Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“No, you don’t have to leave since you haven’t even signed the contract yet. I know very well that you don’t have a bad intention, Your Excellency.”

Reinhardt hesitated for a moment and then picked up the contract, running his hand through his hair out of habit.

“I have carefully noted the terms of the contract. I will send someone to discuss it with you and make a decision within three days at the latest.”

“Three days is too long! What if His Majesty legally binds me within that time?”

“If that happens, it can’t be helped.”

Couldn’t be helped? It seemed that he wasn’t interested in the demon picture at all! But then again, even without the picture, he had fought well so far, so it was unlikely that he would be greatly deterred by our marriage.

‘Still, he accepted Lucia’s proposal right away!’

Why did Reinhardt do that? Was it because he fell in love with Lucia at first sight? No. At first, he had been quite indifferent to her.

Then, why?

‘Right! There was an incident before Lucia appeared.’

Remembering that, she opened her mouth, smiling confidently.

“Recently, a Tartar that resembles a cat was discovered in the North.”

When Irovel mentioned the ‘Tartar that resembles a cat,’ Reinhardt noticeably flinched.

Reinhardt was a skilled fighter on the Northern front, and his soldiers were excellent fighters as well. However, what troubled them was the Tartar that resembled a cat. Despite its cute appearance, it was a formidable demon that was difficult to fight, even against many people.

He must be curious as to how she knew about this incident that only a tiny fraction of the people in the North know about.

“That Tartar is still quiet, but in a few months, it will break through the defenses and turn the North into chaos. It’s a very powerful Tartar. So if you want to protect your soldiers, you’ll need my picture.”

“….”

“You don’t have time to review. In the meantime, His Majesty the Emperor will take me away, and the knights of great virtue will lose the plan to defeat the Tartars. What else can you do?”

“….”

At those words, Reinhardt didn’t say anything. He just responded by signing the contract in his hand.

“I will send someone soon.”

After leaving those words, he left.

As she stared at his back as he walked away, lost in thought, Irovel then signed her name under his. With this, they would become husband and wife. How many hardships had she gone through to get to this moment?

Let’s take a trip down memory lane for a moment.

About three years ago, I was hit by a car on my way home after finishing my schedule and died, but when I woke up, I found myself in a strange situation that I had never encountered before.

‘…Where am I?’

‘Is this some kind of variety show?’

‘Ugh! Why does my face look like this? My eyes are purple!’

After following the common process of panicking of every protagonist in webnovels, I gradually accepted the fact that I had become Irovel Hoofer in the novel My Contract Husband is a Bit Strange.

I absorb the knowledge of this world one by one, pretending to have lost my memory.

One day, a man at a party approached me and said.

“You’re truly beautiful.”

It was none other than the Emperor!

‘Right, I’m fated to die because of this guy, aren’t I?’

The members of the palace go through something called the ‘magic examination’ at regular intervals to prevent any demons or hybrids from disguising themselves as humans.

In the original story, Irovel became a concubine of the Emperor and was exposed as a half-demon during the magic examination, but no one protected her from death.

She had the Emperor who promised unconditional love, no matter what kind of existence she was, and her family who forcibly pushed her into the Palace, even though she didn’t want to become a concubine… yet no one protected her.

‘I forgot my fate while trying to adapt to Irovel’s life.’

Unless I was a married woman, there was no way to avoid being chosen as a concubine. However, fortunately, the Emperor hasn’t chosen me yet!

…So, what if I make him not want to choose me?

‘Okay, let’s make him completely dislike me.’

That was my first attempt.

With a foolish face, I drooled saliva. I aimed to make the emperor think, ‘I can’t make someone so stupid and vulgar be my concubine.’

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry. My sister has not been in her right mind for the past three years.”

My stepbrother, Unius said, pretending to be remorseful. He was pretending that his sister was completely insane and driving him crazy.

“What in the world…!”

However, the Emperor seemed to be even more fascinated with me rather than looking at me with disdainful eyes. He was the type to easily mistake pity for love, so I decided to behave properly and not do anything strange next time.

“You’re not an adult yet? When you become an adult, can I make you my concubine?”

However, I ended up receiving a proposal from the Emperor that day, and since then, I have done all kinds of crazy things like picking my nose and asking for a dance just to turn down the proposal, but he would only become more infatuated with me.

“You’re the first woman to pick her nose in front of me. I wanted a woman like you who is carefree.”

“I’m not just saying this, but you are the first person I’ve seen who dances so well.”

…The more I did something, the more he fell for me.

‘If I keep going like this, I’ll end up marrying the emperor as soon as I become an adult.’

