The Obsessive Male Lead Caught Me While I Was Trying To Ditch My Ex-Husband - Chapter 38

Chapter 38 – You’re A, I’m B

Seeing Kaien grow colder at her words, she said, while secretly wanting to run away.

“I was the one who proposed the marriage first. That’s why ‘A’ in the contract is Sir Ludenberg and Gloria Blake is ‘B.’ Of course, I decided on my own, so if you don’t like it, you can edit the content.”

“Ha.”

“I wrote it to be as advantageous to you as possible. Don’t you like the terms?”

“…”

The longer she spoke, the colder became his aura.

“Why? Why the hell?’ Gloria was mortified by Kaien’s terrifying glare directed at her. She was confused when he reacted more harshly than expected. He stared fiercely at her, as she looked at him with confused eyes, then shifted his gaze to the contract. Gloria was startled by the alarming look on his face, but Kaien didn’t notice. The contract seemed meticulously written, to the point it was annoying. As Gloria said, person A in the contract was Kaien Ludenberg, and person B was Gloria Blake Vierant.

Her handwriting was smooth enough to annoy the hell out of him. The first paragraph was no different from a regular contract, so Kaien’s eyes went down quickly. From then on there was a real contract. Kaien was engulfed in the urge to tear the paper as he read the detailed items of the document.

‘Do you distrust me so much to write something so detailed?’ No matter how viciously she was betrayed by Erun, he couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t being too much.

He wanted to scream. Take her by the shoulders and shout “Don’t treat me as if I’m him!!” But he held his anger back and moved to the terms of the contract starting a little below and…

“…!”

Kaien’s anger that seemed to want to tear everything at any minute vanished in an instant. Gloria, unaware of his condition, spoke quickly as his face was covered by the contract.

“If you don’t like it, I’ll edit it according to your opinions as much as possible. So tell me.”

“Wholeheartedly…”

“Wholeheartedly…?”

“I think it’s great.”

“As expected. You don’t like i– what?”

‘I wholeheartedly hate it.’ She expected him to be angry, but the unexpected response made Gloria jump. So unexpected it was that the surprise made Gloria’s chair fall with a loud thud. As the chair fell, Kaien shifted his gaze from the papers and looked at her. Taken aback, Gloria turned to lift the heavy golden chair.

“Ah?”

Gloria, swearing at the heavy chair for needlessly falling so hard, raised her head as it got dark over her. Above her, Kaien was smiling for no apparent reason.

“I’ll do it.”

He gently wrapped Gloria’s waist and pulled it back. The already half-lifted golden chair stood perfectly with Kaien’s force. Gloria was a little amazed yet a bit frightened by his strength to lift such a heavy chair with one hand and no effort. But she was even more taken aback by him as he started to straighten the crumpled contract after raising the chair.

‘You were so frighteningly angry before, but why are you smiling again?’ As she complained inwardly, thinking a man’s heart was the greatest maze of all, Kaien spoke, pointing his finger at the very first part of the contract.

“Did you think of this on your own, Your Majesty?”

“Not only that, but I wrote it all down by myself, Duke.”

‘Is this man taking me lightly now?’ At Kaien’s question, Gloria frowned and responded sharply. There was a limit. ‘Am I being treated like an idiot who can’t even think of a contract?’

Despite Gloria’s sharp reaction, Kaien was still smiling. His mood was so good that she wondered if the murderous glare directed at her was just a dream.

As Kaien read the contract, he began to smile more and more. The first clause of the contract was–

〈Article 1. A (Kaien Ludenberg) should kiss B (Gloria Blake Vierant) lovingly in front of everyone at least three times a day and at most seven times a day〉

He wondered why this was the first article written, but Kaien was so pleased with the clause that he didn’t even think to ask. Gloria’s face turned red at the sight of Kaien smiling at the contract while reading it. She shuffled through the scattered official documents and spoke hastily as if making excuses to the ‘very pleased’ Kaien.

“Whether you divorce or stay married and leave the country, it’s up to you. As long as we get rid of Erun, I will provide full support for whatever you want, as well as the cost.”

“…”

“However, until Erun is removed, I want to follow the contract and prevent other men from approaching me. I don’t want any suggestions about bringing any foreigners as concubines.”

