“What did you say?”

“Who came?”

“What did you do?”

Reiner narrowed his eyes at the men standing before him.

He had disappeared to attend the Imperial banquet.

The rugged men of the North hated coming to the capital, finding city life nothing but a nuisance. Yet they had accompanied Reiner to his villa every single time over the past month.

Today had been no different.

They had been passing the time with a card game, expecting Reiner to come trudging back as usual.

Instead, he had returned before dawn and casually announced—

“I brought my wife home. We got married.”

“Eek!”

“What?”

“Are you out of your—”

“…What?”

“N-Nothing! Hahaha… I mean, I’m going crazy. Not you, Your Grace. Hahaha… Good grief…”

Reiner stared at them through narrowed eyes.

Regardless of the expressions on their faces, he’d lived with these men since childhood.

He knew exactly what was going through their heads.

“Your Grace, me.”

Noah, the darkest-skinned among them, raised a hand.

Reiner pulled out a chair, sat down, and motioned with his chin.

“Go ahead.”

“Weren’t we supposed to board the ship tomorrow and return in two years?”

“That’s right.”

“Then… what about your wife?”

“She’ll stay in the North.”

“…Then what about you, Your Grace?”

Even before Reiner answered, Noah’s face turned deathly pale.

“You’re not planning to stay behind, are you? You know how much time we’ve spent preparing for this.”

“I know.”

“And now you’re hesitating because of a woman? You always told us not to get distracted by women, and now you’re the one doing this? How can you be so—”

Reiner cut him off.

“Next question.”

“Me! Me, Your Grace!”

Vincent, the butler of Graham Castle, eagerly raised his hand.

“Go ahead, Vincent.”

“But… who exactly did you marry? Where would someone like you even meet a woman?”

At that, Noah and Lucas widened their eyes.

“Exactly! Since when do you even know any women? You can’t even look at the things they sell.”

Noah, the first mate, had accompanied Reiner on many of his overseas voyages.

“…That was because of the way the women in the Basta Empire dressed.”

Everyone nodded in understanding.

“True.”

That had been during one of their business trips through the southern continent.

The place where they had stayed the longest was the warm Basta Empire.

Unlike the women of Newberic, the women there wore only enough clothing to cover the essentials.

For men who had little experience around women, it had been… difficult to get used to.

“Then who is she? What kind of woman would ever agree to marry someone as ill-tempered as you?”

Lucas shouted in disbelief.

Though the youngest among them, he possessed remarkable skill at steering the ship and keeping it perfectly balanced.

“You don’t need to worry about what kind of woman she is.”

“Why not?”

Reiner stood from his seat.

“You’ll be meeting her soon enough.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

His expression turned intimidating as he glared at them.

“Be polite. If you’re about to say something stupid, keep your mouths shut instead. Understood?”

With that warning, Reiner turned and headed outside.

Just then, Vincent cupped his hands around his mouth and called after him.

“Your Grace! Is she… the woman you’ve been searching for all this time?”

Reiner merely looked back at them with an unreadable expression.

He didn’t answer.

Once he was gone, Vincent spoke in a trembling voice.

“So it’s true… He really found her.”

“That stubborn man actually found her and brought her back.”

Noah and Lucas turned to Vincent.

“Who is she?”

“Do you know her?”

Vincent pressed his lips together and slowly shook his head.

“Just pretend you don’t know anything.”

“If you provoke His Grace over this… you’ll be seeing heaven sooner than you’d like.”

***

Rachel stood alone in the silent hallway.

The house Reiner used as his villa whenever he came to the capital was almost completely bare.

It felt as though someone had already packed up and moved away, leaving behind an empty shell.

Rachel couldn’t help thinking that if there had ever been even one woman living in this house…

It never would have been left in such a state.

“Haa…”

Pressing the back of her hand firmly against her feverish eyelids, Rachel leaned her back against the wall, trying to calm her nerves.

Just moments ago, she’d escaped the Imperial banquet.

It felt as though she’d used up every ounce of luck she would ever have in her lifetime.

If Reiner had not accepted her proposal, she would have been dragged away to become Emperor Felix’s imperial consort with no means of escape.

Her only option would have been to endure for two years until Count Flynn had finished preparing everything.

Only then could she have fled.

Assuming she survived that long.

‘They said the Emperor *buses his women. That’s probably why he doesn’t have any children.’

One Empress.

Thirteen imperial consorts.

Under normal circumstances, he should have had at least ten children by now.

Yet not a single heir had ever been born.

Considering that Felix had ascended the throne at fifteen and had ruled for twenty years…

It was undeniably strange.

