CH 6

A nice big bed in a spacious room she had never had before. A high ceiling with a warm and cozy temperature, and a beautiful drawer and tabletop on one side.

That was her room from her.

It felt like winning the lottery overnight.

As she lay down on the bed, the mattress collapsed and rose up. The elasticity was considerable.

“Wouldn’t it be worth it in a year?”

Her heart trembled violently. But she shook her head.

That novel dealt with elements outside of romance so much that Adler, a character who had nothing to do with romance because he already had a lover, appeared endlessly. There were too many risk factors.

Threatened royal power, greedy nobles, righteous knights, and young lovers struggling in a tangled relationship of interests.

“Still… I thought there was still time before we got into the main story.”

Lying alone and thinking about this and that, it seemed like she was agonizing over the whispers of angels and demons. Like possessed.

There was time left.

That meant that there was time left before all the events in the novel began.

In 『Contract Marriage with Marquis』, things started to happen when the female lead, Leila, who disappeared after being humiliated at her debut date, reappeared in the social world after 3 years. As she growed up into a beautiful woman, she became the flower of society and a figure who dominates all topics.

The reason she could guess when she appeared was simple.

This was because there was a difference of one month between the time when the female lead Leila disappeared from the social world and when Beatrice married Jamie.

In the first place, the reason why Beatrice appeared as a villainess was to hurt the heroine. It was Beatrice’s love of gossip and her never-ending slip of the tongue that caused the heroine to run in embarrassment after being pointed out about her sloppy dress and her appearance.

To think that she punished the minor villain by escaping and excommunicating her love with a commoner man. It was clear that the author of that novel was a righteous man.

That was also the reason why she avoided the nobles. It’s true that she was embarrassed, but she was a little scared of meeting Layra again and being slapped on her cheek.

Anyway, to sum it up, there was a year and a half left before the heroine reappeared with her goddess beauty, chewed on the social world, reached out to the male lead, and began to run across the novel 『Contract Marriage with a Marginal Bag』.

“A year and a half…”

Even if she couldn’t get the house she could earn some money.

“You can hold on.”

But there was one thing that bothered her.

It means that the scene of Leone living like that at the villa did not appear in the novel.

What’s wrong with that?

Just as the story of her marriage to Jamie and the hard work was not in the novel, it was that she did not know what would happen next to Leone.

The parts omitted from the novel could have been more horrifying than she imagined. Her last year and a half has been like hell.

If she knew more of what she knew, she would take a gamble, but to be entangled with Leone, a supporting character who had only a few lines, and not the male lead she knew well was a real trouble. There were many things she didn’t know, so it was difficult to make a rash decision.

She was a person who knew that her life was precious, and she was very scared. But she also had the desire to live comfortably.

‘Oh, what do you mean? This was a sore head.’

After thinking about it for a long time, she couldn’t come up with an answer and fell asleep.

* * *

When she woke up in the morning, she ate a delicious meal, enjoyed the sunlight, and exchanged friendly greetings with people.

And she was surprised when she took the clothes she had worn the day before since the damp, musty smell was no joke.

She wanted to wash it right away, but she was going back to that smelly life anyway.

She couldn’t run away, she couldn’t get a divorce.

If she was going to do it, she should do it properly. She was about to stick her middle finger out towards the sky, but she stopped because she wondered if that was some kind of internet novel character.

Instead of folding her middle finger tightly, she clenched her fist and punched herself in the chest. She was sad and depressed.

She didn’t know what kind of being had dropped her there but if she met them someday she would kill that being.

“What… to do?”

However, in the small garden in front of the main residence, which she arrived soon after, she encountered a sight that made her depression run away in an instant.

“Ugh. You can’t come any closer!”

When she arrived at the main building, she was contemplating how to say hello, but she was devastated when she witnessed the scenery unfolding in front of her. Gourden, who was waddling around in leather clothes and occasionally whipping. And Leone rolled her fierce eyes as if he was hunting him.

‘Am I watching the circus right now? This… The spectacle of human training… ?’

“Now, Heo Eok, it’s play time, Heo Eok!”

Gourden seemed to be out of breath at any moment. Since he was wearing leather clothes, he wouldn’t be able to breathe, but she was worried that he would collapse if he ran around like that.

