Contract Marriage Interrupted

Episode 55. A strange sensation

 

Here’s how it happened.

Back in time, before the wedding announcement.

“Getting married in such a way would be an overall loss, so let’s try convincing your grandfather.”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“Of course. I have a way.”

When Odette said this.

The method Odette used to obtain Arnold’s approval turned out to be surprisingly simple.

“Pretend we’re madly in love.”

Odette, who had experienced Arnold firsthand, was confident in her assertion.

Without this method, it would have been impossible to obtain Arnold’s reasonable approval.

“Of course, there might be some difficulty in pretending a bit, but that’s already part of the original agreement. I don’t think it will change much.”

Odette confidently nodded her head while saying this.

Speaking as Walter at the time…… since his love was not an act, he didn’t think this method would be particularly difficult.

Of course, this was just Walter’s position.

This means that there was another realistic problem.

 

“My grandfather won’t believe us, no matter how much we look like we’re in love. He’s someone who doesn’t easily trust people.”

“I’m aware of that. If he believed us just through acting, he would have believed us when the rumor spread that we kissed in the middle of the banquet.”

“And you’re still going to do this?”

“Yes. We’ll just have to make your grandfather believe it.”

Walter tilted his head at Odette’s suggestion.

“How do we do that?”

“Leave traces.”

And that was the key.

Here’s what Odette had to say.

“It’s more important to make people around us believe that we are in love, rather than saying that we are in love.”

So, the moment the wedding announcement is made and Odette enters Duke Ertmann’s residence, the plan begins.

In other words, the groundwork needs to be done before she enters.

So, in the carriage on the way to Duke Ertmann’s house.

Odette and Walter sat so close that their bodies overlapped.

And then.

“…… Um, I think that’s enough.”

After fidgeting for a moment, Odette lifted herself up by placing her hand on Walter’s shoulder. Just a moment before, she had been right under Walter chin, near his collarbone.

As he exhaled the breath he’d been holding back after Odette moved away, the collar of his shirt was smeared with a red smudge that looked like a woman’s lipstick.

It was a mark that even showed signs of efforts to erase it as if it were accidentally smudged.

 

Of course, it was the mark Odette had just created.

And Odette also touched up her own makeup a bit.

She gently rubbed it with her fingertips and crushed it on purpose, making it look as if they had just kissed.

It has to look like it’s hidden to some extent, so it shouldn’t be too obvious.

“How is it? Does it look natural?”

“It looks like someone who’s just rushed out of a moderately intimate encounter.”

“That’s high praise.”

Odette nodded in satisfaction.

But Walter sounded a bit skeptical.

“I’m not sure if the servants will be fooled by this.”

“Why? I left those marks on your clothes.”

“How can anyone tell if it’s a lip mark or not? No one saw us being close together.”

Of course, Walter was being sarcastic.

Even though the users have only washed the laundry once or twice, how could they even tell if it was a cosmetic mark or not?

Odette wasn’t immediately convinced.

“……But doesn’t that look like a lipstick mark enough?”

“Maybe, but let’s be cautious just in case.”

But Walter was unusually eloquent in this regard.

“Both you and I are openly revealing that something happened. I’ll say it again, my grandfather is very suspicious, especially about my relationship issues.”

“……!”

Odette’s eyes narrowed.

 

The issue of a woman Arnold doesn’t find trustworthy.

‘Did Walter…… really enjoy a life of promiscuity?’

It was the opposite of what the speaker intended.

Arnold doesn’t believe Walter’s story about his girlfriend because he has no interest in women, to the point that he is either asexual or homosexual.

If Walter had been able to hear Odette’s misunderstanding, he would have gladly helped clear up the misunderstanding. Unfortunately, Odet was someone who knew when to hold back words.

“I understand now. You had issues with women.”

“That’s correct.”

Into that deepening misunderstanding.

“So, it would be nice to make at least one more mark without being too explicit.”

“How?”

“By making a mark that’s hard to remove, and intentionally covering it up. That would be much more natural than being blatant about it.”

“I see, that’s a good idea.”

When Odette innocently nodded, Walter smiled and lowered his upper body while saying, “Excuse me then.”

Odette’s long silver hair, which was wrapped around her slender neck, was gently brushed against the back of Walter’s hand and flowed over her shoulder.

At the same time, the man’s hand brushed over the pulsating white skin.

“……!”

A sensation as soft as a feather tickling.

 

Odette’s shoulders stiffened slightly, another hand gently wrapped around her lower back as if to comfort her.

The moment when the distance between them closed in an instant.

