Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 62

“Just now, what was that about Adelheid?”

Brianna bit her lip, then quickly looked away, lowering her head. “It’s nothing. Just a bit of a misunderstanding…”

Lucius lifted her chin with his finger. “Tell me. Why did you run here and hide?”

Brianna tried to step back, but her back hit the wall. Lucius leaned in, looking down at her, now trapped in a narrow space. Her turquoise eyes, which she rarely met his with even when they were together, were now staring straight at him, trembling slightly.

Lucius realized then—this was the only way for her to truly face him. By cornering Brianna Everett like this, with nowhere else to go, she had no choice but to look at him.

Even if her heart was somewhere else.

“S-Sir Lucius?” she stammered, her voice slightly panicked. Lucius released her chin, letting out a quiet sigh.

Why does this woman always make me feel this way?

Emotions that didn’t suit him at all—dark, murky feelings he never thought he could have—kept surfacing because of her.

“If you won’t talk, I’ll just ask Miss Adelheid myself.”

Under normal circumstances, an apology for his earlier rudeness would have come first, but he didn’t feel like it. The situation—her constantly ending up in danger—bothered him too much.

As he moved to open the door, Brianna hurriedly grabbed his arm.

“W-wait!”

Lucius stared at her hand on his arm. With a look of realization, she tried to let go, but before she could, he covered her hand with his own.

“If you don’t want that, tell me everything. About this situation.”

In the end, Brianna had no choice but to confess everything to him.

“The truth is, there’s someone from my hometown here.”

Brianna explained her ill-fated relationship with Margot, from the time Margot tried to steal an inheritance document to how they had crossed paths again at this estate.

“I think Margot might try to expose my relationship with Florian at the tea party. That’s the only reason I can think of for her to say someone’s hair will be pulled out…”

If it was revealed at the tea party that Brianna and Florian were seeing each other, things wouldn’t end with just a pulled hair.

There were already rumors that Florian was refusing arranged meetings set up by his parents because of a woman. People thought the woman he was seeing was a vulgar commoner and that she was using him to gain a title.

With Viscountess Robert’s personality, she wouldn’t let Brianna, the supposed root of all these problems, off easily. Not only would she pull her hair, but she’d slap her and shout insults in front of everyone.

And after causing such a scene at the engagement party, Countess Kirchner would surely dismiss Brianna.

If that happened, Adelheid would get everything she wanted without lifting a finger. Just by putting Viscountess Robert, Margot, and Brianna in the same place, things would go exactly as she planned.

“And the reason I mentioned Miss Adelheid’s name earlier…” Brianna trailed off, hesitating. It wasn’t easy to speak ill of someone’s fiancé, especially in front of that person. And on the day of their engagement, no less.

Seeing her struggle, Lucius spoke first, “Not just this time, but also the incident at the graduation ball when your dress was ruined—that was related to Adelheid, wasn’t it?”

Brianna looked up in surprise. “You knew?”

She then realized something else, letting out a small gasp.

“Oh, so that’s why you gave me the brooch back then…”

“My fiancée has repeatedly wronged you, Miss Brianna. I apologize on her behalf.”

Brianna quickly shook her head. “No, Sir Lucius, there’s no need for you to apologize. I just… I think Miss Adelheid has misunderstood me somehow, but I don’t know what it is…”

She looked deeply troubled. It was understandable—being harassed repeatedly for reasons unknown would confuse anyone.

Lucius watched her quietly before speaking again, “How about leaving the Kirchner estate for somewhere else?”

He would soon leave for the battlefield, and he wouldn’t be able to help her anymore. The thought of her staying here made him uneasy.

“If I ask my mother, it wouldn’t be difficult for you to find work as a tutor in a similar family.”

What he really wanted was to take her to a safe duchy, but that wasn’t an option. Brianna Everett had to be somewhere far from his eyes, somewhere safe.

Brianna didn’t answer right away, remaining silent for a moment before responding calmly, “I appreciate your concern, but I don’t think I can do that.”

She smiled apologetically. “To build my career, I need to work here for at least a year, and I’ve just started getting close to the people here. With the Duchess’s recommendation, I could go anywhere, but fitting in would be a different matter… Besides, if I suddenly left, young master Michael would be very sad.”

This woman always chose the hardest path, even when an easier one was right in front of her. Just once, she should let herself be protected by someone else.

Lucius smiled bitterly. “In that case, I’ll take measures to make sure something like today doesn’t happen again. I’ll handle it, so you stay here until the engagement is over.”

“Um…”

Just as he was about to turn, Brianna called out to him. When he looked back, she cautiously asked, “Have you, by any chance, seen Florian recently?”

“No, I’ve been busy lately. He’ll be at the engagement today, so I plan to greet him then.”

Brianna let out a small sigh. “Actually, I talked to Florian recently about the inheritance Madam Linares left me. But when he heard about it, he got angry and left… I was wondering if you might know why.”

Though he didn’t know the details of the incident, Lucius could guess why Florian had been upset. She had likely told him that the entire inheritance was his for the taking, and Florian’s pride must have been deeply wounded by that.

He had been working hard to save money so they could marry, only for Brianna to offer him a large sum of money she had rightfully inherited.

“…It’s best to ask Florian directly about things like that.”

But Lucius didn’t want to hear about her relationship with Florian anymore. Those thoughts made his response come out colder than intended, and Brianna quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked…”

“There’s no need to apologize. I just meant that it’s a matter between the two of you, and I have nothing to say about it.”

With that, Lucius left the library.

After leaving, he went straight to find Adelheid. When he arrived at the waiting room, she had just finished having her hair done.

“Sir Lucius?”

Adelheid smiled brightly when she saw him.

“What brings you here…?”

“Oh my, it seems the fiancé simply couldn’t resist seeing the lady’s face,” said the maid attending her. Adelheid blushed shyly.

They were supposed to meet at the banquet hall, but he had come to the waiting room instead, and there was no other way to interpret it than that he couldn’t wait to see his fiancée.

“Would you grant me the privilege of admiring my fiancée’s beauty for a moment?”

Hearing his words, the maids sighed with envy and quickly left the room, reminding Lucius that he couldn’t stay long due to time constraints.

“Sir Lucius, you never cease to surprise me,” Adelheid said, rising from her seat to approach him. Despite the recent unpleasant incidents, he remained the same affectionate fiancé.

“I never knew you could be so impatient…”

Her steps, light with excitement, suddenly halted when she saw him standing there, his face colder than ice.