She felt strangely intimidated even though no one was criticizing her. Cedine ignored the growing sense of self-reproach and wrote down the second condition.

‘Wedding rings with real diamonds.’

Since she didn’t specify the size, this shouldn’t be too unreasonable a request for Ivlik. Suddenly, she remembered the 1-carat diamond ring she had received from her fiancé in her previous life.

‘That’s right. I’ve actually worn a diamond ring on my ring finger before.’

It was happiness she believed was truly Cedine Liere’s own. Now it’s become completely blurry, like a memory not just from a past life, but from a life before that.

Click.

She heard the sound of a pen being put down. It seemed Ivlik had already finished writing his requirements. Feeling unnecessarily rushed, Cedine added the clause ‘The wedding dress and diamond ring to be gifted as mementos. Will not ask for them to be returned after the fake marriage ends.’

After writing the fourth clause, ‘Provide ample allowance to maintain a lifestyle befitting the status of Viscountess Wintermore,’ she finally felt somewhat relieved. If these four items were properly implemented, it seemed she could lead a fairly satisfactory fake married life.

“Shall we exchange?”

“Yes, here you go.”

Cedine received the list from Ivlik. What caught her eye before the content was his handwriting. It’s a handwriting style she can never get used to. Ivlik, who rarely smiles, exudes coldness from his face. But his penmanship is as aristocratic and elegant as a minuet echoing through a court ball, creating a considerable discrepancy between the two.

‘He really wrote a lot. There’s no blank space left.’

As Cedine began her thorough review, she doubted her eyes from the very first clause.

“The couple must sleep in the same bed?”

Cedine was taken aback. She had naturally assumed she would use her room from the previous life or Karen’s room. But this was just the beginning.

“Engage in public skinship and displays of affection? The method and frequency to be decided by mutual agreement?”

“It’s exactly as written there. I won’t force anything, absolutely.”

“Ha……”

“That’s right. By mutual agreement.”

“C-contraception is entirely the responsibility of Ivlik Wintermore? What, what is this?”

Cedine’s voice involuntarily grew louder.

“Contraception?”

“Because you never know what might happen in a relationship between a man and a woman. From what I know, even when Intelligence Bureau agents are dispatched posing as married couples, they have similar discussions in advance.”

“No? Not at all? This is completely new to me?”

“Is that so? How strange……”

Ivlik casually added that he had always thought that was the case. Unlike his calm demeanor, Cedine’s mind was in utter chaos.

‘C-c-contraception?’

Until just now, Cedine thought four clauses were enough. But now her mind had changed. This wouldn’t do.

“Um, I’d like to add one more. Can I have the paper back?”

She received the paper back from Ivlik, who said she could add as many as two or three more if she wanted. She felt pressured to deliver one decisive blow.

Since a fake marriage is still a marriage, should she ask for alimony when they separate later? She wasn’t sure about the extent of Ivlik’s assets. However, she remembered hearing that his late grandmother was the heiress to an incredibly wealthy family, and that she had left 80% of her inheritance to her beloved grandson. Cedine wanted to write ‘Half of the assets to be divided upon divorce.’

But if Ivlik was truly a wife-killer like the Bluebeard in fairy tales, a safe divorce would be impossible. Just as he had killed Karen in the previous life, he would try to kill his new wife Cedine in this life. Of course, Cedine wasn’t one to submit meekly. After all, the very purpose of this marriage was to kill him as soon as he revealed his true nature.

‘Write a will leaving all assets to the wife in case of husband’s death. Should I write this?’

After much temptation, Cedine made up her mind. She handed the paper with the fifth condition added to Ivlik.

Despite everything, she was born the second daughter of a well-off baronet family. How did she end up becoming a petty bourgeois to her very core? Even though she knew Ivlik Wintermore wouldn’t be stingy with money towards her, Cedine kept censoring herself.

“You wrote ‘Bride to enter alone during the wedding ceremony, like the groom’… I guess you don’t want to walk alongside Duke Crotsfield?”

