Standard Contract Guidelines for a Fraudulent Marriage - Chapter 33

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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 33

“Here you are.”

A box tied with a ribbon was slid across the counter.

Adelia quickly paid. To be honest, when she heard the price, it made her stomach turn—it was far more expensive than she’d anticipated—but now she had money she could spend freely.

“Perfume makes a person more beautiful, you know. I’ll help you discover your true elegance. Do come again!”

The shop attendant saw her off with a final flourish of graceful words.

Adelia walked as if enchanted, a small paper bag in her hand, and soon found herself entering a nearby Park, where she sat on a bench.

She unwrapped the package carefully, mindful not to tear the paper bag.

When she held the bottle up to the sunlight, it sparkled like a diamond with her every movement.

Inside, a transparent pale-green liquid filled the vessel, and its mysterious hue made it look almost like fairy’s tincture.

‘Should I try a little spray?’

After confirming there was no one nearby, Adelia pressed the small pump at the bottle’s tip a few times.

With a soft hiss, fine particles of Perfume settled on her shoulders, the nape of her neck, and above her collarbone.

As she breathed in, a smile bloomed unbidden at the corners of her lips.

The scent was utterly exquisite—so full and layered that it felt like stepping into a celestial flower garden, just as some lady had once described it.

Yet hints of fresh leaves wove through it, preventing the fragrance from becoming cloying.

“Perfumers are truly remarkable.”

After all, fragrance was nothing more than scent molecules, and yet these artisans created new compositions using only intuition and formulation, without any sophisticated machinery to aid them.

To Adelia, whose own research relied entirely on mechanical apparatus, perfumers seemed almost like alchemists of antiquity.

“Oh, that’s right.”

Having struck upon a realization, Adelia carefully rewrapped the Perfume bottle and stood.

“I should buy a gift for Loairston too. Especially after what happened earlier…….”

She felt suddenly sorry for having been angry with him, and she wanted to give him something that would make him happy.

‘Though to be fair, it’s his money anyway!’

Still, since this was the first time she’d chosen a gift with her own hands, she wondered if Loairston might be pleased even a little.

What would be a good gift for a man?

A hat? A walking stick? Or perhaps a cravat?

Whatever she chose, Loairston would wear it with elegance.

Adelia suppressed an laugh that threatened to escape as she pictured Loairston adorned in every detail by her own hands, from head to toe.

And she felt a flutter of excitement too. If they were truly husband and wife, she might have dressed him herself and asked him to take her to the opera.

‘Now, where should I go to find something nice?’

Adelia began walking with lighter steps, glancing about at the surrounding shops.

***

Princess Claria, who had been waiting for Loairston’s arrival, learned that he had answered he was “unwell and unable to attend,” and flew into another fit of fury.

“Unwell? What’s unwell about him! He was perfectly fine yesterday!”
“That is what his secretary conveyed, Your Highness.”

The poor messenger caught in the middle felt as though he might perish from the awkwardness.

The messenger trembled as he recalled Rudolf’s cold gaze, bowing repeatedly, but the Princess Claria was the sort to push things further.

“Prepare the carriage.”
“Y-yes? Your Highness?”
“Prepare the carriage! If he won’t come, then I shall go to him myself. Unwell, you say? Hmph, let’s see whether he’s truly ill or not.”

At that, her lady’s maid stepped forward with concern etched on her face.

“Your Highness, you must preserve propriety. If it becomes known that you have visited a private residence, the dignity of the Royal Family will…….”
“I am the dignity of the Royal Family. Neither Mother nor Father has a word to say to me, so what right do you have to interfere? Stop meddling and go prepare my clothes.”
“……Yes, of course, Your Highness.”

The maid had no choice but to withdraw, and Princess Claria grew only more emboldened.

She was convinced that Loairston’s claim of being unwell was an outright lie.

‘Hmph, does he think he can brush me off with such a flimsy excuse? Fine. While I’m there, I’ll take a look at this woman he claims to be married to. A wedding without ceremony? Ridiculous. There’s clearly something suspicious going on. I’m certain of it.’

Princess Claria was not typically a rational person, but when it came to anything involving Loairston, she exhibited a response bordering on delusional.

This obsessive behavior had begun after he rejected her marriage proposal, and it was his subordinates who suffered the most as a result.

“Your Highness, I have prepared your traveling attire.”
“Bring out all my jewelry boxes too. I won’t let that woman lord it over me.”
“That woman, Your Highness? Who do you mean……?”
“Never mind! Just prepare what I asked.”
“Yes, of course, Your Highness.”

The maid hastened to attend to her.

Claria gazed at her reflection in the mirror, and with a wrinkle of her small nose and a furrow of her brow, her expression hardened.

***

Loairston had attempted sleep, but failed repeatedly.

Though he felt fever rising, his body merely felt sluggish and refused to surrender to slumber.

His condition seemed to be spiraling downward with each passing moment.

He wished he could at least lose consciousness—then his sore throat and fever would be blissfully forgotten—but such mercy eluded him.

And besides…….

The matter of Adelia leaving in anger.

His inability to stop her weighed heavily on his mind.

He hadn’t meant it that way. He’d only been worried she might fall ill herself, but it seemed he’d thoroughly misunderstood.

“Nothing ever goes as one wishes.”

He could no longer bear the stuffiness of the bedroom and ventured outside.

He heard lively voices coming from the direction of the Kitchen.

Peering in, he found Adelia had gathered the kitchen staff and was speaking to them.

She stood atop a box, making herself taller than usual, holding a wedge of Cheese in one hand.

She looked so much like a merchant who had been selling Cheese for ten years that he nearly laughed aloud.

“……That’s precisely why good Cheese is so difficult to choose. One cannot simply take whatever the supplier recommends. You must smell it yourself and determine its age…….”

A Cheese lecture, then. Loairston thought wryly.

Not unusual, really. Cheese bordered on Adelia’s area of expertise, did it not?

“And if I may explain the bacteria that create Cheese…….”
“Darling.”

Just as she was about to launch into what promised to be a lengthy discourse, Loairston’s voice made Adelia jump and turn her head.

Several of the kitchen staff sighed with relief, a sight that nearly made Loairston smile as he extended his hand to her.

“Come here.”

Adelia climbed down promptly from the box and took his hand.

Looking back with obvious regret at having to cut her explanation short, she called out, “I’ll tell you more about it next time!”

“Weren’t you supposed to be resting?”
“I couldn’t sleep. But what about you? Whatever possessed you to stand on a box and give a lecture on Cheese?”
“I stepped out briefly earlier. While I was out and about, I found some Cheese that looked delicious and bought a piece. But the servants mentioned that the Duke’s Residence has its own Cheese shop, and they said I didn’t need to purchase it from the market.”

At those words, Loairston’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Who said such a thing to you?”

Adelia waved her hand in startled protest.

“No, they weren’t being impertinent. They were simply trying to inform me since they thought I didn’t know.”
“Regardless, you are the Mistress of this household. What servant instructs their mistress? It’s unheard of.”
“Please, don’t be angry. Look—I even bought you a gift.”

Adelia spoke while looking down at the floor.

When Loairston leaned forward to look, several more boxes were indeed stacked there.

“What are these?”

At his question, Adelia’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“……I’m sorry for being angry with you earlier. You were only concerned about me…….”
“…….”
“I apologize.”

Adelia bowed deeply.

Loairston let out a soft chuckle and said nothing more.

He simply felt relieved that Adelia’s anger had passed.

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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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