The woman’s eyes tremble slightly.

“Do you know who I’m going to… who I’m going to marry?”

I stare at the woman with eyes that must be shining silver.

‘I’m having a child.’

‘…Oh my God.’

The man looks pleased.

But it’s a lie. He’s not happy at all.

‘I want to promise you the rest of my life.’

He whispers sweet nothings about the unexpected arrival of his child and places a beautiful ring on her hand.

He kisses her forehead and she smiles happily.

‘My body may be elsewhere, but my heart will always be with you.’

The scene quickly changes.

The man whispers to the other woman in an equally affectionate voice.

‘I had to do it for the family name.’

She sobs in his arms.

‘You’re all I have, I love you.’

Despite knowing he has a child, the man shamelessly has a secret rendezvous with another woman.

And most importantly…….

‘I love you.’

‘I love you.’

‘I love you.’

It’s just that it’s not one woman.

“What a real bastard.”

“What ……?”

Oh, I’d unknowingly cursed out loud.

I waved it off as nothing.

A woman who doesn’t know the man she’s going to marry is… I feel sorry for her.

I paused, trying to think of something less hurtful to say to her.

“I don’t mind if you’re honest with me, Your Highness.”

“There is another woman.”

“…….”

“Several of them.”

In the end, I chose to be honest.

Her lips parted slightly, as if she hadn’t understood me.

“What ……?”

“It means he’s not just whispering his love to you.”

It’s so painful to look someone in the face when they’re hurting.

The woman’s face contorts, slowly, unconsciously.

She buries her face in her hands and begins to sob quietly.

“Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

She pulled out a handkerchief and quickly wiped away her tears.

“It’s all my choice…….”

As she said that, she wrapped it preciously around her lower belly.

“My child… poor thing.”

I can’t help but look sad despite my smiling face.

After all, love is hard.

It hurts so much.

I wait quietly for her to stop crying.

“You can always change the future.”

“…….”

“Even from now on, you can make different choices.”

A woman pregnant before her wedding.

And a man who doesn’t give her real love.

She can change the rest of her future.

“It’s times like these that you need to be strong.”

She smiles for real for the first time.

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

For a moment, I think I might understand her.

Just a little.

***

After she left, four more people came in.

“The gentry are starving.”

“It’s been a long time since I had my debutante, and I haven’t gotten my marriage license.”

And so on.

People poured out their concerns, some trivial, some important.

I gave simple answers.

“Agh, my back hurts.”

I didn’t realize it would take so long.

Three hours passed.

I looked at the pile of bribes, or rather, gifts, and smiled with pride.

As I patted my back, someone opened the parlor door and entered.

“You are too weak of heart.”

It was the Grand Duke.

“I don’t have a weak heart.”

“If it weren’t for you, all those people would be in my hands…….”

The Grand Duke paused, his gaze resting on the pile of gifts beside me.

“You’ve gotten a lot.”

“Oh, it’s a lot, isn’t it? I’ve been checking them out one by one, and they look pretty expensive.”

It was the first time I’d ever made money myself.

‘I’m so proud.’

I smiled with satisfaction.

The Grand Duke casually sits down on the couch across from me.

“I’ve been thinking about something lately, too.”

“……What is it?”

The Grand Duke begins to play it cool.

“My wife has become a celebrity in social circles. So much so that she receives gifts from others.”

“…….”

“As if I haven’t done enough for her.”

Oh, no.

I thought I knew what he was trying to get at.

He wants to know why I’ve been doing people unexpected favors.

“Hmm…….”

I mimicked the Grand Duke with a sly performance.

I leaned back and lifted my chin.

When I lower my eyes to meet his, he stifles a laugh.

“Your wife is thinking of something more for later on.”

“Later on?”

“After she’s separated from you.”

As I say this, the Grand Duke’s expression hardens slightly.

This was an unexpected reaction.

In a lowered voice, he asked.

“After separating, what do you have in mind?”

“……Why did you get so serious?”

Feeling the atmosphere become strangely charged, I readjusted my posture and sat up.

The Grand Duke’s expression shows no sign of easing.

“I asked you what you had in mind.”

