We're in a Contract Marriage, But I've Imprinted - Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Translator: Effe
Editor: Yonnee
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“…How did you know I’m an omega? I’m recessive, so I rarely give off any pheromones.”
He gave me no immediate answer this time. After staring at me for a moment, he asked again.
“Aren’t you here to accept a contract marriage?”
In other words, I should not ask. Yes, it didn’t matter anymore how he knew. Because he already knows that I am an omega.
At Mother’s funeral, he took my pheromones. Even then, I wanted to know the full explanation.
Just in case… I was wondering if he would be interested in me.
What did I want to hear from him when I didn’t even know exactly what attracted me to him?
It’s just that I didn’t want to make a label from the beginning for his child who would enter his territory, just like his usual personality.
Even if I didn’t say anything, I understood everything he wanted to convey, so I fumbled around my neck for no reason. It was one of my habits that came out when I got very flustered.
From the time I started recognizing things, I was alone with Mother. After I came to the County, I couldn’t spend time with her like before because of Father, but Mother was my only family.
That’s why, when I was embarrassed or surprised, I would unknowingly reach for the item Mother gave me.
It was only natural because I wore this choker at all times. Even touching the scar hidden by the choker was a habit I didn’t realize myself.
I was drenched in sweat from walking all the way here. As I brushed my cumbersomely clinging hair, a white handkerchief came in front of me.
“…Thank you.”
The reason why he was popular not only with unmarried young ladies but also with noble married women was not just his appearance or background.
He showed manners with an indifferent face. He always wore gloves, as if he didn’t want his fingertips to touch, but he wasn’t a ruthless man who would just pass by and ignore a lady who had fallen in front of him.
Monica had said that even if he showed off his gentlemanly side at an appropriate distance, the ladies and madams would be busy praising him.
Of course, Monica was very disapproving of that.
So, giving me a handkerchief like now would just be a small act of consideration as small as his fingernails.
No gentleman should pretend to be ignorant of a lady’s plight.
“So, would you like to sign the contract?“
He checked out the window for a moment and asked. I followed his gaze and looked outside. The sun was setting soon.
I thought and thought about it, but I couldn’t come up with a better path than this contractual marriage. I could run away like this, but I didn’t even know where to go.
I was too young to remember exactly where I lived before.
As I was still hesitating, he continued to speak to me.
“I don’t have a lot of time. Do you have any belongings to bring with you?”
I don’t know what kind of time that he doesn’t have, but I was no different.
“I left a keepsake left by my mother.”
“I see. Then let’s go back right away.”
He finished his talk and opened the window to the coachman.
“Go to the Rosewood County.”
“Yes sir, understood!”
At the same time as the roaring reply, the stopped carriage started to move. The coachman started to run without hesitation as if he was going on a familiar road.
The inside of the carriage was spacious and the seats were even soft. It was more cozy than the sofa in the annex, so the tension in me was relieved without me realizing it, and a small sigh leaked out.
He, who hadn’t said anything until then, opened his mouth quietly.
“When you arrive at the County, pack up your belongings first and come out. In the meantime, I will speak with the Count.”
“…Yes”
“The terms of the contract are very simple. All you have to do is give birth to an alpha who will be the heir. I would like it to be as soon as possible, but just in case, let’s set a deadline.”
I held onto the handkerchief he gave me and waited for his next word.
“I will set the deadline to three years. I think it’s an appropriate period since I have to look for another omega if we fail to have any children. I will not accept any refusal or objection.”
“Yes…”
What did an alpha successor mean to an alpha? Although I was unfamiliar with what he was saying with such things with a stoic and neat face, I thought that he was also a nobleman.
Well, how much would I know? Everything I know about him, I had only heard through rumors.
I felt like I was very mistaken about something. As he said, he chose me because he didn’t have an omega.
“There won’t be a separate ceremony. That would be comfortable for you too.”
“Yes, it is.”
Yeah, as he said, it’s better not to have it. Anyone would be able to tell that our wedding would be imbalanced.
An illegitimate daughter who had barely become a noble and a man who had everything since birth were to become a married couple.
Even if I was thinking about it. Once others see it, they’d have more to say other than this.
The carriage drove into the familiar mansion. When the carriage stopped, he got up first and alighted. Then he reached out to me.
I glanced at the black gloves he wore as usual today, and took his hand with an awkward gesture and got out of the carriage.
I returned to the County, which I had escaped for a while, following the same way Father had done to Mother in the past.
The County was still a difficult and unfamiliar place to me.
Monica, who seemed to have seen Ian’s carriage first, came out of the mansion with a bright smile. However, she stopped when she saw me.
The beautiful little face tilted. When he saw Monica, he let go of my hand that he had been supporting until then.
He called her with a completely different expression and voice than when he was with me.
“Monica.”
It was the voice of a man in love.
But it was I who would marry that man. I bit my lip at the alienated feeling I still felt.
Even though I am an illegitimate child, I have lived with being treated as a beta, and I have only seen with my own eyes how omegas were treated, but I had never experienced it myself.
That’s why I couldn’t understand why Mother took her own life.
So, the tip of my nose became so tingly at the negligence that I had barely tasted.
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