Standard Contract Guidelines for a Fraudulent Marriage - Chapter 45

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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 45

As the dancing began, the crowd gathered in a loose circle turned their attention to the pair.

Having been trained since childhood, their dance was flawless regardless of their feelings.

Loa Thornston’s eagerness to escape this place at the first opportunity certainly helped, though Claria seemed to have misread it entirely.

“You’re actually good. I really am the best, aren’t I?”
“Stay quiet and dance.”
“If it were me, I could give you everything. Why must you be so prickly? Are you perhaps trying to look endearing?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Stop trying so hard to raise your market value. I’m fine without all that effort.”

At that, Loa Thornston released her hand.

Claria’s eyes flashed with malice. Her delicate frame swayed dramatically as she crumpled to the floor.

“Good heavens!”

Someone rushed forward to help her up.

Loa Thornston stared at his empty hand, then at Claria’s face, his jaw clenching.

As Claria struggled to her feet with difficulty, the moment she realized he was watching, her expression twisted into a venomous smile.

But it was short-lived. Her real performance was only beginning.

“Duke Thornston, what on earth are you doing?”

With tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, Claria spoke in a voice trembling with rage.

She was acting as though he had pushed her to the ground.

Loa Thornston glared at her with barely contained fury, then executed a court bow.

“I am shamefully lacking in skill to be Your Highness’s partner. I shall withdraw, and I humbly beg your forgiveness for my rudeness.”

He could not—would not—indulge her any further.

“What did you say? Duke Thornston!”
“You will excuse me.”

As he turned his back, the clusters of nobles parted like the Red Sea.

They scattered as if fleeing plague.

Loa Thornston smiled bitterly, ignoring Claria’s voice as she called after him, and made his way toward the western balcony.

The King, in an effort to quell the disturbance, ordered a new piece to be played and summoned Claria to his side.

Whatever they discussed was no concern of his.

If they wanted him gone from this kingdom, so be it. He would leave.

With Adelaia, he would leave and——

His rapid footsteps across the balcony suddenly stopped.

Beyond the closed glass doors of the central balcony, he saw something unbelievable.

The figure sat with her back turned, but there was no mistaking her identity—it was Adelaia.

And the man beside her was……

‘Professor Cierne.’

The moment he realized this, his heart lurched violently.

What most startled him was that Professor Cierne’s hand rested atop Adelaia’s head.

Whether he was stroking or gently tapping, his face bore an unmistakable smile as he looked at her.

Loa Thornston understood the meaning of that smile instantly.

This was not the smile one wore for a student. This was the smile a man wore for a woman.

And Adelaia was smiling too.

She had pushed his hand away, but she did not seem displeased.

Through the closed glass door came the soft sound of their laughter.

Loa Thornston stepped back and spun on his heel.

He could have opened the balcony door and stormed in, but the thought crossed his mind that he might throw Cierne over the railing.

Heat coiled inside him, and his emotions threatened to spiral beyond control.

Of course, they were master and student. That was reasonable.

Away from the Research Room, they might share conversations of a different sort.

And it was I who left her alone, after all.

But this intimate? This close?

They were merely teacher and student.

At the party Dorothea had hosted, Cierne had been with Adelaia then too.

He could never forget that look in his eyes when questioned about where he’d been and what he’d done while leaving his wife behind.

Regardless of his role as Adelaia’s teacher, you are an outsider.

Loa Thornston thought bitterly.

He walked on in a haze, reason abandoned.

There is a promise between Adelaia and me.

To dare intrude upon that promise.

He did not even recognize the contradiction in his own thoughts.

He was simply furious. Burning with a rage he could not bear.

Outside the Royal Palace, he found the Duke’s carriage. The coachman looked startled—both that Loa Thornston had come alone and that he was leaving so early.

“My lord? And the lady——”
“She remains at the party.”
“Then you alone are returning, sir?”

“No. I’ll walk. Wait here, and when the lady emerges, escort her to the estate.”

***

At that same moment.

Adelaia had noticed something amiss in the Party Hall.

“Professor, do you hear that?”
“Hmm?”

Cierne frowned and turned toward the closed door.

Just then, a woman’s sharp cry reached his ears as well.

“What’s happened?”

Cierne stood and opened the door, discovering Princess Claria on the dais, stamping her feet in fury.

“Something seems to have gone wrong.”
“Wrong? Oh……”

Adelaia peered inside and gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

Claria was raging with terrible intensity. The Queen had tried to calm her, but to no avail.

“Enough, Claria!”

At last the King thundered a rebuke and ordered her removed.

Yet none of the attendants dared approach her.

“What on earth is she so angry about?”
“I’m not sure…… Wait, where has my senior gone?”
“Now that you mention it, he’s nowhere to be seen.”

An inexplicable unease suddenly gripped Adelaia.

Could Loa Thornston have collapsed?

Is that why Claria was so furious?

Or perhaps……

‘He didn’t slip away in the middle, did he? And that’s why the princess is upset?’

Adelaia looked up at Cierne anxiously.

“Professor, I should go look for him. Thank you for the conversation.”
“Of course. Shall I escort you?”
“No, thank you. Once I find my senior, I’ll return immediately.”
“Understood. If you need my help, come back here. I’ll remain a while longer.”

Adelaia smiled nervously.

“Thank you.”

She slipped into the murmuring crowd.

Almost immediately, she learned what had transpired.

“Is it true that Duke Thornston pushed the princess?”
“I didn’t see it myself, but that’s what they’re saying.”
“How could he be so discourteous? And Duke Thornston is not that sort of man……”
“There must have been some misunderstanding.”
“But the princess is so angry. Something definitely happened.”

Hidden in the shadows, listening to the whispers, Adelaia’s heart began to race uncontrollably.

‘What is all this?’

She could think of nothing else.

She could not believe their words, yet she could not disbelieve them either.

Claria’s anger had to be connected to Loa Thornston somehow—she felt it too.

But pushed her? That could not be……

Then a voice stabbed through her like a blade.

“…… Duke Thornston should have simply proposed to Princess Claria from the start.”

As Adelaia stared at the ground, her vision suddenly blurred.

The room seemed to tilt as if the earth itself had shaken. She had to dig her toes into the floor to stay upright.

‘What is wrong with me?’

She fought back the tears threatening to spill and fled the spot.

If others saw her in such a state of shock, it would be disastrous.

They were already gossiping about Loa Thornston. If his wife showed herself to be pathetic, how much more would they talk?

Adelaia hurried toward the exit and stepped outside.

It seemed Loa Thornston was no longer in the Party Hall.

She would have to search outside, or perhaps return home and——

“Oh!”

As she rushed down the stairs, her foot caught on something and she stumbled badly.

She had not seen someone sitting at the edge of the steps.

“Watch out!”

Fortunately, before she could tumble down, someone grabbed the hem of her skirt and held fast.

“Th—thank you. I’m sorry, I didn’t see……”

As Adelaia stammered her apology, her eyes widened slightly.

“Violet……?”

The figure’s hair cascaded like a waterfall as she kept her head bowed, but it was unmistakably Violet.

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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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