PLMYP 18

Chapter 18 —

Leonard didn’t know what to say. He nervously licked his dry lips before finally speaking.

“Why are you doing all this for me?”

Irenea replied calmly,
“Do I need a special reason to protect my husband?”

Leonard frowned.
“But this isn’t even a marriage out of love.”

For a moment, Irenea looked hurt. But she quickly hid it, and before Leonard could tell if he imagined it, her expression turned annoyed.

“So that’s how you’re going to act?” she said with a sigh.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that—” Leonard tried to explain.

“You don’t hate me, right? That’s not it, is it?”
She looked anxious. Leonard, feeling awkward, answered vaguely.

“It’s a bit too soon to say whether I like you or not.”

“Fine. Play hard to get all you want. You’ll fall in love with me eventually anyway.”
She wasn’t bragging—more like trying to reassure herself.

“You saw the news, didn’t you? The entire Empire already thinks you’re my man. Your marriage options are pretty much blocked now, so be good and marry me.”

Leonard was stunned.
Was that… a threat?

Wanting to tease her a little, Leonard smirked.
“Well, thanks to you, ships to other countries are blocked. But I could always just go to a country where the rumors haven’t spread.”

“What…?”
Her shocked expression was so cute, Leonard almost laughed.

“You need travel documents to get on a ship, right?”

“Exactly. And I’m in charge of issuing them. You can’t leave the country without my permission!”

Leonard shrugged.
“I can still leave. I’ll just walk through the Great Forest.”

Silence fell.

Leonard leaned on the table and rested his chin on his hand, waiting. Irenea bit her lower lip, clearly frustrated.

Feeling a little sorry, Leonard knocked gently on the table.
“Marchioness Blair, how about you stop with the kindness and start threatening me properly?”

“What did you say?”

“Just corner me. Make it so I can’t say no.”
He had always been pushed around, always threatened, never tempted gently. That’s the only way he knew how to respond—so he was offering her the answer.

But then she said:
“…How could I do that? To you?”

Even though she had all the power to pressure him, she still chose kindness.

But Leonard wasn’t moved. He saw a longing in her eyes—and he realized it wasn’t for him.

“Who is she thinking of?”
Whoever it was, it wasn’t Leonard.
He sighed. So once again, he was just a replacement for someone else.

Without knowing his thoughts, Irenea suddenly pulled out a document.

“Enough. No matter what you say, my answer is the same. I won’t say no. So stop wasting time and sign this.”

Leonard glanced at the document. The bold title read:
“Agreement”

“An agreement?”

“Yes. A list of promises we’ll keep as husband and wife. Read it and let me know if you want to change anything—except for rules 1 and 2. Those are non-negotiable.”

Leonard looked at the first two rules:

1. No divorce. No affairs. No cheating. No private time with anyone of the opposite sex, except for family.

2. After the wedding, no sleeping in separate rooms—unless traveling for work. Always share a bedroom.

Leonard blinked.
“Isn’t this supposed to be a fake marriage? Doesn’t she already have someone else she really loves?”

He pointed to Rule 1.
“So, by ‘no cheating,’ you mean…?”

“Exactly what people think it means. No touching other women. No emotional attachment either.”

“Even secretly meeting them is banned?”

Irenea slammed her fist on the table, rattling the spoon in the teacup.

“Are you saying… you have someone to secretly meet?”

She looked terrifying. Leonard quickly shook his head.

“No, I meant you. Would you be allowed to meet someone else?”

“Me? Are you calling me the kind of person who’d keep a husband and a lover at the same time?”

Her outrage seemed genuine.

Leonard asked more gently,
“So… there’s no one else you’re seeing right now?”

“If I were, I’d have proposed to him, not spent all this time on you.”

Fair point. If someone as powerful as her wanted to marry anyone—even a slave or a beggar—she could. Even someone like him, a mercenary and a bastard.

“So she really doesn’t have someone else?”
Then what was that look he saw earlier?

Lost in thought, Leonard didn’t notice the part of the contract that said she wouldn’t interfere with how he spent the dowry.

“So… emotional bonding and physical affection are just with me?”

“Just that? I want kids too.”

“…What?”

Leonard blinked hard.

“You’re busy running a business. Getting pregnant would slow you down. Do you need an heir that badly?”

“It’s not about an heir. I just want a child—someone to call my family.”

She gently placed her hand over her stomach and smiled. She didn’t notice Leonard blushing like crazy.

“It’s been my lifelong dream,” she said.

Leonard was surprised.
Such a simple dream—but sometimes, the simplest dreams are the hardest.

He thought back…

“You want this child? Fine. Three gold coins.”

“I bought you. Earn your worth.”

“Be my son for my daughter’s sake. I’ll pay you as much as you want.”

He’d always been used. He could feel like family with others—but he was never part of one.

And this wasn’t even a contract—it was an agreement.
A small detail—but it meant something to Leonard.

She might not have thought much of it. But to him, it changed everything.

He looked at Irenea.
“To be honest, I still don’t understand why you’re doing all this for me.”

“That’s because—”
She started to answer, but Leonard raised a hand to stop her.

He picked up a pen, signed the last page of the agreement, and handed it back.

“Wha—wait, you signed it?”

“I did.”

“With your real name? ‘Leonard Elpheus’?”

“Just the first name. I won’t be Elpheus anymore next year. But if you want, I can write the surname now.”

“No! When you return the title to your brother, sign again as ‘Leonard Blair’!”

Irenea checked the signature and shouted with joy.
“Too late now! You’re officially my fiancé!”

Terrified that he’d back out, she locked the signed agreement in her desk drawer.

Then, she brought out a ring with a blue gem and smiled.

“Give me your left hand.”

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkled, and her lips curled in joy.

Leonard didn’t know why she was that happy…
But seeing her like that, his chest felt warm.

So he silently held out his left hand.