Contract Marriage Interrupted - Chapter 50



Only Noblemtl

Episode 50. The Reality of the Nightmare
2023.07.23.

When the banquet was in full swing,

Odette quietly left the banquet hall. She

felt like she had had too much to drink, so she made a reasonable excuse to take a walk.

‘There are so many people.’

She felt like she was going to get drunk, not from the alcohol, but from the atmosphere.

Odette knew very well that she had to keep her wits about her in such a situation.

However, this time, Odette did not leave to keep her wits about her. She

really did it to escape the banquet hall.

‘We agreed to meet around the fifth bell.’

How long had she walked? Soon, she could see the garden, darkened by the lack of lighting.

‘We’re here.’

The meeting place with Walter.

* * *

Just before entering the banquet hall, Odette had this conversation with Walter.

“Walter, there will definitely be a lot of people when you go to the banquet hall, right?”

“Of course there will be a wedding announcement. Are you worried?”

“Everything else is fine, but… … “ I thought it would be hard to find you if I missed you.”

“Is that so? I’ve never seen anyone who had a hard time finding me.”

At Walter’s words, Odette looked up at Walter.

And, she realized once again how conspicuous Walter was.

He was a head taller than everyone else,

and his muscular physique was definitely noticeable among the crowd.

“… … Even so, if you’re among people, you’ll be buried in the crowd again.”

“If you don’t like that, how about we meet outside at a set location?”

Odette was lost in thought, thinking about telling Walter, “The problem is that you’re in a conspicuous place. It’s not a matter of inside or outside.” Then, she suddenly had a good idea.

“Then how about here? There’s a path from the banquet hall to the now-unused empty palace.”

Since it was a path leading to the now-unused palace, the garden nearby was dark with little lighting.

Few people knew the way, and since it was dark, even fewer people came, so it was practically deserted.

So, it was a place that Odette often used to hide herself.

After spending time wandering around the crowded banquet hall, she desperately needed a place to be alone.

“I’ll tell you the way, so meet me at the arched structure over there. It’s not too far, so you’ll be able to find it easily.”

After talking like this, the two decided to make that place their meeting place, as Odette had said.

And, as expected,

Odette’s prediction was right.

‘As soon as the marriage announcement was over, I drifted away from Walter… … .’

It wasn’t that surprising, since men usually talk to men and women talk to women.

‘What would have happened if I hadn’t decided on a meeting place?’

The thought of standing next to Walter in the crowd made her feel dizzy again.

The dark alleyway was a little eerie, but Odette was quite familiar with it, so her steps toward the arched structure gradually became more brisk.

Above all, there was also the reason why a figure stood out next to the structure.

‘Is it Walter, judging by his height?’

It was hard to see because of the darkness, but if there was anyone who could be in a place like this, it would definitely be Walter.

Odette walked towards Inyoung with quick steps.

“Walter? Are you here first?”

As the distance grew closer, Inyoung’s figure became clearer.

Tall, straight nose, and handsome appearance.

The basic modifiers were similar, but somehow different.

If Walter felt like a dented cliff, Inyoung in front of her had a softer appearance.

In the dim darkness,

Odette was finally able to recognize the person standing there.

It had been quite some time since they had met, and the atmosphere seemed quite different… … .

Still, it was not easy not to recognize that blond man.

The title of the person flowed out from Odette’s half-doubted mouth.

“… … Count Clovis?”

* * *

Louis Clovis.

The young man with blond hair and handsome appearance had not been staying at the mansion recently.

On the outside, she said she was sick, but in fact, it was because of an unknown curse.

Of course, she no longer feels pain or suffering like when the curse first occurred.

She is just suffering from hallucinations or nightmares.

‘Odette… no, the 4th princess.’

Louis’s only wish was to go back to the time when he didn’t know about her, so his daily life was ruined.

When he opened his eyes, he would look through literature here and there or talk to people who might know information, and when he closed his eyes, he would talk to Odette’s nightmare.

Thanks to this, Louis’ ‘nightmare’ gradually became complete.

At first, he could only infer the situation by combining fragmentary information, but now all the events in it felt vivid as if he had experienced them.

The causal relationship of the situation, and even the feelings he had when he experienced the situation.

Sometimes, I was confused as to whether I was Odette’s husband Louis, or Louis Clovis, who was still being pressured by his grandmother to marry.

“Odette, it’s not like that. I wasn’t trying to ignore you, I just felt pain seeing you… …!”

