“Right. It doesn’t matter when it’s just the two of us. Second, do not cross the line. And...”
After a brief pause, I delivered the most important condition.
“To help me.”
“Me, help Your Excellency?”
Rose shook her head as if it was absurd.
“I am merely an insignificant lady from a humble family. How could I possibly help Your Excellency?”
“Do not underestimate yourself. Did you think I wouldn’t remember my wife?”
“Pardon?”
“We took the same classes at the academy.”
Rose gasped and covered her mouth.
“You remember that?”
“Of course. It’s not common for a first-year to skip ahead and attend third-year classes.”
“I thought... you wouldn’t remember me.”
The moment Rose fell in love with Dane Schmaichel. It was the moment she spotted him from afar in an academy classroom.
That exact same moment had remained a lifelong memory for Rose, yet it had left no trace on me.
That had been the case until just yesterday. But now, I could also recall it. Rose, standing shyly with a large book in her hands.
“That’s not all. You placed first in Magical Studies for three consecutive years.”
“How did you know? I asked the professor to keep it a secret.”
“There are ways to know everything.”
“Ugh...”
The tip of Rose’s nose turned red. It seemed she was quite embarrassed to hear compliments right to her face.
“I hold your talent in high regard, my wife. I am confident you will be of great help to the Schmaichel family.”
I couldn’t outright ask her to help me decipher it. But expressing my intention to utilize her abilities meant the same thing.
Rose also knew what fate I would face a month from now, so she would have no choice but to act.
“And, this will not be a lifelong contract.”
“What do you mean?”
About a month later, on my 22nd birthday, I would become the perfect master of the Schmaichel family, without violating a single clause of the kingdom’s law.
Once that happened, I planned to completely purge the collateral bloodlines that had threatened my position and plotted against me.
It would take at least a year to rebuild and cultivate the family. And that period would be the duration I would ask Rose to stay by my side.
“For exactly one year, I ask you to do your best as my wife. In return, I will promise you respect and courtesy as your husband.”
“And after that? When the year passes...”
“Then you will choose. Whether to remain in this estate, or to leave.”
To Rose, who sat as if nailed to her spot, I declared it resolutely.
“Those are the conditions of this contract.”
I leaned back slightly. A signal that I had said all I wanted to say.
Having said this much, I needed to give Rose time to think. Creating appropriate tension, pulling tight then releasing—that was one way to steer a conversation into my favor.
“...Haa.”
Only then did Rose let out a long sigh, as if invisible shackles had been released.
“Just a little,”
Rose placed both hands on the table and clasped them tightly together.
“Please, give me a little time to think.”
“Alright.”
In contrast to Rose, who had curled up into herself, I leaned back comfortably in my chair. Then, I observed Rose as she fell into deep thought.
‘She seems to have a lot on her mind.’
Both in my first life and my second, Rose’s day today had been exactly the same.
A shabby arrival with no one to welcome her, a lonely dinner eaten all by herself, and a marital bedroom where her husband never came.
‘A contract marriage. With this, I can draw his attention.’
Rose had spent the night alone, devising this play after deep contemplation. To protect herself, and to save her husband.
‘She probably didn’t have the leeway to think this far today.’
Because I had greeted her in a completely different manner and thrown her into confusion. That was why I was able to propose a contract to her this time.
To Rose, this proposal would seem quite attractive—no, irresistible. After all, it could simultaneously resolve the doubts she had harbored right after her regression and the plight she currently found herself in.
‘After exactly one year, I’ll leave this estate.’
The contract period Rose had proposed in the original story was also one year.
‘It’s a loveless marriage anyway. His Excellency will become busy once he successfully inherits the family. If I live quietly for about a year, he’ll forget about me. Then I’ll leave.’
-That was her calculation.
However, Rose’s expectations were wrong.
‘Where does she think she’s going?’
Because Dane Schmaichel had started obsessing over her. As the master of an estate that produced the highest-grade Magic Stones, he couldn’t let go of a woman with the talent of an outstanding Magical Scholar.
But the more Dane did so, the more Rose came to despise him. Eventually, Rose left the estate and met the male protagonist in the capital, achieving a happy ending.
Dane had clung to Rose until the very end, only to be executed by the male protagonist.
‘A spine-chilling ending.’
I would never let it end like that this time.
I would treat Rose neatly and like a gentleman, respecting her wishes until the very end. We would maintain this contract marriage for exactly one year, and then live our own separate lives.
Since I wouldn’t obsess over Rose, there was no reason for the male protagonist to execute me. It was a perfect plan in every way.
