Standard Contract Guidelines for a Fraudulent Marriage - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16

“Good heavens, Duke Insel! At last we meet!”

A young man strode forward with long steps and offered the first greeting.

After a firm handshake with Insel, he turned his gaze down toward Adelia.

“Duchess, it is my first honor to meet you. I am Iplelis, second son of House of Anne.”
“Oh, yes. I’m… delighted to make your acquaintance.”
“Ha, there’s no need for such formality. At Dorotea’s parties, spirited company is all that matters. Now then, Duke Insel…”

Insel looked up at Iplelis with a playful expression.

Iplelis suddenly pressed his hand to his forehead and feigned collapse.

“To hide away such a beautiful lady and keep her all to yourself—I’m truly devastated. You’re being far too selfish, monopolizing the Duchess like this.”

At Iplelis’s banter, Adelia’s ears flushed crimson.

While he and Insel exchanged brief pleasantries, several people gathered around Adelia.

“Duchess Insel, what a pleasure to meet you.”
“What a beautiful woman you are!”
“Your chestnut hair is truly lovely. Did you choose this Strawberry Flower Ornament yourself?”
“Oh, no. That was…”

Overwhelmed by the barrage of questions, Adelia began to wave her hand in dismissal but instead clenched her fist tightly.

She understood well enough that her position was still too precarious to manage the nobility with such a light gesture.

‘Just be polite. Don’t give anyone anything to criticize.’

Adelia resolved to employ a tactic she had learned during her Academy days.

‘Smile.’

When faced with awkward questions or unable to follow the children’s conversation, smiling first was always the safest course.

“Oh my, what a beautiful smile!”
“Th-thank you.”

So that was the right answer after all?

Adelia sat quietly, surrounded by nobles of varying ages, listening to their praise and idle chatter.

In that moment, she discerned what was the most pressing topic among them.

“The Princess’s birthday celebration this year…”
“I hear it will be quite grand? From what I understand…”
“According to rumor…”

The Princess’s birthday!

Adelia felt as though she had found an escape route. She could certainly hold her own on such a topic.

A single blossom of the realm, a living, breathing fairy.

She had heard plenty about Princess Claria, the king’s cherished treasure and only daughter, even back at the Academy.

Tales of her gait so graceful that roses seemed to bloom from her heels, or how she became a single peony when dancing in her gown—such rumors abounded.

On the Princess’s birthday, the king and queen would distribute Gold Coins bearing the Princess’s visage throughout the realm, praying for her happiness.

One could hardly be unaware of her existence.

‘Though they were memorial coins one couldn’t actually spend…’

She remembered being about nine years old, wanting a snack and trying to use one of those coins at a shop, only to be turned away everywhere.

—Buy something with a Gold Coin bearing the Princess’s face? Off with you, child. I won’t ruin my life by offending the Crown.

“I heard that this year, they’re preparing something other than Gold Coins…”

At someone’s remark, Adelia’s ears perked up.

“If not Gold Coins, perhaps flowers?”

Adelia asked.

The murmuring crowd exchanged glances with one another.

“The Duchess may well be right.”
“She is. The Princess does love flowers so dearly.”
“In fact, I believe His Majesty gave flowers once long ago. If I recall correctly, she disliked having them wilt, so they reverted to Gold Coins.”
“In any case, the Princess will have her way. What won’t His Majesty grant her?”
“She is most beloved.”
“Beloved? Why, there’s even talk that His Majesty might bequeath the realm to the Princess herself!”

At someone’s remark, they all laughed brightly and nodded in agreement.

Princess Claria had one healthy older brother, who was a few years Adelia’s senior.

In another realm, it would naturally fall to the eldest son to inherit the throne.

But rumors abounded that the king loved Claria so dearly he would pass the throne to his daughter, setting aside his son.

‘I knew His Majesty treasured the Princess, but to that extent… quite remarkable.’

Adelia smiled so broadly her cheeks ached as she listened to the gossip about the Princess.

The gentle melody gave way to a faster tempo. The atmosphere in the Ballroom shifted.

Some of the people who had been conversing excused themselves to dance.

Adelia glanced about nervously.

‘Where did Siern go?’

If someone were to ask her to dance, she would need to accept.

Her only experience with dance was from her days at the Academy.

‘It took me over two months just to master the basic steps.’

For Adelia, who was sharp-minded but clumsy with her body, the class had been nothing but torture.

“Duchess, might I request the first dance?”

Before her worries could fully settle—or before she could even find Insel—a man of medium height approached her.

As her worst fear materialized, Adelia’s lips parted without her meaning to.

‘Oh no, what do I do? Wait, if someone asks for the first dance, I have to say yes, don’t I? Maybe…?’

Adelia studied the man before her.

He appeared a few years her senior, but his eyes curved gently in a way that could melt many a woman’s heart.

His smile was carelessly charming, and his hand extended at an angle that seemed deliberately sensual, both making Adelia tense.

‘At this rate I’ll just humiliate myself…!’

Her lips trembling, Adelia spoke.

“I… I’m afraid I must decline the first dance…”
“Why not? Do you perhaps have someone else in mind already?”
“Not exactly…”

Just then, someone’s hand rested on Adelia’s shoulder.

Could it be Insel coming to her rescue?

Adelia turned hopefully, but her eyes widened in shock.

“There you are.”
“P-Professor…?!”
“You promised to save the first dance for me. What are you doing?”

The person who appeared was none other than Professor Siern.

This was completely unexpected.

While Adelia stood befuddled, Siern gave a cursory nod to the other man and led Adelia toward the dancing couples.

“Um, Professor…”
“That fellow is notorious for flirtation whether he’s attached or not. Be careful. Where’s your husband? Why are you here alone?”
“Oh, I… I’m not sure…”

A tsk escaped his lips.

Adelia’s shoulders flinched. She thought he was mocking her for wandering about so helplessly here.

But his next words took her by surprise.

“What’s your husband doing, leaving his wife alone?”
“He must have had something important to attend to. Siern… I mean, my husband.”

At the slip of his name, Siern’s eyebrow rose slightly.

Seeing it, Adelia’s heart contracted.

Please just let it pass!

“Well, fine. At any rate, I’ll look after you until your husband arrives.”
“I’m… not a child.”
“You were floundering like a lost duckling just moments ago. And that scoundrel’s been staring holes in this direction. Come on, let’s dance.”
“Professor, you can… dance?”
“Do you take me for a fool, or are you the fool?”

With that, Siern led Adelia with practiced ease.

Before she realized when he had taken her hand, Adelia was following his steps, and she caught her breath sharply, biting her lip hard.

Any misstep now would be truly mortifying.

And of all people—Professor Siern! She would have to face him again tomorrow morning!

‘My head is spinning!’

For his part, watching Adelia move like a wooden puppet was curious business for Siern as well.

He’d assumed she came from a well-bred household, but apparently she hadn’t bothered learning to dance while burying herself in the study of microorganisms.

“On this part, your left foot should—ugh.”

Before the dance could truly begin, Siern let out a short gasp—she had stepped on his foot.

Adelia recoiled in horror, but her unfamiliar High Heels sent her body lurching forward.

“Oh!”

She was finished.

Adelia squeezed her eyes shut. She would crash to the floor, be mocked by everyone, and never attend such an event again.

‘Never mind me, but Siern…’

Yet no impact came. Her back never touched the floor.

Instead, a wonderfully deep voice resonated in her ear.

“Are you all right?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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