Standard Contract Guidelines for a Fraudulent Marriage - Chapter 72

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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 72

After giving Clurker a gift of fruit, Adelia seemed noticeably brighter. When Loerston asked why, she told him this:

“It’s the first time I’ve ever given something to someone. I’ve always just received from others.”

Then she added something more:

“Though it was your money, Senior…”

In that moment, Loerston found himself thinking that if only there weren’t so many people around, he would have pulled her close and kissed her.

Exercising restraint, he contented himself instead with drawing her close and pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

“Don’t worry about such things. You’re my wife. You’re spending my money—there’s no need to think of it that way.”
“But it really is your money, isn’t it?”
“Then how about this—during the contract period, you’re working for me anyway, so what if I paid you a salary?”

Adelia’s expression froze for a moment, but then she shook her head.

“I don’t want that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s just… I don’t like it. Oh, Senior! Look over there. What a lovely tea shop.”

Loerston recognized that Adelia was deliberately changing the subject, but he didn’t press her on it. Still, a moment later, he found himself wondering if his own suggestion had been tactless.

In truth, Adelia hadn’t thought him tactless at all. On the contrary, she’d found his offer considerate, and his care for her had seemed endearing.

But that was precisely why she couldn’t accept a salary.

Because now she could no longer treat him as merely a “job.”

‘I don’t want him to discover my feelings for him… but I also can’t dismiss them with the word ‘work.’

That was Adelia’s true heart.

For his part, Loerston certainly didn’t think of Adelia as working “for” him.

He’d only suggested it in hopes of giving her a measure of freedom—nothing more.

If Adelia wished for it, he was prepared to lay before her gold, jewels, or the most prized lands in the kingdom itself.

But if he did such a thing, wouldn’t this shy, squirrel-like young lady take fright and flee?

‘Slow and steady. Slow. Just enough that Adelia won’t notice.’

He wanted to seep into her like water—so that when she came to her senses, she would find herself so deeply entangled with him that escape would be impossible. And he hoped she would find that comfortable.

For now, he would have to temper his rising emotions, keep them from being caught by her keen senses.

The tea shop they arrived at was quite charming and quaint.

Its walls were built in gentle curves, like the stone cottage of dwarves from a fairy tale, and it had a small wooden door fitted with tiny glass panes. Above the entrance hung a wreath made of dried olive branches.

“Welcome.”

The proprietor was a petite, endearing young woman. Her neatly cut red bob and the freckles across her nose were striking.

“Would you prefer to sit outside? The weather is lovely today—you should get a wonderful view of the horizon.”

Adelia broke into a radiant smile and glanced up at Loerston.

“Senior, she says we can see the horizon.”
“Shall we sit outside then?”
“Yes, let’s. Hmm… what should we have?”

After studying the menu for quite some time, Adelia settled on a Carrot Cake and a tea made with Rollum fruit. Loerston ordered coffee.

“Do you enjoy coffee, Senior?”

Adelia sat at a table with a clear view of the horizon, holding back her hair against the sea breeze as she asked.

Loerston gazed at the fine, light-brown strands that drifted about her ears, then reached over and tucked them behind her ear.

“I drink it every day, so I suppose it’s fair to say I like it.”
“Well, but among the professors at the Academy, there were some who viewed coffee almost like a Magical Tincture. So it’s not that they want to drink coffee—it’s that without it, their entire day falls apart, so they must drink it anyway.”
“I’m not quite that bad.”

Loerston laughed and waved his hand dismissively, then looked back at Adelia with a smile.

“What about you, Junior? Do you like coffee?”

Adelia considered for a moment before speaking.

“I’m rather indifferent to it, I think. Coffee has many different flavors… and while connoisseurs apparently enjoy it in quite complex ways, I don’t really understand such things.”
“Unlike tea or alcohol, coffee is purely a matter of taste. You don’t need to study it, so that’s fortunate for you, isn’t it?”

Adelia laughed brightly at his teasing.

“Now that you mention it, we didn’t buy any alcohol. They probably have several varieties of Fruit Wine here.”
“We’ll pick some up on the way back. By the way, that fruit from earlier—did you really think it was alright?”
“What? Oh, that Peph—”
“Pephila.”
“Pephila, right. Yes, it was fine. The children were sick, weren’t they? His siblings were suffering, so he must have stretched himself thin to ask such a high price. I wish I’d known and hadn’t bargained so hard.”
“I worry about how kind you are, Junior.”

Adelia’s eyes blinked softly.

Just then, the tea, coffee, and cake arrived. When Adelia saw the Carrot Cake—peculiarly molded into a rounded, hemisphere shape—she gasped with delight and broke into a wide smile.

“It’s adorable!”
“It really is. How unique. Is that supposed to be a carrot leaf on top?”
“I think so. Goodness! It looks like you could actually pluck it off.”

Adelia first tasted the chocolate-colored crumble sprinkled beneath the cake with her spoon. It was crispy and sweet.

“How do people come up with ideas like this?”
“The same way you conduct experiments, I’d imagine. These bakers probably spend their whole day thinking about cakes instead of microbes.”
“Hmm, but that requires creativity, doesn’t it? I mean, experimentation requires creativity too, but… artistic creativity is different.”

Adelia, who had been chatting away cheerfully, took a sip of her tea and marveled at it just as she had at the cake, and when she tasted the cake itself, her delight was so genuine that she bounced slightly on her seat.

Loerston watched every moment of it all, sipping his coffee as though he were committing each expression to memory.

As Adelia lightly crumbled one edge of the cake, she suddenly spoke:

“You said earlier that I’m kind, Senior.”
“Yes, I did.”
“But I think differently.”

This time, Loerston’s expression turned curious.

“Why is that?”
“Because I’m selfish.”

A bitter smile flickered across Adelia’s lips for a moment. Loerston set down his coffee cup, propped his chin on his hand, and smiled with genuine amusement.

“I doubt our clever Junior truly understands what selfishness means.”
“No, I do! Surely.”
“Then where exactly is this selfishness of yours? I’ve never seen it.”

Adelia held the fork to her lips and hesitated, but when she felt Loerston’s steady gaze, she looked away. His stare was somehow making her face grow warm.

“When my mother… left like that, and when my father passed away… I pretended to be fine, but inside, I resented them deeply.”
“That’s not selfishness.”
“I think it is. I was accustomed to receiving even then. That my parents had abandoned me and disappeared… I couldn’t accept it. Or rather, I didn’t want to forgive them.”

Adelia continued speaking, slowly crumbling the edge of the cake with her fork.

“So when I was able to continue school, I was just happy without even knowing who had helped me. Only later did I feel grateful, but right after hearing the news, I was so caught up in joy that I even forgot I should be thankful. And furthermore…”

As Adelia continued muttering, she glanced sideways at Loerston.

“This is boring, isn’t it?”

Loerston shook his head.

“No, keep going. Hearing a confession like this is rather refreshing in its own way.”

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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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