‌‌at ‌‌‌all?"
"I wasn't entirely unprepared for it."
"Really?"
"I had hoped it wouldn't be...."
"Pardon? Oh, the carriage jolted—I didn't hear that."
"It's nothing."
A faint sigh escaped from him.
His gaze fixed on the window seemed strangely melancholic.
I observed him quietly.
His deep black hair gleamed with the lustrous sheen of a black panther, and his sharp, feline eyes tilted slightly upward, making him all the more captivating.
His skin was pristine and translucent, possessing both an innocent and beautiful ‌‌‌quality.
With his high nose bridge and broad shoulders, he didn't appear fragile in the slightest.
'Is he really just an extra character?'
I stared at his shirt, stretched taut across his frame.
Dale ‌‌‌was handsome with an excellent physique, yet kind-hearted, and from what I'd observed so far, he was affectionate and considerate.
The extra character surpassed the protagonist.
'Whoever ends up truly marrying Dale, I hope they appreciate how fortunate they are.'
"...Enya."
"Oh, yes?"
"Have I done something wrong, perhaps?"
"?"
Dale touched his earlobe self-consciously as he spoke.
"You were staring at me so ‌‌‌intently...."
"Oh, sorry. You're so handsome I couldn't help but ‌‌‌stare."
"!"
Dale's eyes widened as if he'd never received such a compliment before.
"Because you're handsome."
"...."
"Handsome?"
Each time I said he was handsome, Dale's face grew progressively ‌redder.
"Oh? We've arrived."
The carriage came to a halt.
I glanced out the window before handing the documents to Dale.
"There. We've covered all the information we need, haven't we?"
Dale nodded, his ‌‌face flushed as he tried to hide it.
"We were in a long-distance relationship, but we broke up due to Enya's parents' opposition, and ‌‌‌Enya couldn't forget me, so she came all the way to the Southern Region... Is that correct?"
"And that's why we're rushing into marriage registration."
"Enya's family is House Lockhart. We first met at a ‌‌ball in the Capital."
"Should we say it was a noble family ball, or just the Imperial Palace?"
"...The Imperial Palace would be better."
*Scratch.*
I paused mid-scribble on the documents.
'Why am I thinking of The Emperor now?'
No. I shouldn't connect everything to The Emperor.
"Right. Shall we say the Imperial Palace ball? The exact ‌‌‌‌place we met was in the..."
"Imperial Palace Garden." ‌‌‌
"A garden?"
I stopped moving my pen and looked up.
"Why ‌‌a garden?"
"The reason it's a garden is..."
Dale stared ‌‌‌‌at me intently. ‌‌‌
"It seemed romantic."
"I see."
That ‌‌‌could be true.
I quietly jotted a note in the corner of the documents.
-Dale is a romantic.
I should remember that.
We'll be living under the ‌‌‌‌same roof for about a year, so there's much I need to know.
"Let me go over this once more. First, Dale's origin is the Northern Region."
"That's correct. I'm from Pendraegan Territory in the north."
"And you're still an A-rank mercenary ‌‌‌‌belonging to Black Tail, the United Guild of the Northern Region?"
"Yes."
"Oh right, we don't have an explanation for why you suddenly came down from the north all the way to Grunvalt Territory in the far south. What if the priest asks about that?"
I pointed to the Temple visible through the window.
Today I ‌‌‌‌‌had come to register our marriage at the Temple to become Dale's legal wife.
"It needs to look ‌‌‌like a ‌real marriage born of true love, so we can't have any gaps in our story."
"There was an accident."
He began speaking with a dark expression that seemed laden with history.
"It was a future I'd dreamed of for so long, but it never came to pass."
"A ‌future? Was it something very important?"
"It was the purpose of my life."
Dale looked at me with a bitter smile.
When melancholy settled over ‌‌‌his handsome features, a wellspring of compassion I didn't know existed within me rose to the surface.
"So ‌‌‌that's why you came to a land completely unrelated to the Northern Region?"
"Yes."
Whatever the reason, his expression suggested he had abandoned everything.
But I didn't need to know the backstory of my contract husband, did I?
Besides, it was all in the past.
"Cheer up."
I offered him encouragement with a perfunctory tone.
He looked at me, then quietly flushed.
"So from now on, I'll use the second floor and Dale will use the first floor, and we ‌‌‌‌won't interfere in each ‌‌‌other's privacy, but we'll play the role of husband and wife when necessary. Is that right?"
"That's correct."
"Since we've stamped the seal, there's no turning back now."
He nodded seriously at my words.
Dale had good ‌‌looks and a pleasant personality too. From what I'd seen over the past few days, he was also skilled at housework.
Why was such a man still alone?
Could it be?
"Is there perhaps ‌‌‌‌someone you're seeing?"

---------------
Brought to you ‌‌by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, ‌‌‌please read directly on ‌our official site: valirscans.org
---------------