We’re in a Contract Marriage, But I’ve Imprinted - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Translator: Effe

Editor: Yonnee

—

#03 A difference of day and night

“Ugh, ack…“

Barely managing to open my eyes, I groaned as I felt the pain that was wracking through my whole body, feeling as though I was breaking. My blurry vision became clear little by little with a few blinks.

After confirming that I was lying in a familiar bedroom, I tried to come to my senses. The more my eyelids blinked, the more I recalled the actions that had taken place over the past few days.

“Ah…”

Just remembering it made me feel hot.

I really did something unimaginable.

I had heard of an alpha’s stamina before, but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent. The rut cycle was really beyond imagination.

I also thought that an omega’s heat cycle was also amazing.

“Ugh.”

When I tried to get up, I felt my whole body screaming. I groaned and struggled in place.

There was no one in the annex except for the maid who came to bring my meals, so I had to move on my own.

I was trying to get up somehow, but the door suddenly opened.

“You woke up.”

My body shuddered at the low voice. It was never my intended reaction.

My body reacted naturally to the alpha’s voice that I had been hearing for days.

He approached slowly, with a completely different face and neatly dressed clothes. He didn’t spill any pheromones, and as stoically as before, he looked down at me as I lay on the bed, panting.

His expression was so cold that I even doubted if I really had spent my first night with that man.

It felt like someone completely unrelated to me had entered the bedroom, so I pulled up the blanket while curling into myself.

I didn’t know who changed my clothes, but the negligee I was wearing now was made of a see-through material.

So I didn’t notice that he wasn’t being courteous with me differently than before.

“Are you feeling okay?”

I immediately noticed that the temperature in his voice had changed at the low-pitched question.

It was so subtle that I was confused for a moment, but I realized that it was not as cold as before, perhaps because we had been skin-to-skin for several days.

His tone wasn’t as warm as when he was talking to Monica, but I could feel just the lukewarm attitude.

“…Yes, it’s a little uncomfortable, but I don’t feel pain anywhere.”

“…I see.”

His golden eyes darkened for a moment at my answer. Since childhood, he often looked at me with those eyes.

Every time that happened, Monica recognized it quickly and talked to him about it. Sometimes, she also ‘jokingly’ said that I should get out of his sight so that he wouldn’t see me…

But Monica was not here.

When there was no one to stop his dark eyes, I had to face them intact.

I felt strange.

He would never have feelings for me, but for some reason I felt the heat in his eyes.

However, when I looked at his tightly closed mouth or eyes, it seemed like I was mistaken. He gave me an incomprehensible look, but he opened his mouth.

“You have to take care of yourself for the time being. I called the doctor while you were asleep. It was your first heat cycle, so it was hard on your body.

“Ah… I see.”

His expression was still impassive, but he sat on the bed and continued to look down at me with strange eyes.

I could see his neatly placed fingertips twitching, but he didn’t move his hands at all.

He just looked at me and stroked me with his intensely darkening eyes.

Is it simply my illusion that I feel this way?

He didn’t do anything special, but I didn’t know what to do with his interest and avoided his gaze.

However, his beautiful yet manly features, pale skin, and the dot at the tip of his lips kept attracting my attention.

I avoided his passing gaze and fidgeted with my hands. I felt that it was a very long time since I was with someone in a normal space.

The sunlight filtering softly through the curtains felt especially warm.

After that, he worked beside me after having his assistant secretary and butler get his paperwork.

In the meantime, the doctor visited again and did a detailed examination, and I sat on the bed and ate the food the maid brought.

He paid close attention to my food and made up for what I lacked.

As he moved himself, the assistant secretary, butler, and maid in the bedroom began to notice me.

It was the first time that so many people had entered such a small bedroom, and it felt very strange to see the eyes of those who had been ignoring me completely change.

How should I say this… I was in a good mood, but I also felt unpleasant. I stared blankly into the air with such ambivalence, then shifted my gaze to look at him.

The way he sat on the sofa with his long legs crossed and and even the way he turned over the pages was elegant and dignified, and the way he kept his cravat tightly fastened gave off the stoic atmosphere I often saw.

It was clear that I had seen him for a long time, but strangely, he looked sensual. Even though he was wrapped tightly all the way to the neck, it seemed as if I could see his hard chest or thighs under his shirt or pants, so my eyes kept going to him without realizing it.

Then his rut came to mind. When I recalled the expression he made by using his whole body as if he was restraining me and striking me down, my face became hot. I thought about it for a moment, but I couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

I pulled the blanket over my face for no reason, as I thought it was lewd to recall and savored the night I had spent with him. Hoping that the people in this room wouldn’t notice.

However, even as the beta assistant secretary, butler and maid would not know, I forgot that I could not deceive the alpha.

The constant rustling sound of flipping papers cut off abruptly. The still air seemed to press down on the blanket.

I wanted to pretend I didn’t feel it, but I couldn’t overcome the silence and lowered the blanket to peek my face out.

I hadn’t noticed it since I had just come to my senses, but I seemed to know now. He seemed displeased whenever I’d disappear from his sight.

Since I came to the Duke’s house, there have been many more days where I haven’t seen his face. But after we spent those nights together, right after I woke up, he never left my side.

Want to read more? Up to [24] advanced chapters are available on Patreon: