Duke Ashillean’s Contractual Marriage - Chapter 18

“… What?”

“I am proposing a contractual marriage only for you to keep the oath of blood. Isn’t this what the Duke wants?”

From the novels he read so enthusiastically in his second life, this was what all the female leads said to the male lead at every beginning of a romance novel. Whenever the male leads hear this, none of them refuse to marry the female lead. Now, how is it? The fatal condition of my contractual marriage! 

Louismond looked at Rubiana with a wide smile. And so, after Rubiana heard something like a magic spell that boasts a hundred percent effective contractual marriage, she decided to accept the proposal right away…. What a load of bullcrap. 

‘What bulls**t is he saying?’

She started to suspect that the beauty in front of her was crazy. 

‘You have to be faithful to your wife once you get married and even before that. Can you dare tell me that you will have an affair with another woman?’ 

As she had said many times, Rubiana was looking for a good-looking and meticulous husband candidate. Handsomeness is the preliminary round, and the final round is being meticulous. But this self-proclaimed husband candidate who passed the preliminary qualifications with a perfect score, is disturbing the rules of the final round. Still, he’s extremely disadvantageous as the tyrant’s illegitimate son. 

‘Is he mocking me?’ 

The tyrant’s illegitimate son – is he holding a grudge towards her who killed his tyrant father and taking revenge by insulting her this way? Rubiana took a glance at Louismond’s face. She was thinking of choking his throat right away if she saw even the slightest hint of wickedness on his handsome face. 

‘I don’t think that’s the case.’

No matter how much she looked at him, he looked weaker than a rabbit. He doesn’t look like someone who could afford to raise the issue of having an affair with the Emperor’s elder sister, Duke Ashillean, under the guise of a fraudulent or contractual marriage. 

‘He’s still trembling like that, but will he be afraid of having an affair after we really get married?’ 

On such a topic (of marriage), why am I even thinking of him having an affair as if it would be my trump card? 

“Do you plan on having another woman other than your wife after marriage?”

“No, thinking of that doesn’t even make sense. I have no intention of having an illegitimate child like me.”

Louismond shook his head while saying that it’s not fair. He seemed pretty straightforward regarding this matter. He had something to say regarding that if you ask the knowledgeable and promiscuous him who was like that in his first life. 

‘I was never the first one to flirt. And no matter how crazy I was, I thoroughly used contraception.’

To avoid creating illegitimate children like myself. 

“Ah, so you’re going to have an affair using birth control?”

“No, I will only be faithful to my wife. There will be no other woman in my life other than my wife.” Louismond answered her right away without hesitation. 

It made clear that his answer wasn’t something he came up with by observing the other person’s thought, but an answer he always had in his mind. First of all, she liked his modest attitude of being faithful to his wife only during the period of their marriage. Apart from that, Louismond’s proposal wasn’t very pleasant. 

‘But he didn’t say he won’t have an affair. Then, is there any woman he likes?’

He will not love his wife even if he gets married. He just wants to stay married for three years. He will cleanly divorce after three years. She naturally inferred those after summing up the conditions Louismond had said. 

‘Count Graham must have been strongly objecting if he had a woman he likes. She may be a person with a low rank, or she may not be even a noble at all. Is that why he was planning to take shade on me from the sudden rain and achieve that love?’

If it was like that, then she could understand his desperation. 

‘A three-year contractual marriage.’

Finally, Rubiana seriously pondered over marrying Louismond. Rather than his frivolous contractual marriage proposal, she was more interested in Louismond’s beauty. 

‘I do like this illegitimate son of the tyrant. Well, it doesn’t matter if we get divorced in three years, right?’

It matters! It really matters! It was as if she could already hear Cadric shouting from afar. Rubiana ignored it. It will be over once I get married. That was she thought so she didn’t think about a marriage with an expiration date. 

It really wasn’t that bad when she gave it some thought. Her oath of blood was about her firstborn to be devoted to the temple for twenty years to serve the gods. She never vowed to marry or create a happy family, nor to only have one husband for the rest of her life or keep her marriage until the day of her death. In addition to that, she wanted to have an heir who would be loyal to the Emperor and to the Empire for generations. 

It wouldn’t be too bad to have a divorce after three years of marriage if I could only have two children. 

‘Can I have two children in three years?’

Even if Louismond’s was too weak and she could only have one child, she could choose another stronger man three years later. It doesn’t matter if she would have a clean divorce three years later as long as she can have children. Though it would be nice to have the father of the children living with them, she had the ability to raise them alone. 

Rubiana wasn’t a person who would stay in the capital for the rest of her life. The beasts beyond the wall of the North would multiply again over time. They will try to cross the border again without knowing the dangers they will face, then she would have to go back to the North and kill the beasts beyond the wall. 

The Emperor will take care of her child even if she leaves it in the temple, and she can occasionally visit the child whenever the beasts in the North are quiet. If she took her second child to the North from a very young age, the child would soon learn to adapt quickly. The child will inherit the barriers of the North if she trains the child well. After that, her children would be confident that they would have no room for loneliness without their father by their side. Therefore, it would be possible to coexist with Rubiana’s situation in which she had to get married to keep her oath of blood and Louismond’s proposal to stay married for three years, were possible to coexist with one another. 

