Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 186

Epilogue

“Dad, since when did you like Mom?”

The cute little boy with black hair and blue eyes had always been unusually interested in his parents’ love story. Perhaps it was because people around them constantly praised his parents as a rare couple in this day and age, filled with love and affection.

Now five years old, the boy could speak as fluently as an adult, and he began to ask more about his parents’ romance. On some nights, he would not fall asleep unless they patted his back and recited the story of their courtship from beginning to end.

He was at the age when children asked the same questions over and over, yet the question he asked today was something fresh, one he had never asked before.

Lucius answered immediately, without even a moment’s hesitation.

“Of course, I liked her from the very first time I saw her.”

“Wow, really?”

The boy burst out laughing, as though he found that answer utterly delightful.

The target of his questioning quickly shifted from his father to his mother, who was sitting beside him.

“Then what about you, Mom? Since when did you like Dad?”

“Well, let’s see…”

Unlike Lucius, Brianna took her time to answer. The one waiting for her reply was not only their child. Lucius also gazed at her with uncharacteristic anxiety.

“I…”

Brianna smiled brightly.

“I liked your father from the moment we saw the fireworks together for the very first time.”

“Wow!”

The boy began jumping up and down on the spot, overjoyed.

“We’re watching fireworks today, right? Then today must be the day Mom started liking Dad!”

“That’s right. Mom really, really loves Dad.”

Brianna pressed her cheek against her child’s soft face.

Unlike the cheerful mother and son, Lucius had been wearing a somewhat displeased expression for a while. Just as he opened his mouth to ask Brianna something, the sound of fireworks bursting filled the sky.

“Wow! They’re so pretty!”

Seeing fireworks for the very first time in his life, the boy could not close his mouth. Watching her son stare at the sky with his jaw dropped, Brianna burst out laughing.

“Serge, shall we come here every year to watch the fireworks?”

“Yes!”

The boy answered quickly and tugged at his mother with his tiny arms. Lucius then embraced the two of them tightly from behind.

On the hill where brilliant flowers bloomed and faded in the sky, the three of them held one another and watched the fireworks for a long time. From then on, every year during the Festival of Saint Riccio, they would come here to enjoy the fireworks together.

That evening, Lucius asked Brianna a question while she was busy with paperwork.

“Was that true?”

“What do you mean?”

Brianna lifted her head from the documents and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“What you told Serge earlier. That you liked me from the first fireworks we saw together. Not the second time.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Really?”

“Yes, rea—”

“Then why are you only telling me now?”

When he suddenly burst out angrily, Brianna tilted her head.

“Well, it’s because you never asked me before.”

“Do you only answer when I ask?”

At that, Brianna was genuinely dumbfounded. Why was he suddenly acting like this after enjoying the fireworks together?

“But I have said something similar before. That I’ve loved you far longer than you think.”

“I didn’t realize that ‘longer’ meant that long.”

He began grumbling.

“All this time, I thought you only came to love me after we were married. I thought I came after Florian.”

Hearing his words, Brianna finally understood why he was so upset. He had only just learned today that she had loved him, not Florian, from the very beginning.

“You should have told me sooner. Then…”

“Then what?”

“Then the past six years would have been even happier.”

Brianna laughed and closed the papers she had been reviewing. There was still so much to do—charity work, foundation matters—but tonight, she decided she had to soothe her husband’s mood first.

“I’m sorry.”

Brianna wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Though he rarely got angry, whenever he did, a kiss usually dissolved half of his anger.

As always, his mood quickly lifted, and he returned her kiss passionately. Then he swept her into his arms and carried her toward the bed.

After a storm-like time had passed, Brianna nestled into his arms. And then she brought up something she had never spoken of throughout all those years.

“At that time, I didn’t accept Florian’s proposal because I loved him. I thought if I were to love someone, it might as well be Florian. Just then, I had been deeply wounded in my heart because of you.”

“You mean the day I misunderstood when I saw you working as an interpreter at the theater?”