It was the end of spring, but the sunlight was already strong.

“OMG. Joe, watch out!”

Gourden’s urgent voice was heard.

“It’s okay… ”

After all, it seemed that the prey was him, not the fake. Leone even moved the fake to distract Gourden.

Leone’s gaze as he fixed his eyes on the scruff of Gourden’s neck was too hideous to call that a play. It seemed that Gourden was the only one who recognized that as play.

“Huh, huh. Leone. I’m really tired, can’t I just rest? Huh.”

She felt sorry for Gourden, who swung his whip until he ran out of breath saying he would run out of steam, and for Leone, who regarded him only as prey and played a game that required constant vigilance. That ‘play’ seemed more like hunting training, making Leone see everyone as a game.

She was all suffocated and afraid.

To think that everyone but her was an enemy, and that he had to bite. It was inevitable to become sensitive and have a bad personality.

“Hey, Gourden! Would you like to take turns with me?”

“Huh!? Where…? Go, please, run away, go!”

“It’s okay! May I help you?”

She was not confident, but she still wanted to comfort his nerves.

“If someone gets hurt, I get severely punished. Please come in!”

“I will be punished in your place! Let me do it my way!”

Gourden hit the floor with his whip as he struggled to catch his breath.

Chuck, the sound of breaking the air rang in her ears.

Leone slightly raised his body. Sharp teeth were exposed as if the sound of the whip made him more agitated.

Then Gourden swung his whip dazzlingly again to keep him from running.

It was… It was noisy.

“I! Will! Go! There!”

“What! Are! You! Saying!”

She had to scream because of the commotion. As she took a step towards Gourden, his eyes widened.

‘I’m not listening to you, boy. Who were you trying to kill?’, His resentment seemed to be visible.

She didn’t care and moved towards Gourden, careful not to touch the whip.

Leone lifted his legs and hips high.

“Please put down the whip.”

“Are you crazy?”

“I think Sir Leone became more frightened and sensitive because of the whip. I think I need to calm him down.”

“Don’t talk about what you don’t know. He’s always in that state. If I don’t play with him until it’s this hard, he won’t be able to sleep at night.”

He had always played like that, which meant he was always in that state.

She knew why Leone was so sensitive. The strong tension repeated every day, and there was nowhere to lean on, relaxing his body and mind.

Everyone was kind-hearted and cared for Leone but… They raised the kid in a very strong way and she didn’t know why.

“Sir Leone don’t sleep well?”

“Yes. He always wakes up in the middle of the night having nightmares. When he wakes up, he becomes sharper.”

She pondered for a moment, then took Gourden’s hand. Her frail little hands couldn’t stop his power, but his whiplash, as if embarrassed, slowed down a little.

Without missing that moment, Leone rushed in.

Without a moment to surprise, his hand pressed against her shoulder and her body leaned. It passed over in an instant. A terrible sound came from her shoulder along with the dizzying pain.

“Ugh… ”

“Sir Leone, I am a maid. You can’t do that!”

Gourden almost screamed at the sudden catastrophe and approached to tear Leone apart.

“It’s okay, Gourden! Wait. Please wait a moment.”

Reaching out her hand to stop Gourden, she faced Leone.

Eyes sharper than thorns, teeth exposed while tightly closed, veins and tendons on the neck…

He was in a state of overexcitement, tension, vigilance, and even fear.

It was clear that it was hard for him.

“Haha. Hello, Leone.”

“Cre… ”

Leone’s big hand pressed his painful left shoulder.

She thought it was either a cracked bone or a damaged ligament. She also thought that it would be difficult to use her shoulder for the time being with that level of pain.

He didn’t just live like a beast, it seemed that he had instincts close to that of a real beast seeing that he knew where to aim for easy hunting.

Still, she felt no fear. For children who were tired of being hurt, attacking was just a means to protect themselves.

Ignoring the pain and focusing on him, purple eyes resembling the sunset sky met her.

The light in his eyes was blurred, as if he had lost his reason. It was a face that only had the instinct to attack someone.

She took a deep breath and held out her other hand to him.

“Hello.”

“Bowl… ”

“My name is Trixie. Do you remember me from yesterday? Nice to meet you.”

She looked into the eyes of the beast that was about to devour her, and gave him the kind greeting that he probably never received.