CHAPTER 04
For a moment, the atmosphere froze.
Thud!
Just then, Dale stood up from his seat and turned away, facing the wall.
“Excuse me?”
Was my request too much?
Well, asking someone to marry you is probably a first.
But I was tired of the life I’d been living — moving around every few weeks or months.
“If I use this guy, I won’t have to keep running anymore, right?”
I had considered marrying someone else just to get out of it, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t bring myself to marry any man.
None of the ones I met were my type.
But this guy? He was pretty close.
Sure, I liked handsome men — but I had specific preferences even within the realm of “handsome.”
And besides, it’s not like I’d actually have to marry him for real.
“Better to end cleanly with a mercenary than go into a contract marriage with some noble I don’t even like.”
Noble husband? Family responsibilities?
No need.
In-laws I’d have to deceive?
None of that either.
“This is perfect.”
An ideal (contract) husband.
Handsome, separate living quarters, no interference.
I stared at Dale’s broad back.
If I had to do a contract marriage, it had to be with someone like him.
I quietly observed the taut muscles on the back of my perfect future husband.
But why wasn’t he saying anything?
Was the money not enough?
Sigh…
I thought I heard a deep sigh, but maybe it was just my imagination.
Then, Dale turned his head to look at me.
“Why… a husband…?”
“Sorry?”
“Why do you… need a husband…?”
His face twisted in confusion, then looked like he was about to cry, then rubbed his temples — he was a mess.
“I’m sure there are guys out there who like you, Miss En.”
“Me?”
“Why not a real marriage instead of a contract one?”
“Because I don’t want to get married.”
“……!”
Dale’s expression was like a squirrel that just lost its acorn.
“Marriage. Why…?”
“Sorry, what was that? I didn’t catch it.”
“Have you ever… been proposed to?”
“Of course.”
Didn’t he just say I seemed popular? Now he’s asking if I’ve ever been confessed to?
“There’s a long story. That proposal is the reason I’ve been on the run for three years now.”
“…….”
“A very dangerous, scary, and cruel man proposed to me.”
“Dangerous… cruel…”
Dale pressed his fingers to his temple, his expression growing darker.
He even looked pale.
“What’s the name of that dangerous and cruel man?”
“Would it help if I told you?”
“Ah…”
Dale looked dazed.
“Sorry. No, it wouldn’t.”
“That’s what I thought.”
I had been impressed — thought mercenaries knew the name of every citizen in the empire.
“I can’t tell you his name unless you accept the request.”
“…….”
“Are you interested in my request?”
Dale stared at me for a long while, his face twisting with conflicted emotions.
“If not, that’s fine too. I’m not forcing you.”
As I stood to leave, he grabbed my arm.
“I’ll do it. I accept.”
“Really?”
“The money. Please.”
Dale answered quickly.
“I’ll be your husband, Miss En.”
“So, this is my father, the Duke of Lockhart. My real name isn’t En — it’s Enya Lockhart. I’m the daughter of the Lockhart family.”
Once Dale accepted the request, everything went quickly.
Base pay: 1 million crovats.
Bonus: 10,000 crovats per day, to be placed in the jewelry box in the living room every morning.
※ If absent overnight, payment must be left in advance.
And of course, a contract.
Dale and I wrote it up together and each kept a copy.
“But Dale, aren’t you surprised?”
Dale tilted his head at my question.
“I told you the one who proposed to me was His Majesty the Emperor, and you didn’t even blink. I expected you to be shocked, but you weren’t at all.”
“It wasn’t completely unexpected.”
“Really?”
“I was hoping it wasn’t him, but…”
“Sorry? The carriage bumped, I didn’t hear that.”
“Nothing.”
He let out a faint sigh.
There was a strange heaviness to the way he stared out the window.
I looked at him quietly.
His jet-black hair gleamed like a panther’s pelt. His sharp eyes slanted upward slightly, giving him an alluring, feline look.
His skin was clear and bright — he looked both elegant and beautiful.
And with a high nose bridge and broad shoulders, he didn’t come off as weak at all.
“Is he really just a supporting character?”
I glanced at his tightly stretched shirt.
Dale was not only handsome and fit — he was also kind. From what I’d seen, he was considerate and polite.
The extra was better than the protagonist.
“Whoever ends up marrying Dale for real is going to be very lucky.”
“…Miss Enya.”
“Yes?”
“Did I… do something wrong?”
“?”
Dale rubbed his earlobe awkwardly.
“You were glaring at me…”
“Oh! Sorry. You’re so handsome, I ended up staring without realizing.”
“!”
His eyes went wide — like it was the first time anyone had ever complimented him that way.
“Because you’re handsome.”
“……”
“Very handsome.”
His face grew redder with every repetition.
“Oh? We’re here.”
Just then, the carriage stopped.
I glanced out the window and handed Dale some documents.
“Here. You’ve memorized everything we need to know, right?”
Dale nodded, trying to hide his blushing face.
“We dated long-distance, broke up due to your parents’ disapproval, and now you’ve come all the way to the south because you couldn’t forget me… right?”
“And now we’re registering our marriage.”
“Your family is the Lockhart Duchy. We met at a ball in the capital.”
“Should we say it was a noble family’s ball? Or just the Imperial Ball?”
“…The Imperial Ball is better.”
Pause.
I stopped mid-note.
“Why am I thinking of the Emperor again?”
No. Don’t connect everything back to him.
“Okay. Let’s go with the Imperial Ball. And the exact location was…?”
“The garden behind the Imperial Palace.”
“The garden?”
I stopped my pen and looked up.
“Why the garden?”
“Because… it sounded romantic.”
“Ah.”
Fair enough.
I quietly jotted it down in the margins of the document.
– Dale is a romantic.
Good to know.
We’re going to be living together for about a year, so it helps to understand each other.
“Let me confirm some details. You’re originally from the north.”
“Yes. The Pendragon territory in the north.”
“And still an A-rank mercenary with the Blacktail Guild?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, right. We haven’t decided why you came all the way down south to Grunvald, the farthest southern territory. What if the officiant asks?”
I pointed to the temple visible outside the window.
Today, Dale and I were going to register our marriage and become legal spouses.
“It needs to look like a real, heartfelt marriage. We have to know everything.”
“There was… an incident.”
He began in a quiet, pained voice.
“I had a future I dreamed of for a long time… but it didn’t come true.”
“A future? Was it something important?”
“It was the goal of my life.”
Dale looked at me with a bitter smile.
When sorrow clouded his handsome face, a wave of sympathy rose in me I hadn’t expected.
“So you came here, to a place totally unrelated to the north?”
“Yes.”
Whatever it was, he really looked like he had given up on everything.
But… I didn’t need to know my contract husband’s entire backstory, did I?
Besides, it’s all in the past.
“Chin up.”
I gave him a routine encouragement.
He looked at me… and blushed again.
“So, from now on I’ll live on the second floor, and you’ll take the first floor. We don’t interfere in each other’s private lives, but we act like a couple when needed. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
“We’ve stamped the contract, so there’s no going back now.”
He nodded solemnly at my words.
Dale was not only good-looking, but had a great personality. After just a few days, I could tell — he was handy around the house, too.
How is this guy still single?
Wait a second…
“Do you… have someone you’re dating?”
