Contract Marriage Interrupted - Chapter 57



Only Noblemtl

Episode 57. What Walter Hides
2023.08.17.

In fact, it wasn’t that unusual of a situation.

Ellie had a personality that was easygoing enough to use the roads that commoners usually took, and because of that, she hated being different from other nobles.

If Ellie had been a little more calm, Odette would have let it slide without even suspecting anything.

‘But… … It’s a little suspicious.’

Was it really something to be so flustered and turn down when she was offered an escort?

Odette felt a little puzzled. Perhaps at another time, she would have pointed this out more sharply and tried to check Ellie’s condition.

However, this time, Odette was also preoccupied with her own work.

She was busy preparing for the wedding, but the biggest reason was that she had trouble sleeping.

The problem was no longer that the bedding was unfamiliar.

‘The problem is the dreams.’

Since coming here, Odette had been having strange dreams.

Very miserable… … Dreams that made her feel happy for a moment.

However, all she felt was the feeling that it was so, and when she woke up from the dream, nothing came to mind.

All she could feel was that she was always having the same dream.

After much thought, Odette concluded that she should consult Walter about this strange phenomenon.

‘Maybe it’s a problem with the bed.’

So she wanted to change the bedroom, but she felt awkward because he seemed to be whining too much to change it for no reason.

But at the same time, she also wanted to share some warmth by telling him about the dream.

Maybe it was because she had hugged him several times, but Walter’s embrace gave her a strange sense of stability.

If she had said she would hug him for a short while without any particular ulterior motives, he would have allowed her.

‘If he doesn’t allow it… … I’ll have to bring up the contract clause.’

For a moment, she thought that she was only learning bad things from her fiancé, but Odette quickly forgot about it.

Then she found a light and headed to Walter’s room.

It was a strange hour after all the lights in the mansion had gone out, but since she had been there several times, it wasn’t that scary.

Rather, she might have been a little nervous about opening Walter’s room.

However.

– Hey, Walter… …?

The moment Odette carefully opened the room, the pleasant throbbing in her chest quickly disappeared.

Walter’s bedroom was empty.

‘And he came back in the morning as if nothing had happened.’

He never mentioned going out even once.

That led to only one conclusion.

‘Walter is going out suspiciously.’

He was going out every night without telling her.

She thought he usually went out at night, so she asked the butler and other servants.

– Are there any carriages that come and go at night? Well. I don’t think so.

– If the master has urgent matters, he often goes out at night. Should I ask him?

It seemed like no one knew for sure.

She thought Walter would tell her if she waited, but seeing that he hadn’t said anything for several days, it seemed like a hopeless wait.

After realizing that fact, Odette felt a little strange.

‘Come to think of it… Walter didn’t really need to tell me.’

Why did she think he would tell her?

Even though we live in the same house, we are bound by a tight contract.

‘… I think I got too excited.’

Odette was a person who kept the line between people well.

Strictly speaking, she didn’t expect much from others.

Even to Ellie, who she said was her closest, she never asked about her life first, and the same was true for Cedric.

She thought it would be natural for her to do the same to her future spouse.

But the line seemed to have blurred after kissing a few times or receiving help from Walter a few times. How

could she make such a rookie mistake?

‘I feel strange.’

Should I say it was embarrassing, or should I say it was a little bitter?

She flipped through the bookshelf, hoping that reading the romance novel Ellie had lent her would make this feeling go away, but this bittersweet taste didn’t go away until she met Walter in the evening.

* * *

Odette watched as the man who would become her husband in a few days pulled down the constricting garments one by one.

The order was always the same:

coat, cuffs, tie, collar button.

The man who seemed surprisingly stiff and solid, as if his clothes were some kind of switch, would often look a little languid and soft after going through that series of events.

Maybe that’s why his voice became much more gentle.

“Come to think of it, tomorrow. You’re going to the palace.”

“Yes. I’m going to stop by Belfort to see a friend.”

“Then I won’t be able to see you for two days. It’s too bad.”

Odette tried to answer absentmindedly, but closed her mouth when she heard the regret.

“… … We’ll see each other again after that period. We’ll continue to see each other in the future.”

“You ate today, so are you going to starve tomorrow?”

Walter’s hand, which he answered jokingly, wrapped around Odette’s wrist. He

moved up slightly and slowly stroked the inside of her elbow with his thumb.

“I’d be sad if I said I wouldn’t see you tomorrow even if I saw you today. I guess not you.”

“… … I just thought it was okay because I’d see you again soon.”

“Aren’t you glad you didn’t see me for a few days?”

Odette frowned at Walter’s words and glanced up at him.

