Chapter 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: First Night (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘Dodging it like this.’
If she mentioned even one rumor about me, she’d be questioned about where she heard it from.
So Rose answered in a way that avoided it. Wisely, without naming anyone else. It was a pretty satisfying response.
Above all, if she came into the Schmichael family as the lady of the house without knowing even this much, that in itself would be a problem.
“...”
Rose and I were silent for a moment. We simply gazed into each other’s eyes.
Her unwavering green eyes held firm even under my cold stare.
“...”
“...The mood’s gone.”
I gently removed Rose’s arm and set my wine glass down on the table. For a moment, Rose glanced at my face, then seemed relieved.
“If you want, I’ll have all the wine sent to your room. You seemed interested.”
“Pardon? That’s not necess— No, um.”
Rose hesitated briefly before nodding.
“Yes, please do.”
Between shedding her image as a greedy villainess or seizing the chance to test the wine for poison.
Rose chose the latter. Prioritizing substance over appearances.
“Very well.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve never touched it anyway. I’ll have the whole rack sent tomorrow.”
“Pardon...?”
Rose looked as if she’d been struck.
“You’ve never had any? Up to now?”
“I’ve never entered the marital bedroom. Though someone has drunk it.”
Rose’s eyebrow twitched upward,
“Maybe one of the previous wives drank it?”
then drooped at my reply.
“Ah...”
A hollow sigh escaped her. I held back a laugh at the sight.
‘I’m doing her a favor.’
It was consideration so she wouldn’t waste time testing the wine. She’d find out later, but the poison that afflicted me didn’t come from the wine.
I couldn’t say it outright, so this was the subtlest way to hint.
The difference in perspective between someone who knows the test answers and someone who doesn’t is vast. I had to narrow that gap indirectly, without Rose knowing.
“What’s wrong, Madam?”
Feigning ignorance, I asked, and Rose pouted.
“No, it’s nothing...”
“Even giving you all the wine isn’t enough? You must want the one I broke earlier.”
“No! That’s not it!”
Rose waved her hands frantically in panic.
“If you want, I’ll get you another.”
“No need. And I’ve changed my mind. You don’t have to send the wine.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes!”
Her vigorous reply suggested she’d relaxed quite a bit. Now I could steer the conversation where I wanted.
“As you wish, Madam.”
“Thank... you?”
Leaving Rose bewildered, I cleared the tray from the table and leaned back comfortably in my chair.
Rose’s gaze inadvertently drifted to my chest,
“-!”
then quickly turned away. I could see her breathing tremble faintly.
“?”
Wondering what it was, I looked down. Through the loosely parted robe, my chest was visible.
‘Reacting to something like this.’
How was she supposed to manage married life if she was this innocent?
Rose, now twenty, was two years younger than me. She was still young, after all.
That was why we needed to firmly establish the nature of our relationship.
“First, I have a few questions.”
“Yes.”
Rose straightened up and focused on me.
“How was your first day?”
It was a question laden with implications.
“...”
Rose swallowed repeatedly, as if her mouth had gone dry. She glanced at the moonlight shining on the table, fidgeted with her fingers,
“...It was a strange day.”
and finally spoke.
“Strange?”
It was an answer unclear if positive or negative.
“What do you mean?”
“Just... everything felt off.”
As she said it, Rose stared at me.
Her green eyes shone clearly even in the darkened surroundings. They swirled with a chaotic mix of suspicion, wariness, curiosity, and more.
The eyes seemed to say that while the whole day was strange, the strangest part was you.
“Answer precisely. Did you like it, or not?”
“It wasn’t bad. Just... unfamiliar.”
“Unfamiliar?”
“Yes.”
Rose bit her lip. She seemed reluctant, as if it was a topic she didn’t want to broach.
“Your Excellency must know my reputation in society.”
As expected, Rose hesitantly brought up her own shame.
“So when Your Excellency came to greet me, I thought you’d chase me away right there.”
It seemed my packaging of the welcoming ceremony had failed.
A surge of hot desire toward my loyal butler nearly rose again.
“But you didn’t. The dinner, the maids assigned to me... everything was so warm.”
“...”
“That’s why it felt strange. Unfamiliar.”
