Chapter 116
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I possessed the body of a villainess locked away in a desolate tower.
Chapter 116
'There's truly no place like home.'
Bonita watched me devour the fruit with such gusto that she must have taken pity on me, for she dashed to the Kitchen with the speed of an arrow and returned with my favorite chocolate dessert.
Thanks to her, I was only able to send word to Blaire Grand Duke asking to meet once the sun had reached its zenith.
And his reply was...
"He said he would come in person."
"Ah, to this Chamber?"
"Yes. He should arrive in ten minutes."
Bow.
I watched the Maid lower her head and leave, my gaze distant, before I found myself muttering under my breath.
"How does he understand my heart so well?"
"Pardon?"
"Ah, well... truthfully, I really didn't want to leave today."
What one might call being afraid to step outside one's blankets—a homebody mode, if you will.
Of course, I felt lazy for it, but there was nothing I could do about it.
The Imperial Capital schedule had stretched far longer than expected, leaving me utterly exhausted!
That's why I'd been avoiding Baroness Fabron, whom I would normally visit despite the inconvenience.
With no strength in my body and my limbs hanging limp, how could I possibly meet with anyone?
In any case, Blaire Grand Duke's response in such circumstances was nothing but welcome.
"Perhaps His Grace considered that you might be weary from such a long schedule? Now that I think about it, His Grace does seem to look after you quite thoughtfully, Young Lady."
Is that so?
I let Bonita's oddly suggestive words pass over me and dragged myself, creaking like old hinges, to the tea table by the window.
Then Bonita opened the curtains by the window and asked casually.
"Young Lady, the weather is quite nice today—shall I open the window a bit?"
"Hmm? Oh, very well. But only a tiny bit. If you open it too much, my blankets will get cold...."
"Hehe, yes, I understand, Young Lady. Oh, I hear footsteps—it seems he's arriving!"
She truly was no ordinary Maid.
With her keen ears, Bonita had uncannily detected the footsteps of Blaire Grand Duke and Liam, and she opened the door for them.
As I rose from my seat upon seeing Blaire Grand Duke enter slowly through the open door, I realized something was amiss and tilted my head in confusion.
'What is it?'
His gait, usually so perfectly upright, seemed somehow unbalanced.
Observing him intently, I belatedly noticed that he was limping slightly on one leg.
Had he injured his leg? Had something happened while I wasn't looking?
Now that I thought about it, Blaire Grand Duke had been away from the Grand Duke's Residence for quite some time and only returned last night....
"It's been a while. But... have you injured your leg?"
As I asked carefully, his movements froze.
Whether startled that I'd seen through his injury so quickly, his expression had gone rigid.
'Should I have pretended not to notice?'
Faced with such an obviously stiffened reaction, I laughed awkwardly and added,
"Ah, you seem a bit uncomfortable. How did you injure yourself there? Now that I think about it, Ian as well..."
Just as I was about to continue speaking, Liam suddenly burst out with an enormous voice.
"His Grace the Grand Duke rolled down twelve times!!!"
"...Pardon?"
What on earth was he talking about?
As I stared at Liam with a bewildered expression, he cleared his throat loudly before speaking again.
"That is to say... while hastily departing on an urgent expedition, His Grace displayed the spirit of chivalry to rescue a poor soul in peril, and in doing so, he tumbled down the mountain slope."
"Down the mountain slope... twelve times, you say?"
No wonder his face looked so exhausted.
"Well then, why didn't you just call for me? It would have been better if I had gone instead."
"No. There's nothing wrong with my mobility."
Before I could even respond, the Grand Duke cut me off swiftly and seated himself across from me with remarkable speed.
Seeing how unwelcome the topic of his injured leg seemed to be, I refrained from pressing further and sat facing him.
"Then please, do converse freely."
Liam bowed respectfully and withdrew, dragging Bonita along with him.
Click.
As the door closed, only the Grand Duke and I remained in my chamber.
"Hmm...."
Being treated as an honored guest, I occupied a spacious room, but perhaps because the Grand Duke's shoulders were so broad, the space felt strangely intimate.
How to describe it—it felt as though the two of us were left alone in this vast chamber.
