Honestly, he's like a naive young master.
"Have you been well, darling?"
Without warning, I flung my arms around Eric’s neck and leapt into the air, wrapping myself around him tightly.
At first, Eric hesitated, unsure how to react, but when I didn’t let go, he had no choice but to wrap his arm around my waist and lift me up effortlessly.
Whoa, he lifted me in one go?
I looked down at him, surprised. Eric muttered under his breath, only loud enough for me to hear.
"What are you doing…?"
"An enthusiastic welcome?"
"...Get down."
"I’ll get down when you put me down. It’s really high up here, you know."
Only then did Eric seem to realize my feet were no longer touching the ground. He slowly and gently set me down.
Forcing a polite smile, he turned to the steward.
"Did Lady Emelline behave herself while I was away?"
So he
was
worried I might’ve caused trouble.
I gazed at him like a woman deeply in love.
"Yes, she did quite well! In fact, she even received an invitation to Lady Margaret Beaufort’s Art Salon! And that’s not all—she recovered the household’s ledgers from the Elder Council!"
"Margaret Beaufort? The Elder Council?"
Eric’s face twisted in disbelief. Then he looked at me like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Hmph! Shocked, aren’t you? You can’t believe I pulled this all off in just one day!
Hands on my hips, I spread my arms wide.
"Hug number two?"
Marriage of Convenience, Actually Useful – Chapter 63 (63/209)
I gave him a sweet smile. Eric hesitated, then, unable to turn me down in front of the servants, reluctantly gave me another quick hug.
"How did you pull it off?"
"…Trade secret…"
I whispered as our second, far-too-short embrace ended. I watched him step back with a strangely hollow feeling in my chest.
Tsk. What a shame. Hugging him actually felt nicer than expected. If I’d known that, I would’ve found a way to negotiate a touch
plus
a hug from the start.
Just as I was sinking into regretful thoughts, Eric pointed toward the two wooden boxes Lily was holding.
"What are those?"
"One is from Lady Helena Wedgewood, and the other is…"
My eyes widened.
Ah, that one…!
The gift I’d just received from Margaret.
No, come on—even if it’s a gift, you can’t just give someone else’s husband’s photo…
I remembered staring at Eric’s picture inside the secret chamber, muttering under my breath.
"Should I give you one?"
"Huh? You have more than one?"
Ugh, why did I even ask if she had more?
Before I could stop myself, Margaret was already pulling out another photo.
"Actually, I have a few taken in secret. Some are shirtless—taken during training, too."
"Ehh… that’s a bit…"
"O-Oh no! Don’t touch that!!"
I rushed forward, blocking Eric from reaching the other box.
As I stretched out both arms to shield it, Eric's expression twisted with suspicion.
But too bad. I had no choice—because…
"Then I’ll take this one instead."
Damn it. There was no way I could let Eric see that portrait Lady Margaret had given me!
“...!”
Of course, the moment I tried to block the box, Eric became even more determined to see what was inside. He took it straight from Lily’s hands.
Lily, who apparently had no shred of loyalty to me, handed it over to him without hesitation.
Just as he was about to open it, I leaned in and whispered into his ear.
“That’s…”
What could I say to keep this man from opening it?
My thoughts raced.
“…It’s… it’s undergarments. Intimate ones!”
BAM!
He threw the box onto the floor faster than I expected, as if he were banishing a cursed artifact.
“I—I didn’t mean you had to
throw
it…”
It’s not like I said it held a rotting corpse or something!
Great. The frame inside is probably shattered now!
While I picked up the box with a look of regret, Eric, now red-faced, cleared his throat and moved on to another.
“This… this one is from Lady Helena, right? What did she send you?”
He was even stammering now…
I hugged the damaged box tightly, still fretting over the fate of the portrait inside, and answered flatly.
“A remedy for sleeplessness… a bo—”
I nearly said “bottle of liquor.” That would’ve been idiotic—especially for someone pretending to be pregnant.
I forced a strained smile and gestured subtly toward the surrounding servants.
“Tea. It's just tea.”
“You have insomnia?”
“I sometimes have trouble sleeping in new places…”
“…Didn’t seem that way. You slept awfully well.”
Eric muttered, his tone sharp and suspicious. Then, after a pause, he glanced at me with a look that said something had occurred to him.
“Did Lady Helena say anything else to you?”
“Anything else…?”
I glanced at his profile, carved like jade, radiating an oddly worried aura.
Was he concerned about the argument we had?
I shook my head, and he gave a slight nod in response. Then, from his inner robe, he pulled out an invitation.
