Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 5

Florian, are you going to be okay? He looked like he genuinely wanted to kill you earlier.

Brianna knew well the customs of nobility, having served a noblewoman for many years. Addressing someone by an unapproved nickname was a significant breach of etiquette. And the man sitting before her wasn’t just any noble; he was the second son of the prestigious Carlisle ducal family.

“House Carlisle is in a league of its own,” Dowager Countess Linares had once told her. “They were instrumental in founding the Kingdom of Schwerin, are connected by blood to the royal family, and have ties to His Holiness, the Pope. No other family can match them in lineage or power.”

Brianna sighed softly as she recalled the Dowager Countess’s words. It would be easier if he openly expressed his anger, but his silence was far more intimidating.

At that moment, his gaze suddenly shifted to her. Brianna quickly turned her head, pretending to look elsewhere. His low voice broke the silence.

“Did you hurt your leg?”

Leg? Brianna looked down to see her dress stained with blood at the knee. She must have injured it when she fell earlier.

“Oh, yes. My knee…”

Only then did she start to feel the throbbing pain. In her rush to retrieve the bag from the thief, she hadn’t even noticed the injury.

What was I thinking, jumping in front of a moving carriage like that? Brianna thought, placing a hand on her chest to calm herself. She was incredibly lucky to have only scraped her knee. No matter how urgent the situation, she had nearly gotten herself killed.

“It would be best to bandage the wound,” Lucius suggested, offering her a handkerchief. The edges of the fine silk were embroidered with the emblem of the Carlisle family.

Brianna quickly waved her hands in refusal. “Thank you, but there’s no need. It’s not a serious injury.”

“You can’t be sure how bad it is without seeing it,” he insisted.

Startled by his firm tone, Brianna quickly took the handkerchief with both hands. “Thank you for your kindness.”

As Brianna lifted her skirt to wrap her knee with the handkerchief, she suddenly felt awkward.

A complete stranger sat directly in front of her. She knew he wouldn’t stare—this refined nobleman who had even gone so far as to retrieve her stolen bag had a moral integrity beyond reproach. Yet, his mere presence made it impossible for her to ignore him.

Brianna hesitated with the handkerchief in her hand, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. He had turned his head completely to the side, resting his chin on his hand as he gazed out the window. Recognizing his effort to give her privacy, she turned her back to him and carefully lifted her skirt.

The rustling of her dress seemed unusually loud, making her face flush with embarrassment. It felt as though she was undressing in front of him, even though she was only lifting her skirt a bit.

Why am I feeling this way? I used to pull my skirt up to my knees and play in the water with Florian without a second thought.

Brianna quickly tied the handkerchief around her knee and adjusted her skirt. Clearing her throat, she signaled that she was finished.

Lucius turned back to face her. As she thought she noticed a slight redness at the tips of his ears, he said, “There is something I need to mention. It concerns the recent incident.”

Brianna braced herself, clutching her skirt tightly. Pointing a gun at him had crossed a line, no matter the misunderstanding. Surely, he wouldn’t just let it go with an apology.

“Did you have a watch in your bag?” he asked unexpectedly.

“Pardon?” she responded reflexively.

He glanced at the bag beside her. “The thief mentioned that all he found was a watch. It just came to mind. You might want to check if it’s still there.”

Brianna quickly opened her bag and rummaged through it. After a moment, she realized that the watch was indeed missing.

“It’s gone. I was sure I put it in here…”

The watch was not just any ordinary item. It was her parents’ only keepsake. Her mother had given it to her father, and after his death, it became hers. It was the only thing left of her parents in this world.

The unexpected loss left Brianna feeling numb. Losing such a precious keepsake in such an absurd way was hard to process.

“If it’s important, I’ll compensate you for it,” Lucius offered.

Brianna looked up at him, puzzled. Why would he offer to compensate for the watch? He had already helped retrieve her bag and had been mistaken for a thief.

“I should have checked the contents before letting the thief go. It was my mistake and my responsibility,” Lucius said, his expression calm but resolute. His words carried a firm sense of duty to take responsibility for his actions.

At that moment, Brianna realized something. This is who Lucius truly was. No wonder Florian admired him so much.

“You’re just as responsible as I’ve heard,” she remarked.

Lucius looked at her, his expression showing a mix of curiosity and confusion.

Brianna smiled faintly. “Florian told me about you. He said that even if everyone else deserted him on the battlefield, you were the one friend who would never leave him behind. He said he trusted you implicitly.”

Florian had always been cheerful and sociable, with an angelic appearance that drew people to him. Everyone loved him, to the point where it seemed impossible to dislike him. But despite his friendliness, Florian was very selective about whom he kept close. He often talked about Lucius in his letters and during his visits, sharing stories about their time at school and what kind of person Lucius was.

Now, Brianna understood why Florian held Lucius in such high regard. It was because Lucius was this kind of person.

“It’s not an important item. It’s fine,” Brianna said, lying about the watch’s significance. Finding the stolen item was nearly impossible. She didn’t want to burden Lucius with the knowledge that it was her parents’ keepsake.

“I’m truly grateful that you retrieved my bag,” she added, trying to smile despite her disappointment. It was best to forget the watch quickly, as dwelling on something lost would only bring more pain.

Lucius studied her face for a moment before asking another question. “How did you come to possess a gun? It’s not a common item to have.”

Brianna knew that Lucius attended a military academy within the Academy and likely had a keen interest in weapons due to his military studies. For anyone, seeing a common woman with a gun would be unusual, as firearms were rare and even rarer in the hands of women.

“Dowager Countess Linares, whom I serve, gave it to me. She believed every woman should have at least one weapon to protect herself.”

“And she taught you how to use it?”

“Yes, she did.”

“……”

Lucius seemed taken aback, his mouth slightly open before he closed it again. His expression was so comically surprised that Brianna couldn’t help but chuckle.

“The Dowager Countess taught me everything I needed to survive on my own, including how to handle a gun.”