His voice was so serious that I couldn’t joke anymore.

I glanced at the gifts that could be money and said nonchalantly.

“When we’re done and we’re divorced, I need to have some money to live on.”

“…….”

“That’s why I thought this would be a good opportunity…….”

The Grand Duke’s face darkened.

“You sound like someone who can’t wait to get a divorce.”

No, I didn’t mean it that way.

It’s only natural that the Bevenia family would turn against me.

If I divorced the Grand Duke, I would have to live on my own as Flotty until I returned to my own reality.

Money would be nice, I thought.

“Is that all you have to say about this being a good idea?”

The Grand Duke spoke as if he were holding in his anger.

His icy gaze chilled the atmosphere.

“It’s not nothing. It’s very important to me.”

I don’t know why he’s reacting like this.

Didn’t he just agree to divorce me once we were done with Omen and the Queen?

Unable to understand this reaction, I lowered my voice.

“If we get divorced, I’ll have to live on my own, so I should at least prepare for that.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. I hope you earn a lot.”

The Grand Duke stomped out of the parlor.

‘Oh, come on. You married me because you needed me.’

I remember my first meeting with him.

When the Grand Duke came to Bevenia, he tried to kill me.

I barely survived with the help of the old lady.

When he learned of my abilities, he offered me a contract marriage.

As I thought about all of this, I realized that I had gotten too comfortable with him lately.

‘After all, he’s only keeping me around for the contract.’

I’m ashamed of the way my heart ran amok last night.

Oh, and I had a dream.

Never in my life have I dreamed of a man.

Or, more accurately, …….

‘I dreamt I was kissing him.’

I cupped my face in both hands.

“Wake up. Seriously.”

Confused emotions rush in and out like waves.

***

It’s been a week since I’ve seen the Grand Duke, and we haven’t exchanged more than a brief greeting.

Today, he didn’t enter our bedroom until late at night, when I fell asleep.

When I woke up at the crack of dawn, he was getting ready to leave again.

“……Where are you going?”

His hand stopped buttoning his shirt.

“You haven’t slept enough.”

After a moment of silence, he replied.

“I went to bed early.”

An awkward conversation, to say the least.

I fidgeted with the covers, unable to find anything else to say.

“I have an imperial hunting meeting today.”

“Oh…….”

So much for that.

“Are you sure I don’t have to go?”

The word “imperial” makes me feel like I have to go.

But I don’t even know how to hunt, so it doesn’t seem necessary.

“I only asked because you said it’s an imperial event.”

I didn’t get a response from the Grand Duke, so I added.

“You must be tired, are you all right?”

“……I mean, this is a meeting I’m supposed to attend, right?”

He didn’t answer again.

I slipped out of bed and stalked over to him.

“Why didn’t you ask me to come with you?”

“Because …… it is good enough for me alone.”

“I’ve told you before, I want you to let me join so we can get this over with.”

The same goes for the abandoned palace.

That’s what I said to the Grand Duke when he told me to stay in the mansion because it was dangerous.

The Grand Duke wants to go out alone again.

“You said you were going to use me.”

“…….”

“Why would you keep a useful hand yet not use it?”

I asked, turning to face the Grand Duke.

The blue dawn light streams through the large window, and I can clearly see the Grand Duke’s face.

He was looking at me with his characteristic impassive expression.

“That’s true.”

“…….”

“We should get this over with.”

The Grand Duke says something unintelligible again.

“I don’t want to be awkward.”

“…….”

“For that matter, I think we’ve gotten a lot closer.”

The Grand Duke’s eyelids slide down.

A deep sigh passes between his parted lips.

“So I’ll go, too, to the hunting party.”

“Because you want to get this …… over with?”

He asks, a little off-kilter.

I didn’t answer the question easily.

‘Really?’

‘Is it because I want to end this contract quickly?’

‘Or because I feel sorry for the Grand Duke, living as a shadow for his brother?’

‘Because I don’t like Omen tormenting me?’

For a split second, a myriad of questions flashed through my mind.

“No.”

“…….”

“Because I want to help Your Highness.”

In the end, it was all I could do to come up with a vague answer.