I Became the Obsessed Ex-Husband in a Romance Fantasy - Chapter 160
Moreover, the sight of Rojian diligently chewing and swallowing cookies, his mouth working busily...
'Cute.'
It was quite cute.
Though she wasn't sure if such an expression was appropriate for a man who was significantly taller and more broadly built than her.
'It's just my inner thoughts, so what does it matter.'
Dayna rationalized to herself and silently observed him.
The way he puffed out both cheeks and ate earnestly made him look like some small, fluffy creature.
'...A squirrel.'
This too was an expression that would be rude if spoken aloud, so she kept it to herself.
After waiting a reasonable amount of time, Dayna spoke.
"Shall we start the interview?"
"Ah, yes ma'am!"
The moment Dayna's words ended, Rojian quickly brushed off his clothes and stood up.
His face, which had been relaxed, instantly tightened. His speech also returned to the formal tone he used when addressing the Young Duchess.
"What are you doing? Sit."
"Excuse me? Aren't we doing it inside?"
"We'll do it here on the sofa."
Dayna gestured with her chin, making him sit back down on the sofa.
"Let me ask you plainly."
She crossed her legs and looked straight at Rojian.
"What reason do I have to pass over countless suitors and specifically choose you as my husband?"
I wonder what answer this squirrel will give to entertain me.
Dayna waited with anticipation for Rojian's lips to part.
**
Rojian brought his hands up to his knees and gripped them tightly. Otherwise, his hands felt like they would tremble.
'I can do this.'
The significance of Dayna Schumichel gathering all the suitors together, and everything he had experienced so far.
Rojian kept thinking. And he began to test whether the answer he had found was the right one.
"...First,"
Rojian met Dayna's gaze and spoke.
"Before I give my answer, there is something I would like to ask."
"Speak."
"You never intended to truly marry anyone in the first place, did you?"
At Rojian's provocative opening words, one of Dayna's eyebrows rose slightly.
"What makes you think so?"
"I inferred it from the way you prepared this kind of interview and your attitude toward the suitors."
Rojian said, carefully observing Dayna's expression.
"Today's event holds significance as an outward 'declaration' that you went through some sort of formality."
"……."
"I think it's nothing less than a wordless hint and warning that anyone who pushes a marriage proposal on you will end up like this."
For a moment, something like a smile flashed across Dayna's lips. Rojian could only catch a trace of it at the corner of her mouth.
"And so?"
Dayna tapped her cheek with the fingers that had been supporting her chin.
"Does reading my intentions change your situation?"
It was the confirmation he had expected.
"I came to propose a contract to you."
Rojian exhaled lightly and finally got to the main point.
"More precisely, a contract in the form of marriage. In other words, I'm proposing a sham marriage with me."
Finally, distinct interest spread across Dayna's face.
"Explain in detail."
It wasn't certain whether this was a good sign, but at least she didn't seem likely to kick him out as quickly as the previous suitors.
"First, let me explain the benefits you would gain from this contract in three conditions."
Rojian spoke, feeling his heart begin to beat a little faster.
"First, I will fulfill the role of a perfect husband. Once you have a husband, those who bother you using marriage as an excuse will disappear."
"Marriage proposals certainly won't come in. But what about your family?"
Dayna's eyes gleamed coldly.
"Won't the Vikander family try to control you and wield power? I have no intention of feeding those parasites."
"That will absolutely never happen."
It was a point he had already anticipated, so Rojian actually smiled with relief.
"I've already been disowned by the Vikander family."
"What?"
"I am now someone with nowhere to return to and no backing to control me."
Saying that, Rojian felt his heart grow considerably lighter.
'You crazy bastard! Don't even think about coming back to the family!'
The scars left by his father's abusive words faded little by little. He was now free, no longer bound by the shackles of the Vikander name.
"...I understand for now. What about the remaining two?"
"Second, I will not interfere with your power, wealth, or territorial governance in any way. I will live quietly as if I don't exist."
Rojian carefully licked his dry lips.
"Above all, I will not demand any presumptuous love from you or overstep any boundaries."
