34 — Renewing the Contract

Calendula strode out the door like a gust of fresh wind, stretching her arms behind her as she walked off into the distance.

I, on the other hand, was left looking at Mr. Fisalis, still frozen in place like a marble statue.

I didn’t know if I should have said anything to Calendula, so I just stayed quiet and watched her go. Rohtas and Mimosa were silent as well.

The two of them were expressionless, so I had no way of knowing what they were feeling, either.

Well then. What to do with my new Mr. Fisalis statue...

I could use him to decorate the entryway.

Pfft, no.

His gorgeous brown eyes were wide open, but they were staring at nothing in particular.

If I leave him here, he’ll probably just stand here frozen in the entrance forever. Not to mention it would take a lot of manpower to move him since he’s so tall and well-built.

So, concluding that he’d have to move himself, I waved my hand in front of his eyes.

“Mr. Fisalis? Mr. Fisalis? Your girlfriend left. Do you want me to go after her?”

Helllllo, are you in there? I shook my hands in front of his face. When I did, a light suddenly returned to his unfocused eyes, and then they were at odds with my own.

Startled at the sight of life abruptly returning to those brown eyes, I took a step back, only to find myself trapped.

“You’re squishing me...”

Mr. Fisalis’ arms were wrapped around me all of a sudden.

I couldn’t tell whether it was simply physical strength or his fried nerves that made him hold me so tight. I swear I felt my soul start to leave my body! And it felt like it was taking some of my bones with it.

“M-Mr. Fisalis! You’re hurrrting me!”

I managed to smack him on his shoulder with my free hand, but considering he was a trained knight, it probably felt like a kitten pawing at him.

Eurrrgh!

Well, duh, think of how much bigger and stronger he is, I chided myself, still struggling as his hold on me only grew tighter.

“Viola! You’re not going to say that you’re leaving, too, are you!?” His voice washed over me from above my head. It didn’t sound like it usually did, calm and pleasant on the ears. It was panicked and high-pitched.

“Huh?” I was baffled by his wimpy outburst and how big his eyes were, but he only held me tighter.

Erk. My spine! You’re bending my spine! I can hear it groaning under the pressure!

“Viola! Let’s sit down and talk again! So we can have a real marriage, not a shallow one just held together by a contract!”

If you want to talk, then loosen your grip! And stop rubbing your head on my cheek! Someone, help!

“We can’t have a long talk here, though, so let’s head to the salon.” No sooner had the suggestion left his mouth than he momentarily released me, only to lift me off my feet. I let myself hang in his arms like a ragdoll, completely at his mercy, worn out from struggling against his constrictor-like embrace the first time.

If he’s just going to head to the salon all nonchalantly, why does he have to carry me like a bride on the way there? I mean, I am feeling a bit lightheaded—probably because I wasn’t getting enough air before (thanks, Mr. Fisalis)—but I wonder if my stomach or something is off again today, too.

“Er, why is it that you’re carrying me all the way there?” I asked gently, looking up at him. He then blessed me with a beautiful vision of his handsome face looking down at me and said, with an unusually serious expression, “So that you don’t run away.”

His intelligent eyes shone above me, but I couldn’t help but think that he shouldn’t waste his dashing looks on something like this.

What I mean is, I won’t try to escape, so for Pete’s sake, put me down! I can’t bear the way Rohtas, Dahlia, and Mimosa are watching us with gentle hope in their eyes!

“I won’t run away, and the salon is right there! I can walk on my own!” I said, flailing as I tried to get him to put me down. Maybe it was because he was just that disciplined of a knight, but he didn’t even flinch as I wiggled violently in his arms.

I want to scream!

“It’s only a little bit farther. If you keep fussing, you might get hurt. See, here we are already.” Sometime during our back-and-forth we’d arrived at our destination, his long legs getting us there in what seemed like record time. Just when I began to think, “Oh no, not more of this BDSM stuff,” he deposited me softly on the sofa and then sat down beside me immediately after.

Why next to me? There are multiple places to sit that aren’t right next to me! That, and this sofa can easily fit three people! Are we joined at the hip? You. Are. Too. Close!

The situation was so far beyond criticizing at that point; I didn’t know why I even bothered.

The very first thing out of Mr. Fisalis’ mouth was “To start with, and this should go without saying, I’m not annulling our marriage.”

I should have guessed that’s what he’d start with. After all, the contract was girlfriend-dependent from the get-go.

“But you don’t have a girlfriend anymore. Not to mention that we didn’t get married out of love—gosh, we were practically strangers.”

“Many marriages out there start that way! You’d be hard pressed to find a place where marriages of convenience don’t occur.”

“That’s true, but...”

It’s the norm in high society to marry in order to share your spouse’s status. You might even say that actual love marriages are rare.

“Lots of marriages start as a matter of convenience, but then the spouses grow closer over time.”

“Mmhmm.”

“So I was hoping you and I could start over from a ‘mere marriage of convenience,’” Mr. Fisalis said with unusual eloquence, but minus his usual gentle smile. He was staring earnestly at me, trembling just a little, and I felt as though I were teetering on the edge of a cliff... but surely, that was just my imagination.

First, we deleted the ‘show wife’ clause from our contract. Then we moved on to the next important clause: my family’s debt. It had already been paid off, either by Mr. Fisalis directly or by his family.

“What of the debt you took over for my family? You only paid it in exchange for me becoming your show wife.” I was prepared for him to possibly respond by saying I could pay him back for the rest of my life.

“Hmm, in that case, why not think of it as betrothal money? I gave it to your family under that pretense anyway, and I don’t regret paying it if it means I can have you,” he answered casually. “I hope you can accept this, er, token of my gratitude.”

That amount of money is not just a ‘token!’

I succumbed to Mr. Fisalis’ insistence that we renew the contract rather than cancel it, even though it was what historians might call an ‘unequal treaty,’ one which had benefited only me up until that point.

Besides, if we cancel the contract, I’d have to go back home and leave behind all the servants here that I’ve worked so hard to befriend. The thought came as something of a surprise; I’d been at the manor for just under six months, but had already grown very attached to it and everyone there.

I was left with only one choice: I agreed to renew the contract.

“Oh, thank heavens!” Mr. Fisalis said in response, smiling at me so handsomely that it made me smile, too. “Alright. Starting over, then—from now on, I’ll live here,” he continued.

Good idea... that would be the normal thing to do, but then again, I guess it would be unusual for him. I never imagined we’d have to rewrite a contract that was so strange to start with!

“Of course,” I confirmed.

“I’ll sleep in my old bedroom, just like I’ve been doing.”

So, we’re not going to be sharing a room, I see. Having to share a room so suddenly would be too much for me, so I have no complaints.

“Of course.”

“I’ll send my belongings over here once I’m done straightening up the cottage. Please continue to use the same bedroom you’ve been sleeping in.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome to continue to do as you please, too, as per the original contract, but...” he hesitated.

“...but?” I tilted my head when he cut himself off, all the while staring right at me.

What’s with the nervous pause?

He’d been avoiding looking at me until now, and now that he was, he looked serious, his expression stiff.

“You will be strictly forbidden from having any lovers aside from me.”

He’d added a non-competition clause to the contract.

It was supposed to be a so-called contractual marriage—a marriage that was mutually beneficial—right? With zero mention of falling in love with each other, too... a completely loveless marriage, right? So what’s the deal with him putting a ban on romance that doesn’t involve him!? I have no choice but to fall in love with him then?

This is all happening so fast.

...can someone please explain what’s going on!?