‘Looking for a husband candidate is such a bother.’

Her heart slowly leaned towards whether she would accept Louismond’s proposal. 

‘Well, I think that’s enough for me.’

Rubiana recalled eth conditions for her husband: a handsome, moderately stupid, with a sturdy lower body. She tried to gauge Louismond based on those. One, his appearance is a pass – it is, without a question, a pass. She wondered if it was alright for her to pocket this beauty and not give him to the Emperor. 

‘Because Lena has Duke Feltharg and Duke Dominent.’

Since other nobles were busy presenting all the handsome men of the continent to the Emperor, it would be alright to skip a single Louismond, right? 

‘Yeah, it’ll be fine.’

Rubiana nodded as she recalled how she had been robbed by the young Callena with miscellaneous things such as the lace, a pretty bird sculpture, and well-crafted dagger. 

Next, she gauges him if he was moderately stupid. She also passed him without any hesitation.  The beauty in front of her was a very excellent fool. It was just amazing how he belonged to the House of Scholars. 

‘I guess his head was different after studying.’

Rubiana lightly thought of it and moved on to the last. Now, there’s only one condition left – a strong lower body. 

Rubiana scrutinized Louismond up and down with an expressionless face. He had wide shoulders, a broad chest, and a thick frame even though he looked weak. His bones looked quite sturdy contrary to his pretty appearance. She was then reminded what her subordinates were talking about on the battlefield. It’s definitely the thigh for men. If your lower body is weak then you can’t use your strength at night. In light of those words, it looks like Louismond will need to use a little bit of energy at night. 

(T/N: But Rubiana, he has enough experience in his first life. Your worry is needless devil bunny laughter in the background)

‘Then, is he also strong there?’ 

Rubiana’s eyes naturally turned in between Louismond’s legs. Her eyes were very serious and intense– because the most important condition for her husband candidate is located over there. 

‘Wh, why are you looking at me like that?’ 

Louismond couldn’t stand her gaze and slipped his hands in between his legs, covering it. His face burned and he wanted to cry for no reason. It was a different feeling from when he was teased and ridiculed. Rather than feeling a deep desire, he feels as if he was being priced as a ”stallion”. 

“E, excuse me… Duke.”

It wasn’t intentional, but his voice was slightly trembling. He looks like a woman in the capital who had been bullied and she was ashamed to look at her. 

‘That’s why people shouldn’t judge based on first impressions alone.’ 

Rubiana reflected on herself and raised her head. Louismond was relieved that she pulled her gaze away from between his legs. Rubiana smirked and laughed because his expression of relief was so serious. 

“Great, I will seriously consider your proposal.”

She retrieved the sword placed on Louismond’s shoulder. Louismond rejoiced like a man who died seven times and passed on his eighth chance. 

“Tell me anything. I will obey them.” Louismond said as he lowered his moist eyes and blushing face. 

“It’s easy to say since you’re so determined. After three days, at night, come to my mansion. Let’s check the Lord’s reproductive ability first.” 

“Yes, of course… pardon?” Answering her without thinking, Louismond understood Rubiana a beat late. 

“…!” Mouth wide open. 

“Hey, what if your chin falls off?”

Rubiana kindly closed Louismond’s chin directly. Snap. As soon as his teeth were tightly knitted, his mushy and pink emotions quickly escaped from him: ‘Oh, sorry. We came to the wrong place. This was a place we shouldn’t have come to!’ 

“Wh, what ability are you talking about?” 

Louismond stuttered, his face was flushed red. 

“Didn’t you tell me you knew about the oath I made to God?”

“Don’t you just need to get married?”

“No, marriage is just a process to fulfill the oath.”

Rubiana thought as she examined the expression on Louismond’s face, ‘Now I’m sure he didn’t know exactly what my blood oath is about. Where, and how did he even know about it?’

And she continued speaking without revealing her inner feelings. 

“I need a child, two at that.”

Part of her oath was ‘I will dedicate my first child to God,’ but she didn’t tell him that detail. She didn’t feel the need to tell him anything. It was such a bother to talk for a long time. 

“So during our three years of marriage, the Lord should actively cooperate in order for me to have at least two children.”

“Child? Are you saying you need two of them?”

“That’s the condition for my marriage, so it might be a little different from the one you were thinking of.” 

‘He must be hesitant to marry and have two children with me when he has a woman he likes.’ 

Rubina said those out of consideration for Louismond. She gave him three days, enough for him to think about it.

‘I also have something to look into.’

Even if this illegitimate son of the tyrant met all the conditions for her husband material, it would be rash to accept his marriage proposal. At the very least, she should tell it to the Emperor in advance and get her permission to decorate him with something. 

(T/N: Rubiana is lowkey pervert devil laughs I like that about her hahahaha)