Still, Rachel was simply relieved that she no longer had to be handed over to that monstrous Emperor.

‘Thank goodness Reiner was there.’

Rachel lifted her amber eyes toward the door Reiner had disappeared through.

‘Take my hand.’

The memory of his voice at the banquet surfaced in her mind.

She instinctively clenched her fist.

For some reason, her fingertips tingled.

‘Take it. If you truly want to marry me.’

After a brief hesitation, Rachel placed her gloved hand in his open palm.

And she was surprised.

His long, elegant fingers looked smooth and refined, yet beneath them lay countless calluses she couldn’t see at first glance.

Reiner gently enclosed her hand within his own and drew her to his side.

The distance between them vanished in an instant.

A fresh aquatic scent drifted into her nose.

It reminded her of the sea at dawn.

Smile, Rachel.

Facing the Emperor, who was storming toward them, Reiner spoke in a perfectly composed voice.

‘Does Your Majesty have some business with my future wife?’

“Pfft.”

The memory of Emperor Felix’s horribly twisted expression made Rachel burst into laughter.

Covering her mouth with her clenched fist, she tried to suppress it, glancing around even though no one was watching.

Then another laugh escaped.

‘My wife? What kind of nonsense is that? When I met you just a few days ago, you never mentioned anything like this!’

‘I fell in love all of a sudden.’

‘Wh… what?’

‘The moment I saw this lady, it was love at first sight. So I proposed to her.’

‘D-Do you take me for a fool? How dare you lie in a place like this!’

‘A lie? Didn’t Your Majesty fall in love without even seeing her?’

‘What?’

‘You were in such a hurry to bring another woman into your bed every night. Surely that was love, wasn’t it?’

‘Y-You insolent—!’

‘Then there’s nothing unbelievable about me falling in love with Lady Rachel at first sight. Wouldn’t you agree, Your Majesty?’

“Puhahaha.”

Click.

The sound of the door opening instantly wiped the smile from Rachel’s face.

She composed herself as though nothing had happened before blinking at Reiner, who had just stepped out of the room.

“Come in.”

He gestured toward the room with a tilt of his head.

Rachel looked at him cautiously.

“Who’s inside?”

“The people you’ll be seeing from now on.”

As I thought.

They must have been the people who had traveled with Reiner from the North.

These were strangers.

More importantly, they were the people Rachel would now be living among.

The realization sent a wave of nervousness crashing over her.

Her feet refused to move.

Seeing her remain rooted to the spot, Reiner quietly closed the door again.

Perhaps he was giving her time to prepare herself.

He simply leaned against the wall and waited.

“Reiner.”

“Go ahead. Anytime.”

His calm voice echoed softly through the hallway.

Just hearing it eased Rachel’s anxiety a little.

“Thank you.”

“For agreeing to marry me.”

Reiner’s gaze drifted leisurely toward her.

“Wasn’t this just a contract marriage?”

“It is.”

Rachel let out a quiet breath.

Then she raised her head again.

“Is there anything you want from me? As a condition for this marriage?”

Reiner slowly brushed a finger along his sharp jaw.

One long leg was casually crossed over the other.

Not a single wrinkle marred the sleeves tailored perfectly to his wrists.

“A condition…”

To Reiner, every contract had to clearly define both its beginning and its end.

The beginning had already been decided.

So it was only natural to discuss the end.

He spoke leisurely.

“Five years sounds reasonable.”

“For the duration of our marriage.”

Rachel nodded.

“All right.”

“And what about your condition?”

Rachel merely parted her lips.

“Hmm…”

The truth was…

Rachel didn’t feel she had the right to demand anything from him.

By accepting her proposal, Reiner had unknowingly saved everyone in Flynn Manor…

And hundreds of surviving elves.

He simply didn’t know it.

Still, saying she wanted nothing at all would make the agreement seem unfair.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Later?”

A playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

“I might suddenly decide I want a divorce someday. I’ll tell you my condition then. What do you think?”

Reiner smiled faintly in return and tilted his head.

“I don’t mind.”

Pushing himself away from the wall, he took a step toward her.

“But for that to happen…You’ll have to keep the promise you made. The one about being capable.”

His voice wrapped around the silence until it felt as though only the two of them existed in the world.

“And the promise that you won’t disappoint me.”

“Of course.”

For some reason, Rachel could no longer bring herself to meet his eyes.

She lowered her gaze.

“Why aren’t you coming in already?!”

A loud voice rang out from inside the room.

Reiner let out a short sigh.

“Shall we?”

“Yes.”

Without making a sound, Rachel followed after him.

Only then did it truly begin to sink in.

She had married him.