ATPE 05

Chapter 5

After the Negotiation

After quickly reaching an agreement, the two of them immediately drafted a prenuptial contract.

The contents were roughly as follows:

This contract confirms the agreement made before marriage between Party A and Party B. The terms are as follows:

– Terms –

1. Party A will submit a marriage registration with Party B to the authorities, thereby guaranteeing Party B the succession of the Bahishat Count title.
2. During the process of fulfilling clause 1, a legal marriage relationship will be established between Party A and Party B. However, this is only a secondary effect of the main purpose of this contract, so both parties are not obligated to follow the usual responsibilities or duties of a married couple.
3. Despite clause 2, both parties must attend events or occasions deemed necessary to maintain the legal marriage.
4. Both parties will make efforts to appear as a harmonious couple in public.
5. Both parties will treat each other with basic human consideration.

(…)

32. Both parties must never reveal the contents of this contract to anyone.
33. Party B will pay Party A 3,000,000 crobat upon completion of the marriage registration.
34. Any party who violates or fails to fulfill this contract must pay double the total contract amount (6,000,000 crobat) as compensation.

As soon as the two copies of the contract were completed, Serenia picked up a fountain pen.

Without hesitation, she signed her name under the section labeled <Party A>.

Party A…

It didn’t suit her at all.

For a brief moment, she wondered what would happen if she had to pay six million crobat someday—

But she quickly scoffed.

There’s no way I’d break such a favorable deal unless I’ve gone crazy.

After finishing her signature, she handed the contract to the man.

“Here. Your turn now.”

Although he accepted the papers, he didn’t sign immediately.

Worried that the deal might fall apart at the last moment, Serenia urged him,

“It’s late. Let’s finish signing and part ways cleanly. Don’t you need to get off work too?”

But instead of responding, he tilted his head with a strange expression.

Serenia quickly reviewed what she had just said, wondering if she made a mistake.

But nothing seemed wrong.

Did I make a mistake in my signature?

She leaned forward slightly to check—

But the problem wasn’t the contract.

His gaze wasn’t even on the paper.

It was on her.

Realizing this, Serenia flinched and leaned back slightly.

“W-What is it? Is something wrong?”

He smiled crookedly.

“Yes. There seems to be a problem.”

“W-What…? Me? Or you?”

He continued with a slightly teasing smile.

“The problem is… you’ve been calling me ‘you’ this whole time.”

Serenia’s shoulders stiffened.

She closed her mouth and quietly looked away.

Watching her, he spoke again in a soft voice.

“Lady.”

His voice was calm—

But to her, it felt strangely loud.

As if it reached her soul instead of her ears.

A shiver ran down her spine.

Without realizing it, she held her breath.

He leaned closer and asked softly,

“You don’t remember… do you?”

“W-What?”

He whispered near her ear,

“My name.”

Serenia tightly shut her eyes.

Ah… I got caught.

In that moment, the balance between them completely flipped.

He crossed his arms, pretending to be upset.

With nothing to say, Serenia lowered her head.

He sighed dramatically.

“That’s too much. Didn’t we introduce ourselves in front of the bank?”

“……”

“And that’s not all.”

He waved the contract in front of her.

“If I sign here, we’ll be engaged immediately. And yet—you don’t even know my name?”

Serenia had no excuse.

The man let out several sighs, then muttered,

“No matter how much times have changed… proposing to someone whose name you don’t even know… unbelievable.”

Serenia’s eyes widened.

“W-What? P-Proposing?”

“Not even a ring or flowers. Just empty-handed.”

“What?!”

“And now I find out you didn’t even know my name.”

Seeing his expression full of mock disappointment, Serenia finally snapped.

“What do you mean proposing?! When did I ever do that?!”

“Oh? Now you’re denying it?”

She was speechless.

He crossed his arms and looked at her directly.

“You suddenly suggested marriage, wrote a prenuptial contract, and now you’re saying it wasn’t a proposal? What kind of logic is that?”

“T-That’s… true, but! What I did wasn’t some embarrassing proposal—it was just a business deal!”

In truth, her intention wasn’t pure at all.

It was closer to trying to take advantage of a loan shark—

But she insisted anyway.

However, he calmly replied,

“Even if it was just a business deal, it’s still a problem.”

“…What?”

“Who in the world makes a three-million-crobat deal with someone whose name they don’t even know?”

She couldn’t argue back.

Her face turned red—whether from embarrassment or frustration, she didn’t know.

Honestly, it felt a bit unfair.

He didn’t even give me a proper introduction…

But still—

She was at fault.

Lowering her head deeply, she apologized,

“I’m sorry. Really, truly. I apologize.”

Then she looked up slightly and forced a small smile.

“I won’t forget next time. So please… just pretend you don’t know and sign the contract. I’ll read your name from it myself…”

Even her own words sounded a bit pitiful.

But he tilted his head and replied,

“Just like that?”

“…What?”

“I’m very precise when it comes to deals. If I’m going to pretend nothing happened, I need compensation.”

Serenia barely held back the urge to punch him and forced a smile.

“Then what do you want? Should I send you an apology gift or something?”

“The Bahishat family doesn’t have that kind of money.”

“….”

A vein appeared on her forehead.

He seemed to enjoy her reaction.

“So, no need for gifts.”

After a pause, he continued.

Serenia replied flatly,

“Then what?”

He smiled deeply.

“What you said earlier.”

“…Earlier?”

“Yes. You said you would pretend you fell completely for me and gave me everything willingly.”

His bright smile made her uneasy.

“Well… yes, I said that… but why…?”

He looked at her and said cheerfully—

“Let’s make that our official story.”