Chapter 4

The only people who could be salvaged were Aslei and Frisia’s older brother. The remaining were serious criminals who really shouldn’t get married.

This was the case even though the female protagonist, who began to appear earlier than the original, was being punished.

Duke Atreille pretended not to know the shortcomings of these men. If it didn’t work out with Aslei, he would marry Frisia to them.

Frisia wondered if a successor of a marquis would be acceptable to her ducal father, but…… Unfortunately, this also wasn’t an option.

All the good men were chasing Lady Marianne.

‘I don’t care if I’m a commoner!’

She could raise her status through contributions later. She thought her status wouldn’t matter much because her brother would pretend not to know her.

But her operation was interrupted by Duke Atreille!

So Frisia stuck first the day she met Aslei. She offered a contract marriage earlier than the heroine.

She thought she might be rejected, but surprisingly Aslei accepted the offer.

❁ ❁ ❁

Aslei approached the bed and took off his clothes. It was shameful, but there was a limit to repressing the curse. It could have been more dangerous.

[t1v: this is in the past during their first meeting—italics will indicate the past]

“I know you like Viscount Marianne Rewain.”

Frisia’s face, while talking to him with a nervous expression, floated up in his mind’s eye. He was embarrassed to hear that. However, it was true that he had harbored a crush on Marianne.

But it hadn’t been to the point of liking her. He was not a man who could marry while another woman was in his heart.

It was true that he once knew a woman named Marianne, but it had never amounted to love. Marianne’s strange attitude had touched his nerves.

While feigning courtesy, she seemed arrogant and haughty, which offended him and made him feel repulsed. So he had folded the little favoritism he had for her and kept his distance.

Marianne was embarrassed by his changed attitude and tried to restore their relationship, but he was a busy man.

Meaning that with her status as a baron’s daughter, he was a person of a distant high position that could not be easily met even if she had become a viscount.

‘It wasn’t a reasonable favor anyway.’

Aslei knew Frisia had misunderstood, but he had not cleared it up. The provision that he must marry a princess was too big of a shackle on him to jeopardize this agreement with unknown variables.

The contract marriage Frisia offered was a good offer for him, too.

“………How can I trust that a princess will keep her promise with me?”

Even if he didn’t want to be arrogant, Aslei knew that he was someone who received the attention of many women. The number of women who had hid in his bedroom alone exceeded 100, and many women confessed to him and did not hesitate to stalk him.

So Aslei was feeling rather distrustful of this woman. He had seen many women who pretended not to be interested in him and then suddenly turned into beasts, attempting to molest him.

“That’s why I’m going to draw up a contract. I also have someone I love.”

Of course, Frisia’s words were lies. She named one of Marianne’s followers sub-male lead #3. [t1v: lol #3]

As a knight from a family of commoners, Duke Atreille would object to their marriage even from his grave.

“I chose the Duke because I can trust you.”

Frisia said Duke Atreille would not let her go even after she and Aslei divorced.

“He would kill my lover and marry me to a man I don’t want. But since you’re a duke, you can block it.”

After the three years of their contractual marriage was up, they would get a divorce; she said she would live in the Duchy of Tintalion. It was probably the only place her father couldn’t reach.

Listening to Frisia calmly unraveling her story, Aslei contemplated what to do. Princess Atreille had been considered a suitable marriage prospect as soon as marriage came to mind.

Just as Frisia had agonized over a suitable groom, there were not many women in the empire who were well matched with Aslei.

There were many women who wanted him, but it was women of high status that could stalk Aslei.

That’s why Frisia Atreille was concerned.

Because she was a woman who didn’t show interest in him. If he married Frisia he thought they could make a quiet and peaceful family.

‘Should I decline?’

Aslei thought that an arranged political marriage could be agreeable as long as a good friendship was the foundation. Even if there was no love or passionate affairs, you could continue your friendship.

Didn’t cheating and betrayal also occur in love marriages?

If marriage wasn’t sincere anyway, it would be better to have a political marriage. Because at least the couple could establish a minimum courtesy.

‘It would be right to refuse. I didn’t propose with an intention to divorce. But….’

This woman in front of him; Frisia Atreille was concerned.

Her love would not be protected in a marriage to another man. On the contrary, it was clear that they would mock and trample her.

Aslei thought he wanted to protect Frisia.

Even though she was a woman with a splendid and elegant appearance, she somehow reminded him of gypsophila*. [t1v: baby’s breath—a type of flower]

So, he accepted the contract marriage with her.

It wasn’t a marriage where he was losing anything. On the contrary, by marrying Frisia, he avoided marrying a woman who might chase him.

*t1v baby’s breath symbolism—

White: A positive color, is affiliated with purity, virginity, innocence, light, goodness, heaven, understanding, cleanliness, faith, beginnings, possibility, sincerity, protection, softness, and perfection.

Pink: Showcasing a relationship which is romantic, charming, feminine, and tenderness.

Blue: An abiding trust, loyalty, sincerity, wisdom, confidence, stability, faith.