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CHAPTER 74…
“Did something happen?”
“Ah, well…”
I was about to casually bring up the topic of marriage, but then a thought stopped me, and I clamped my mouth shut.
‘He’s someone who’s avoiding marriage—wouldn’t it make things awkward if I brought it up?’
So instead, I quietly averted my gaze from his curious eyes and changed the subject.
“I guess I was just nervous about meeting Her Majesty the Empress. Anyway, did you wait long? I told you you could go back first.”
“It’s fine. I paid a quick visit to the future emperor myself.”
He meant he’d gone to see Rudian.
I took Idris’s hand—which he now held out to me as naturally as ever—and asked jokingly,
“Trying to get in early with the next emperor?”
“You have to invest when they’re young if you want to get the best return with minimal input. He’s happy with toys now, but who knows—he might ask for a mine someday.”
Even while clearly adoring his nephew, he still kept up the act of being a shrewd businessman. It made me chuckle.
“So you’d better stay on his good side too. He was asking for you earlier, you know.”
“I’d love to go see him right away, but unfortunately, I can’t today. I have somewhere I need to stop by.”
Idris helped me into the carriage, then followed me inside.
As he settled in, he pulled something out from his inner pocket and asked,
“Where to?”
“I’m thinking of looking at some houses. If you’re busy, you can just drop me off.”
“A house?”
I told him about the plan I’d formed on the way out of the Empress’s palace.
“I’ve saved up enough money now, so I thought I’d start preparing to move out.”
“…You’re moving out?”
“I can’t keep depending on you forever. Once the divorce gets approved, our contract will end too…”
At that moment, the paper Idris was holding crumpled in his hand.
It was the same thing he’d pulled from his pocket earlier.
The air around us suddenly seemed to cool as well.
But maybe that was just my imagination—because when I blinked again, his expression looked… troubled.
“That contract… It might be difficult to end it right away. His Majesty’s been pushing even harder for marriage lately.”
…So it wasn’t just me getting pressured.
‘But Idris already has someone he’s waiting for…’
After a brief moment of thought, I offered a possible solution.
“Then maybe it’s better to start seeing someone else now? You could use the excuse that you’re still getting to know each other to buy some time…”
My suggestion came from concern—if he kept seeing the same person, wouldn’t that just increase the pressure to get married?
But for some reason, Idris’s expression suddenly turned cold.
“Is there any need for that? Your divorce hasn’t even been approved yet.”
That’s when I realized what was bothering him.
‘Thanks to Idris stirring up a scandal, my divorce is practically done—but now I’m just trying to walk away… I must seem pretty selfish.’
He probably expected me to stick it out as his partner through all the marriage pressure.
Before I could clarify my intentions, he spoke again.
“Was I not good enough to be your partner?”
I flinched, startled, and quickly tried to explain.
“That’s not what I meant—”
“Or… is there someone else you like?”
As if! At this point, I was sick of love, fate, or any of that romantic nonsense—probably for the rest of my life.
But I couldn’t even crack a joke in response, not with the way his golden eyes were staring at me.
There was something chilling about that look.
Meeting his gaze suddenly reminded me of something I’d been forgetting—
This man was the original story’s villain.
“If that’s not it…”
His deep voice trailed off as his long, elegant fingers slipped between mine, intertwining them—
As if binding me.
“Stay with me. Just a little longer.”
His voice pierced me like an arrow—half-command, half-plea.
All I could do was nod.
While Idris clearly wasn’t keen on ending our contract early…
He didn’t have much to say when I argued,
“Still, it’s not right for an unmarried man and woman to live together.”
So now—
We arrived at a real estate agency that dealt in property and land.
As I stepped down from the carriage with his help, I noticed something bulging slightly at his chest.
“By the way, Idris—you were going to show me something earlier, weren’t you?”
When I gestured at his chest, Idris flinched slightly, then pulled a document from his inner pocket.
Was it just my imagination, or did he look oddly cold as he stared at it?
“Oh, this?”
Then—
“It’s just trash.”
He used magic to incinerate the document in an instant.
And he smiled as if nothing had happened at all…
‘Suspicious…’
Who carries trash neatly in their inner pocket?
I stared at the now-floating ashes with narrowed eyes, but my suspicion didn’t last long.
Idris suddenly took my hand and led me forward.
“Shall we go in?”
“W-Wait!”
The moment we stepped into the office, a short, chubby middle-aged man who had been nodding off shot up in surprise.
He blinked sleepily a few times, then widened his eyes when he recognized Idris.
“Y-Your Grace the Duke?!”
“It’s been a while.”
“Duch—ah, Lady Chloel, you’re here as well!”
The agent had almost called me the duchess before quickly correcting himself.
Classic slick merchant behavior.
“What brings the two of you here today? Looking to purchase some land?”
Officially, all land in the capital belonged to the emperor. But in practice, the emperor allowed nobles to use the land freely to carry out their social and political lives.
Over time, as commerce developed and wealth grew in influence, more and more people started buying and selling these land-use rights.
That trend gave rise to agencies like this one—handling the sales of estates and land in the capital on behalf of busy nobles.
Of course, owning land in the capital was a status symbol for noble families with real central influence, so properties rarely went up for sale.
But occasionally, someone was forced to sell.
‘Like my father, for instance.’
A few years ago, my father—Baron Chloel—ruined his business and sold our estate.
I had hated the idea of selling the house filled with memories of my mother, but as I wasn’t a duchess back then, all I could do was watch it happen.
‘I’d love to buy that house back someday…’
That nostalgic thought crossed my mind, and I turned to the agent.
“Is it possible to purchase the estate at 84 Maven Street?”
“Hmm, I don’t believe that property is currently listed… Let me check just in case.”
He guided us to a table, pulled some files from the shelf, and began flipping through them quickly.
A short while later—
“I’m afraid it’s not listed for sale. Would you like me to show you similar properties instead?”
It was disappointing, but I couldn’t very well go knocking on someone’s door demanding they sell their house.
I nodded.
“That’s fine.”
“Do you prefer a lively central location? Or somewhere quieter on the outskirts?”
“Hmm… Somewhere quiet, I think. I don’t like too much noise.”
“Indeed, a quiet home is best for relaxing and gathering your thoughts.”
The agent spread a map across the table and pointed to one spot.
“How about this estate?”
