Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 108

Without any warning, we all froze on the spot. The only sound breaking the creepy silence was the quiet echo of Reus’s footsteps.

The tense atmosphere made me jump to my feet, expecting something to happen at any moment. But Reus, who came closer, didn’t pay any attention to me and instead grabbed Theron by the back of the neck.

“Hey! Wait a second. Just listen to me for a bit. Really, just a moment. It’s not like I wanted to come here—”

But before Theron could even finish his sentence, he suddenly disappeared from in front of me.

“Uh…”

Shocked, I blinked in confusion. Reus gently placed his hand on my shoulder and lightly pushed me down. Because of that, my tensed-up shoulders dropped, and I naturally ended up sitting on the table.

Since the table was lower than the sofa, I ended up looking up at Reus.

This isn’t a place to sit… I opened my mouth to speak, but because I was so nervous, the words just lingered in my mouth and vanished without a trace.

Before I knew it, I was completely trapped between Reus’s legs.

“Were you trying to run away?”

“No?”

Reus was the one who broke the contract, so even if I stood my ground, no one could blame me.

But somehow, I instinctively knew. That right now, even if I was guilty, the right answer was still “no.”

At that moment, Reus gently rubbed the inside of my wrist.

“But the bracelet is gone.”

‘Th-this is, I mean, it was an accident—’

“An accident.”

Reus repeated my words slowly, with a strangely dark expression, then smiled gently as usual.

“I understand, Loelle. I’ll believe you.”

“Really…?”

He’s not someone who usually lets things go this easily. What is he planning? When I glanced at him, Reus just smiled like nothing was wrong.

“You’re not going to ask more questions…?”

“Because I trust you.”

After saying that, Reus gently stroked my wrist. A slightly cool sensation settled on my skin. When I looked, there was a bracelet like the one I had seen at a festival before.

“Since you no longer have a protective bracelet.”

“Oh… Is this one enchanted too?”

“Yes. It’s a bit different from the previous one.”

A bit different?

“So if I break it, will I get teleported to wherever you are or something…?”

Reus raised an eyebrow as if surprised I guessed correctly.

‘This magic totally matches his personality.’

As long as I don’t break it, I should be fine, right?

“By the way, Reus, I heard from Theron that—”

“Theron again?”

I was about to talk about the Emperor, but since Reus got stuck on Theron’s name, I quickly closed my mouth. Soon, he spoke in a frustrated voice, like he really couldn’t understand.

“Why do you trust Theron so much?”

“Well…”

At the very least, he doesn’t lie like you do.

That’s what I wanted to say, but if I did, Reus would probably take it out on Theron instead of just getting mad at me, so I decided to make something up.

“Maybe because I’ve seen him around for a long time… so I just feel familiar with him. And he’s been kind to me in his own way—”

“If that’s the case, then I should feel even more familiar. And I’m the one who’s never left your side.”

“Wait, that’s…”

I was the one who brought up Theron, so why does he sound so offended, refuting everything I say?

‘Is this… jealousy?’

So what he’s saying is that he knew me before Theron did, and he’s been by my side the whole time, so I should trust him more and feel closer to him?

What kind of childish logic is that? It was so unlike Reus that I ended up blurting out my thoughts without filtering them.

“You’re not seriously jealous, are you?”

“I am jealous.”

But his blunt answer startled me even more.

“Just to be clear… all the things you’ve done to Theron up to now—those weren’t because of jealousy, right?”

This time, Reus didn’t answer directly. But judging by the way his brows scrunched up the moment I mentioned Theron, I didn’t even need to hear his answer.

My mind went blank from the unexpected truth, but I quickly snapped out of it.

I don’t know why he’s jealous, but if that’s what’s bothering him, then I just have to calm him down and get past this moment, right?

“There’s nothing to be jealous about. I never said I was closer to Theron than to you.”

“Loelle, you really don’t understand anything.”

Thankfully, my words weren’t completely ineffective. Unlike the tense air just moments ago, Reus now spoke in a slightly calmer tone.

“I mean it. I think I’m much closer to you than to Theron—”

“Then why did you try to call Theron in secret if you weren’t trying to run away and if you’re closer to me?”

“That makes it sound like at least one of those things isn’t true.”

“N-no! Of course not. Both are true.”

But Reus didn’t seem to believe my denial at all. Then he suddenly asked an unrelated question.

“Do you still have the contract we first signed?”

“What? The contract? Of course…”

Where did I put it?

I couldn’t remember where I had left the contract. As I wracked my brain, Reus’s voice suddenly sounded amused.

“If you lost it, that would be a big problem.”

“I-I don’t think I lost it…? Wait a minute, I…”

Ah, now I remember. Of all the things to forget!

“I gave it to Theron when I handed over my bankbook and asked him to keep it safe.”

But Reus looked like he already knew that. I started to smile awkwardly, feeling uneasy.

“It’s something important, so I thought it would be safer with him than with me…”

“And that’s why you shouldn’t entrust something important to another man, Loelle.”

“Why not…?”

“Because trusting someone like him is how the contract gets lost.”

“What?”

My mind went completely blank, like someone had cleaned it out. But Reus continued speaking as if everything was going just as he wanted.

“Loelle, Theron is not someone you can trust.”

“You’re lying. You’re the one who did something again, didn’t you?”

“How could I possibly do something like that?”

You probably threatened him subtly… or got rid of the paper like you did with the ships!

“Still, I guess it worked out. I also lost my copy of the contract.”

“What…?”

Now I was genuinely afraid of whatever might come out of this man’s mouth next. Soon, Reus said in a somewhat satisfied tone:

“Now there’s no way to prove we were ever in a fake marriage.”

So what happens to the contract now?

‘Does that mean it’s automatically canceled?’

Almost like he heard my thoughts, Reus continued speaking naturally.

“Since the only evidence is gone, unfortunately, the contract is now void, Loelle.”

“If it’s void, then we…”

“The contract may be gone, but our marriage still stands.”

Well, of course. We had a wedding and legally became a real couple. I knew that already.

What I didn’t understand was why Reus kept repeating it—like he wanted to make absolutely sure I remembered I couldn’t leave.

If he had just said it was because of the Emperor, I would have fully understood and not tried to leave the duke’s estate.

“I heard that if I leave the estate, things could become dangerous because of His Majesty.”

“Did Theron tell you that?”

As soon as I said that, Reus frowned deeply.

“What useless things…”

“Useless? Thanks to him, I finally understand why you didn’t tell me yourself.”

Reus stared at me for a moment, then replied in a relaxed tone.

“So according to you, the reason I got rid of the ships to Veliata wasn’t because of you, but because of the Emperor?”

Reus pointed out the flaw in my logic. It made sense that he didn’t want me to leave the estate, but there was no real reason to go so far as to eliminate the ships to Veliata.

‘Then… why…?’

Stuck in confusion, I looked up at him and asked,

“Was it because you were worried about me?”

“Worried? Whether you’re in front of me or not, I’m always worried about you.”

His response wasn’t what I expected. In fact, it directly contradicted what I had believed all along.

“Loelle. Since you’ve decided not to leave the estate for a while, take your time and think things through.”

“You have plenty of time.”

Reus said it like time wasn’t a concern at all—as if I had no choice anyway.

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