What’s Wrong With My Marriage? I Was Bought as a Wife, Yet My Husband Is Madly in Love With Me! - Chapter 15

“Except for my grandfather. That man is stubborn, obstinate, and a good-for-nothing old prick.”

Klaus’s face twisted in a deep grimace as he spat the words out bitterly. It was a complete reversal from the way he had spoken about his mother; he wasn’t hiding his utter loathing at all.

“Y-your grandfather?”

“Yeah. We don’t live together, but he’s around. I actually learned how to run a business from him.”

Luce wondered if Klaus’s business acumen was inherited. Since she had never been part of high society, she was poorly informed about such things.

“He used to tell me I was barely half a man. Eventually, he told me that if I could graduate from a school abroad, he’d hand over the title. He mocked me, saying it was absolutely impossible for someone like me. I was so frustrated, so incredibly bitter…”

Klaus gave a wry smile, explaining that he had studied desperately just to prove the old man wrong. Despite the insults he threw, it didn’t seem as though Klaus truly hated his grandfather from the bottom of his heart.

“How is your grandfather doing now?”

“Him? He bought a house in a town by the sea and is living a life of leisure. He told me to contact him if a miracle happens and a grandchild is born. …He really is a shitty old man.”

(…He says he wants to be honest with his feelings, but I guess his grandfather is the exception. Is that really okay?)

“Even if I said anything to him, he’s not the type of person to accept gratitude. …But,” Klaus started, looking at Luce with a slightly bashful expression. “If and only if you think it’s okay for us to hold a wedding ceremony, Luce… I’d like to invite him.”

“Eh? A-a wedding?”

Since they had married only through paperwork, she had assumed there wouldn’t be a ceremony. She had thought Klaus simply wanted a “contract wife” for show and had no interest in such festivities.

“The servants strictly forbade me from planning it on my own, saying a wedding is something a couple must decide together…”

The face of Nora, the head maid, immediately sprang to mind.

“Deck, the butler, told me that a failure at a wedding is never forgiven and can never be made up for in a lifetime. He said, ‘If you wish to be discarded like trash at record speed, by all means, feel free to try [planning it alone].'”

Deck the butler was a gentle-looking elderly man, but his words were remarkably biting. Klaus’s shoulders slumped as he seemed to shrink into himself.

“Luce… would you have a wedding with me?”

“…!”

Klaus’s moist, upturned eyes gazed at her.

(N-no, not that face! I shouldn’t look at it! When Klaus looks at me like that, it makes me want to say ‘yes’ to anything!)

But, Luce thought.

(I have always wanted to wear a bridal gown. To wear a beautiful dress and be celebrated, it’s something I’ve dreamed of.)

Furthermore, Klaus said he wanted to invite his grandfather. This was surely an important excuse for two people who couldn’t be honest with each other to finally meet.

Luce came up with various justifications to avert her eyes from the fact that she had simply lost to Klaus’s pleading face.

“…Yes.”

“Really!? Truly!? Thank you! I’m so happy, Luce!”

Klaus beamed, taking Luce’s hands and shaking them excitedly.

“That’s it, Luce! Shall we go look at rings now?”

“Eh? Rings?”

“I haven’t given you an engagement ring or a wedding ring yet.”

“Didn’t you say the other day that you bought about ten sets?”

“But none of those were chosen by the two of us together.”

She was utterly powerless against Klaus’s pleading gaze. Unable to resist, Luce nodded. Seeing Klaus rejoice with a radiant smile, Luce could only manage a wry one of her own.

(I’m such a fool. Even though I’m the one who will suffer for it in the end.)

Even as she chided herself, she was well aware that the corners of her mouth were lifting.

The two of them headed to a jewelry store. Luce had to stop Klaus when he tried to buy a ring with a diamond of an absurd size. Insisting that it wasn’t about the price, she managed to steer them toward purchasing simple silver bands.

“Do you dislike gemstones, Luce?”