“Master, come to your senses! Master is not married! This is not a dream!”

“… … It’s not a dream? Then what about Odette?”

While looking for Odette, half-asleep, he saw the faces of the servants holding him with complicated expressions.

Walter’s explanation was right. This curse was really bad, and it seemed like it would definitely lead him to death.

After all, he already seemed to have gone mad.

‘I want to see Odette in this situation.’

Although he knew that the correct title was 4th Princess, not Odette, Louis unconsciously called her by her name.

It was because meeting her as his wife felt more vivid than meeting her as 4th Princess.

If it hadn’t been for Walter’s warning, Louis would have run to Odette long ago.

And he would have knelt down and apologized, saying that he was sorry for leaving her alone.

The reason Louis didn’t do that, no, there was only one reason he couldn’t do that.

He hadn’t seen the end of the ‘nightmare’ yet.

‘The dream has stopped at some point.’

At first, he couldn’t be sure, but after repeating the same time period several times, he could now see it clearly.

The beginning of the ‘nightmare’ was always the same.

“I want to marry you, Louis Clovis. More as a contract than love.”

The moment when Odette meets him on the balcony of the palace,

Louis’s ‘nightmare’ begins, and they go through a brief period of blissful harmony before rushing into ruin.

“Louis, you should learn from your wife! Your wife is so upright, but what is your behavior?”

“Grandmother, I told you not to interfere with my life!”

“I’m saying this because I feel sorry for your wife. How can you live such a dissolute life with a princess as your wife?”

“Don’t scold him too much, Grandma. I’ll talk to him.”

Whenever Louis and his grandmother fought, Odette was always the target of comparison.

When she tried to mediate between them, it only made things worse.

Louis gradually began to feel sick of Odette. She was too much for Louis to handle in the first place.

‘Why did I marry that kind of woman? No matter how urgent the marriage was, I should have just chosen a woman from a moderately humble family. Why did I marry a princess just to hear some fancy words? …’

Such thoughts could not help but show in his actions. His

secretly cold attitude led to his neglect of his family.

Odette withered away day by day, and their relationship gradually worsened.

In the meantime, Odette’s older brother Cedric died, and her only friend, a maid, got married to a distant land, and Odette’s condition rapidly worsened.

Then, one day, that moment would come.

“Louis, I have a favor to ask.”

“… … What is it?”

“You’re meeting your friends, right?”

“That again? You shouldn’t be coming home early. You know that. It’s likely to get long.”

“… … That’s not what I’m talking about. You can stay out all night, but please don’t bring me home. My head starts ringing when there are too many people… … .”

Although he didn’t know if it was true that his head was ringing, Louis knew that Odette didn’t like having many people at home.

His well-off wife was originally raised noble, so she seemed to be ashamed of showing her sick appearance to others.

Louis suddenly felt sorry, but he said that he would.

However, he didn’t receive a thank you for his consideration.

That was the end of the ‘nightmare’.

Louis was thirsty for the story that didn’t continue.

While he was dreaming, he felt really annoyed and hated Odette, as if he was being immersed in the dream.

Then, when he opened his eyes, all those feelings felt regretful.

‘What on earth happens after that?’

Louis had to confirm the ending, if only to erase this inexplicable regret.

Moreover, if Walter had said so, this curse could drive him mad and lead to his death, so even more so.

‘I can’t meet Odette until I solve the curse.’

With that thought in mind, Louis traveled all over the empire to learn about the curse.

And he recently found a clue in a very unexpected place.

The contact was from Zantipe, a magic professor at Belfort Academy, whom Louis had first visited to ask about the curse.

“I thought that what you were inflicted with might not have been a curse, so I was researching fields other than curses, and I found a clue there. Fortunately, the academic festival was being held this time.”

“If you say fields other than curses… … .”

“Yes, it wasn’t the Department of Magic. It might not really be a curse.”

The clue came from the Department of Divinity.

It wasn’t even about magic using holy power.

“… … This book is about holy relics, isn’t it?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s a record of those who used holy relics. Take a look. “Aren’t there things similar to your situation?”

A holy relic that is said to grant wishes, of which only three exist on the entire continent.

As if to say that the legend of being able to bring the dead back to life was not an exaggeration, there were various records written about it.

One peculiarity was that most of them were not records of the person who used the holy relic.

“It seems that when you use a holy relic, even those related to it are affected.”

And one of the most common symptoms was.

‘Hallucination.’

It matched what Louis was experiencing.