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Chapter 6
After the Contract Ended
“…Excuse me?”
“In other words, publicly, we’ll say that you fell for me first.”
“W-What did you just say?”
“To explain it more clearly, we’ll say that you passionately pursued me, and I was moved by your persistent sincerity and accepted your feelings.”
“…”
Serenia froze completely like a stone statue.
Seeing her reaction, he immediately looked displeased and added bluntly,
“Well, if you don’t like it, forget it.”
Then he raised his hand as if he were about to tear up the contract immediately.
Startled, Serenia hurriedly waved both hands.
“Ahhh! No, no!”
Then, after agonizing for a long time while stomping her feet in frustration, she finally nodded with the expression of someone forced to swallow poison.
“…Fine. Let’s do that. We’ll say I fell for you and chased after you…”
“Excellent. Then it’s a promise.”
Quickly accepting her words, he immediately picked up the fountain pen.
His elegant hand moved smoothly as he wrote his name beneath the <Party B> signature line.
“…What is this?”
She genuinely could not read it at all.
“My signature.”
Looking rather proud, he pointed at the thing he had just scribbled onto the paper.
The famous handwritten signature of Ain Reveron, the very autograph that once made an ordinary theater poster sell for the enormous price of 76 crovats and 33 tillings.
But to Serenia, who knew none of that, it only looked like some strange creature made by combining a starfish and a sea worm.
‘The moment he suddenly started drawing star-like shapes, I knew something was wrong. But I still waited patiently until the end just in case!’
Serenia narrowed her eyes deeply while glaring at his signature.
She could not recognize even a single letter properly.
Maybe the first letter was A… no, E…? Or maybe O?
“Or maybe… I, I… Ah! Ian?”
“…”
Just from his cold expression alone, she could tell she was wrong.
“That name brings back memories.”
His voice sounded gentle and soft.
Yet somehow, every word he spoke stabbed directly into Serenia’s ears, making her squeeze her eyes shut tightly.
“Not anymore, but in the past, there were quite a few people who mistook my name for that.”
“I-I see…”
“Well, I understand. The spelling order can be a little confusing. And honestly, Ian is a more common name.”
“…Yes, that’s true.”
“I think I’ve given enough hints by now.”
Urged on by his gaze, Serenia forced out an awkward smile and spoke carefully.
“…Ain?”
He smiled brightly.
“Correct.”
Then, still smiling happily, he added,
“Since it’s for you specifically, I’ll make sure you never confuse it again.”
“Huh?”
Before she could even say that wasn’t necessary, he suddenly raised his hand.
The strange movement floating through the air like a drifting cloud unconsciously drew Serenia’s attention for a moment.
And the next second—
“Aing♡.”
Poking one cheek with his finger, he made a cutesy voice.
Serenia barely managed to stop her fist from flying toward him.
Meanwhile, Ain kept smiling brightly while mercilessly testing the last thread of patience she was barely holding onto.
“So? You won’t forget it anymore now, right?”
A heavily suppressed voice leaked through Serenia’s clenched teeth.
“Ah. Yes…”
While Serenia ground her teeth furiously, Ain neatly organized the contracts by tapping them together and placed them into two envelopes.
Seeing that, Serenia widened her eyes.
“What are you doing now?”
“I’m organizing the contracts.”
“Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know that?”
“Then why…?”
“You still didn’t tell me your full name.”
“I just did.”
“No! Not that starfish-looking thing! You also need to explain the sea-worm-looking part too!”
“The sea… what?”
“Your surname! Your surname!”
At her words, Ain stared at her as though she were an incredibly strange person.
“That’ll disappear once we get married anyway, so why would you need to know it?”
“…Huh?”
Looking completely stunned, Serenia blankly accepted the envelope containing the contract as he handed it over.
“Well then, the contract is finished, and it’s very late already. You should get going now.”
“Huh? Ah…”
His escorting manner was so smooth and natural that Serenia unconsciously took his hand and stood up from the sofa.
