Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: First Night (4)
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"Fine. It doesn't matter when it's just the two of us. Second, don't cross the line. And..."
After a brief pause, I stated the most important part.
"Help me."
"Me, help Your Excellency?"
Rose shook her head as if it were absurd.
"I'm just an insignificant young lady from a humble family. How on earth could I help you?"
"Don't sell yourself short. Do you think I've forgotten you?"
"Pardon?"
"We took the same class at the Academy."
Rose clapped a hand over her mouth with a gasp.
"You remember that?"
"Of course. It's not every day a first-year auditing a third-year class stands out like that."
"I thought... you'd forgotten all about me."
The moment Rose fell in love with Dane Schmichael was in an Academy classroom, when she spotted him from afar.
That same moment had etched itself into her memory for life, yet it left no trace on me.
That had been true until just yesterday. But now, I could recall it too—the shy Rose standing there with a massive book in her arms.
"And that's not all. You took top honors in Magic Studies for three years straight."
"How did you...? I asked the professor to keep it quiet."
"I've got my ways."
"Eek..."
The tip of Rose's nose flushed red. Praise to her face clearly embarrassed her.
"I hold your talents in high regard. I'm certain they'll benefit the Schmichael family."
I couldn't outright ask her to help with my detoxification. But implying I'd use her abilities amounted to the same thing.
And knowing the fate I'd meet in a month's time, Rose had no choice but to act.
"Also, this contract won't be for life."
"What do you mean?"
In about a month, on my twenty-second birthday, I'd become the undisputed head of the Schmichael family—without violating a single kingdom law.
Once that happened, I planned to thoroughly purge the collateral kin who'd threatened my position and plotted against me all this time.
Rebuilding and solidifying the family would take at least a year. And that same period would be the term I'd ask Rose to stay by my side.
"Just one year. Do your best as my wife during that time. In return, I promise to treat you with the respect and courtesy due a husband."
"And after? Once the year is up..."
"You'll decide then. Stay in this territory, or leave."
I declared it firmly to Rose, who sat frozen in place.
"Those are the terms of this contract."
I leaned back slightly, signaling that was all I had to say.
Now it was time to give Rose space to think. Build some tension, then ease it off. A classic way to steer a conversation in your favor.
"...Haa."
Only then did she exhale a long breath, as if invisible shackles had finally snapped free.
"Just a little,"
Rose placed both hands on the table and clasped them tightly.
"Just a little more time to think, please."
"Of course."
While Rose hunched over in thought, I leaned back comfortably in my chair and observed her.
'She looks deep in thought.'
In both her first and second lives, Rose's first day had unfolded the same way.
A meager arrival with no welcome, a lonely meal for one, and an empty marital bed waiting for a husband who never came.
'A contract marriage. That might catch his interest.'
She'd spent the night wrestling with it and come up with that card—to protect herself and save her husband.
'She hasn't had time to consider it tonight.'
Thanks to me greeting her in a completely different way and throwing her off balance. That's why I got to propose the contract first this time.
To Rose, it would feel like a pretty enticing offer—one she couldn't refuse. It resolved her post-regression doubts and her predicament all at once.
'Exactly one year from now, I'll leave this territory.'
In the original story, that's the term Rose had proposed.
A loveless marriage anyway. Once he successfully inherits the family, he'll be too busy to notice me. I'll live quietly, like I'm not even there, until he forgets me. Then I'll go.
Simple calculations like that.
But Rose's expectations were wrong.
'Where does she think she's going?'
Dane Schmichael had started obsessing over her. As the lord of a territory producing top-grade mana stones, he couldn't let a genius in magic studies slip away.
And the more he did, the more Rose despised him. In the end, she left the territory and found her happy ending with the male lead in the capital.
Dane clung to her until the bitter end, only to be slain by the male lead.
'What a nauseating conclusion.'
Not this time.
I'd treat her cleanly and gentlemanly, respecting her wishes to the last. Maintain the contract marriage for exactly one year, then go our separate ways.