As the atmosphere grew increasingly awkward, I scratched my cheek nervously and ventured to speak.
"Well...."
"First."
What is this—some clichéd scene from a third-rate drama?
Our words overlapping made me even more flustered, and I quickly yielded the floor to him.
"P-please, speak first."
After a brief silence, the Grand Duke's lips parted.
"...Ahem, first, explaining the Princess as a prospective Grand Duchess was an unavoidable choice."
As expected, this topic would arise.
But since I had already suspected as much, I asked carefully.
"It was for the sake of justification, wasn't it? It would be strange for the Knights Order to move directly simply to rescue a guest."
"...Yes."
Of course, there had been difficult circumstances due to the overly enthusiastic Randolph and Ian... but it was entirely understandable.
I nodded with a light smile.
"In conclusion, thanks to your swift judgment, I was rescued safely—a fortunate outcome! The real problem is how to manage this going forward...."
Considering Randolph and the Knights Order under his command, if we simply left it unaddressed, baseless rumors would surely spread throughout the Grand Duke's Residence.
Hmm, that wouldn't do at all! Someone's marriage prospects might be ruined.
"What if Your Grace were to announce that you already have a betrothed? That would clear up the misunderstanding..."
"I apologize, but Princess."
The Grand Duke cut off my words decisively and suddenly made an announcement.
"I have no intention of reconciling."
"...Pardon?"
What did he mean? No intention of reconciling? I couldn't make sense of it at all.
As I looked up at him in bewilderment, I saw his dark green eyes studying me with unmistakable seriousness.
"Instead, I propose a contractual romance with you."
"A contractual... romance?"
Did I just hear that correctly?
Were my ears functioning properly?
A contractual romance? The very same contractual romance I knew about?
So he was proposing the kind of arrangement that appeared in romance novels—where a wealthy heir struggling to fend off his chairman father's political marriage schemes suggests to his Cinderella heroine that they enter into a fake relationship?
Was he truly proposing this to me right now?
"Well, I..."
My mind flooded with countless thoughts, but fortunately, I managed to formulate a coherent question quickly.
"Why?"
Because the 'reason' behind such an absurd proposal was what I desperately needed to understand!
Could it be that he had feelings for me?
Was he banking on that clichéd happy ending where contractual romance partners inevitably fall in love, marry, have children, and live happily ever after?
'Surely it couldn't be something so childish.'
Fortunately, the Blaire Grand Duke didn't keep me waiting long for his answer.
"To avoid marriage."
"I'm sorry?"
What was he talking about?
For a moment, I was utterly dumbfounded by this revelation.
"My maternal grandfather, the Previous Blaire Grand Duke, discussed my betrothal to Solid Marquis when I was young. So technically, the Solid Marquis's daughter and I are considered betrothed, though it was never formalized in official documents."
"...Ah, yes."
Now I remembered.
That's right—the young lady named Camellia who was supposed to marry the Grand Duke was indeed the Solid Marquis's daughter!
I had assumed they simply married, but in the original story, when his love with Lemeia never materialized, he must have resigned himself to marrying his betrothed...
"But she is your betrothed, isn't she?"
"My own wishes were never considered in the first place, and if it were a serious promise, they would have documented it. The fact that they didn't suggests there was room to dissolve it depending on circumstances."
So he was technically betrothed, but couldn't be considered officially betrothed...?
"Then Your Highness the Grand Duke doesn't wish to marry the Solid Marquis's daughter?"
"Correct. Not at all."
"And that's why you need my help?"
The Blaire Grand Duke nodded at my question.
"While it's only a verbal promise, dissolving it without reason would be an insult to the other house. But if I have a lover and dissolve the promise for that reason, there's room to handle it diplomatically."
Hmm, the Blaire Grand Duke's situation was indeed difficult.
After all, since the betrothal was made without regard for his wishes as a child, his desire to dissolve it was only natural.
Still, there was much that troubled me.
"How long were you thinking the arrangement would last?"
"Three years should be stable enough."
"That makes sense, but... the contract period seems rather long, so I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to—"
Just as I was carefully expressing my reluctance at the unexpectedly lengthy timeframe.
"Three months."
The Blaire Grand Duke swiftly shifted his position.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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