Contract Marriage Interrupted

Chapter 70. It’s too late

 

Walter’s face stiffened, as if he was a little taken aback by Odette’s provocation.

But then he smirked.

“I asked the princess to deceive me, not to tell a blatant lie.”

“Everything sounds different depending on who listens to it. Both lies and truths.”

“So you’re going to tell me a blatant lie, and you expect me to fool myself?”

“Can’t you do it? They say anything said by the one you love sounds like the truth.”

Odette tilted her head slightly and blinked.

“You love me, you know.”

“……!”

Walter’s face hardened, followed by Odette’s words.

“You haven’t forgotten, have you? Our contract.”

“…… Ah. Is that what you were talking about?”

Only then did Walter’s expression relax.

He looked a little displeased, but also relieved.

Slowly sweeping his hair back, Walter coolly sneered.

“I was wondering if you’d suddenly fallen in love with me. There’s no way you’ve really fallen in love with me.”

“Come to think of it, I was wondering that before.”

Odette muttered and reached out for him, Walter gently lowered his upper body and brought his face close to her.

This way made it easier for her to touch him.

 

“What makes you think I won’t love you?”

“……Because you hate me.”

“Do you think I’m the kind of person who would do this to someone I dislike?”

“Don’t you love Louis Clovis?”

“That’s a lie.”

Odette smiled softly and whispered, Walter frowned and clicked his tongue.

“Either that statement or what you just said now must be a lie.”

“Don’t overthink it. Just focus on what’s in front of you.”

What is in front of you and why we came here.

There was no response to her additional remarks.

Instead, Walter’s grip tightened around her slippery ankle.

The hand that touched the hollow area behind the ankle bone soon knocked the slippers that were dangling from Odette’s toes.

His lips gently brushed the top of her foot, then fell away.

A kiss that is not obedient as a common sign of submission, and impure as a sign of respect.

His light breath tickled her sensitive skin, and his polite actions gradually began to reveal its desires.

As the lips continued to move, caressing the flesh like igniting a flame, it finally settled at the intersection where the feet crossed.

The hem of Odette’s dress, which had been swaying near her knees, was soon rolled up, exposing her white thighs.

“This time, you pulled me first.”

As Walter said that, his face was slightly frowning, as if he was already feeling the limits of his patience.

 

An expression that has clearly lost its composure as it is swayed by Odette’s lead.

The fact that the usually relaxed man now wore an impatient expression because of her brought a strange sense of satisfaction.

Now was the perfect time to make use of what she had prepared.

Odette’s outfit was, on the surface, an innocent lightweight cotton cloth dress.

But the real thing was what she wore underneath.

“……!”

“You told me. It’s good to think carefully.”

Walter’s expression now went beyond losing his composure and looked as if it had cracked in shock.

If a moment ago he was barely hanging on to the edge of a cliff, now the cliff had fallen off with a crash.

Odette, internally delighted at the plan that worked so accurately, reached out and picked up the glass that was lying next to her.

One was Walter’s half-empty glass, and the other was hers.

Odette held out a full glass and smiled languidly as she brought the half-empty glass to her mouth.

“What do you think? Is this a good enough model answer?”

* * *

 

A languid morning with bright sunlight streaming in.

As the sun hitting her eyelids, Odette slowly opened her eyes.

“……Ugh.”

A surge of pain made her quickly bury her head back into the pillow.

The bedding, warmed by body temperature last night, gently wrapped Odette again this time.

For some reason, it reminded her of Xavier’s banquet, but there was one thing different this time.

“……!”

This time, there wasn’t a handsome half-naked man sleeping next to her.

Odette was startled by the sight of the man who seemed to be peacefully closing his eyes. She was a step too late to realize what was happening.

‘……That’s right.’

I was married yesterday.

And today was the morning after the first night.

Only then did Odet comprehend the situation.

The fact that she was lying side by side with a half naked Walter, and she was almost as naked as he was, but this terrible pain in her head.

‘Right, it’s like in novels.’

The description of heroines after their first night was always the same.

Their body feels heavy and stuffy, and usually with a terrible pain in their waist…….

‘…… Wait.’

A terrible pain in the waist?

Odette sat up, feeling a sense of discomfort.

Because.

‘I…… have a headache?’

The pain she was experiencing was a headache.

And as far as Odet could remember from all the novels she had read, there was no mention of headaches after the first night.

 

‘What on earth happened last night that made my head…….’

……Ah.

At that moment, the events of last night began to flash in Odette’s mind.

The moment she boldly raised her glass, looking at Walter losing his composure as he leaned into the atmosphere created by Odette.