No obsession meant no execution by the male lead. A perfect plan, all around.
How much time passed? The candle on the table dwindled, its flame flickering weakly toward extinction.
Rose sat motionless the whole time. I waited silently, letting her deliberate.
Fwoosh—
The moment the candle went out,
"I'll do it."
Rose straightened up. Even in the faint moonlight, her eyes gleamed with clear resolve.
"You mean everything you said earlier, right? I can trust it all?"
"Mutual trust is the foundation of any contract."
I nodded gravely before adding,
"Even so, we can't seal it with words alone. I'll prepare a contract document tomorrow."
"Tomorrow when?"
"After I inspect the mine. Didn't we agree to dine together?"
"Ah... You were serious about that."
"If you have any demands, we can add them to the contract. Take your time deciding."
"Yes, Your Excellency. I'll think it over by tomorrow."
Her face no longer wavered; her resolve seemed complete. Even her nod felt firm.
"Very well."
I rose from the chair with a sense of relief.
"Now, time for our marital duties."
"...Pardon?"
The blood drained from Rose's face as she stammered. But I didn't notice, already turning toward the bed.
Thud.
I flipped back the covers and sat on the bed. Glancing at Rose, I found her rigid as a statue.
"What are you waiting for? Come here."
"Your Excellency?"
"Can't see in the dark?"
The moonlight seemed plenty bright.
Tilting my head, I pulled another candle from the table.
Click.
I lit it, and the room brightened at once. Yet Rose still hadn't budged.
"Planning to sleep there?"
"N-No, not that, but..."
"Want me to carry you like before?"
"No?!"
She shot to her feet with a shrill cry. She hesitated at first, but then,
Swish.
As I pretended to rise, she hurried over.
'Why's she so scared?'
Or maybe just nervous.
A bit puzzled, but what came next mattered more, so I let it slide.
"One last question, my lady."
"Yes."
"Are you truly resolved?"
"Uh..."
Rose, standing before me, gazed at me with trembling lips.
"I'm asking if you've fully considered the consequences of this secret contract—known only to us—and what happens after the year ends."
Grip.
She clenched her jaw tight.
"I understand everything you've said. I've thought it through... deeply and thoroughly."
Her voice rang with determined resolve.
"Good resolve."
I nodded and drew a dagger from my robes.
"?!"
The moment Rose's eyes widened,
Slash.
I sliced my forearm with the dagger. The honed blade bit sharply into my flesh.
Drip, drip.
Blood poured from the gash, soaking the sheets. Crimson bloomed in a widening circle.
"Your Excellency!"
Rose grabbed my dagger hand in a panic.
"What are you doing?!"
"We can't spend the night without leaving a trace."
I replied calmly and removed her hand.
"The servants will tidy this room tomorrow morning. Your maid included."
"Ah..."
"Think that maid won't report back to the Vicander family?"
No, as far as I knew, she faithfully played spy for them. That's why I had to resort to this obvious method.
"I promised to protect you from your family. It starts by showing how much your husband cherishes you."
Once the sheets were sufficiently stained, I wrapped my forearm with the prepared bandage. It wasn't deep, so I managed alone.
"This should dispel any doubts about us."
Rose stood there, mouth agape. Her complexion swung from flushed to pale in extremes.
'Oh dear. She's quite shocked.'
All the previous wives who'd come to the Schmichael family had left with their virtue intact, free to remarry elsewhere.
But Rose was different. To outsiders unaware of the contract, we'd look like a proper couple.
So if she left the territory, her future would grow murky. A woman's value plummets once she's known to be married.
That's why I asked again. Did she truly accept this, knowing full well?
"......"
The mind grasps it, but the heart feels the weight differently.
This seemed to be Rose's moment of shock. She'd need time to process.
'No need to worry that much.'
Whether married once or twice, with or without children—it didn't matter for Rose. Some man would still beg to have her.
She'd dump this trash heap of a me and marry another man. That was her fated future.