I Was Tricked Into A Fraudulent Marriage By The Obsessive Villain - Chapter 1 Part 4

Chapter 1 Part 4

“Hey, Austin…!”

Iona was led by Austin somewhere. As soon as she regained consciousness, she was lying on the bed. Austin’s scent rushed in like a wave.

Austin took a seat on top of Iona and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. 

“…….”

Every time his thick fingers brushed against the buttons, his black shirt gradually widened, revealing his sculpted muscles. 

Her gaze was drawn to the exposed skin between the black shirt. Iona couldn’t move her eyes away from the sight.

At that sight, Austin lifted the corners of his mouth and let out a small chuckle. A strange atmosphere filled the room.

In the next moment, Austin lifted Iona’s hand, which was resting on the bed, and placed it on his chest.

“What are you doing?”

Iona was so surprised that she tried to take her hand away. Although Iona had maxed out her physical strength, she had no real combat experience.

The feeling of a man’s chest was dizzying. She could feel the hard chest under her palm. She couldn’t take her eyes off his clearly exposed chest.

She wanted to move her hand right away and touch it.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m not doing anything.”

Are you trying to relieve my anger?

Austin replied with a smirk and lifted Iona’s hand deeper into his chest with his tongue pressed against his lips.

“Touch me. Captain.”

His firm hand kept pulling her hand down, down. She could feel the texture of his toned abs.

“No, I can’t…”

“You can.”

It doesn’t matter, so just do it…

Satan’s voice whispered in her ear. In her head, it sounded like paper rattling.

Her hand tightened. Could she let herself be led like this? But the man’s body, which she was touching for the first time, was too tempting to push away.

“Hold me, Captain.”

His whispering voice melted into her ears.

As she reached out her hand and grabbed the hem of his shirt that hung over his broad shoulders,

She regained her senses.

At the same time, a shiver ran up from the tips of her toes.

A fact that she had forgotten struck her like a lightning bolt.

An adulterer… 

“Ah! My wrist!”

She quickly regained her composure and pushed Austin away, then rushed out of the room.

“Damn it…”

I had everything under control.

Austin muttered in a low voice, watching Iona’s retreating figure.

Sparks flew in his sunken blue eyes. His angry fist pounded the bed forcefully.

***

“Hooh…”

Iona sat at a cafe and let out a deep sigh.

“That woman is here again, boss…!”

“She’s a regular here. Don’t be nervous, just serve her quickly.”

As the cafe employee served the tea with trembling hands, Iona took it and drank it all in one breath.

Her thoughts were tangled like a mess of tangled threads.

Lately, Austin’s advances were concerning.

“He doesn’t look like that, but if he takes it off, I’ll be all over the place.”

She recalled the sensation on her palm, and his eyes filled with desire.

But she knew that if she even touched his well-built body for a moment, her wrist would surely be gone.

Just now, if she hadn’t been able to control her instincts and crossed the line with Austin, she would have had to say goodbye to her pretty hands.

“Fucking XX.”

An obscenity slipped out of her mouth. It was all because of that damn villain.

This time, without a doubt. Without a doubt, she would divorce him!

She made up her mind firmly, but soon hit a wall of reality.

In her heart, she wanted to grab the divorce papers she had neatly written and run to the temple.

But for some reason, Johanna had done something, and the nearby temple didn’t even let her in with divorce documents.

They didn’t even accept them if she tried to sneak them in.

“Should I go a little further…”

What if we go to a temple farther away, out of Johanna’s reach?

Should I bribe someone? The thought lingered in her mind.

The endless train of thought was interrupted by a sudden realization.

Even if I succeed in submitting it, will it actually be processed?

Besides, it was an imperial divorce.

It was a good thing I didn’t have to go and see the High Priest.

If luck was not on my side, I could have been taken directly to the palace.

“Oh God.”

In a situation so tangled that there was no answer, Iona pulled her hair in frustration.

At that moment, she saw a beautiful silver hair floating in the air for some reason.

Someone approached her and spoke.

“Excuse me, may I ask for directions?”

At the sound that entered her ears, Iona’s handsome radar activated.

A charming low tone.

It would be great if he had a good-looking face too.

She turned her head and caught sight of the owner of the voice. A tall man stood there with his eyes slightly narrowed.

‘…An elf?’

Iona momentarily doubted whether the man was human.

If elves existed as they did in legends, wouldn’t they look like this? His appearance was so ethereal that she couldn’t believe they were of the same race.

The man’s shiny silver hair fluttered in the spring breeze. Although it was covered by a veil, she could instinctively tell.

This man in front of her was the most handsome person she had ever seen in her life.

Iona was mesmerized by his reddish eyes that seemed to suck her in, and she couldn’t respond. When she stared blankly without saying anything, the man smiled.

“It’s my first time traveling.”

“W-where are you going?”

Without realizing it, she stumbled over her words.

“Where is the Hardin Duchy?”

“If you go straight this way and take a carriage at the main road, you’ll get there.”

If it was the Hardin Duchy, I know it better than anyone! 

