I Was Tricked into This Fake Marriage!

Chapter 8

Once the divorce agreement was filed with the authorities, our deal would be done.

We each took a copy of the paperwork, which was post-dated to a year from now. Despite some misgivings, the negotiations were expedient, and the contract was settled shortly after.

It felt surreal to be finalizing a marriage and a divorce at the same time. The marriage registration was the last thing that was left. I filled in my part first, then handed over the forms.

The man focused his strawberry-syrup gaze on the signature he signed with a flourish.

How beautiful.

His movements were graceful and pleasing like a dancer’s, even in spite of his hunched over posture. I had always thought that a beautiful face was just the cherry on top of a well-styled outfit, but now I was starting to think that it was the be-all and end-all of a person’s presence.

“Now, I have business to attend to,” Kellard said.

“Oh, okay. I should leave you to it...”

He stretched his hand forward with an open palm. I stared at him, confused, when he cocked his index and middle fingers inward while adjusting his robes.

What, you want me to rest my face in your hands? You want to tickle my chin? What?

“The remaining balance,” he clarified.

Oh... His money...

“Is your business not doing well or something?” I asked.

I counted out twenty pieces of gold for him, and he flashed a grin.

“Indulging in my special interests can get quite expensive.”

And with that, he left the room.

His special interests? What? Does he mean his cooking?

The stunning revelation of his shocking good looks had caused this fact to momentarily slip my mind. I mean, how expensive can cooking get...?

But he was the head of the Nine Nights, an information conglomerate with connections all over the continent. What kind of extravagant gourmet ingredients was he using in his cooking that he has to nickel-and-dime for even a measly twenty gold pieces?

“Maybe I could ask him to cook for me sometime.”

Images of comic book series like Miss Sushi Queen and Master Chef Boy Wonder flashed through my mind. Maybe I could even ask to watch him cook too!

I pondered to myself while putting the contract away, when I heard a knock on the door. It was Sir Heiden.

“My lady, you have a visitor.”

“Who is it?”

Strange. I hadn’t been expecting anyone.

“The butler of a Lord Delius Efran is here. He says that Lord Delius Efran has prepared his manor to welcome you. Were you aware of any Efrans in the imperial capital?”

Delius Efran...?

Oh! His name wasn’t Delice, it was Delius!

I really needed to brush up on my imperial dialect once I returned to Efran. I was just a giant faux pas waiting to happen.

Oof. Learning is a lifelong process, I suppose.

That got me wondering if I was saying “Kellard” right. Was it really Kileh? Karlad? Karlior...? Or maybe Kellard was right? He never said otherwise, so it must be.

“I see...”

“They’ve even sent a carriage. Were you not aware of this?”

I took a deep breath. I knew I owed Sir Heiden an explanation. He would never imagine in a million years that I had become a married woman since he had left the room.

“I must share something with you, Sir Heiden. I am married.”

“... I beg your pardon?”

“Delius Efran is the name of my husband.”

“But my lady...! How could you have made this decision without even consulting me? How can you be certain that he can be trusted?!”

I stopped myself before I could start explaining that Delius was the head of the Nine Nights Guild. I had the feeling that Sir Heiden probably wouldn’t believe it anyway. That such an influential guild leader would even entertain the thought of marrying someone like me.

Though it had to be said, I was pretty sure he had decided to marry me on a lark anyway, so...

“Delius is a member of the Nine Nights Guild.”

Sir Heiden gasped.

“... Forgive me, but I dare not trust my ears. Come again, my lady?”

“He is affiliated with the Nine Nights. And he is a Baronet. I believe this union is to our mutual advantage. Am I wrong?”

Sir Heiden closed his mouth, speechless. He seemed to be weighing the burdens and benefits that being married to a member of an intelligence guild would give us.

Then his roving eyes fell on the marriage registration form with both my husband’s and my name that was still lying on my desk. I picked it up.

“This can be discarded. The Nine Nights Guild will take care of submitting my marriage certificate. At least we won’t have to worry now about filing on time.”

I was already enjoying the perks of my new union. Though he said nothing, Sir Heiden seemed to be thinking the same thing.

I had expected to be chided for getting married to someone out of my league, a Nine Nights member, no less. Luckily for me, Sir Heiden was not the type to belittle his own superiors.

“Understood. Well then, my lady, will you be switching accommodations to your husband’s residence?”

“I suppose anywhere is better than here.”

Sir Heiden bowed deferentially before excusing himself from my presence.

The butler who had come to fetch me was a wizened old man with pure-white hair. He looked old enough to be retired, yet his movements were nimble and spry. He seemed totally unencumbered. In fact, he looked as fit as a fiddle.

The manor was not far from our hotel.

The butler provided a brief account of the residence. The property had been bestowed by the emperor himself and was managed by a staff of ten servants.

This little detail aroused Sir Heiden and my handmaiden’s interest. The emperor personally bestowing a manor to a mere baronet?

Sir Heiden’s questioning eyes seemed to be probing me about my husband’s occupation.

What do you think? I wanted to respond. He’s the leader of the Nine Nights.

I had been slumming away in that hovel of a hotel without any ties or connections in the capital, and then no sooner than I had signed that contract, I was suddenly being whisked away to a splendid mansion. How impressive was that?

Nevertheless, it would be short-lived, since I would return to Efran straightaway the day after tomorrow, after the imperial ball.

Come to think of it, would Delius be accompanying me to Efran?

I had been too besotted to even broach the subject.

Even though I was the one to specify there was no need to share living quarters when either of us were taken away on business, I became unexpectedly concerned. What if he never so much as showed his face at Efran Manor for the entire year?

Granted, this was a detail of little consequence given we had already signed an adoption consent form and a divorce agreement together. But it was still a little disappointing. He was so hunky.

Still, considering how quickly Sir Heiden had withdrawn his indignation once I told him that Delius was a member of the Nine Nights, I felt reassured that my servants would readily accept the excuse that my husband’s absence was due to him being busy with work.

The manor was orderly and elegant. I took a tour of the grounds under the butler’s guide.

“Welcome, Countess. Obviously, I am honor bound to serve you as I would my master, but as I am already his sworn servant, please forgive me for not being able to address you as such. I do hope you find it in your heart to overlook this offense.”

“Don’t worry. You may address me however you wish.”

“Thank you for accommodating this old man’s request. The predetermined period notwithstanding, you and my master are now joined together in union, and nothing would please me more than to see you use this estate as if it were your own.”

“Notwithstanding”? There was something uncomfortable about the way he said that word. After concluding the tour with dinner, I was finally escorted to my bedchambers.

I immediately knew. These were the bedchambers of the man who had become my husband only mere hours before. The burnt lavender aroma of the sedative he constantly smoked permeated the room.

Uh... What? What do I do? I know we signed a deal, but... this still feels weird!

As I stood, staring blankly from the doorway, the butler dipped into a deep, polite bow.

“My master has some business to attend to and will not be joining you this evening. Please, you may take your rest at your leisure.”

There it was again. It was that same strange tone from before.

The note in his voice would make sense if the butler was also a Nine Nights Guild member. He probably knew that this guild leader had entered a marriage contract with a nobody countess of a backcountry kingdom.

“So you know?”

The butler didn’t even skip a beat with his response.

“I merely spoke out of concern for your comfort with your new sleeping arrangements.”

“Yes, well, thank you for your concern,” I told the butler weakly.

After he left, I hesitated before calling a maid to help me undress. The fact that I was in the room of a man I hardly knew made me nervous, but I very well couldn’t go to sleep fully dressed.

After dismissing the maid, I sat perched on the edge of the massive bed until, suddenly overcome with exhaustion, I curled up to sleep without even getting under the sheets.

* * *

At the imperial ball, the scene of an unexpected catastrophe was starting to unfold.

Drops of blood hit the ground as the man’s pristine white suit saturated with grim shades of crimson. He smiled sardonically as he surveyed the massacre before him.

The ball’s screaming attendees were now silent, having fainted from the lurid sight and taken to recuperate elsewhere. No longer a stranger to the man’s savage impulses, the imperial guards calmly evacuated the remaining members of nobility while trying their best not to provoke him.

Something flew toward the man. He reached out and grabbed the black case from the air. It was filled with sedatives.

He had left his sword behind to attend the imperial ball, but the man didn’t let this stop him from cooking up human souls. He wiped the viscous red liquid staining his hands onto his clothes and opened the case.

Just as he was about to place one of the case’s contents in his mouth, a sharp voice called out to him.

“Colliard.”

The glowering red eyes of the Mad Murderer Colliard cast a sweeping gaze until they landed on the person who had called out to him. It was the young prime minister.

Colliard was visited by a brutal urge to eradicate and destroy. Sensing this sudden impulse, the prime minister quickly took a step backward. His wits were as sharp as ever.

Colliard stared into the prime minister’s golden-hued irises and... surprisingly, turned his back.

Within moments, Colliard vanished from the scene, and the prime minister eyed the grim remnants of the cleanly butchered corpse he had left behind.

The lifeless corpse had once been the prince of a fallen kingdom that had been obliterated from the map. He had planned to infiltrate the ball as a noble to assassinate the emperor.

But the Nine Nights had ears everywhere.

The Nine Nights had been the intelligence apparatus of the emperor from the beginning. In fact, it was Colliard who had suggested its cover as an independently operated guild. Under the guise of autonomy, the guild’s leadership acted under the direct authority of the emperor himself.

Set up in this way, the Nine Nights Guild outwardly presented itself as an independent organization while at times leaking seemingly detrimental information about the empire. However, it was always the empire that reaped the spoils.

The prime minister turned his back on the corpse. This was the fate of anyone who sought information on how to infiltrate the palace from the Nine Nights.

The emperor thoroughly amused himself with the sight of the fallen prince, asking his would-be executioner for directions, then naturally commanded Colliard to dispose of the “trash.”

“He was I supposed to do it quietly...”

The prime minister seethed as he recalled clearly highlighting that the matter be handled with discretion.

He just had to go out of his way to create a spectacle in the middle of the ballroom. As if Colliard’s immense bloodlust wasn’t notorious enough already.

The prime minister muttered to himself softly, his voice falling on lifeless ears.