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Chapter 8 ‌

This wasn't Dale's story, but I found myself in a world brimming with romance—the kind that filled the pages of novels. ‌‌‌‌
Dale wasn't the male protagonist, merely an extra, yet even he deserved love. Absolutely, he did.
Especially since he was devastatingly handsome.
Whether glimpsed in passing, seen fresh from washing, or observed glistening with sweat while chopping firewood—he was undeniably beautiful.
'It makes no sense. ‌‌A man like that without a single ‌lover?'
He was the ‌‌kind of strikingly handsome man who could turn anyone's head.
I gazed at Dale, waiting for his response.
"If it's an important secret, ‌‌please don't tell me. Sometimes you want to keep things to yourself, don't you?"
"...."
Dale stared ‌‌‌at me intently.
"Perhaps I should have told you from the beginning."
"No, ‌‌you don't need to. Really, it's fine."
"It might not be fine."
He lowered his voice, his gaze fixed upon me.
His face darkened in the shadow of his ‌‌‌‌hair, and his golden eyes wavered with something melancholic.
He looked drained, tense, his lips parched.
"I'm actually...."
"Did you get a new lover?"
Dale went rigid as stone.
"You were hesitating so much with your ‌‌‌‌words."
His expression twisted in an unusual way.
Dale's black hair fell into disarray as he opened his mouth, looking bewildered.
"Neighbor Maji told me. She said you were incredibly popular with women. Apparently, even the women from the neighboring territory adored you."
"...."
"Some of the elders even had their eyes on you as a potential son-in-law. They said they were truly disappointed. Is that really true?"
"I..."
Dale touched his cheek awkwardly, his expression troubled as he looked at me.
"I have no such interests."
His voice was utterly serious.
"I have never ‌‌‌‌been ‌‌‌involved with any woman, nor have I done anything that could be misunderstood."
Seeing him speak so firmly, it seemed he truly had no romantic entanglements.
Yet for some reason, I felt the urge to tease him. I grinned, resting my chin in my hand.
"What kind of thing could be misunderstood? Dale, you do understand such matters, don't you?"
"I do."
He lifted his head and whispered.
"Making eye contact."
Dale spoke while gazing directly into my ‌‌eyes.
"Having a conversation." ‌
"...."
"Saying that I like you."
I listened quietly and nodded. I understood perfectly well.
"But isn't that last one a confession rather than a misunderstanding?"
"...."
"If that's a misunderstanding, then you're a ‌‌philanderer."
Dale gazed at me for a moment, then laughed. He seemed to be holding back something he wanted to say.
"With Dale's face, even if you stared intently at someone and said, 'I like cats, I like dogs,' including the subject in your words, they'd still misunderstand."
"I wish that were the case."
He looked at me.
"But it seems misunderstandings don't happen easily."
"Is that really so?"
"And as I've said before, I have never done anything that would concern you. ...and I never will."
I nodded contentedly while looking at Dale.
"That was guaranteed in the contract, wasn't it?"
It should be around Article 4 of the contract. I understood exactly what Dale meant.
He was saying not to worry ‌‌‌because it was in the contract.
"I trust you, Dale. No matter what anyone says, I'll always believe in ‌‌‌‌‍you."
"No matter what anyone says...."
He repeated my words back to me.
"...Yes."
He smiled ‌‌‌‌faintly, his expression noticeably brightened.
"Thank you."