Thinking this way, I began to consider other ways. I started to think like Lucia, who was chosen by the emperor and was in danger of being exposed as a half-demon.

“I will propose a contract marriage to the Grand Duke. In return, he can draw my picture.”

At that time, I had proposed a contract marriage to Reinhardt with the intention of aiming for the law that even an emperor couldn’t break, taking away another man’s wife.

“I’ll marry someone else like her!”

I said so with determination, but no one had accepted her proposal for fear of incurring the Emperor’s displeasure.

“I wonder if I should put a condition that allows them to draw me like Lucia did so that I won’t be refused.”

I had briefly considered it but immediately dismissed the idea because there was a possibility that the other party in the contract would expose her as a half-demon.

It was because if someone exposed a demon or a hybrid, they would be treated as a hero and be rewarded with a ducal title and an enormous amount of money.

Although selling my picture for money would bring in a considerable amount to my advantage, it was not clean money. It was more advantageous in every way to receive money honestly while hiding my existence.

“I don’t need to covet titles and rewards. I just need someone who really needs my picture.”

There was only one person I knew who fit the bill.

It was Reinhardt Erestein, the great leader of the North, who fought the Tartars directly and daily.

Lucia had a reason why she had chosen him as her contract marriage partner. She didn’t want to propose marriage to anyone other than Reinhardt because she wanted freedom, as she felt like she had no choice but to borrow a position as a wife in order to survive.

‘I have no choice. I have to bring up the subject of a contract marriage to Reinhardt.’

However, my determination was in vain because I couldn’t propose marriage to Reinhardt for three years.

I couldn’t even meet him or send him a letter because the North had been experiencing severe snowstorms for three years, unlike the relatively mild South. It was a place where people were often swept away by blizzards or trapped on ice on their way.

There was no way I could go there by carriage. So, I waited for three years for the snowstorm to subside and for him to step on Southern land.

“Your Excellency, I am Irovel Hoover, a lady of the Hoover Duchy. I have something important to say, could you spare me some time?”

I finally made a place to meet with Reinhardt, and… finally, we were able to make this contract.

The place where Reinhardt and I had the conversation was a makeshift reception room inside the banquet hall. As I came out and walked back into the hall, my step-brother Unius blocked my way.

“What were you doing with Duke Erenstein?”

In response to his question, I spoke calmly as if reciting my lunch menu.

“I got married and came back.”

“…What are you talking about? You got married to Duke Erenstein?”

Today was the first day of the Emperor’s birthday celebration. It was a day when major figures from all over the empire attended more than ever before. Even amidst many conversations, socialites did not miss the famous sound of ‘Duke Reinhard’ and ‘marriage.’

“I heard that Duke Erenstein got married to Lady Hoover.”

“No way… You must’ve heard it wrong.”

“Though Duke Erenstein really went into the makeshift reception room with Lady Hoover alone, then came out?”

“Maybe she just came to confess like other nobles. It must have been just a cup of tea.”

“Ah, poor thing.”

Someone muttered, and by the time the murmuring had died down, I had already become the ninth person to confess my feelings to Reinhardt.

“Hey, stop talking nonsense. You confessed to Duke Erestein and got rejected, so you’re embarrassed, right?”

Unius also seemed to have come to the same conclusion as them.

Well, it would be hard for anyone to believe that I got married in just ten minutes.

“You don’t need to believe me.”

“Are you talking nonsense because it’s in your dirty blood? Oh, you don’t know either? Your mother abandoned you because of your blood.”

He whispered affectionately into my ear, placing his arm around my shoulder. Unios and my family knew that I was a half-demon. However, they kept my birth a secret and did not expose me as a member of the family.

Was it because they cherished me as a family member?

Not at all.

“Did you tell Duke Erestein about your dirty blood, too? No, if you had any brain, you wouldn’t have. Sorry.”

“….”

“Are you angry? Did he hurt your pride? It’s okay to cry. This brother can handle anything, Irovel.”

My family just wanted to protect the honor of the family and my ‘tears.’ Perhaps because I was a half-demon, my tears turned into pink gems, which were traded at a very high price in this era, where demons had disappeared.

My family tried to make me cry whenever they had a chance, threatening to expose me as a half-demon if I didn’t.

“Is that really true?”

At that moment, for some reason, there was a commotion among the people.

It seemed that in the center of the commotion was Reinhardt, who had a very annoyed expression. In the meanwhile, when people realized his presence, the voices that had been buzzing around scattered and became quiet.

“I did. I just married Young Lady Hoover.”

At that moment, countless gazes were fixed on me.

“Irovel. What is this all about?”

The Emperor was among them.

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