Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 118

“Ah, the carriage is arriving.”

At that moment, Brianna lifted her head at the voice of the maid beside her. Just as she said, a navy carriage was passing through the wide-open front gate and approaching them.

Brianna grabbed the hem of her dress and ran down the stairs. The maids nearby followed after her.

“Madam, you’ll fall at this rate! Please be careful!”

The carriage came to a smooth stop at the bottom of the steps. A moment later, the door opened and Lucius stepped out.

“…Brianna?”

He looked somewhat puzzled as he saw Brianna running toward him with the maids.

“Is something wrong? What brings you out here to greet me…?”

Instead of answering, Brianna clutched him and checked over his body. Lucius looked even more confused.

“Did something happen…?”

“What’s this blood? Are you hurt?”

There were small spots of blood on his sleeve. When Brianna asked in a near breathless voice, Lucius hurried to answer.

“It’s not my blood… In any case, Brianna, I’m not hurt at all—”

Before he could finish speaking, Brianna threw her arms tightly around his waist.

It wasn’t only Lucius who was startled by her action. The maids nearby also widened their eyes in shock. It was the first time the Duchess had ever shown affection so openly in front of others.

Lucius quickly signaled to the maids. Understanding his gesture asking them to give space, they discreetly stepped away.

Once they were alone, Lucius gently stroked Brianna’s hair with his hand.

“Brianna…”

At his soft call, Brianna slowly lifted her face from his chest. Her eyes were slightly red.

“You were with Franz at the hunting grounds, weren’t you?”

Lucius nodded. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

“I thought you’d worry if you knew.”

Brianna gave him a brief glare before cautiously asking another question.

“What happened to him?”

Lucius smiled and shook his head. “I didn’t kill him, so don’t worry. You warned me already—not to kill him.”

“Then…”

“I simply made sure he knew what it feels like to be relentlessly hunted, breathless with fear under threat.”

Brianna realized that he had returned to Franz exactly the same fear and threats she had endured from him all this time. She didn’t know exactly what he had done, but imagining Franz trembling in terror brought a small sense of satisfaction.

“Do you think he’s really learned his lesson this time?”

“At the very least, he should now understand not to show his face around us again.”

Lucius took Brianna’s hand and began walking.

“By the way, having you come out to greet me like this really makes me feel good.”

He looked genuinely delighted. His smile was wide enough to show all his teeth.

Brianna looked up at his face. Come to think of it, she had once come out to greet him the day after their wedding. But that time, Lucius had gone straight to his room as soon as he got home, so she hadn’t even seen his face. Since then, she had assumed he didn’t care for greetings.

Maybe, she thought, there were still many things she didn’t know about him.

“Then I’ll come out to greet you every day.”

At Brianna’s words, he burst into laughter.

“I didn’t mean you had to go that far, so don’t worry about it.”

“It’s really no trouble for me, so it’s fine.”

I wish I could see you smile like this more often. If it meant seeing that, I think I could endure even harder things.

Suddenly, Brianna realized it was the first time she’d ever had such a thought. More precisely, she’d never once resolved to do something just to see someone smile—not even for Florian.

Of course, she had liked Florian very much, and seeing his smiling face had pleased her too. But had she ever actually done something to make him smile?

At that moment, Lucius’s low voice echoed.

“If you keep this up, I’ll want to drop everything and come straight home. Looks like I won’t be getting much work done for a while.”

He bent down and kissed her temple. It might have been a casual gesture for him, but the moment his lips touched her skin, Brianna felt her heart begin to pound uncontrollably.

Lately, whenever he was near, her heart acted of its own accord. It kept fluttering and at times even throbbed painfully. As if it had a will of its own.

Come to think of it, Madam Leona had once said something similar. That the heart had invisible feet, and it might already be walking ahead, arriving somewhere on its own…

But that had certainly been said in the context of explaining love.

The moment her thoughts reached that point, Brianna came to a stop. With wavering eyes, she looked at Lucius.

“Brianna?”

He called her name, wondering what was wrong. Brianna quickly shook her head, saying it was nothing.

Unbelievably, the thought crossed her mind: could it be that she was falling in love with this man?

***

The look in Lily’s eyes as she stared at Lucius was more like an interrogator scrutinizing a suspect than a friend observing her friend’s husband.

Lucius, on the other hand, maintained his smile throughout. Even when Lily fired aggressive and pointed questions, his expression remained unshaken.

“…So, when exactly did Your Grace start liking Brianna?”

“In earnest? I think it’s been about a year.”

At that, Lily exhaled deeply as if fed up. Since she already knew about Florian, it was no wonder she reacted that way. From her perspective, it probably looked like Lucius had been secretly pining for her friend’s lover for a whole year.

The truth, of course, was that this was all a lie.

“Ha…”

Lily took a deep swig of her drink, looking exasperated. Empty bottles, drained by both Lily and Lucius, now lay scattered across the table.

Brianna blinked at the scene.

Today, Lily had come to visit the ducal residence. As she had warned in advance, she launched her operation to get Lucius drunk as soon as she arrived.

The problem was, Lucius could hold his liquor just as well as Lily. Brianna, unlike the two of them, was weak with alcohol. For every three drinks they took, she barely sipped one—and even that quickly pushed her to her limit.

In the end, Brianna began nodding off. She knew she shouldn’t do this with a guest present, but she couldn’t fight off the waves of sleep. When Lucius offered his shoulder, she leaned against him and soon drifted into a deep slumber.

“…Since Brianna’s fallen fast asleep, I’ll be frank. From the start, I’ve been extremely suspicious of you, Your Grace.”

Tossing aside the last remnants of politeness, Lily launched sharp words at him. Lucius, gently stroking Brianna’s hair, showed no surprise—as if he had expected this.

“May I ask what exactly you find so suspicious?”

“Everything. It’s strange that Florian Robert suddenly died, and it’s even stranger that Brianna married you right after his death. I can’t shake the feeling that you two are hiding something from me.”

“Even if we were hiding something, how would that affect you, Miss Lily?”

“Of course it matters! Brianna is my friend! I’ll have you know, I care about her quite a bit!”

Lily slammed the table with her fist. Though she shouted in anger, Lucius, strangely enough, seemed satisfied.