…she wanted to shout out, but she held back and answered.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the man’s face. Her surprised heart didn’t know how to calm down.

At this rate, she could live enough without seeing a handsome man for several years. Just thinking about the man’s face was enough to satisfy her.

Iona gathered all her empty heart and prayed to God.

Please let me remember this moment forever.

“You’re a kind person. If you permit, may I greet you?”

Oh, no. This man is perfect, even his voice. Can such a human exist in this world?

Even if this is a novel, it seemed too much to handle.

Hesitantly, she reached out her hand.

For three years, she had mingled with the common people on the street. Such noble greetings were now unfamiliar. Unbeknownst to her, her face turned red.

The man grasped her hand tightly with his large hand. His long and thick fingers held her hand.

In the next moment, something soft touched the back of her hand, and she quickly pulled away. The sensation made her ears turn red.

The man smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Well then, until we meet again.”

Her mind became hazy as she looked at his smiling eyes. She watched the man’s retreating figure without blinking an eye until he disappeared into the distance.

“…Crazy.”

In the next moment, Iona covered her mouth and murmured. She couldn’t believe what she had just seen with her own eyes.

If there was a printer in this world, she would immediately print the man’s face all over her room. That’s how much she wanted to decorate her brain with his face.

The man’s red eyes kept lingering in her mind as if they were stamped in her head.

At the same time, she had a sudden feeling that she had seen the man somewhere before.

“It must be my imagination.”

She shrugged her shoulders and replayed the man’s face in her mind. It was surely just her imagination playing tricks on her.

If she had seen such a face, there was no way she could forget it. She wasn’t a fool.

***

In the reception room of the Hardin Ducal’s residence, located deep within the Hardin Duchy. Duke Johanna Hardin was reflecting on the past.

That day was exactly like today.

A day when something ominous hung in the air.

“Accept it.”

“…….”

“You know very well that you can’t refuse.”

It was a time not long after her parents passed away in a sudden accident.

It was the most precarious time for the Hardin family since its establishment.

Relatives fought tooth and nail to seize the family estate, and other nobles sought to tear the family apart at this opportune moment.

During that tumultuous time, this man appeared.

With an engagement document bearing Iona’s signature.

“…….”

There was no way to refuse.

If her parents were still alive, she could have rejected such a demand, but not now.

No matter how weak the Hardin family was, they were still nobility. Moreover, he was the descendant of the Empress.

And what he presented as a gift was exactly what Johanna, no, this family needed most.

A fertile estate in the south that had been given to the imperial family as a token of loyalty decades ago, during the reign of the first duke. He was offering it back as a gift.

There was no way to know how it ended up in front of the prince, or if it was just bait instead of a gift… but it wasn’t the time to investigate.

“……”

Johanna opened her eyes that she had momentarily closed and stared straight ahead.

There was no excess in his elegant gesture as he lifted the teacup.

The grace that exuded from him was proof that he was of imperial birth.

It took effort to resist his sharp gaze.

The man in front of her was dangerous.

Years ago, when he was just a simple prince, he had come to her with an offer that she couldn’t refuse.

It was called an offer, but it was more like coercion.

The family couldn’t refuse since they had already declared their intention at the altar. Refusal would naturally mean denying the temple as well.

They couldn’t afford to be at odds with the temple during this precarious time for the family.

Moreover, it was perfect timing to bring in the southern territory during this crisis.

It was as if he had everything under his thumb and was looking down at all the situations.

It wasn’t a plan that an ordinary boy could come up with.

Yes. This man is dangerous, even when he is one head shorter than her.

It went without saying, especially now that he had grown up to be so tall.

“You don’t look well.”

“……”

“You seem too tense. I’m not even a stranger anymore.”

The man spoke with a small smile.

— Please give me some time.

— She’s still a child who knows nothing.

When the man first came and demanded Iona, he refused him, on the pretext that she was too young.

Although she couldn’t prevent Iona from ascending to the throne.

“……”

He was a man who had returned alive from the battlefield, and one could feel his overwhelming presence. He had an exceptional mind and had gained strength by winning battles on the battlefield.

Instinctively, she realized that she could no longer stop the man in front of her with anything.

“……. Congratulations on your victory, Your Highness, the Ninth Prince.”

The man smiled slightly and nodded his head.

“Judging by your expression, it seems like you already know that you can’t stop me today. Duchess.”

“……”

“And so.”

At the man’s words that were uttered with a sharp edge, her body shrank for a moment.

“Where is my wife right now?”

Johanna briefly hesitated at the man’s sharp gaze before answering.

“She is at the villa for the moment.”

“Is that so?”

The man leisurely took a sip of tea. For some reason, her mouth went dry with inexplicable nervousness. Johanna dug her fingernails into her palm.

The man opened his mouth with a dry expression.

“But Duchess, I saw something interesting on the way here.”

“What…?”

“They say there’s a guild that can do everything except kill people.”

“…….”

A feeling of foreknowledge flashed through her.

No way.

Does he know…?

Johanna forced herself to maintain an indifferent expression.

The man stared at her as though he could see through her, the corners of his mouth curving upward.

***