Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 87

Brianna’s lips parted slightly. As if trying to say something, she opened and closed her lips a few times, but once she realized she hadn’t misheard, she froze in place.

She stared at Lucius and asked in a trembling voice, “Marriage? What do you mean by that?”

“I’m proposing the most reasonable solution to our current situation.”

“But Your Grace already has a fiancée…”

“I broke off the engagement. The day I went to fetch you. Count Kirchner assumed I wouldn’t be released and made other choices. I am not generous enough to continue associating with someone who betrayed me.”

“Even so, that doesn’t justify marrying me.”

Lucius looked at Brianna, who appeared deeply confused. He knew well what would happen if he confessed his love for her at this moment and asked her to marry him sincerely. Brianna would never believe his words. Even if she did believe him, she would undoubtedly reject him. To marry the long-time friend of her deceased lover would violate her sense of morality.

So the only option left to him was to appeal to her reason, not her emotions, and convince her that this marriage was in their mutual best interests. If he could make her see this marriage as beneficial for both of them, she would have no choice but to agree.

“You’re right. This isn’t the only reason I wish to marry you. There are two main reasons. The first is your safety.”

“My safety?”

“The Robert estate is about to go up for auction.”

Just hearing the name of Robert caused Brianna’s complexion to pale.

“They are essentially cornered, about to lose their home and end up on the streets. If they were holding back before, they certainly won’t be anymore. To seize the last of your remaining assets, they won’t hesitate to use any means necessary. Brianna, this means you are now in serious danger.”

Brianna bit her lip tightly before releasing it. “If that’s the case, I’ll just give them my assets. I’ve never considered that money to be truly mine anyway. I don’t want to live my life constantly being chased because of something like that!”

Lucius looked at her with pity. She naively believed that giving up her wealth would guarantee her safety. Though he didn’t wish to frighten her, he needed to confront her with reality.

“A few days ago, a woman’s body was found by the river.”

“No…”

“The body was identified as the person you’re thinking of. Margot. That woman.”

Brianna gasped softly.

“I told you before, didn’t I? That it was only natural for the Roberts to kill her before coming after you. I’ll say it again now: the Robert family and you are deeply entangled in too many things. If you willingly hand over your assets, they’ll take them and eliminate you to ensure everything remains hidden. That way, they can bury the facts of your kidnapping and Margot’s murder. The living can always speak, but the dead are silent.”

Brianna gripped the fabric of her skirt tightly. Her hands, like her face, had turned pale, with the veins visibly standing out.

“Even if you flee far from here, it won’t matter. Just as I found you, so will they.”

“Then… what am I supposed to do now…?”

“There’s only one way to ensure your safety without being pursued. You need to assume a status that they dare not challenge. If you become the Duchess of Carlisle, they won’t be able to touch you. Coming after you would mean declaring war on the entire Carlisle family.”

Brianna looked at him with unsteady eyes, as if silently asking whether there was no other way. But Lucius maintained his calm expression, giving her no room for doubt. Eventually, she dropped her gaze powerlessly.

“…Then what do you gain from this marriage?”

Brianna intertwined her fingers nervously as she asked.

“You mentioned this marriage as a reasonable solution. As far as I know, a reasonable solution isn’t one-sided. If I gain safety from this marriage, what do you gain?”

You. Brianna Everett.

Suppressing the words rising to his throat, Lucius answered instead, “I intend to have an heir through you.”

At that moment, Brianna froze like a statue. After a long pause, she slowly lifted her head and looked at him blankly.

“…An heir?”

“I always had my older brother, so I never thought of myself as the one to inherit the family. Even if I married, I had no interest in children. But things are different now. It’s become my duty to continue the Carlisle line. So, Brianna, all you need to do is give me a son who carries my blood. Doesn’t that make this arrangement mutually beneficial?”

“But does it have to be me…?”

Before she could finish her sentence, questioning why it had to be her if all he wanted was an heir, Lucius interrupted.

“We’ve known each other for quite some time now.”

A young girl whose face he had only seen in letters. From the beginning, Lucius had been curious about her, wanting to meet her. At some point, he found himself waiting for Florian to receive a letter from her. On days when she mentioned him in her letters, his mood was inexplicably lifted all day.

Then, a year ago, when he locked eyes with her teal gaze aimed at him down the barrel of a gun, he had fallen for her as if under a spell.

“We share the same pain of losing loved ones.”

She had lost the Dowager Countess Linares, who was like family to her, and her lover. Lucius had lost a long-time friend and family member. In sharing their grief, a strong bond had formed between them—a bond even Brianna couldn’t deny.

“Above all, I have no desire to repeat the tedious process of selecting a bride like I did with Count Kirchner’s daughter. I’ve grown tired of the meaningless dancing and empty words that come with choosing a marriage partner. I need a woman I can marry directly without all that fuss.”

He paused before continuing, “And to quell the rumors about you, this marriage is absolutely necessary.”

Currently, Brianna was branded as an unscrupulous woman who had seduced her master’s fiancé. The only way to clear her name was to present their union as a love story overcoming the barriers of class and ending in marriage—a fairy tale of sorts.

“But Your Grace, this isn’t marriage. It’s more like a contract…”

At her trembling voice, Lucius tilted his head slightly and nodded.

“A contract… Yes, let’s call it that.”

The form of marriage didn’t matter to Lucius. All that mattered was legally keeping Brianna by his side. In fact, the idea of a contract marriage seemed even more appealing. Once bound by contract, she would have no way to escape.

“You need a safe place, and I need an heir to carry on the family name. So how about we do this?”

He looked at Brianna with a faint smile.

“Let’s call this a kind of contract marriage. A marriage where we provide what the other needs.”

In the end, this was a proposal disguised as a contract. And typically, women who received proposals would shed tears of joy and excitement.

Before long, tears started falling from Brianna’s eyes as well. But Lucius knew they weren’t tears of happiness.

“But… even so, we’re practically strangers…”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking her face. As she let out small, trembling sobs, Lucius bit his lip.

“For nobles, marriage is essentially a contract. They marry for their family’s benefit and have children. Compared to that, we could actually make a decent couple. A relationship built on mutual trust and respect is rare among nobles.”

His tone was gentle, but his words were anything but. Lucius pressed on, leaving Brianna with no choice but to agree. In the end, she nodded weakly.

“Yes, I’ll marry you, Your Grace.”

When she finally uttered those words, her face was drenched in tears, and clear drops fell from her chin.

Only after hearing her response did Lucius move. He knelt on one knee before her, and she looked down at him with tear-filled eyes.

Lucius reached out with both hands to wipe the tears from her cheeks. The woman who had decided to be his accepted his touch without resistance, and he pulled her into his arms.

As he stroked her back while she wept in his embrace, Lucius allowed himself a satisfied smile.

For now, she still loved another man. But as they shared their lives and bodies, there might come a day when she loved him instead. Even if not, once they had a child, she wouldn’t be able to leave.

For now, that was enough.