Brianna nodded. “That’s right. Actually, at that time, I hadn’t even realized yet that I liked you, but still, I had expectations of you. And those expectations were utterly crushed. That’s why I accepted Florian’s proposal. I thought Florian was everything to me…”

He kissed Brianna’s forehead. “I’m sorry. Now that I think of it, it was all my fault.”

It was always like this. Lucius would get angry, but he would always apologize first.

Brianna rested her chin on his chest and narrowed her eyes. “Do you know that sometimes you can be really narrow-minded?”

“Narrow-minded?”

“Even just at the recent debutante.”

Recently, a debutante ball had been held. While looking fondly at the young gentlemen and ladies making their first appearance in society, a tall and handsome young man suddenly approached Brianna.

“Excuse me, don’t you recognize me?”

Brianna looked at the young man in puzzlement. His behavior of not introducing himself with name and status first was something worthy of reproach for being impolite, yet strangely, his smiling face did not seem unfamiliar.

“A long time ago, you told me to call you sister and even gave me a flick on the forehead.”

“Michael?”

“Teacher, I missed you!”

Michael hugged Brianna tightly. Brianna was so startled and happy to meet him that she did not even notice Lucius glaring at them with sharp eyes.

“Michael, it’s been such a long time. You’ve really grown into a fine young man!”

That day, Brianna spent a long time with Michael, catching up on the conversations they had missed. Because of that, she received many resentful looks from the young ladies making their debut. And after returning to the ducal residence, she had to endure Lucius’s frightening jealousy.

“If you didn’t like me being with Michael, you could have at least shown it.”

“If I disliked you being with that fellow, I would’ve stepped in a hundred times over. But that wasn’t it. I usually don’t want to stop you from doing what you want.”

At Lucius’s scoffing words, Brianna realized that what she had just thought was wrong. He was not narrow-minded, but rather, his tolerance was so wide that it was almost a flaw.

“Somehow, I think Serge resembles you more than me.”

At Brianna’s cheerful remark, Lucius gave her a suspicious look.

“All of a sudden?”

“From the time he was in my belly, he has always been an angel-like child who understands his mother’s heart well.”

She had once thought she might never be able to have a child. Even if she did, she believed it would not be anytime soon.

But perhaps the dream of a falling star landing in her arms had been a good omen. Brianna conceived much earlier than she had expected.

However, once she became pregnant, countless worries followed. The doctor had said her uterus was weak, and the risk of miscarriage was high, so it was better not to hold too much hope.

Because of that, each day she carried the child in her womb was both filled with happiness and anxiety that nearly drove her mad. She feared every moment that the child might leave her side.

What allowed her to endure was Lucius, who always silently stayed by her side, and Serge, who, as if he understood his mother’s anxious heart, survived through several crises and was finally born as her child.

After that, they did not use contraception, yet she never conceived again. It was clear that Serge was the child heaven had sent down just for them.

“What I’m saying is that I am so happy right now because you and Serge are by my side. And so, Your Grace.”

When Brianna suddenly used the stiff form of address, Lucius narrowed his eyes and looked at her quietly.

“I think it’s time we put some kind of closure to our contract marriage. I believe I have that right, since I bore an heir to succeed the family as stipulated in the contract.”

“The end of our contract marriage…”

If time had passed without them knowing each other’s hearts, this moment would have been pure horror for him. If she said she’d leave now that she had fulfilled the contract, he would have no excuse to stop her.

But knowing that was not the case, Lucius smiled and asked her, “Since you say the contract has been fulfilled, then I must ask this question. How do you want this marriage to be? Do you want to end it?”

“That depends on you, Your Grace. Depending on how you answer my question, I may end this contract or extend it.”

“What question is that?”

“Why did you marry me?”

Lucius kissed her lips lovingly before answering.

“Because I love you so very much.”

“Then do you want to continue sharing the future with me?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Then I shall be generous and extend the contract.”

“For how long?”

“This time, indefinitely. Until death.”

Lucius pressed a deep kiss to her smiling lips. He poured all his affection into her, using every way he could express love.

And this passionate night, by the extension of the contract, was destined to last until death, no, forever.

The End.