Sickly? Husband's Contractual Wife

Episode 49

“Ouch.”

I held the flower firmly in my hand and reached out to Amoide.

“My hand hurts.”

His expression changed after hearing that.

“Are you okay?”

He came up quickly and gently held my bandaged hand.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Yes. Raymond told me that the pain can be long lasting if it is caused by a lot of force.”

“Oh, I see. I’m to blame.”

Seeing his guilt ridden face made me feel pretty awful, but I kept myself together.

“Such a thing won’t happen again. I promise.”

‘He didn’t have to promise to do that. It doesn’t mean much to just hold hands.’

I almost said this aloud, but didn’t because I thought he wouldn’t like it.

“…Thank you.”

A cold wind blew between Amoide and me for a moment.

“Well, see you later.”

He looked at his pocket watch to see what time it was, then turned and walked away. As usual, he didn’t give me a minute more of his time other than our walk. However, something felt off.

See you later? Today? Our walk today was already over. Before I could ask, though, he was already a long way away.

* * *

Greta came to me that afternoon at the same time she always did. Even though her responsibilities as head maid had been put on hold for now, she still attended to her usual tasks.

“It’s time for you to take your medicine.”

Rona asked Greta for the medicine and brought it to me. I looked at the tray she held out and saw something unexpected.

“What is this?”

There was a small pink bottle next to the normal medicine bottle.

“There’s another one today?”

I didn’t think much of it, but I asked out of curiosity.

“Doctor Raymond has added something extra to the medication. He said it was to assist with your strong desire to have a child.”

“Today is a special day.”

Rona said, cupping her cheeks with both hands.

“Today?”

Plop.

I removed the cap and took a whiff of the liquid in the bottle – in contrast to what was in the usual green bottle, this one smells sweet. It was reminiscent of the smell of flowers or fruit. Rona continued chatting next to me as I took in the pleasant smell.

“Today is the day for your bed sharing.”

Swish.

I dropped the bottle.

“Oh, my.”

Rona caught the bottle deftly before it fell. Thanks to that, none of the medicine was spilled.

“Today?” I asked blankly.

“Yes, did you forget?”

“No.”

I answered calmly, but internally I was yelling in shock. Room sharing – how could I have forgotten such a significant day? Since I moved into this house, that day was the most important of all. I couldn’t say I forgot about it because I was busy with other things.

<See you later.>

So, that’s what he meant. I gently gnawed on my lips as I thought about what Amoide had said earlier. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten.

“It didn’t happen last month because of the Master. So today, oh my, has it really been two months?”

“…You’re right.”

The color left my face; I almost added that it didn’t matter if it was one month or two, but I didn’t.

<Doing it often doesn’t always mean you’ll get pregnant.>

Camilla had said this with a very serious tone and facial expression.

<Amoide’s body is weak. What if he passes out from wasting energy on things that don’t matter?>

She made it clear that we could only be together on the set times every month. Of course, I was very thankful for that. If she demanded we be intimate no matter what day or time it was, I’m not sure what would have killed me first – Camilla strangling and killing me, or heart disease and breathing problems.

Amoide’s look of disdain, accompanied by the cold, dripping voice. Even once a month was already too much. No, even that one terrible time felt like hell. Since I had moved into the mansion, Amoide and I have had our own rooms, and since they were in different buildings, there was no way for us to be together unless it was the allotted day.

“If we had been forced into the same room…”

The thought revolts – just thinking about sharing a room made my heart shrink, and it felt like my stomach was twisting.

“You two would have had better odds if you shared a room. It’s too bad.”

“Amoide’s body is weak, so there is no helping it.”

“Well, yes, that’s true.”

I smiled as if lamenting along with Rona, but inside I was yelling ‘no!’

She sighed heavily.

“The energy of the stars is also good today. It’s a great time to do it.”

Raymond chose the best days for us to try to have a baby. He even knew when I was going to have my period. Camilla wasn’t happy with only what Raymond told her, so she brought in someone else from the city too.

Latuz was a magician proficient in astronomy. The day he came in, he had worn a long black robe and made me sit in front of him while he played with his crystal ball and spoke in some language I couldn’t understand. After doing that for a while, he chose the best day, time, and place where the stars aligned perfectly in such a way that was best for conception.

<The moon is close to the star of fertility. It’s the perfect time for sleeping together.>

His robe had been pulled so tight that it formed what looked like the mouth of a dark cave where his face should have been. I couldn’t tell where his eyes or mouth were, but as I had listened to the words coming out of that abyss, it made me feel dizzy.

I had read in ‘Lady Crown’ that the noblewomen in the capital often called him secretly to their mansions to talk about their deepest fears. Most of what he handled as a professional astrologer was to do with love, marriage, and pregnancy.

<A woman who asked Latuz to choose the date of her first sexual encounter got pregnant right away. He was even right about the sex of the baby in her womb and that it was a twin.>

When Latuz had come to the duke’s house, the maids talked about him constantly.

Their conversations had always ended with, <…But why can’t our lady get pregnant?>

Why not? Even with all the help in the world, some things can’t be done if the person doesn’t try. Of course I couldn’t say anything to that effect out loud. During the two years I have been married, this thorny road has had to be dealt with by myself.

It wasn’t a good feeling, being preached to by a man whose face I couldn’t even see properly and having him tell me exactly what I should and should not do. Also, I was forced to take the fertility medicine that Raymond gave me every day.

If you thought of it another way, it was an authentic experiment in pregnancy that melded together both science and astrology. But that wasn’t all. Camilla also gave some advice.

<And you have to take the lead.>

When I heard a noble and stylish lady casually give advice to a couple about their nighttime activities, my ears burned red. The stories irrelevant to me turned over in my mind and made everything even worse.

“Your face has turned red, My Lady.”

“No, it hasn’t,” I said.

“It has, yes.”

Rona, on the other hand, seemed even happier.

‘A baby won’t come anyway.’

I had heard that too much care and management could cause stress that stops a woman from getting pregnant. But really, Amoide and I were the only ones who knew why a baby wasn’t being made.

“It seems like your relationship has been getting better, so the Master must have been waiting for today.”

“No way.”

I chuckled. What would he have to wait for, if anything?

“Huh?”

“No, nothing at all.”

Rona looked at me with her head cocked to the side.

“It’s almost dark, so you need to get ready quickly. Since this is a night for just the two of you that doesn’t come often, I’ll get you dressed up.”

Rona grabbed my arm and led me forward.

“Huh? Uhm.”

I smiled and gave a nod.

‘Smile, you have to smile.’

Every month was the same, but it was the first time I would share a night with him after my memories from my last life came back. It was time for another performance. I let out a deep sigh.

“Okay, let’s go,” I said.

I got up against my will.

* * *

Before spending the night with Amoide, I got ready in another room on the same floor, just a short walk from his bedroom. As soon as we walked into the room, Rona led me to the warm bathtub. The other maids came to help with the bath, putting rose petals into the water.

The bathroom smelled great from the scent of the roses as it slowly filled with steam. I could not help but feel calm and peaceful. I slowly slid deeper into the tub full of the same fragrant roses that were all over his room on our first night together.

“This will make your body smell good after the bath.”

“I see.”

I muttered forlornly. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that this was all useless no matter how much they sprinkled.

“Finish this now.”

Rona returned the bottle of medicine I had dropped before and I slowly drank what I was given.

‘Even if I took a hundred pills, there is no way I could get pregnant.’