Walter kissed the nape of her neck lightly.

The sweet scent of his body, mingled with the lingering tang of his perfume, a tickle from the tip of his nose, and his pulse make her lips with a faint tremor.

It wasn’t a soothing embrace, but he could tell the woman in his arms was tense.

‘She’s probably biting her lip, judging by the fact that she hasn’t said anything.’

Odette is biting her lip, shaking with nervousness.

It reminded him of a rabbit in a trap.

Metaphorically speaking, Walter was the predator carefully catching the neck of a small animal that almost stepped into the trap.

“Relax, you won’t be eaten.”

The languid bass tickled Odette’s ears, and the exhale that accompanied it brushed against her delicate skin.

As if grazing the bridge of her nose on the curve where shoulder and neck met, the next moment she felt Walter’s lips brush against the hollow of her collarbone.

With tightly closed eyes, even though nothing was visible, every sensation vividly alerted Odette to Walter’s actions.

This was an experience entirely new to her.

She felt it when they kissed, but Walter was too tempting.

When Walter’s lips trailed down from below her ear nibbling along the slender curve of her shoulder, Odette found herself clenching her hands tightly.

 

‘Is this how…… everyone does it?’

Odette knew what Walter meant by ‘marks that don’t easily fade away’.

It wasn’t a lack of experience but rather a lack of firsthand knowledge.

Odette had thought that the two weren’t significantly different until now.

But first-hand experience is not the same as knowledge.

This was different from the intense kisses that felt overwhelming to the point of haziness and distinct from the occasional polite touches Walter would display.

‘All you have to do is leave a mark…….’

Why was he kissing all over her neck and shoulders?

His breath seemed to raise the temperature of her skin.

Even the touch of his hand on Odette’s back made her shiver.

Odette had been clutching Walter’s collar for some time now.

She couldn’t bring herself to put her arm around his shoulders.

Odette cheeks flushed with a strange sense of exaltation as Walter’s lips had been hovering near her collarbone, gradually moving lower.

Odette’s lips parted involuntarily.

“It’s done.”

And then Walter pulled his lips away. Along with the hands that held her.

Walter pulled back Odette’s garment he’d loosened to cover the marks.

“That must have been hard to bear, but thank you for your hard work.”

“…… N- no. You too…….”

Odette couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

As she felt Walter’s lips gradually move downward, she realized that she had been expecting more.

 

And that brought a considerable shock to Odette.

‘Am I…… really so weak to temptation?’

Was it because she had never been tempted in her life that Odette didn’t realize it until now?

‘Actually, Walter doesn’t seem to mind…….’

She couldn’t believe she was the only one who was so distracted.

In this state of self-reflection and shock, she entered the Duke Ertmann’s residence for the first time.

And Odette’s plan worked very successfully.

Emma, the maid who helped Odette undress, saw the marks left by Walter.

“Oh my, bugs in a place like this…… Ah! No, I’m sorry! Forget it!”

“…….”

Emma, quite flustered and with a considerably reddened face, hastily retreated.

‘No…… there were quite a few noticeable ones’

It didn’t feel like many, but when she looked in the mirror, there were quite a few.

Anyone would have noticed.

‘Maybe I should tell him to do it in moderation, next time.’

Anyway, since the situation has come to this, she need a word or two of help.

Odette smiled embarrassedly and covered the marks with her hand.

“Don’t tell anyone, Emma. I showed you a rather embarrassing sight as soon as I arrived.”

“Embarrassing? Not at all! It’s just that it’s been a while since I’ve served a mistress.”

 

Emma apologized again and again, and Odette forgave her generously, muttering to herself in a low voice.

“I told you not to leave a mark…… Walter.”

“……!”

Emma’s eyes widened again at the muttering.

‘She must have heard it for sure.’

And Emma will eagerly spread the word.

My master and his prospective wife are on such good terms.

The story that they got married because they’re madly in love with each other was indeed true!

Of course, it was disrespectful for the servants to talk about the people they served, but since this was a good story, there was no need to hide it.

‘I don’t think Emma would make fun of us.’

Perhaps the story will quickly spread in a good way.

Odette lay down in the luxuriously comfortable and spacious bed, and tried to soothe her still slightly frazzled mind.

In her noisy mind, one worry stood out particularly clearly.

‘How should a hostess who loves her husband and is loved by her husband behave?’

If she had grown up with a lot of love from her family, she would have behaved as she did at home, but Odette had never been loved.

Naturally, she had no idea how a beloved hostess should behave.

So Odette thought after a long period of deliberation.

‘Maybe I should overslept tomorrow.’