CHAPTER 11……………………………….
“Do you want to go back?”
“……Back where?”
If you ask whether I want to return to my previous life—well.
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly a life I longed to return to either.
I grew up an orphan and was never adopted, eventually entering the world on my own. After barely graduating high school, I managed to get a job at a small company, working for meager pay and endless overtime, until I suddenly dropped dead from overwork.
My life had been full of ups and downs, but at least it wasn’t like this—surrounded by enemies on all sides, living every day with my life under threat. Back then, there was hope that things would get better someday, and friends who endured hardships alongside me.
“…Though now even that feels faint, and I can barely remember it.”
Nearly twenty years had already passed, so my previous life felt like someone else’s story. Only the knowledge remained, helping me view this world a little more objectively.
“If not that, then the Uberis estate, I suppose.”
I let out a shallow sigh.
“I should go back at least once.”
“That’s unexpected. I thought you’d find it horrifying.”
“Of course it’s horrifying.”
I lived my entire life in suffering. If I hadn’t had the purpose of protecting my mother’s belongings, if the “door” hadn’t miraculously appeared and given me room to breathe, I might have moved on to the next life long ago.
“But there’s something I left behind.”
“Something you left behind?”
“My mother’s keepsakes.”
“Keepsakes? Ah… I see.”
He looked puzzled for a moment, then nodded as if something had clicked. He must have investigated my background, so he likely knew about my biological mother as well.
Then, suddenly, the duke lifted the carriage cushion and rummaged around inside, pulling something out.
“Please take it.”
What he handed me was a flat, round, silver container.
“What is this?”
He tapped his own cheek with a finger.
“It’s starting to swell. Birhart’s ointment is fairly effective—good enough for first aid, at least.”
He opened the lid slightly to show me. A sharp, cooling scent rose from it; it seemed to contain herbs with soothing properties.
“Why is he giving me ointment?”
Giving medicine to an injured person wasn’t strange, but this man didn’t seem like the type to care about such things.
Still, I quietly accepted it, afraid that refusing might irritate him.
“Thank you. I’ll be more careful next time.”
I meant, I won’t do anything to get on your nerves, but an unexpected reply came back, accompanied by a strangely bitter expression.
“There won’t be a next time. From today on, you will hold the status of my fiancée.”
It was a statement laden with meaning.
“Come to think of it, I’d completely forgotten.”
This man had proposed to me.
And quite persistently, at that.
“Are you serious? You’re not taking me with you because you truly like me, are you, Duke?”
“That’s correct.”
See? An immediate answer.
“As I said at the estate, my situation is rather complicated. If I don’t marry right away, I may be branded a traitor.”
Thud.
I dropped the ointment I was holding.
“A, a traitor?”
It was a terrifying word I’d never expected to hear. Compared to the taboo of human magic circles, the crime might be lighter—but even I knew that treason was still a capital offense that could wipe out an entire family.
The duke picked up the ointment from the floor, brushed off the dust, and placed it back in my hand.
“That won’t happen now that I’ve met Lady Uberis. Of course, that’s assuming you accept my proposal.”
“Your proposal….”
Who was it that firmly declared I had no choice? Perhaps noticing my displeased look, he smiled beautifully with his sculpted face and extended his hand.
“Please become the Duchess of Northdian for one year.”
“One year?”
Marriage wasn’t a fixed-term contract job—what was this about one year?
With his gloved white hand, he brushed aside his disheveled bangs. Looking closely, his brow was faintly furrowed.
“About a month ago, His Majesty ordered me to marry the imperial princess. However, our personalities are a bit—no, quite—different, so it would be difficult to consider her as a marriage partner.”
“The princess would be….”
The Cyrus Empire had only one imperial princess: Cecilia Roynen Speridia.
Perhaps even thinking about her irritated him, because his gaze sharpened.
“But an imperial order is still an imperial order. To refuse His Majesty’s command, I need an unavoidable justification.”
“You mean I’m that justification.”
He grinned.
“You catch on quickly.”
The sudden praise made me flinch.
“Coming from someone like him, at least his head works.”
Maybe that was why—it wasn’t something I’d heard often in similar situations. Feeling awkward, I averted my gaze. At some point, the sky had turned a beautiful crimson dusk.
“Ahem. So, you want to refuse the imperial order to marry the princess, and for that you want me to be the object of your passionate courtship?”
“Exactly. Of course, since deceiving the imperial family is dangerous, I’ll compensate you generously. The term is one year. After that, we can say our feelings cooled and break off the engagement.”
“Very clean.”
My mind began to spin rapidly.
In a year, I’d be an adult myself. He said he’d compensate me, so I could probably save up some money. With that, maybe I could buy a small house in some quiet territory and settle down.
I had no intention of finding another marriage partner anyway, so having a broken engagement on my record didn’t really matter.