Then, before she realized it, she was already standing outside the mansion entrance.
Her mouth fell open after seeing the luxurious four-horse carriage parked proudly in front of the mansion instead of the shared carriage she had arrived in.
After helping her safely into the carriage, Ain did not politely bow goodbye.
Instead, he climbed into the carriage after her.
The door shut behind them, and at the same moment, the carriage began moving powerfully forward.
Inside the carriage brightly lit by lamps,
Serenia stared directly at the man sitting across from her with a cheerful smile before speaking.
“What exactly are you doing now?”
Ignoring her cold tone entirely, he answered with the same smiling face.
“Now that we’re engaged, I can’t possibly send my fiancée home alone this late at night.”
“Hah! But apparently it’s perfectly fine to only tell your fiancée half your name?”
“Hm? My lady, you should be accurate with your words. It’s not that I didn’t tell you. I already told you, and you forgot.”
Under the long sleeves of her dress, Serenia’s fists trembled violently.
She desperately wanted to punch that smug face.
“In any case, I have no desire to pay an additional six million crovats, so I have no choice but to fulfill my moral responsibilities as your fiancé.”
Putting on the large wide-brimmed hat inside the carriage, he subtly blocked the carriage window with his body.
Serenia looked slightly suspicious of his actions, but soon stopped caring.
Completely unaware that outside the very window he was covering, a large theater poster for <Little Duke Razkal> with his full name written across it had just passed by.
The large four-horse carriage moved smoothly even across the snow-covered roads.
‘Money really is nice.’
After barely any time had passed, the carriage already arrived in front of the Count’s estate, making Serenia think such shallow thoughts.
Meanwhile, Ain opened the carriage door and politely extended his hand.
“The ground is slippery because of the snow. Please hold onto me while getting down, my lady.”
It was flawless escorting manners, but somehow that only annoyed her more, so she answered sarcastically.
“Wow. Thank you sooo much, Mr. Ain Whatever.”
“My. It seems you hold grudges longer than I expected.”
“I don’t want to hear that from a petty man who took compensation and still only revealed half his name. Mr. Ain Whatever.”
“Petty? Hearing that from someone cruel enough to completely forget the name of a man who properly introduced himself is truly heartbreaking.”
Serenia glared fiercely at the man who somehow only spoke painful truths.
Of course, he continued smiling brightly without caring at all.
After pouting for a moment, Serenia changed the subject.
“So, where should we meet tomorrow morning? Mr. Ain Whatever?”
At those words, the smile on his face suddenly froze.
“Tomorrow… morning?”
Seeing him ask back strangely, Serenia nodded.
“Yes. We should go when the office opens so the government building won’t be too crowded.”
“The government office? Why would we go there…?”
“Why else? To register our marriage, obviously.”
At her answer, his eyes widened in shock behind the purple-tinted glasses.
“We’re registering the marriage immediately? Without an engagement ceremony or wedding or anything?”
At his repeated question, Serenia lazily replied,
“Is there a problem with that?”
“No, not exactly, but still…”
“If there’s no problem, then let’s just do it that way.”
Then she deliberately put on an even more shameless expression and added,
“I’m in a hurry for the money.”
In truth, it was not that urgent.
But she had no idea when Rascal might suddenly appear demanding her life, so she needed to receive the money as quickly as possible.
Only if she got the money before dying could she prepay thirty years’ worth of her father’s hospital bills and repay the bank debts.
Not knowing any of that, Ain looked slightly flustered before noticing the Count’s estate, which appeared so lifeless that not even a servant or a single light could be seen.
Only then did he nod as if he finally understood.
Seeing the pitying look in his eyes, Serenia almost exploded in irritation but barely held herself back and instead offered him bait to persuade him.
“Instead, after I receive the three million crovats, I’ll do whatever you want. Engagement ceremony, wedding, anything.”
While carefully hiding the words she did not say aloud:
‘That is, if I’m even still alive by then.’