– What do you think? Is this a good enough model answer?

Odette was completely intoxicated by the atmosphere and drank alcohol.

The glass was more than half empty anyway, and there was a part of her that believed it.

This was the object of the third phase of her first night suppression project.

It was a strong drink that would make Walter mushy.

– People don’t hesitate in front of alcohol! I’ll prepare a strong liquor on hand, and you have to offer it to the Duke based on the mood. Ans get him drunk!

– But what if I get drunk instead?

– You can take this hangover cure before you go in, and you’ll be much less drunk.

Odette wasn’t that weak against alcohol in the first place.

It’s just that she tends to get extremely sleepy after drinking…….

– If you take this and drink alcohol, you should be able to enjoy it without getting too drowsy.

Ellie had trusted Odette’s tolerance for alcohol and suggested the hangover cure, and there was nothing wrong with the plan itself.

The problem was in Odette’s body.

Odette, who had to go through a forced runaway the night before because of Blake, was also exhausted from the wedding.

Odette’s mind may have been different, but her exhausted body was in a different situation.

 

Thanks to this, Odette started dozing off as soon as she drank…… and she had no memory after that.

But with her overly refreshed body and the headache of a hangover, she could guess.

‘Maybe…….’

Seems like she drank and passed out.

When she finally figured out the whole situation, her face instantly heated up.

She had ambitiously prepared with the help of Ellie and Emma, enduring the embarrassment to even put on a lingerie outfit!

Instead of seducing Walter at the crucial moment, she’d gotten drunk and fallen asleep?

Moreover, Odette was still dressed in that outfit.

Odette glanced at her clothes, which almost looked better without them, and came to a conclusion.

‘I- I have to run away.’

There was no way she could face Walter in this state!

But why was the bed so wide?

Odette squirmed in the bed, resenting the bed, which was large enough for three people to lie down comfortably.

‘I have to hurry……. before Walter wakes up.’

Just as she managed to escape Walter’s embrace.

“You said you wouldn’t break the promise. You must be lying.”

Seeing her attempting to escape in the morning like this.

Odette’s body froze as the voice came from behind.

“H-How can…….”

“What do you mean ‘how’? After making a fuss about sitting and lying down, did you expect me not to wake up? I thought you were trying to wake me up.”

As Walter got up, seemingly ready to punish Odette for trying to escape.

Walter clicked his tongue and seemed to raise his upper body, then changed his posture and climbed on top of Odette.

“My princess seems to have a hobby of making her husband do his own work. Thanks to you, I couldn’t sleep a wink here.”

“I-I didn’t mean to…….”

Odette’s words were cut off as she rolled her eyes.

 

Aside from the fact that her hard work had been quickly undone, the problem was that the position of Walter’s flawless upper body was clearly visible.

Yesterday was okay because it was night, but now it is day.

It’s also daytime with the sun high in the sky!

The bright morning sunlight was showing off every inch of Walter’s muscular body, making Odette feel as if her eyes were spinning.

No matter how much she has learned about this situation from romance novels, experiencing it in person is something else.

And Odette was feeling it now.

‘Wh-What was I supposed to do in a situation like this?’

No matter how hard she tried to remember, nothing came to mind.

Only a slight turn of her head would bring their lips dangerously close, and she’s distracted by the unfamiliarity of his thigh between her legs.

“I left you alone because you seemed so tired. But now that you seem to have recovered, how about finishing what we didn’t get to do last night…….?”

With a subtle whisper, Walter’s large hand found its way beneath her clothes.

Startled by the unfamiliar touch, Odette hastily excused herself.

“It’s not nighttime anymore……! The first night has already passed!”

“There is no such thing, it’s still the first until you walk out that door.”

“That’s bullshit, you’re being ridiculous!”

“Please understand. I need to come up with any excuse possible to relieve myself from resentment for someone who seduced me and then fell asleep.”

“……!”

If it were about last night, Odette had no words to say.

Walter curled the corners of his mouth in a grimace as Odette trailed off.

A mixture of patience and perhaps some irritation.

“After seducing me in this manner last night, did you think I would just stay still? Doing all of this and then falling asleep. If your intention was to torture me, you chose the right method.”

“No-, I didn’t mean to-“

“Of course I think so. No, you will have to.”

Walter smiled in an unusually polite way.

Is it because of her mood that his smile somehow feels more dangerous than usual?

“You’ll have to take responsibility for provoking me.”

……No, I don’t think it’s my mood.

But it was already too late.

Odette could not leave her room all day, and new rumors began to circulate in Duke Ertmann’s house.

The Duke and Duchess of Ertmann’s night is hot, very hot.