A bitter smile tugged at Rose’s lips.
“I’ve never received treatment like this even in my own family...”
Rose’s reverie didn’t last long. She shook her head briskly and asked me.
“So, why ask this? Does it matter to Your Excellency?”
“It matters to me, and to you as well.”
“In what...?”
“I want to propose a contract, Madam.”
I emphasized each word.
“A contract that could change your life.”
Rose’s face stiffened completely. From her nape to her shoulders, every visible part tensed rigidly.
‘You’re proposing a contract marriage with me.’
The line the regressed Rose had spat at Dane the next day. It was the desperate measure she wrung out to protect herself and save Dane.
The vague thought that surfaced on the way to the castle had crystallized after a night of deliberation.
For me to suddenly bring it up must have thrown her off.
“...What,”
Her voice cracked as it emerged.
“what kind of contract?”
“I said I know the situation the Schmichael family—and I specifically—face, didn’t I?”
“...Yes.”
“Then you know what dangers you might face.”
Rose steadied her breath, trying to speak calmly.
“I do. That’s why I’m the eighth wife.”
The seven previous wives who came here hadn’t met good ends. They either left cursing or were carried out as corpses.
I’d never killed any myself. I simply hadn’t protected them from the countless assassination attempts aimed at me.
Marriage proposals that initially poured in voluntarily began to dwindle after the fifth wife vomited blood and died.
Gambling on a sliver of hope despite the risk of death. Marrying into the Schmichael family meant that.
Even collateral kin valued their lives and stopped sending their daughters as wives. Instead, they started using children from lesser families under them.
Families with some wealth could avoid it. But the Vicander family, with nothing to boast of, couldn’t.
‘That’s why Rose came here.’
To a place where death was likely. No, overwhelmingly probable. Knowing she wouldn’t be treated as a proper wife, yet helpless.
But that opened a path for me to live. Ironic.
“I’ll protect you from that danger. I promise a comfortable life and financial freedom.”
“...”
“In return, you cooperate with me absolutely.”
After a pause, I got to the crucial point.
“In other words, let’s have a contract marriage.”
“A contract... marriage.”
I continued toward Rose, who repeated my words soullessly.
“For reference, the danger I mean isn’t limited to the castle. It includes protecting you from outside—from the Vicander family’s interference.”
And helping with revenge against the family.
—I swallowed that, as it wasn’t necessary to say now.
In time, Rose would ask for my help herself. Or it might happen naturally in the process of helping me.
“I’ll uproot the malicious rumors about you too. If you want, I’ll cut out the tongues of those spreading them.”
“No, that’s not necess—”
Rose, waving her hands hurriedly, froze.
“Your Excellency, what did you just say?”
“I’ll cut out their tongues.”
“...No, before that.”
“The malicious rumors about you?”
Rose’s eyes widened like saucers.
“You knew?”
“Do you think me a fool?”
This was something anyone could notice even without knowing the original novel. Dane in the original was just too oblivious; clues proving Rose’s innocence were plentiful.
That’s how the regressed Rose gradually won over the castle servants. All except one: me.
That was why Dane Schmichael was the story’s dung truck and villain.
“No idiot would believe those rumors after seeing your carriage and attire today.”
Thus, Bill became an idiot.
“Your family truly has no shame. Even for such a deadly position, skipping even the bare minimum pretense.”
“Ugh.”
Rose clenched her free hand on the table. Noticing my gaze, she dropped it below.
“You knew everything...”
“No need to be ashamed. It’s not your fault.”
“That makes it even harder to understand. How do you know my situation and still propose a contract?”
Rose chewed her lip.
“I have nothing to offer Your Excellency.”
“No. That’s precisely why I chose you.”
I leaned close to Rose, whispering. She flinched in surprise but didn’t pull away.
No, she couldn’t. As if captivated by my eyes, Rose met my gaze without moving.
“I need someone reliable. Not aligned with the family, but wholly on my side.”
“The absolute cooperation you mentioned earlier?”
Rose was sharp, as expected. Even in this conversation tinged with confusion, she pinpointed the key.
“First, fulfill your role perfectly. Make us look like the ideal couple to others.”
Rose’s throat bobbed.
“...As others see it, right?”