"……."
For a moment, Dayna's face became terrifyingly expressionless. For a brief instant, it was reminiscent of the time she was called the Ice Princess during their Academy days.
'...What was that?'
Wondering what about his words had just displeased Dayna, Rojian continued speaking.
"If you marry into an influential noble or powerful family, they will constantly try to interfere in the Schumichel interests. But I'm a safe pawn with no such risk. Moreover..."
Rojian's voice grew even lower.
"I dare to presume that you are currently fighting a lonely battle within your family."
"Me?"
At Dayna's chillingly lowered voice, the hair on the back of Rojian's neck stood on end. But he did not back down.
"I apologize if I've offended you. If this is merely my baseless conjecture, you may reprimand me as much as you like."
"……."
"A considerable amount of time has passed since the previous Duke's passing, yet you have still not held the formal succession ceremony. That must mean there are serious conflicts and power struggles within the family or among your blood relatives."
His heart felt as if it were freezing under Dayna's icy gaze. Rojian spoke while taking deep breaths between sentences.
"As evidence, didn't you sustain a rather deep wound on your back?"
"...How do you know that?"
"Please rest assured I'm not some spy."
At Dayna's attitude, as if she were about to reach for her sword at any moment, Rojian hastily waved his hands.
"Earlier, when you were hunting monsters on the training ground, I noticed your movements were subtly different from before."
"Different from before—you mean during our Academy days?"
"Yes. Because I watched every single one of your sparring matches without missing a single one..."
Even in this tense moment, saying this was somewhat embarrassing. It felt like confessing to stalker-like behavior. Rojian's speech gradually slowed.
"The motion of drawing and sheathing your sword seemed about half a second slower than usual... so I deduced that there might be damage to your back muscles."
Unaware that at that very moment, she was questioning his swordsmanship talent,
"Lastly, the third condition."
Rojian quickly moved on to the next condition.
"This contract has a duration of one year. Terminating or extending the contract is entirely your choice. That is all I have to say."
Instead of answering, Dayna crossed her arms and leaned back against the backrest. Then she fell silent for a moment.
Rojian watched Dayna's expression and swallowed a sigh of relief.
'It doesn't seem too bad, at least.'
At least he had said everything he had prepared. He was probably the one who had conversed with Dayna the longest among today's suitors.
What remained was how Dayna would evaluate this contract.
"...A remarkably good contract."
Eventually, Dayna's lips moved.
The moment Rojian breathed a sigh of relief at the positive assessment—
"Just as you said, it's all benefit to me. So a question arises."
Dayna leaned forward and drew closer to Rojian.
"Then what do you get in return for this contract?"
"This contract itself is my reward. I—"
"I don't believe such talk."
Dayna said it easily, almost indifferently.
"Things like human emotions, which can't be casually judged, can't be bound by conditions."
"……."
"Even if you say you're satisfied with just this right now, your feelings could change. What will you do then?"
Dayna's point was valid.
If he could stay by her side, breathe the same air, and feel her presence, Rojian's greed could grow uncontrollably.
The human heart was like a flowing stream, yet different—its depths unknowable.
Just as Rojian hadn't recognized something deep within himself while proposing this contract.
"...As expected, you are cool-headed."
Dayna's words sounded as if, even if she went through with the contract, she wouldn't yield even a corner of her heart.
He had known. He had fully expected she would be such a person.
"You're right. That's precisely why I called it a contract."
Yet why did his chest ache as if it were being clawed open?
"If I violate the conditions, you may terminate the contract at any time."
Rojian forced an indifferent tone.
"Of course, words alone won't convince you. The truth is, I need a safe residence and research resources."
"Hmm."
"If you don't accept my proposal... I was prepared to go to Anersen and beg on my knees to be taken in as a disciple."
Anersen.
The kingdom's foremost magicologist, currently residing in the Schumichel territory and receiving Dayna's massive financial support—a genius of magic studies.
"But if I become your husband, I would gain a sanctuary where I could conduct research freely without anyone's interference."
Dayna gazed at Rojian in silence.