“Well, regardless, it’s good that you were invited to the Art Salon. I also managed to secure one…”
With a bright face, I accepted the invitation he handed me.
Ohhh, who else wants the honor of my presence at their grand event?
But the moment I saw the seal pressed into the wax, my expression froze solid.
Eric leaned in and whispered to my ear.
“I know how you feel, but the servants are watching. Don’t say it out loud.”
I glared at him.
The seal on the invitation… was the royal insignia of the Princess.
Why… of all the gatherings in the world, why does it have to be the Princess’s birthday banquet?!
As if I didn’t already know.
None of the other noble families want anything to do with us right now, and that thuggish Princess is practically obsessed with us.
“Do I really have to go? I still get nauseous just being near her palace after what happened… with the kidnapping and confinement…”
“Even if it means you throw up everything you’ve eaten, you’ll still have to go. Lady Margaret will be attending as well.”
Eric subtly glanced at the nearby servants, then—just for show—gently swept my hair back with a smile that looked sweet on the outside but was full of hidden daggers.
“My beloved? I shall go and change my robes now.”
Grinding my teeth on the inside, I returned his false smile with one of my own.
“Hohoho~ Yes, you do that.”
Eric maintained his cringe-worthy performance all the way up the stairs.
As he disappeared, I turned to glance at the box Lily was still holding—the one from Mother.
I reached into my robes and ran my fingers along the envelope hidden within.
How exactly are Philip and Helena planning to settle their debts? And why return the money now?
Are they plotting something reckless?
This reeks of misfortune.
Just as I was about to follow Eric upstairs with a bad feeling clinging to me, the steward called out.
"Young Madam?"
"Hmm? What is it? Oh… wait—don’t tell me you're about to give one of those long-winded apologies about failing to recognize the brilliance of this great Young Madam who secured an Art Salon invitation
and
reclaimed the household ledgers—"
"…Of course not," the steward said smoothly, in his usual gentlemanly tone.
Tch. Then what?
I narrowed my eyes slightly and asked, "Then why are you calling me?"
He responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why, because you’re going to an Art Salon! Which means you must study art!"
Huh?
Wait—wait just a second!
As I desperately tried to reject anything that even smelled like "studying," the steward smiled like a villain who had laid all his traps in advance and turned to Lily.
"Lily? You’ve been with our Young Madam all day—would you say she has any cultivation in the arts?"
I shot Lily a desperate look. She
knew
! She knew this marriage was a fake! That there was no need to go this far!
Besides, my real goal—stopping Mother’s marriage—was already achieved!
"None whatsoever," Lily answered crisply.
Then, as if struck by a sudden recollection, she looked me straight in the eye and added,
"Oh, and she even called the Neo-Corporeal School’s artwork ‘nude paintings’ at the Beaufort house… It was quite the scandal."
I saw it.
You… You were
smirking
at the end of that sentence. Don’t think I didn’t notice!
But before my rage could even surface, the steward moved faster.
"Then it’s decided. We must begin with the basic sects of artistic cultivation, Young Madam."
He looked at me like he was warning me not to suffer the same humiliation again.
And somehow, he looked proud—
too
proud. As if he’d finally found something to hold over me after I dared to bring back the financial ledgers.
…You two-faced wretch!
✵
✵
✵
That night.
Emelline fell asleep faster than anyone else in the estate.
Must’ve been a long day,
Eric thought, standing at the edge of the shared chamber, watching her sleep.
The steward had reported everything Emelline had accomplished today.
"Young Madam called Lord Oscar a ‘bald old man’ to his face!"
"None of the elders could get a word in edgewise."
"And after reclaiming the account books, no servant in this house dares look down on her now."
Eric realized the steward had probably pushed for her to reclaim those ledgers not just for the family’s sake—but also because the staff had quietly looked down on Emelline.
Power in the household came from control over the sect’s spiritual resources—its wealth.
"And to top it off, she even brought back an invitation from Lady Margaret Beaufort!"
Eric recalled the steward’s beaming face.
"Truly, you chose well in marriage, Young Master. After the Madam passed, I thought you had sworn off such things, and I was terribly worried…"
The steward had stopped himself mid-sentence and slapped his own mouth, wide-eyed. Probably realizing he’d touched on Eric’s lingering grief.
Eric stared into the steward’s well-meaning face, recalling the warnings the man had given in the past about his mother:
"Never go near the detached residence. Stay away from the Madam."
...Words spoken for my sake.
Chapter 64