We’re in a Contract Marriage, But I’ve Imprinted - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Translator: Effe

Editor: Yonnee

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He didn’t look convinced, but he just nodded with a neutral face. It’s perhaps the first time I was seeing him look relaxed, not just aloof.

He didn’t leave the room until I finished eating and watched the entire time. To be exact, he watched me eat.

He was likely also feeling shocked. The fact that he wasn’t aware of what was happening inside his own residence was nothing short of a flaw for him. After all, he had authority no different than the actual head of the household.

I think I ate less, but I was quite full even though I ate only soup and bread, which seemed little. When I put the spoon down, the attendant promptly noticed and cleared the table right away.

“Thank you for the food.”

He just nodded to me, then gave an order to the attendant.

“Call the doctor.”

“Yes, Young Lord.”

When the attendant left, he looked at me again in silence. After staring at him for a while, he spoke.

It seemed like what he was trying to say earlier.

“I’ll be adding your condition to the terms of the contract. And I’ll also take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again in the future.”

Come to think of it, he started to speak comfortably towards me from a certain point on. It’s been a while since I noticed this, but I deliberately didn’t mention it. Every time he spoke so comfortably, I had high hopes.

Anyone who knew him well was aware of what it meant when Ian was speaking comfortably.

He became more polite when he distanced himself from others. So I was not sure if it was a noble way of refusal, but the more polite he was, the more he was drawing a line that meant he didn’t want to be close.

So I was envious whenever Ian talked to Monica so comfortably when he would visit the count’s residence.

He didn’t talk to me often, but when he did, he spoke respectfully.

At the time, I was an illegitimate child and a commoner who could not even be listed on the family register, and even though I was one who waited next to Monica like a servant, he was the only one who treated me respectfully.

Wasn’t that perhaps showing courtesy to Father?

“…So, don’t worry and just live your day to day normally. You have to be pregnant, so from now on, eat a lot and get plenty of rest to build up your stamina.”

“Yes, I understand.”

He sat a little further away and looked at me again.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, he spoke again.

“I fired all of the handmaids and the maid who was delivering meals to you, but I couldn’t fire the chief handmaid. She’s been working in the family for over twenty years, so I can’t just throw her away. Instead, I punished her with a demotion and a pay cut.”

“Yes, I see.”

Actually, I was surprised as I didn’t expect him to go this far. I just appealed because I hoped that in the future they would stop making people miserable with food.

If this is a dream, I hope I don’t wake up.

I hope he likes me.

It’s a relationship that started with a contract, but I want him to choose me, not Monica.

Rather than a relationship that ends when a child is born, I hope it develops into a relationship that can become even closer with the birth of a child.

I kept praying in front of him.

I wish that you’ll love me.

I don’t want to be the only one loving him. I want us to love each other and reach the pinnacle that only omega and alpha can have together.

Facing the shimmering gold eyes, I felt a faint hope.

I want this man.

With all my heart and my whole body.

Lastly, I don’t know how, but I desperately wanted us to have a two-way imprint.

I think I can be sure that this man also wants me if we’ve both imprinted upon each other.

I bit my lower lip in case he would notice. Even if this heart was hoping for nothing short of a miracle, I wanted to cherish it.

* * *

After that incident, the food that came to me was completely different, and the butler brought it himself. I hadn’t seen the chief maid in person since then, but somehow it seemed like I wouldn’t be seeing her in the future.

He had come to the annex with a revised contract. He hinted that I would not have to worry about the chief maid from now on.

The man, who had never come to the annex unless it was during the heat cycle, stopped by the annex once in a while and drank tea without saying anything. Even though we were just drinking tea, I always patiently waited for that time.

The annex, as it was far from the main building, was truly tranquil. The sound of the wind blowing from the forest, the chirping of birds, and the sound of grass insects harmonized with the appropriate sense of silence. When I listened to it, I felt as if I had gone back to the days when I lived in the mountains with my mother when I was a child.

My heart fluttered with excitement as Ian was there with me.

“Are you drinking the same tea today?”

Those were the words I managed to get out after glancing several times to talk to him, who was still drinking tea.

He sat elegantly and sipped his tea while staring at me. His gaze was always intense.

In particular, the deep shimmering golden eyes without saying anything had a clear presence, like a full moon floating in a starless night sky.

“Would you like to try?”

I didn’t know what tea truly tasted like. I drank it while being dragged around by Monica here and there, but she never allowed me the chance to savor it, so I just gulped it haphazardly each time.

Even now, I have not reflected my taste, as I was just drinking what someone else gave me. Would I be able to know the taste after drinking it?

But he seemed to be drinking tea with a special combination of tea leaves.

Was this tea made through brewing methods unique only to the ducal household?

Curiosity struck me.

Of course, it was only natural to be curious about the preferences of the person you like—what they liked to drink, eat, wear, etcetera. Being curious about everything about that person seemed unavoidable.

“Yes, I want to try it.”

As I answered, he gestured wordlessly at the handmaid who stood by the side. The handmaid quickly put down a new tea cup in front of me and poured tea into it.

The tea had a transparent green color. I looked at the fresh green that looked like a mixture of pale green and yellow and inhaled deeply the scent.

Then the familiar smell of verdant nature entered my nostrils. As I took a sip, the light sweetness spread in my mouth and the scent of flowers lingered.

The smell of fresh grass and flowers was a scent I was familiar with but longed for. Listening to the chirping birds, it really made me feel like I was not just in the annex, but that I had returned to the forest.

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