* ‌‌* *

...Can I even trust this?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Just ‌a few hours after Dale left for work that morning.
A swarm of women appeared at my door—where they'd all come from, I had no idea.
"This is ‌a fake marriage, ‌‌‌isn't ‌‌‌‌it?" ‌‌‌
"Tell us how you ended up marrying Dale. He promised ‌‌‌us he'd belong to no ‌one...!"
Wasn't that just wishful thinking on their part?
Dale would never have made such a promise.
After Dale left for work, I watched these women ransack my home and realized what was happening.
"You're rich?!" ‌‌‌‌
One of the women suddenly cried out.
So this was ‌‌it, then.
This was a test to see whether I was worthy of Dale, whether I measured up to him.
And they were also gauging whether they could still turn his heart away from me.
I couldn't fathom why these women would set their sights on a man ‌‌who was ‌‌‌already married.
It was too much.
Then, suddenly, Dale's face flashed through my mind.
Now I understood.
If I were to compare Dale's beauty to a treasure, it would be like an ancient divine artifact so rare it might only be discovered once every hundred million years....
"You do have a lot of money, don't you? Is that how you bought ‌Dale with your wealth?"
In The Empire, slave trading and any monetary transaction involving human life is illegal... but I suppose there's no need to lecture her on that, is there?
I looked at the woman who'd asked ‌‌the question.
She was smirking at me with absolute certainty in her eyes.
"Do you have a lot of money!"
"A bit."
"So you don't have that much...."
"A bit... ‌‌would be a lie if I said that's all. It's overflowing, really."
I nodded shyly. ‌‌‌‌
"I have everything."
"?"
"But Dale has it all too, doesn't he?"
The woman's face flushed red in an instant.
"You ‌bought Dale with money?! That's not love, that's, that's not right!"
"Bought with money!"
I shook my head slowly from side to side.
"...I didn't. Dale likes me, and I just happen to have a lot of money ‌‌too, that's all. So, next question?"
I smiled brightly and tapped the table.
In a village that ‌‌was supposedly suffering from a labor shortage of young people, somehow there were enough ‌‌‌young women lined up beyond the hill to fill my entire home.
"Don't touch that sofa, please. That cushion isn't mine—it's Dale's. Well, actually, I drooled on it."
"Kyaaah!"
"You're just throwing it away?!" ‌
Clap, clap, clap!
I applauded loudly.
"I'll only answer questions from people standing in a single line!"
I shouted until my voice grew hoarse.
"Anyone who damages things will be thrown out, and I'm telling Dale exactly who they are and where they're ‌‌from!"
Whoosh.
Instantly, the women filling the house lined up in a neat row.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
"Um...."
"The woman in the yellow ‌‌dress at the front goes first. Go ahead with your question!"
"Yes! Me! How long have you known Dale?"
"We met five years ago as a young mercenary and a rich man's daughter, were separated by our parents' insistence, and then reunited and married. Next!"
"Just one more question...."
"Get back in ‌‌‌line. Next!"
"What's your name?"
"It's Enya!"
It was my alias.
No ‌‌‌‌matter how many questions ‌I answered, the line never seemed to shorten.
"Is Dale's ideal type a woman like you?"
"His ideal type has been shaped to match me. Next!"
"Does Dale snore when he sleeps?"
"Handsome ‌‌‌‌‌men don't do that sort of thing. Next!"
After who knows how much time had passed, when I was beginning to grow weary, I sat down for a moment to rest.
'And yet they claim they've never ‌‌‌even made eye contact.'
But why are there so many women who adore Dale?
What happens when they do make eye contact?
I exhaled a long sigh.
Then something was suddenly thrust before my eyes.
"Ah, thank you for the handkerchief...."
It wasn't a handkerchief?
What appeared ‌‌‌before me was a letter.
'A letter?'
I ignored the original line and stared at the woman who had cut in.
She stood in the middle of our home's interior, parasol in hand, smiling sweetly.
With honey-blonde hair and a voluminous dress, she had to be nobility—could she ‌be that lord's granddaughter they mentioned?
"Are you Miss Enya?"
The woman smiled brightly and spoke.
"Yes. I'm Enya."
"It's lovely to meet you. I've finally seen you."
At ‌‌‌last?
I studied the woman before me carefully.
Did she know me? Perhaps through The Emperor?
"My name is Adeline Kidland. I'm the daughter of Marquis Kidland, the lord of the territory adjacent to Grunvalt."
"Oh my! ‌‌Lady Adeline has arrived!"
"Lady Adeline! You're as graceful as ever today!"
All the women in line praised Adeline Kidland.
She smiled benevolently, as though such admiration were perfectly natural.
Kidland?
'So this woman is the young lady of the Kidland Marquis House, the ‌‌territory next to Grunvalt?'
"Dale...."
She opened her mouth to speak, then fixed her gaze upon me—no, she swept her eyes across me.
She measured me from head to toe with a deliberate gaze, then offered a peculiar smile.
"Ah. I've seen Dale a few times ‌‌‌‌‌before."
Adeline laughed brightly, her expression tinged with embarrassment.
"I heard Dale had married. But this is my first ‌‌‌time meeting his wife." ‌‌‌
She observed me quietly, and I returned her gaze, studying this suspicious-looking woman.
Why did she keep staring?
"What are you doing!"
At that moment, her butler beside her cried ‌‌‌out sharply.
"Lady Adeline is nobility! A commoner must ‌‌‌show proper courtesy and bow respectfully!"
‌‌‌‌

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