I Had No Complaints About This Marriage - Chapter 17

The thought of constantly battling his future mistresses was exhausting. All she wanted was peace of mind and body. At the very least, she hoped to maintain a civil relationship with them.

Just as she was scrutinizing the ladies, Herman seemed to keep close—

“…….”

Esina’s light green eyes helplessly met Herman’s dark ones.

After silently staring at her for a while, Herman excused himself from the surrounding ladies and began walking toward her.

‘Why?’

Is he done playing around already?

Before Esina could blink in surprise, Herman closed the distance and stood beside her. Then, his hand naturally settled on her shoulder.

Just as the young ladies were inwardly tearing their handkerchiefs at the sight of him affectionately encouraging his wife, Herman leaned down and whispered into Esina’s ear.

“You’ll kill me, you said?”

“…Huh?”

“You said you’d kill your feelings.”

His voice carried an inexplicable hint of amusement. Esina’s eyes widened as she stared at Herman.

Herman, gazing into her shimmering green eyes under the light, fell into a languid reverie.

Esina Lehire was still as bold as ever.

‘She declared she’d kill all her affection for me.’

Yet, the moment he mingled with the young ladies, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. She even strained her gaze, carefully observing which ladies he paid attention to.

‘The very picture of lingering attachment.’

Though it nearly made him scoff, Herman wasn’t particularly displeased. There was something oddly ticklish about those lively light-green eyes following him everywhere. Eyes that seemed to sprout shoots wherever they landed.

‘Still.’

He didn’t want her to suddenly cling to him the moment they married.

He wanted to keep their marriage a clean, contractual one—preferably devoid of love.

‘That way, it’ll last longer as a partnership.’

In Herman’s world, the rule that love was nonsense still held true.

Emotions only led to ruin in the end. The young ladies who approached him, belatedly begging for love, were proof enough.

“Marriage? I truly thought we had something special, Young Duke.”

“I’m no longer a Young Duke.”

“Was it all a misunderstanding?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I thought you treated me a little differently.”

“My, I’m not sure what misunderstanding led to that…”

“…I thought you loved me.”

Just moments ago.

He recalled the ladies who had whispered such things between their peers, subtly scratching at his palm and clinging to him.

Ironically, they were the same ones who had once prided themselves on their no-strings-attached relationships, acting haughty and insisting on clear boundaries.

To think an emotion could reduce people to such pitiful, ugly lumps of attachment.

‘There’s no way it leads to a good ending.’

Herman, at the very least, intended to stick with his chosen path for the long haul—detached and unburdened by sentiment. After all, Esina Lehire was a contractual partner he quite liked.

Moreover, he hadn’t chosen this marriage to sacrifice the freedom he’d fought so hard to seize—fleeing his family—just to hand it over to Esina Lehire.

“Did you forget our contract?”

As he whispered and tilted his head, Esina widened her eyes and feigned innocence, as though she knew nothing.

To Herman, who knew exactly how lewdly that face could twist and dampen, it was a rather brazen expression.

“When you say contract…”

“We agreed not to interfere.”

Esina’s mouth fell open blankly. Over that expression, the hazy image of last night—when he had spilled his seed—superimposed itself. Ignoring the tightness in his lower body, Herman stared straight through her.

“…I didn’t forget.”

Finally understanding his meaning, Esina blinked as she spoke.

It seemed there had been a misunderstanding. She had no intention of restraining Herman. Fearing the misconception would deepen, she quickly added.

“I won’t interfere in your private life at all—”

“Then why do you keep staring at me like that, Esina?”

“That’s…”

‘Because I was keeping an eye on which woman you’d cheat with, so I could reach an understanding with her. To respect your private life.’

If she said that, this promiscuous bastard would probably die of happiness—

“…!”

Herman didn’t give her time to continue. His hand, gliding smoothly up her spine, felt sticky. Under his touch, the nape of Esina’s neck flushed red.

Since the wedding had been rushed and her wedding dress wasn’t ready, Esina wore a white dress today to compensate—one with an open back to emphasize maturity, handpicked by Herman himself.

Choosing someone else’s dress was usually such a nuisance that even during his most scandalous days, he’d never bothered. Yet Herman had willingly taken the trouble.

And even wearing clothes chosen by his hand, she couldn’t hide her jealousy.

“The dress I picked for you…”