“Why are you saying that? It can’t be true.”

“I finally got to be alone with you, and you didn’t even make eye contact.”

“… …!”

Only then did Odette realize that she had been avoiding Walter’s gaze the whole time.

It was because she couldn’t bear to look him in the eye because she felt uncomfortable.

“So I thought, did you hate me so much?”

“No, it’s not like that.”

“I know. You’re a wife who loves her husband. Isn’t that right?”

There was a faint smile on Walter’s lips as he mentioned the terms of the contract.

However, the gaze they met was so still that it felt terrible.

Was it because of that gaze?

There was no answer. However, Walter didn’t ask for an answer anymore.

Instead, their lips met.

The contact that had started out as a way to deceive Arnold had become quite familiar in just a few days.

Even the persistent movements that tried to take his breath away, and the feeling of his dry lips moistening at the moment their breaths crossed.

Thanks to this, Odette could now tell the signs of a kiss.

‘Eye contact at close range… … gazes brushing lips.’

The hand that was stroking her cheek caressed her ear.

The signs that were seen in the signs were also effective at the moment of the kiss.

The hand that was gently wrapping her cheek caressed her ear, or the hand that was put into her hair and wrapped around the back of her head.

Unlike his usual authoritative and arrogant words and actions, his actions when she closed her eyes were very affectionate and careful.

Sometimes, she wondered if this was the same person.

After the long kiss, Walter, who had lightly touched her wet lips as if he was regretting it, slowly turned away.

Walter, who looked up like that, was always looking at Odette with a similar face.

Dark green eyes that seemed to be slightly frowning.

Somehow, it brought about a strange sense of deja vu…

– If I say that I want you, not because of sympathy or Cedric’s will, but because I want you.

– At that time… … Will you accept me?

A gaze that reminded her of the dream she had when she opened her eyes at Duke Ertmann’s residence.

Odette had long since forgotten about that dream.

She was living in reality, and there was nothing left to do by revisiting a meaningless dream.

She had thought that it must have been a vain delusion created by her own lingering attachment.

But why did you look at me with the same eyes as in that dream?

‘Because of the contractual condition that you had to love me?’

She felt a pang of anger.

She wanted to shift the responsibility for this vague feeling onto Walter.

If only he had been as rude and arrogant as her first impression.

‘I wouldn’t have thought of such things… … .’

In a corner of her confused mind, she thought that everything Walter did was an act, and that she was the only one who was shaken.

Odette had already experienced Regis’s case.

Above all, she knew that Walter was hiding something.

If it had been another time, she wouldn’t have thought deeply about this fact. After all,

not everyone lives openly about everything.

But I was strangely concerned about Ellie’s behavior when she came today.

– Your Majesty, isn’t the Duke acting suspiciously? Is there something bothering you?

I asked her this question several times.

Odette considered telling Walter that he was sneaking out at night, but decided to keep quiet.

– No, really. Walter is very kind to me.

-Don’t believe it at face value! Men who cheat are originally kind to their wives because they feel sorry. If there’s anything that bothers you, you should definitely tell them!

Ellie still seemed to be unsatisfied with Walter, so she kept asking him until the very end and left.

Odette suddenly remembered something she had forgotten.

-Walter Ertmann, he’s deceiving you!

Louis’s shout, which she had dismissed as nothing and had forgotten.

As these things overlapped, I found myself thinking deeply without realizing it.

‘What on earth is Walter hiding?’

Does he have no intention of telling me?

Odette hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Walter. I have a favor to ask.”

“Please tell me.”

“Today… … Would you like to sleep together?”

Walter’s expression hardened for a moment at Odette’s words.

It was only for a moment, but it was clear that a crack had formed in Walter’s face.

He had been caught off guard.

“… … It’s not like my princess suddenly became a child afraid of the dark.”

“I haven’t slept well for a few days. I have to go to the palace tomorrow… … I don’t want to sleep alone. You said you were sad.”

Odette hesitated for a moment, then lightly grabbed Walter’s sleeve.

“After we get married, we’ll probably share a bedroom anyway. It won’t make much of a difference if we sleep together for a day before we get married.”

“That’s right. So, are you trying to seduce me now?”

“If necessary.”

It wasn’t an empty promise.

She wanted to sleep with Walter, and she could seduce him if necessary.

Walter laughed coldly at Odette’s answer.

Before he could understand what that momentary smile meant, he felt a hand grabbing his waist and pulling him closer.

The distance between them was close.

“Do you know that?”

A voice whispered in his ear, so low that it was almost suffocating.

“If you just reach out… … It’s seduction to me.”