I lost track of how much time had passed. The candle on the table grew shorter and shorter, its light eventually flickering out.
Rose had been sitting motionless the entire time. I, too, had silently waited for her to sort out her thoughts.
Huk-
The moment the candle lost its light,
“I will do it.”
Rose straightened her posture. Her eyes shone clearly, bright enough to be recognized even under the pale moonlight.
“Can I believe everything you said earlier?”
“The foundation of a contract is mutual trust.”
I nodded heavily and added.
“Even so, we can’t just have a verbal agreement. I will have a written contract prepared tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow when?”
“After I return from my inspection of the mine. Didn’t we agree to have dinner together?”
“Ah... You were being serious.”
“If you have any requests, you may add them to the contract. Think it over carefully before deciding.”
“Yes, Your Excellency. I’ll think about it by tomorrow.”
As if her resolve was fully set, Rose’s expression no longer wavered. Even the way she nodded was firm.
“Then.”
I stood up from my chair with a feeling of relief and said.
“Now we must attend to our marital duties.”
“...Pardon?”
The color drained from Rose’s face as she asked back. But I, turning around and heading toward the bed, hadn’t noticed it.
Teolssak.
I pulled back the covers and sat on the bed. When I looked back at Rose, she was frozen stiff like a statue.
“What are you doing? Come here.”
“Your Excellency?”
“Is it too dark to see?”
The moonlight seemed bright enough.
I tilted my head, then took out another candle from the table.
Tak.
When I lit the candle, the surroundings quickly brightened. Yet, Rose still didn’t move an inch from her spot.
“Are you planning to sleep there?”
“A-ah, no. It’s not that but...”
“Do you want me to carry you over like I did earlier?”
“No?!”
Rose let out a shriek and jumped to her feet. She couldn’t walk right away, hesitating for a moment, and then...
Sseuk.
When I made a motion to get up, she hurriedly approached.
‘Why is she so terrified?’
Or was she just nervous?
I was a bit puzzled, but what I had to do next was more important, so I let it slide.
“I ask you one last time, my wife.”
“Yes.”
“Are you absolutely certain of your decision?”
“Uh...”
Standing before me, Rose looked at me with trembling lips.
“I’m asking if you’ve thought enough about the consequences this contract—known only to the two of us—will bring, and about what happens after the year passes.”
Kkuyuk.
Rose clenched her jaw tightly and then,
“I understand what you have said. I have thought about it sufficiently... and deeply.”
She answered resolutely, as if fully prepared.
“Good resolve.”
I nodded and took out the dagger I had hidden in my coat.
“?!”
The moment Rose widened her eyes,
Seogeok.
I slashed my forearm with the dagger. The well-sharpened blade pierced sharply into my flesh.
Huduk, hududuk.
The blood pouring from the split wound soaked into the blankets. Red stains spread out in circles.
“Your Excellency!”
Startled, Rose grabbed my hand holding the dagger.
“What are you doing?!”
“I couldn’t spend a night with you and leave no trace behind.”
I replied nonchalantly, removing Rose’s hand.
“Tomorrow morning, the servants will clean up this room. Your maid will be included among them.”
“Ah...”
“Do you think that maid won’t report anything to the Vikander family?”
No, as far as I knew, that maid faithfully served as a pawn for the Vikander family. That was why I had to resort to such a conspicuous method.
“I promised to protect you from the family. That begins by showing how much you are loved by your husband.”
Once the blanket was sufficiently soaked, I wrapped my forearm with a bandage I had prepared in advance. It wasn’t a deep wound, so I could do it myself.
“With this much, they won’t be able to doubt the relationship between you and me.”
Rose just stood there with her mouth open. Her face flushed red, then turned pale blue; the change in her complexion was extreme.
‘Dear me. She must be quite shocked.’
The wives who had come into the Schmaichel family so far had definitely never had any relations with me. So they were able to find other places and remarry after leaving the castle.
But Rose’s case was different. In the eyes of others, who were unaware of our contract marriage, we would appear as a wedded couple in every sense.
Therefore, if Rose were to leave this estate, her future would become uncertain. Because the value of a married woman would drop significantly.
That was why I had asked her one more time. If she was prepared to accept this, even knowing the truth.
“......”
Even if one knew it logically, the weight of it truly hitting one’s heart was different.
It seemed this was a moment of shock for Rose. She would need time to accept it.
‘She doesn’t really need to worry that much.’
Whether Rose had been married once or twice, whether she had children or not, it wouldn’t matter. Because there would surely be a man who would cling to her, saying he didn’t care.
Rose would dump a piece of trash like me and marry another man. That was her destined future.