“Rationally speaking, it’s not a bad offer.”
There was just one major obstacle left.
That night, I’d learned the duke’s dangerous secret. And if that fact were exposed, the minimum punishment would be confinement, the maximum death.
If I were truly being rational, I should refuse this offer and run as far away from him as possible.
Yet the reason I hesitated instead of rejecting his dangerous proposal outright was that I didn’t sense hostility from him.
He even made it a “proposal.” Even if he issued an order, I’d have no choice but to obey—but instead, he offered me a choice, as if he regarded me as an equal.
Even now, he wasn’t pressuring me for an answer, simply waiting. Glancing at his calm face, I fiddled with the small silver container in my hand.
“He could be a hypocrite like my biological father, but….”
Somehow, he didn’t seem like that type. He looked more like someone who would draw his sword outright if needed.
Simply put, as long as I wasn’t found out, everything would be fine. And the fact that I was even hesitating meant my heart had already tilted.
“I never imagined I’d seriously consider a contract marriage.”
What kind of drama was this?
If this really were a drama, the person you end up with like this would be your fated partner—but in reality, that was nonsense. He was an international magic criminal who’d violated taboos.
“Politely, I must decline.”
Having made my decision, I cleared my throat.
“I have conditions too.”
“Hm. Go on.”
Grrrk.
I pressed a hand to my quietly growling stomach.
“How many days has it been since I last ate anything but dry bread and water?”
If someone offered me freshly baked bread right now, I felt like I’d sell my soul. I spoke with a serious tone.
“Please make sure the contract includes a clause providing three meals a day and snacks.”
At the very least, if I became a duchess, I wouldn’t starve.
“And freshly baked bread would be even better.”
At my words, the duke looked like he’d been hit over the head. Slightly intimidated by his expression, I grabbed onto my resolve and acted confident.
“Please feed me properly during the contract period.”
After staring at me for a moment, the duke laughed out loud for the first time.
“Pfft.”
Not just that—his shoulders shook as he struggled to hold it in.
“Al—khm! All right. I’ll be sure to include that clause in the contract.”
“…You’re laughing a bit much.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, I grumbled inwardly.
“I’m just trying to survive.”
Not embarrassed at all. Really.
If nothing else, the fact that I didn’t have to return to that dreadful estate right away was a definite plus.
Suppressing the heat in my face, I held out my hand for a handshake.
“For the next year, I look forward to working with you.”
He glanced at my hand briefly, then smiled softly.
“A wise choice, Lady Uberis.”
“…Please call me Eloa.”
I awkwardly withdrew my hand, smiling sheepishly.
“Very well. I look forward to it, Miss Eloa.”
Thus began a married life that quite literally risked my life.
In a bustling restaurant within a trade city crowded with people of all kinds of attire—
A man with light green eyes and bright gray hair braided to one side, loosely draped in a black hood, set his wooden cup down with a sharp clack.
He looked clearly displeased, boasting the bronze skin and sharp features typical of the Albah Kingdom.
However, his build was larger than that of people from the desert kingdom; if his skin were lighter, one might mistake him for a citizen of the Cyrus Empire.
Across from him sat a woman with black hair and blue-gray eyes. She wore a richly patterned vest and belt—traditional attire from Triol, the largest island in the south.
After taking an elegant sip of her drink, she set her cup down without a sound.
“So, you still haven’t heard from them, even during the last fortnight?”
“……”
Instead of answering, the man furrowed his brow.
A month ago, he had left medicine and a note in the cabin that served as her hideout.
Since his friend visited the cabin unfailingly every two weeks, he’d naturally assumed he’d meet her last fortnight. That was why he’d come to Ruberon, the trade city and the village at the foot of the mountain where the cabin stood.
But there had been no word—no note—for an entire month.
“It’s clear someone has been there.”
Inside the cabin, unorganized belongings were strewn everywhere. At least there were no signs of a struggle, so he tentatively concluded it wasn’t a kidnapping.
Still, Ripae’s insides burned with worry. The El he knew would definitely have complained to him—whether the medicine worked or not—about every little detail.
The black-haired woman smiled awkwardly.
“That medicine… I wish she hadn’t taken it.”
Her words made Ripae’s expression darken.
“I didn’t know it was that kind of drug. The magical doctor swore it was an effective treatment, so I gave it to her as a gift!”
He never imagined that magical doctor would be captured a month ago as a criminal by the famous Aura Master Duke.
“They said he was caught at an estate near the border while trying to sneak into the empire, right?”
Though he was from the Kingdom of Ruinak and was repatriated, he was reportedly sentenced to magical erasure and reduced to a commoner. After that, he’d supposedly been kidnapped by someone and gone missing.
With his frustration boiling over, Ripae gulped down his drink. It had already gone lukewarm and was far from refreshing.
“What on earth happened, El?”
