We’re in a Contract Marriage, But I’ve Imprinted - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Translator: Effe

Editor: Yonnee

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I didn’t know at the time how much it meant. It didn’t make sense to look for traces of an alpha just because I was anxious.

Alphas had long since compared omegas to tricky small animals. It meant that they were sensitive and weak.

Would such an omega cherish any trace of an alpha?

Unless they see an alpha as their own alpha, an omega easily dislikes any trace of an alpha.

“Excuse me, is anyone here?”

I opened the back door slightly and called out in a low voice.

But the hallway was silent.

Though I thought it would be better to go back to the annex, I could not overcome my impatience and entered the main building carefully.

Even after closing the door, I did not move for a moment, like a person whose soles were stuck to the floor.

After lingering in place for a while, I cautiously walked down the hallway. If there was someone, I was going to ask an employee to deliver my words and leave right away.

For some reason, I felt nervous and began to walk stealthily. My heart skipped a beat because it felt like I had sneaked into someone else’s house.

I hadn’t been here except when I came to sign the contract, so I walked while looking around so as not to get lost.

Then I came to the end of the hallway on the first floor, and I saw a place that was connected to the corridor.

Even on the way here, the employee was not in sight, so it was quite difficult. At that time, when I was thinking about whether it would be better to go back, I could feel the presence of people from the corridor.

I moved with the thought of just checking. The corridor also had a lot of large windows, so the scenery was good, but it was incomparable to the corridor.

Feeling the wind gently blowing, I realized that I hadn’t taken a walk recently.

I didn’t realize that I had spent more time reading books alone or just thinking about him.

When I came to the end of the corridor, there was a greenhouse made of glass. The surroundings were gardens full of flowers, and among them, the sparkling glass greenhouse, which seemed to be made of crystal, was so splendid and beautiful that one could burst into admiration just by looking at it.

It was so clean that it looked smooth, so I could see inside, and through the open door, I could hear people’s chattering voices.

“Really, Your Ladyship’s beauty cannot be compared to the peonies in the greenhouse.”

“Hoho, thank you for your words, chief handmaid. But I think the peonies are still prettier.”

“What are you saying? You are the one who is called the Peony of Rosewood County. Isn’t that right, Young Lord?”

“Hey, don’t ask Ian. He’s definitely not going to answer. Really, can’t you stop just sitting here like a statue at a time like this?”

“Hoho, Young Lord may not talk too much. But the Young Lord himself instructed us to set up a tea table here for Your Ladyship.”

“Really? Ian, did you really?

“…Monica.”

“Your Ladyship, our Young Lord is just quiet, it’s not that he lacks any sensitivity.”

“Hoho, then, I will believe the chief handmaid’s words?”

“It’s been almost twenty years since I’ve been here at the Duchy. I have been there since the days when the Young Lord was just a dignified little boy.”

“Haha, you seem to be in a good mood today, chief handmaid. Would it be okay for you to interrupt the date between His Lordship and Miss Monica?

“Oh my gosh, I didn’t notice.”

“No, I enjoy what the chief handmaid says. Oh by the way, what was that? Why did Ian say he couldn’t eat anything when he was young?”

“Monica.”

“Ah, it’s fun to listen to it again.”

“Ah, our Young Lord…”

I couldn’t hear more and hurriedly left the main building. Before leaving the back door with a hesitant face, I felt the sweet pheromone I had smelled for the first time. But I thought it was simply the scent of flowers in the garden, perhaps because I came from a place full of flower scents a moment ago.

No, I just wanted to run away somewhere. Instead of their cozy greenhouse, I ran down a rough trail.

Every time the strong sunlight shone through the thick trees, I hid inside in the shadow of the trees like a child caught doing something bad.

Out of breath, I stopped walking only when I came into an unknown depth. I crawled to the place where the branches were entangled with each other and the shadow was the thickest, then held onto my knees huddled together.

“Haa, haa.”

I breathed heavily, trying to calm my chest that was about to explode. If I didn’t do that, I felt like my heart would jump out of my mouth.

Surprised, out of breath, sad, embarrassed, and disappointed—my heart was overcome by so many things.

I bowed my head. My entire face was hot, and even the nape of my neck became hot.

It was so embarrassing and shameful.

I was ashamed of myself for feeling jealous when I saw Monica and Ian sitting close together in the reflection of the glass greenhouse.

What the hell am I supposed to be jealous of?

Why was I disappointed in him?

I know, he knows, and Monica knows that he was only dutifully sharing a bed with me for his own purposes…

“Everybody in the mansion knows, Mel.”

I mumbled as I looked at the dirt floor that had been ripped up from me trying to squeeze in.

It was because I was afraid that if I did not do this, it would not be stable.

So I kept muttering. I spoke as if injecting into my mind and head, which were constantly trying to make mistakes.

“Ian said from the beginning that it was a contract marriage. You know that too well. Get pregnant as soon as possible, give birth to a child, and show people that an omega can live like a human being. That’s why you live confidently and happily. Just like how you used to live happily in the mountains with Mother. Don’t be discouraged by other people’s gazes like that, don’t pay attention…”

I pretended not to notice the hot tears welling up. I pressed my eyelids against the hem of my skirt, hiding the traces of my tears.

I just have to give up.

The mind that was happy for a short time should be dismissed as an illusion and told to give up.

I was not born in a glasshouse like them. I was not an elegant and dignified peony like them.

I was just a mere weed that was not welcomed by anyone, like the unsightly ones growing thickly outside the glasshouse.

When I humbled myself like this, my raging insides calmed down.

Yes, if I humble myself, they won’t pay attention to me and I won’t be able to see them either.

That’s right, that’s how it works.

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