Contract Marriage: Rewritten - Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Translator: Yonnee
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“But….”
For some reason, Laniakea felt as though she’d been scolded and couldn’t help but feel a little wronged.
It was true that they were married.
But in the past three years, how many times had they even seen each other?
‘What, ten times maybe?’
He returned to the imperial palace roughly once every four months.
After sharing a single meal with Laniakea, he left without even spending a night in the detached palace.
Naturally, their meals together didn’t involve much conversation.
When Laniakea asked about life at the border, his answers were brief: ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or ‘Please understand that I can’t answer that’.
At first, Laniakea tried several times to keep the conversation going, but his curt replies left her at a loss for further questions.
As a result, their meals were extremely quiet. From the start of their meals, the awkwardness was palpable, but the hardest part was the tea they shared at the end.
Sitting silently across from each other without a word felt unbearably uncomfortable.
In the end, all Laniakea could do was make small talk about the new tea leaves she had brought in. Unsurprisingly, Hyperion’s responses didn’t go beyond ‘Yes’ or ‘I see’.
So when she learned that Hyperion was going to become emperor, she naturally assumed he would divorce her and send her away.
But why was he looking at her now as if he were resentful?
Then Hyperion asked her another question.
“If we divorce, are you planning to return to Priatra? Is there someone waiting for you there…?”
“No!”
At the mention of Priatra, Laniakea vehemently shook her head.
“I absolutely don’t want to go back there. There’s no one waiting for me.”
She thought of her cold, distant family. If she returned to Priatra, their expressions would undoubtedly grow even colder.
“I see. Understood. May I have your hand?”
Hyperion’s expression shifted slightly, as though he were relieved.
He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to her.
Only then did Laniakea realize that the tea had spilled from her cup, soaking her hand.
Though the tea had cooled a bit, the delayed sensation of heat made her blush.
She reached out to take the handkerchief, but as she leaned forward, Hyperion, with a completely natural motion, took her hand and began wiping it clean himself.
His actions were so fluid and matter-of-fact that Laniakea couldn’t even think to pull her hand away. She simply let him clean her hand, staring blankly.
Hyperion meticulously wiped her hand.
As she watched the white handkerchief quickly become stained with tea, she realized it looked familiar.
“This is….”
“Yes, it’s the one you sent me.”
Hyperion’s voice grew slightly louder, as if pleased that she recognized it.
“I’ve treasured it ever since I received it.”
His words made Laniakea’s face flush red—not out of joy, but out of embarrassment.
Once a year, the imperial palace held an event to send care packages to knights assigned to far-off locations.
Organized by the empress, the event took place at a year-end banquet.
Long tables were set up in the banquet hall, each labeled with the name of a region. Attendees would place care packages for the knights stationed in their chosen region.
Since the banquet was hosted by the empress and attended by nobles from prominent families, the donations were always extravagant—rings, bracelets, brooches, and even freshly written checks.
The table with the most contributions was, of course, the one labeled with the region where the empress’s brother was stationed.
Though technically a border region, it was a safe trade route along the boundary with an allied nation, with little actual danger.
Naturally, the nobles piled their gifts there to curry favor with the empress.
By contrast, the table labeled with Hyperion’s region had barely anything on it—a painfully empty sight.
Normally, Laniakea would have placed even the smallest personal belonging on the table.
But this time, she couldn’t. The jewelry she wore wasn’t hers.
‘So that’s why the empress insisted on lending me jewelry for the banquet….’
A few days earlier, the empress had sent her a warm letter offering to lend her jewelry.
At the time, Laniakea had seen no reason to refuse and had graciously accepted, only to realize later it was to prevent her from placing anything on the table for Hyperion.
An imperial prince abandoned even by his wife.
The empress had likely wanted to showcase that sight to the nobles.
The empress and her entourage had approached Laniakea, smiling as they saw her flustered. They had spoken comforting words, feigning kindness.
“Even if it’s the First Prince, he’ll appreciate whatever his consort sends. A gift is about the thought, not the price, after all.”
The empress wore her most benevolent smile as she said those words.
In the end, Laniakea had no choice but to place the only personal belonging she had with her: her handkerchief.
And it was only natural that thinly veiled laughter erupted from behind her.
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