“To be honest, yes.”

Cedine found it difficult to fully accept others’ kindness. Even when the giver attached no conditions, to Cedine, it felt like a debt that must be repaid someday. Duke Crotsfield had a big influence on her becoming like this.

It’s true that the Duke was a benefactor who took in the young sisters. Thanks to him, they spent their teenage years without worrying about hunger. But wouldn’t it have been better if the Duke hadn’t kept a detailed account of every expense he spent on the Liere sisters and demanded repayment with legal interest?

On Karen’s eighteenth birthday, the Duke presented a ledger instead of a gift, saying that if she wanted to be treated like an adult, she should first become financially independent. The ledger contained an amount that an eighteen-year-old with no immediate source of income could never repay.

Her affection for the Duke had diminished so much after hearing about this later.

“He’s not someone I particularly want to treat as a foster father.”

“I feel the same way.”

A faint smile spread across Ivlik’s lips.

“They say couples grow to resemble each other, and we’ve already found something in common.”

After finishing this increasingly strange contract, Cedine left the mansion. As she walked, feeling the warmth of the sunlight, a question belatedly occurred to her.

“Wait, he didn’t say anything about prohibiting access to the basement, did he?”

Was Ivlik simply forgetful, or was he already setting a trap? It would certainly look suspicious if she brought up the basement first. At this point, she had no choice but to wait until she officially moved into the mansion.

“Come to think of it, that smiling face… I think it’s the first time I’ve seen it.”

Was Ivlik Wintermore a man capable of such an affectionate expression? Cedine was preoccupied with thoughts of Ivlik all the way home.

* * *

As the wedding preparations steadily progressed, Cedine’s confusion only deepened. Ivlik was acting the part of a new groom completely smitten with his bride seven years his junior, just as written in the contract. The problem was that his acting skills were so excellent that Cedine often found herself flustered.

‘The skinship is too frequent…’

It was so different from when he was preparing for the wedding with Karen in her previous life. Back then, Ivlik fulfilled his duties as a groom by assigning an upper-class wedding planning team to the bride-to-be. The team, welcoming a high-profile client after a long time, selected only the finest items for everything from floral decorations to tableware for the reception.

The behavior of those considered the best grooms in society is to not care how much money the bride-to-be spends, and then appear casually near the end of preparations to say, ‘You can do whatever you want.’

In that aspect, Ivlik was the best of the best. Everyone involved in the wedding preparations unanimously praised Karen as a lucky bride. They said not only was the groom so handsome and wealthy, but he was also generous with his wife’s spending.

‘Can’t you just do the same for me?’

Having a dedicated team for the bride was the same as in the previous life. But that was the only similarity; everything else was different. For one thing, Ivlik didn’t leave Cedine’s side during the wedding preparations.

Cedine felt awkward even holding hands with him, but Ivlik naturally put his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. As this happened repeatedly, someone from the dedicated team offered a congratulatory remark that wasn’t quite congratulatory, saying they would have a baby soon.

“We’ll follow Cedine’s wishes regarding family planning. Besides, Cedine is still too young.”

Ivlik responded like this to those words. He could have just brushed it off with a faint smile! He always added something extra, making her unsure where to look.

One day, Ivlik personally drove Cedine to a master craftsman’s workshop. Since they had already had their everyday wedding rings custom-made, Cedine had to ask about the purpose of the visit.

“I have to fulfill the second clause.”

“But we already had the wedding rings made with real diamonds… didn’t we?”

“Those are for everyday use.”

Ivlik personally pulled out a velvet-covered chair for guests. It was such small gestures of consideration that made Cedine Liere uncomfortable. Every time he was kind to her and smiled, Cedine felt a slight twisting in her stomach.

‘He’s not usually like this.’

Then again, even the Bluebeard in the fairy tale proposed to the protagonist with gold and silver treasures befitting a wealthy man. He was a man who could instantly turn the protagonist into a noblewoman, and the protagonist accepted the courtship of this charming rich man.