MTEF 09

Chapter 09

‘Even Duke Riofric was like that too….’

It had been a marriage neither side originally wanted. But in the end, both had accepted it. After all, each of them had something to gain.

She didn’t know exactly what he stood to gain, but there was no way he would have agreed to this marriage empty-handed.

Because he was Riofric.

More important than Riofric’s wavering heart was solving the current situation. Ronin finally spoke.

“Pam, don’t worry. This matter….”

But a sudden wave of worry stopped him before he could finish.

‘Alistair… How disappointed will Father be in me this time?’

And what would his disappointed father do next?

The anxiety made it difficult to think clearly, but Ronin forced himself to gather courage.

“I’ll take responsibility for this. You won’t have to go through anything difficult because of it, Pam. So calm down…”

Unfortunately, those hard-earned words didn’t reach Pam at all.

“Ha! Calm down?”

Ronin Alistair had to be an idiot.

Would a vicious marquis really let this slide so generously?

And what about that greedy emperor?

Pam barely restrained herself from cursing out loud.

‘How hard did I work to get here?! I can’t be thrown out so pathetically! Think. I need to think of a way to fix this somehow!’

Like an addict searching desperately for drugs, Pam’s eyes darted around greedily.

Anything.

No matter what.

As long as she could escape this crisis.

Then something caught her eye.

There was no more time to hesitate.

The sun was already beginning to rise in the distance.

Pam grabbed the fruit knife resting on the table.

Anyone with sharp eyes and noble education would have noticed the embossed pattern on the handle was crafted in the Ebonia style.

But Pam had no interest in such things.

The only thing she cared about was how much blood would come out if she stabbed her own thigh with it.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Without hesitation, Pam drove the blade into her thigh.

She had tried to control the depth, but whether from bad luck or poor judgment, more blood poured out than expected.

Ronin, who witnessed it right in front of him, felt like he was about to faint.

‘Blood… and wounds…!’

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

Blood and injuries were exactly the kind of things that attacked Ronin’s fragile nerves.

Taking a deep breath, he barely managed to open his eyes again.

No matter what, he had to treat her.

“Pam! Wh-what are you doing?! W-we need to call a doctor right now…”

Ronin stumbled around frantically, his face pale as parchment.

Unlike usual, he was even stuttering.

Only after seeing that miserable state did the resentment in Pam’s heart ease a little.

‘Hmph. Serves you right.’

Mocking a noble while being a commoner was incredibly satisfying.

So satisfying that laughter nearly escaped her lips even while blood streamed down her thigh.

Satisfied, Pam limped toward the bed.

Then she rubbed her bloody hands against her thigh and smeared them onto the bedsheets.

To her surprise, it created a fairly convincing picture.

‘It’s not perfect, but I think I can cover the rest somehow. I can just say he finished inside me or something….’

Once she had done everything necessary, Pam washed her hands in the water jar beside the bed.

As soon as they were clean, she turned toward the final task.

“Lord Ronin, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“Y-yes… I’ll listen to whatever you say, Pam, but first we need to treat your—”

“I said listen!”

Ronin still hadn’t regained his senses.

Seeing someone bleed reminded him too much of his own past injuries.

After pushing him enough to make conversation possible, Pam spoke clearly.

“I’m taking this as proof of our first night together. What you need to do is make sure, when Duke Riofric comes later, that your stories match.”

“Proof…”

“Yes! I can’t die like this, can I? Kneel and beg him, cry if you have to, I don’t care. Just make Duke Riofric cooperate somehow!”

At those words, focus finally returned to Ronin’s sky-blue eyes.

Only then did he understand what Pam had done.

‘She forged evidence of a consummated first night. She wounded her thigh to make it look like blood from… that act.’

Ronin’s gaze shifted to Pam’s thigh.

More specifically, to the single droplet of blood running down it.

Bright red blood.

Life slipping away…

The chain of thought made his head spin.

‘No. Pull yourself together.’

Ronin shut his eyes tightly, then opened them again.

Thankfully, some of his reason returned.

‘This means deceiving the temple.’

As a citizen of the Empire who believed in the gods, it made him deeply uncomfortable.

And yet…

No words like you must not deceive the temple left his mouth.

Because Ronin wanted to survive too.

“Yes… I’ll do it. I’ll do exactly as you said. So please, at least stop the bleeding before you go. It’s still bleeding…”

Compared to before, he looked far calmer.

But his voice was still trembling.

Seeing him suffer like this, even Pam couldn’t enjoy herself completely.

“It’s not that serious…”

Pretending reluctance, Pam sat down on the edge of the bed.

Afraid she might change her mind, Ronin moved quickly.

He immediately brought medicinal herbs, clean water, and strips of cotton cloth before kneeling in front of her.

Startled, Pam flinched.

Ronin spoke softly.

“It might sting a little. But if you don’t want a scar, you’ll have to endure it.”

Apparently, he had no idea why she was surprised.

‘What an idiot.’

No noble would kneel just to treat a commoner.

Especially in a situation like this.

Normally, it would be far more natural for the commoner to kneel before the noble.

Most commoners rarely had access to proper medical treatment.

She herself had intended to roughly patch it up at the inn.

A scar was far better than being thrown out of this mansion.

‘As if anyone cares about a scar on a commoner girl’s thigh. Only fools like you would worry about something like that.’

Contrary to his warning, the herbs didn’t sting at all.

Alchemy really is fascinating…

As she thought that, the treatment was finished before she knew it.

“I’ve applied herbs to stop the bleeding, but the best thing you can do now is avoid moving around.”

Ronin said that with a gentle smile.

Looking at that transparent, utterly sincere smile made her face heat up for no reason.

Without replying, Pam grabbed the evidence and disappeared.

Though he knew she wouldn’t follow his instructions and rest, Ronin wasn’t feeling bad.

No—

He actually felt rather good.

‘At least I was useful….’

Growing up as an Omega, there were only limited things Ronin had been allowed to learn.

Pharmacology was one of them.

Unfortunately, he had never had the chance to use it.

It was far better for the Alistair family physician to handle treatment than someone like Ronin, who had only learned the basics.

Besides, as the future Empress, Ronin was forbidden from doing such trivial tasks.

While cleaning up what remained, Ronin suddenly glanced at the mirror in the room.

There stood a Beta staring blankly back at him, both cheeks dyed red.

Only after seeing his excited expression did Ronin finally come to his senses again.

‘Get a grip. This isn’t something to be happy about….’

What on earth had he done?

Not only had he allowed a young maid to injure herself…

He had actually felt happy about it.

‘And that wound happened because of me. …I just hope it doesn’t leave a scar.’

One worry gave birth to another.

‘Is Pam alright? Did the evidence reach the temple in time? How will Father react once he learns about this? Why did Riofric suddenly change his mind now? Did he decide he really couldn’t marry someone as incomplete as me after all?’

Lost in those thoughts, he had no idea how much time had passed.

The only clue was the sunlight pouring faintly through the half-drawn curtains.

Quite a lot of time had gone by.

Then suddenly—

he heard the sound of the door outside opening.

Just from that sound alone, Ronin could guess who the visitor was.

Click—

As expected.

The one opening the bedroom door where Ronin sat was…

“You’ve arrived, Sir Riofric.”

It was Caleon.