Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 109

Because my heart felt so heavy and stuck, I wanted to tell someone, anyone, but the only people I could think of were Roshan and Emily.

Going out was obviously impossible, so I didn’t even consider it. I decided to ask Reus if I could invite my friends to the castle, preparing myself for rejection.

“Friends?”

“Yes, Roshan and Emily.”

“Oh, those friends. Of course, you can invite them.”

“Really? Thank you for allowing it, Reus.”

“Allowing? You are the Duchess, so if there’s anyone you want to invite, you may invite them. As long as it’s not Theron.”

He mentioned Theron again, but surprisingly, Reus gladly accepted the visit of my friends.

‘No, it wasn’t just gladly. He even looked happy.’

The more I got to know him, the more I found things I couldn’t understand. By now, I wondered if it was okay because it had nothing to do with Theron.

After thinking about Reus for a while, I found myself at the reception room where my friends were waiting. It was the first time I invited someone personally as the Duchess, so I was a little nervous.

I knocked softly and carefully opened the door. But my nervousness disappeared when Emily jumped up and hugged me tightly, making me smile comfortably.

“Loelle! Do you know how worried I was? That day, when you…”

Emily’s voice trembled, and she couldn’t finish her sentence.

“I’m okay now. See? I’m the same as before. I’ve been doing well.”

Even after I assured her that I was no different, she held me tightly again and wouldn’t let go, probably because she had been so worried. Roshan came up soon after and sighed in relief, saying he felt better now.

I thought it was a relief I failed to leave the Duke’s castle for the first time.

If I had disappeared forever from the empire without showing I was okay, I would have become a heavy burden on my friends’ hearts for life.

Not just Shanette, but I regretted ignoring my friends’ letters. If I was going to leave suddenly, I should have at least told them I was safe through a letter…

“I’m sorry, guys… I should have told you sooner.”

“What do you have to be sorry for? That wicked woman was at fault! We knew she was crazy, but who knew she was that cruel?”

“Yeah, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about, Loelle… If you’re worried about not writing, don’t. The Duke kept us informed about you for us, and that was enough.”

“Reus sent letters?”

Roshan and Emily widened their eyes at my question.

“You didn’t know? Since that day, he always replied to letters. We thought you were too sick to write yourself.”

“Right, I thought so too.”

I thought important letters were only answered by places close to the Rochester Duke family. But he even replied to my friends and kept writing regularly…

Then Roshan muttered with a little grumble:

“Well… that’s better than that guy.”

It seemed my doubts from before flew away all at once. I wanted to say you shouldn’t trust him so easily, but I couldn’t.

‘If they knew the imprisonment was real, there’d be an uproar.’

Some truths are better unknown.

After talking for a long time, the mood calmed down, so I quietly brought up a topic.

“But… this isn’t my story—”

“Everyone knows it’s your story, so just tell us.”

But Roshan replied indifferently, as if he didn’t care.

“No, really, it’s not my story. Just listen.”

“Alright. I’ll listen for now.”

“So, there’s a man and a woman.”

“That’s your story.”

“Roshan, I’m telling you it’s not!”

When I got upset, Roshan openly sneered. Emily looked like she thought the same.

“Anyway… there’s a man and a woman. They married with a fixed term because they needed each other.”

“A contract marriage or something? Loelle, have you been reading novels lately?”

Honestly, I worried he might guess it was my story right away, but he seemed to think contract marriage couldn’t be mine. Soon, Roshan rested his chin on his hand, looking bored.

“But when the term ended, the woman tried to leave but was stopped. She was planning to go far away somewhere. But the man destroyed every carriage going there. Why do you think that is?”

I changed “destroyed the ship” to something similar to avoid revealing too much. Emily and Roshan answered one after another.

“Isn’t it because the man started liking the woman?”

“What else? Of course, because he fell in love.”

“Like? But when the woman subtly asked, he never said yes.”

Roshan continued as if it was obvious.

“That’s because the woman probably thought he didn’t like her. Look, they’re married by contract. How do protagonists who have contract marriages usually act? They always include ridiculous clauses about not falling in love with each other.”

Since Reus and I had similar clauses, I nodded attentively.

“But what if one person breaks it? Then the contract ends that day. Would the man talk openly, risking losing the contract without being sure? Knowing well they won’t be able to meet if the contract ends? He’s no fool.”

“But the woman was confused and asked several times, and every time, he said he only treated her well because she saved him.”

“Saved him? The woman is his savior? Then it’s over.”

“Over what?”

“Over the possibility of ending the marriage. How could he just let go of the woman who saved him, not just someone he likes?”

“Even if they didn’t get along? They hated each other at first?”

“That’s how it always starts, my friend.”

When Roshan said that, I remembered what Reus had told me recently:

[“Even if the contract ended, our marriage will continue.”]

I began to trust what Roshan was saying more.

‘Something… that makes sense.’

But a question kept bothering me: did Reus really like me?

“Still, maybe it’s not true—”

“There’s no doubt. That heroine will never get away from that man.”

What a scary thing to say…

Regardless of liking Reus, I still wanted to run away, so I couldn’t help but make a reluctant face.

“Read the next volume quickly. It will happen like I said. It’d be more fun if she ran away before they fully connect… What’s the novel’s name? Tell me too.”

What novel? It’s your friend’s story.

I pretended not to hear Roshan and asked Emily.

“Do you think so too?”

I hoped at least one person would think differently, but—

“Who wouldn’t think so? Also, can you tell me what that novel is?”

I said it’s your friend’s story.

“I don’t really remember the title now.”

“What? Then please tell me by letter when you remember.”

“Okay, I will.”

I nodded, thinking I should find a novel about protagonists in a contract marriage and tell them.

Since it was a sudden invitation, Roshan and Emily had to return to the capital before dinner because they had work the next day. But Roshan stopped on the way to the carriage and then came back.

“Are you really okay?”

“About what?”

After hesitating for a moment, Roshan spoke with difficulty.

“Your family. The Ivelle Count family.”

“Ah…”

“You didn’t mention it, so I ignored it. But after thinking, I got worried. Things are… a bit bad lately.”

It seemed the Count family had become unstable enough for other families to notice. I wondered if it was because Reus had intended to keep the Count family holding on until now.

The corruption scandals of the Plona Marquis family appearing in the newspapers every day suddenly being exposed like that. I never said much reading the news, but I knew it was all Reus’s doing.

“I’m worried because bad things keep piling up, Loelle.”

“No. It will… be resolved well. I want to believe that.”

“Okay. If you have any problems or worries, contact me anytime. Your husband is a bit intense, so we might have to come…”

“Huh?”

“I’m glad you’re doing well. Well then, we’ll really go now. See you soon.”

“Take care, Roshan. I’ll contact you.”

After sending Emily and Roshan off, I went straight back to my bedroom and lay down on the bed, feeling pulled down.

‘Yeah. What will happen to the Count family?’

I can’t leave the Duke’s castle for a while. Maybe… until I die.

So if the Ivelle family falls while I stay at the Duke’s castle, there will be all kinds of rumors about how the Duchess’s family failed and how the Duke’s family did nothing.

Before, I didn’t care much because I was thinking of running away, but now the situation was much more difficult to handle.

‘Could it be that, like the original story, the Duke’s family will fall along with the Count family…?’

I always lived in fear, but the reality that the Rochester Duke family, the Ivelle Count family, and all of us would face misfortune didn’t feel real.

That’s because, in the end, things had changed so much with Reus that it was impossible for the original story to just continue.

‘If Roshan is right, it’s more than just changed — Reus really likes me…’

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