Rojian also didn't avoid the blue gaze flying straight at him and met it head-on.
"……."
Silence flowed between them.
It was a time of searching, as if seeking something in each other's eyes, or perhaps hoping.
"...Fine. Let's make the contract."
The first to speak was Dayna.
Without looking away from Rojian's eyes,
"Honestly, that was the most interesting proposal I've heard today."
A faint smile lingered at the corner of her lips.
'...Phew.'
Just as Rojian breathed a sigh of relief—
"But there's one thing I need to confirm before we proceed."
Dayna rose from her seat. Then, with steps that glided like a predator, she approached the sofa where Rojian sat.
*Gulp.*
Rojian instinctively stiffened and swallowed.
"You said earlier. That you'd be a husband who doesn't bother me, like someone who isn't even there."
Dayna placed her hand on the armrest of the sofa next to Rojian. In an instant, her shadow swallowed him whole.
"Does that mean... you'd freely enjoy the rights, status, and capital of being my husband."
Dayna's gaze slowly traced down Rojian's eyes, cheeks, and then his lips.
"While tossing aside the duties you should rightfully perform as a husband?"
"...Excuse me?"
Rojian's brain went completely blank at that moment.
A husband's duties? You mean... what I think it means? No, that can't be right. There's no way Dayna would demand something like that from me...
But what if she is? Uh, then...
*Boom!*
From the nape of his neck to the tips of his ears, every part of Rojian turned bright red like a tomato about to burst.
"……."
Rojian couldn't bear it and covered his face with his hands. He knew full well his face had turned the color of his nickname—Red Radish.
"...That's not what I meant."
The end of his voice cracked, sounding quite awful, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"How could I dare harbor such an arrogant thought. It's just..."
Rojian barely managed to suppress his pounding heart. Then he lowered the hands covering his face and looked at Dayna.
"I thought you wouldn't want... that kind of physical contact."
"You thought I wouldn't want it?"
Dayna chuckled and slowly traced her thumb down Rojian's lips.
'...Ah.'
It was a face he had seen before. The face she had when she cornered him against the bookshelves in the library and interrogated him.
It was the face of a predator with delicious prey beneath its claws, pondering how to prepare it.
He finally understood.
Like discovering a glinting realization within a stream that had been flowing all along—
"I..."
Rojian understood, instinctively.
That is, right now, Dayna was—
"Whether out in public or in bed, whenever I desire it, you'll have to fulfill the role of a perfect 'husband.'"
Dayna slowly extended her remaining fingers and cradled Rojian's jaw.
"Remember this. Rights come with obligations."
A quiet declaration that bound the other person and pinned them down, not even allowing for the possibility of refusal.
Yet why did his heart start pounding like crazy at this coercive tone? His extremities trembled, and deep within his body, a heat like fire flared up.
"If you understand, kiss me."
Dayna's lips traced a soft arc.
With that smile, rational thought was no longer possible.
Rojian immediately rose to his feet.
As he straightened his knees, Dayna's face, which had been above him just moments ago, was now below.
"……."
The clear eyes that quietly looked up at him, the slightly parted lips—all of it was so excessively beautiful that it imprinted itself vividly in his mind.
Rojian pressed his lips against Dayna's. And with a thirsty touch, he cradled her face.
"-!"
Dayna flinched for a moment but then willingly surrendered herself to Rojian.
"Haa..."
Dayna's lips were warmer than expected, softer and more yielding than he had imagined.
'Absolutely.'
Rojian vowed.
He would never end this contract with his own hands. And even if Dayna wanted to end it, it would be futile.
Because he now belonged to Dayna.
At the same time, Dayna thought.
'This makes it perfect.'
There was no way she could not know the blind, clinging emotion pouring toward her.
No—she had seen right through it, which was exactly why she had willingly placed the leash into her own hands.
Rojian would delude himself into thinking he had bound Dayna through the contract, but in reality, both of them would sink into the mire of this toxic relationship.
A hunter who would never let go, and a beast that willingly offered itself to be captured.
The story of two people who would come to control and possess each other was turning its sweet first page.
-Side Story Complete-