Sickly? Husband's Contractual Wife

Episode 68

I shook my head in disbelief.

The fact that such explicit and secretive acts were openly considered a trend was astonishing.

“Who on earth started this trend?”

Certainly, there must be someone who led this trend. Usually, it would be a high-profile lady who dictated everything from what to eat, wear, to drink in social circles.

“Lady Louise.”

“…Who?”

I asked again, wondering if my ears were playing tricks on me.

“Who?”

“Lady Louise.”

“…”

I stared at Rona in a daze, at a loss for words.

“Louise?”

Could it be the Louise I know? Or could it be someone with the same name? Louise is a relatively common name.

“Um… Do you happen to know what she looks like?”

“Well… According to Lady Mord, she is said to be as beautiful as a rose. A dazzling beauty that everyone, whether male or female, can’t help but turn around to look at.”

“Dazzling beauty…”

I mumbled in a daze.

“What about her eye color? Hair color? How does this dazzling beauty look?”

I bombarded Lana with questions in a frantic manner. The thought crossed my mind – could it be her?

Lana looked puzzled and started explaining one by one as things came to her mind.

“She has red hair and wine-colored eyes. The palace is currently buzzing with rumors about her.”

Red hair, wine-colored eyes. Someone’s face was vividly etched in my mind.

Louise.

‘It must be the Louise I know.’

How did the leader of Opium, the prestigious organization of the underworld, appear in the social circles of the palace?

“How popular is she exactly?”

“It seems she has gained the favor of His Majesty, the Emperor.”

“Favor?”

“Yes.”

Rona said it as if it were nothing extraordinary. Given the notorious reputation of the Emperor’s romantic interests, it wasn’t a particularly surprising revelation.

“But this time, it seems to be quite extraordinary.”

“Extraordinary?”

I was aware that it was not uncommon for the emperor to have consorts. This applied not only to the emperor but also to the high nobility, and even to indebted noblemen with some semblance of noble status. On the flip side, women also had their consorts—marriage, body, and heart separated. Noble marriages were originally like that, willingly bound under the institution of marriage for mutual benefit and to consolidate the power of the families.

“Yes, they say it has gone beyond the usual favoritism… and that’s causing a lot of concern for the current Empress.”

There was no woman who would welcome the presence of a consort for her husband. The Empress was likely no exception.

“So, the Grand Madam has been visiting the Empress frequently these days.”

“I suppose so.”

The current Empress, Camilla, came from a respected family. They were cousins, and even before marriage, they were known to have a deep friendship.

“What kind of person is she? Which family does she belong to?”

“She’s said to be from a foreign country. Extremely wealthy, I heard.”

In Opium, only the highest echelons of society, those with verified power and wealth, were allowed entry. Those who knew her face were limited.

“But even so, she’s made her mark in the palace social circles. Quite impressive.”

“What does she do? What family does she come from?”

“She’s from a foreign country. Extremely wealthy.”

‘Opium’ was accessible only to the uppermost echelons of society—those with proven power and wealth. The limited few who knew her face held certain privileges.

“Anyway, why? Is there a problem?”

“No.”

I shook my head vigorously. Despite that, the remnants of the name Rona mentioned lingered in my mind.

“Anyway, this level of makeup won’t do.”

I stood up again.

“What should we do then?”

“We need something that can cover it more effectively.”

“If there’s something more effective…”

Lana tilted her head with a puzzled expression. I spoke with a determined voice.

“Bring me a dress, all of a sudden.”

After a while, Rona rummaged through the dressing room and laid out as many modest and unassuming clothes as possible. I examined them carefully.

“Are you really going to wear one of these?”

Rona frowned, looking at the rather plain clothes.

“Yes.”

“Despite having many beautiful dresses…”

Pretending not to hear her sighs, I urged Rona to keep searching.

“What are you doing? Find them quickly.”

While instructing Rona, I too vigorously searched through the pile of clothes.

“Not this one, not that one, not that one either.”

Dresses were eliminated one by one, creating a growing pile of rejected garments.

Despite asking for dresses that could cover the body as much as possible, there were still more dresses with revealing necklines that left the chest refreshingly exposed.

“Why can’t they make a dress without plunging necklines!”

I silently screamed, and the search for the perfect dress continued.

* * *

“This one.”

Finally, after finding a suitable dress hidden in the heap of clothes, I let out a scream of joy. The dress I had managed to find was buttoned up to the neck, modest to the point that only my hands were visible.

“It’s like the color of rotten wood, Madam.”

Unlike me, Rona responded with a resigned expression, looking at the dress with what seemed like disdain.

“I thought of making a mop out of this one…”

“Let’s worry about that later; it’s very useful now.”