“No, it’s not that I dislike them. But if it’s something I’m going to wear every day, I’d prefer something that matches any outfit.”

Luce believed that was what a wedding ring was meant to be. Thus, the words came out naturally. However, there was no response from Klaus.

(Perhaps for Klaus, a ring is meant to be a commemorative piece kept on display?)

If so, it made sense that he’d pick a giant diamond. She had chosen a simple design because it was something they would both wear, but looking at Klaus, she wondered if they should choose again.

However, Klaus was covering his mouth with both hands, looking at Luce with a look of pure adoration.

“W-w-wear it… every day? I get to wear the same ring as Luce? …My, that’s almost like we’re a real married couple.”

“Klaus, we are a married couple. You’re the one who submitted the papers.”

“Ah, I certainly did.”

The more she learned about Klaus, the less she understood him.

(He really is a strange person. …But I don’t dislike him.)

In fact, she found him quite likable. Luce put her head in her hands, frustrated by her own soft-hearted nature.

A shining ring now adorned the finger of Luce’s left hand.

A matching ring was also worn on Klaus’s finger. It was incredibly embarrassing, but the reality of being married finally sank in, leaving Luce filled with a mixture of bashfulness and joy.

Klaus was now full of energy, declaring that they had to have a dress made if they were going to have a wedding.

About a week after buying the rings, she visited the high-end shopping district with Klaus again.

As a businessman, Klaus should have been busy with work, yet he said with a smile that his wife should take priority over his job.

He was so different from her father, who had almost entirely neglected the home.

(He was always saying he was busy and staying away from the house. Even when he did come home occasionally, he’d only talk to my brother.)

He seemed to have a fair amount of interest in her older and younger sisters, but he was indifferent to Luce.

No matter how hard she tried to forget, Luce couldn’t erase her family from her mind. The treatment she had received was burned into her brain and wouldn’t leave.

(Because I keep remembering things like this and getting depressed on my own… that’s why I’m such a failure.)

She was led into a different shop than the one Klaus had almost “bought out” during their last visit to the high-end district.

Luce stepped inside, praying he wouldn’t start saying he’d buy this shop too.

She understood that Klaus’s financial power was extraordinary, but she just couldn’t get used to the idea of someone “buying the store.”

(It’ll be fine. Nora didn’t say anything before we left. Even Deck the butler was acting normal.)

“Come, Luce, let’s choose a wedding dress. You can try on everything you like.”

“Thank you, Klaus.”

“There’s no rule that says you can only have one wedding, you know. I’d be happy to have a wedding with you once a month.”

“Klaus?”

(People don’t usually do them that often, right? …Is that just how rich people are?)

Once again, a question arose regarding the gap between Luce’s common sense and Klaus’s perception of reality.

Deciding to just let the comment slide for now, Luce looked at the dress samples the clerk brought out.

“This is a dress featuring an abundance of lace made in the famous craftsman town of Semopsen. The delicate and elegant design is popular even with overseas clients, and our shop’s designer has given it a bold silhouette…”

The dresses she was shown were so beautiful that the clerk’s explanations began to fade into the background.

Even Luce knew of Semopsen lace. it was an exquisite product that became incredibly famous after the only daughter of a Duke used it for her veil and dress.

Luce had once seen her younger sister, Mirella, begging for a dress adorned with Semopsen lace. If a Duke’s daughter wore it for a wedding, the price would be astronomical even if it were only used for a small part of the dress.

There was no way the Orlov family could afford it. Her parents had managed to scold Mirella into submission and bought her a different dress instead.

“Do you like the Semopsen lace? In that case, show us every dress that uses it.”

“Certainly, sir.”

It seemed her intense staring actually a result of remembering the past had been misunderstood. Klaus had called out to the clerk with a smile.

She thought about stopping him, but Luce couldn’t even imagine what kind of dress she wanted in the first place. She changed her mind, thinking it might be best to just see them all.

(…I’ll just go with whichever one Klaus likes.)

That was what she was thinking, but…