Standard Contract Guidelines for a Fraudulent Marriage - Chapter 37

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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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Episode 37

“Ahem.”
“Oh, yes?”

Startled, Adelia thought she must have made some mistake and hurriedly glanced around her.

But she was holding nothing, no error in sight—just standing there in a blank daze.

“What’s wrong with you today? Did you not get enough sleep?”
“Oh, no! I’m sorry!”
“Don’t just apologize—explain what’s going on.”

Adelia let out a short sigh.

She fidgeted with her hair, tied back behind her head, and looked up at Ciern.

“Um, Professor—are you attending Princess Claria’s birthday party tomorrow as well?”

At that, Ciern’s expression clouded over with evident displeasure.

He set the specimen he was holding down on the shelf with a deliberate thunk.

“Is that why you’ve been so scattered?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“I understand you’re excited about the party—”
“No? That’s not it at all!”

The force of her outburst startled Ciern; his eyes widened.

It was rare for Adelia to raise her voice like that.

She only spoke loudly when discussing something she truly cared about.

“Something’s happened.”

Ciern spoke with an uncanny insight into her thoughts.

She touched her reddened cheeks and sighed.

“Would you listen to what I have to say?”
“Go ahead. It’s nearly lunch, and if this keeps up, we won’t get the experiment done properly anyway.”
“I’m—I’m sorry. Thank you.”
“What kind of greeting is that?”

A small laugh escaped him. Ciern couldn’t help but smile.

In that moment, his cold expression melted away, revealing something almost boyishly innocent.

Adelia lost her words for a moment, then let out a soft sigh and began to speak.

“I think Princess Claria doesn’t care much for me.”
“She doesn’t like anyone but herself. Don’t let something like that get to you.”

Adelia was surprised at how well Ciern seemed to know Claria.

She almost asked if they were acquainted, but then it occurred to her that it was only natural—Ciern would have to know her well.

After all, Dorothea was his patron.

Dorothea had once served as something like his guardian, so naturally he would have seen and heard plenty about the Royal Palace and its inhabitants.

“And… she seems to like my husband very much.”
“That was common knowledge. There were stories about Princess Claria following him around like a stalker even when he was a junior duke.”

Stalker. The blunt term made Adelia flinch slightly, though she said nothing.

It did seem like an apt description, though.

Whatever her feelings might be…

Someone who was already married shouldn’t be following him around like that!

“Did she pressure you to divorce him?”
“What? No! Nothing like that. She didn’t say a word about it.”

Wait. Hold on.

She hadn’t said it in so many words, but considering how Claria had acted yesterday, wasn’t that essentially what she’d conveyed with her entire being?

‘Could she have invited me to the party just to… suggest that?’

She knew eventually they would divorce, but she hadn’t yet repaid a single debt to him or to the previous duke.

Roarston would likely magnanimously tell her he was forgiving the debt, but that only made her more uneasy.

She didn’t want to end things in such an ambiguous way.

‘I don’t want to part from him like that.’

“Whatever Princess Claria said to you, ignore it.”
“Ig-ignore it?”
“That’s right. What else can you do? If the princess told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?”
“No!”
“Then the only choice is to ignore her. Princess Claria has no sense and does whatever she wants. She’s a three-year-old throwing tantrums in an adult’s body. Just ignore her. That’s the answer.”

Adelia asked carefully.

“Do you know Princess Claria quite well, Professor?”
“You’re asking if I know her personally?”
“Yes, that’s right.”

Ciern considered for a moment, then spoke.

“We’re acquainted against my wishes. If I had to erase one person from my life without hesitation, it would be her.”

Even as she asked the question, Adelia was taken aback.

She hadn’t realized he disliked her that much!

“Mark my words: whatever Claria says, let it go in one ear and out the other. You’re the Duchess of Inselle. No matter what she says, dismiss it with an ‘as if.’ Understand?”
“That…”
“Well?”
“Oh, um. Yes… I understand.”
“Good. Let’s continue with the experiment.”

Adelia worked alongside Ciern, half bewildered and half flustered.

She almost wished she’d told him everything Princess Claria had done, in detail…

But no, the result would have been the same. Ciern would have just told her to ignore it.

‘Can I really do that?’

Adelia was already worried.

Her performance as an experiment assistant that day was, by her own judgment, abysmal.

When Ciern asked for component A, she handed him B or C, nearly ruining the experiment, and she almost used dangerous liquids without putting on her Goggles.

‘What am I even doing…’

Her appetite had actually withered away. Adelia just sat there sighing deeply when Ciern came and sat across from her.

“P-professor.”
“You’re looking like you’ve sunk through the floor.”

Adelia’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

She pushed the Lunch Box aside and bowed deeply until her forehead was nearly at the table.

Ciern spoke in alarm.

“What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry! I wasn’t any help with the experiment today.”

A brief silence fell.

Wondering what expression he had while her eyes were squeezed shut, Adelia felt anxious.

“Stop. Lift your head. What is this, a gang hideout?”
“Oh, that’s not—I didn’t mean—”
“I know. Never mind. Go rescue your Lunch Box. It’s going to fall off at this rate.”

The container was pushed so hard that it hung halfway off the edge of the table.

Adelia hastily pulled it back.

Ciern gestured for her to eat, then unwrapped a bundle in front of him.

“You have a tendency to read the room too much.”
“Me?”
“Have you never thought about it yourself?”

Adelia opened the Lunch Box and set down the fork and spoon, pausing in thought.

Reading the room too much… Yes, she did do that. But was that strange?

“I thought it would help me make fewer mistakes.”
“In my view, there’s no connection whatsoever between reading the room and making fewer mistakes.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Think about it. You read the room mainly in social situations. You don’t do it during experiments, do you?”
“Well… that’s because I’m confident in my work with experiments.”
“So you’re not confident in social situations, which is why you read the room? Listen—you’re making a serious mistake. Reading the room alone won’t improve your relationships. There’s a difference between good and poor Reading the Room.”

Adelia’s eyes went wide, as if Ciern had struck her on the head.

“A difference… between good and poor Reading the Room?”
“Here’s an example: when you talk about something you’re interested in, do you read the room?”
“Well… back then, I don’t even think to consider whether I should read the room…”
“Exactly. Reading the room properly means assessing the situation and deciding whether to speak at all. But you say whatever you want, and then you read the room afterward.”
“That…!”

Adelia felt more ashamed than she ever had before.

She knew it herself, of course.

But hearing it stated so bluntly by someone else made her ten times, twenty times more mortified.

“I’m sorry…”

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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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