“If you wear this, it’ll look like a walking log.”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

As long as the dress could cover these embarrassing marks, it didn’t matter what kind of clothes they were.

“Help me put it on; we need to go meet your mother.”

Today was the day to report on Amoide’s condition. Of course, it also meant enduring the expected lectures about things like pregnancy.

“Come on. Quickly.”

I squeezed into the dress and said, “Yes, yes.” Rona quickly smoothed out the folds of the dress and neatly adjusted the collar.

“You’re all set.”

After checking in the mirror that there was no exposed skin, I could finally leave the room.

* * *

“What on earth is this?”

Entering the room, Camilla looked at me with an incredulous expression. More accurately, she scanned my outfit with a very displeased gaze.

“What in the world…”

As if faced with something extremely repulsive, Camilla pointed at the dress I was wearing, her hands trembling slightly.

“What’s with all these tightly packed buttons up to your neck?”

I touched the numerous uniform buttons, reaching just below my chin.

“In this weather, do you think it’s appropriate to be bundled up like this?”

Camilla’s expression was truly disgusted.

The dress, with its modest appearance and particularly tacky design, coupled with plain fabric, was indeed an unpleasant sight.

“You said you had a lot of dresses made last time! Who in the world thought up this heavy-handed design?”

Camilla expressed genuine disdain.

The dress, with its high neckline and not only modest but also unflattering style, left much to be desired.

“Not only that, Mother.”

I answered in a somewhat contrite tone.

“I… I think I might be catching a cold because of the chilly night air.”

Cough.

I added a small cough while saying that.

“In this weather?”

Camilla looked at me with a grimace, truly disgusted.

The dress, despite covering up to my neck, had an unpleasant design and dull fabric.

“Last time you said you were proud of being healthy, but now you’re making coughing sounds again. What’s going on?”

Camilla’s eyes narrowed sharply.

‘Oh no.’

I momentarily forgot that Camilla cared about my health as much as Amoide’s.

“It’s probably because of the temperature difference; the new clothes are a bit thin, you see.”

“Your health was fine until now, but suddenly, another cough?”

Camilla’s eyes became piercing.

‘Ah, right.’

I had momentarily forgotten that Camilla cared about my health as much as Amoide’s.

“You seem to have an incompatible style with trendy clothes.”

Why the conversation had swiftly moved from dresses to personal offenses, I really didn’t know. Still, I smiled confidently, raising the corners of my mouth.

“What matters is not my body.”

“…”

“What’s important is Amoide’s health. My cold will pass soon.”

“If you catch a cold and pass it to Ahmed…”

“Of course not. I won’t even breathe near him.”

I quickly responded as if the opportunity had presented itself, as it was indeed my plan.

“With no face visible and absolutely no physical contact, there won’t be any unnecessary squabbles around.”

Camilla squinted her eyes while looking at me, emphasizing my words repeatedly.

“But when you’re stuck together like grease on paper during walks?”

… Is grease on paper a suitable metaphor?

“I’ll restrain myself. Amoide might have started to enjoy walking alone now.”

“Don’t make a sound near Amoide until our next joint gathering.”

“Understood.”

I nodded up and down in response.

“Until the joint gathering, keep yourself clean.”

“Yes, yes.”

Camilla’s mention of ‘cleanliness’ referred to minimizing contact between spouses to increase the chances of conception when necessary.

“The date we received this time is considered excellent because it aligns with the convergence of the sun and moon’s energies.”

“The stars of Dasan must be sparkling.”

I raised my hands beside my head, shaking them as I spoke.

Seeing me do this, Camilla, who had been watching with displeasure, coughed loudly.

“Fine, if all goes well, you might have descendants.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what we need.”

Of course, there’s no guarantee of that.

I absentmindedly murmured to myself as usual, but suddenly felt a chilling sensation down my spine.

‘Wait a moment.’

Last night.

That is, the night when ‘that incident’ occurred.

‘Did we… do it properly?’

In terms of the various possibilities that can arise when a man and a woman spend the night together, as I pondered, a realization hit me.

‘That’s right.’

During such moments, there was something essential Camilla was talking about: to avoid the likelihood of a certain outcome if the timing was right.

‘Have I prepared a suitable defense?’

Of course, there was no memory of such a thing.

We were just absorbed in exploring each other’s breaths and claiming each other with intense movements.

‘Oh, dear.’

A ding-ding-ding sound echoed in my ears.

“So never have unnecessary contact… Why are you acting like that?”

Camilla stared at me intently as she asked, as if inspecting me to see if I had gone mad.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Maintain facial expression, maintain facial expression.

In my mind, even if lightning struck and thunder roared, I had to appear calm on the surface.