‘Ah! I don’t know why my face is hot, really!!’ Gloria lowered her head as she felt the heat rise. She didn’t write the contract by asking anyone for help. She just used the ‘data’ as a reference. Holding the slippery pen in her sweaty hands, Gloria spoke to Kaien, who seemed to have flower petals sprinkling from his back.

“Certainly. I’ve never been in a proper relationship, so… I’ve referred to some of Diana’s romance novels. Even though I was an idiot for using such nonsensical prose as a reference… Still, I wrote as much as I thought possible. Originally, it would be signed after corrections, but considering the specificity of the relationship between you and me… it may need to be corrected after signing it…”

“Are you saying you’re going to sign it first so that I don’t run away?”

“I know the duke is not a person who would run away anyway, but I want to make sure. Oh, I’m not going to refuse any modifications though.”

‘What I’m talking about. It’s too ridiculous, so of course, you’ll ask to lower the level!’ Even thinking about it herself, it was absurd that she wrote a contract based on a romance novel. She wrote all night long after reading several romance novels recommended by Diana. Kaien looked at Gloria as if amused. Her face was lowered deeply enough to be embedded in the paperwork, and, contrary to the smooth and nonchalant words she spoke, Gloria’s neck and ears were bright red.

“What are you taking there, Diana?” Not long ago. As soon as she got home, she ran to the library, pulled out dozens of books, and placed them in a carriage. Kaien wondered why she had to come all the way home to take some books, considering the imperial palace had a larger library. More than anything else, all the books she took had red covers meant for adult romance books. Unlike the book she was carrying, Diana replied with a very serious face.

“Brother. I finally succeeded. She came over…!”

“What?”

“I have to hurry! It’s very urgent!”

Kaien felt even more at loss at his sister’s absurd words. Diana was more concerned about her task than her brother’s mood and urged the coachman. He had an ominous feeling at the sight of his younger sister returning to the imperial castle, raising dust without a proper goodbye. The only person the Duchy’s princess would refer to using honorifics was Gloria, the empire’s emperor.

[tl/n: the last sentence may not make sense because when Diana said “She came over” she uses a Korean particle that’s used only to speak of someone who’s higher ranking than us or we highly respect]

The romance novels went to Gloria as he expected, but he never imagined that she would use them as a reference to write the terms of their contract. Kaien held the contract papers to his chin and drew a deep smile. His amethyst eyes were somehow filled with sweetness. However, Gloria, with her face on the desk, remained unaware of it. He spoke in a voice filled with satisfaction as she still hid her face, ashamed of what she had written.

“I’m so satisfied that I want to go to my sister and pay my respects to her.”

Kaien’s low-pitched voice that flew raspy through his smile sounded like the growl of a beast. Gloria tried to remain calm and sign the official documents but… She made the big mistake of letting a long line darken the papers.

‘This man. Since earlier– that expression is very annoying!’ Gloria looked at Kaien’s face, which changed every minute since he held the contract.

‘I’m already busy with the estate affairs, so I wanted to sign the contract as soon as possible…!’

“Your Majesty.”

“…”

At Kaien’s call, Gloria clenched her pen. The strength made the pen pierce the paper and scratch the desk. He nonchalantly passed the contract to her, even though he had clearly heard the sound of the paper being pierced.

‘Are you asking me to fix it?’

Kaien spoke to Her Majesty the emperor, who did not hide her emotions.

“I think it’s not enough. If we’re going to do it, we should be clearer.”

“You’re dropping honorifics, Duke.”

‘Ah. Can’t I just hit his head?’ Gloria clenched her fists and glared at Kaien.

‘I’ll feel better after he dies!’ It was Kaien who looked at her with murderous eyes because of the contract.

‘Even more!’ Gloria bit her lip hard at the sight of his smile which made her dizzy. ‘Even more-! I’ll lose my mind because of that expression!’

Kaien didn’t stop, even though he knew the intent behind Gloria’s expression. He began by asking her to revise the first clause step by step.

“In the first clause, please write the following condition ‘Even if there are no eyes around, the number of times must be fulfilled.’ The second clause, ‘’A can enter B’s bed.’ Be sure to add ‘anytime.’”

“…”

“In the third clause, ‘When there are many eyes around, A and B call each other by nicknames.’ Please correct it to ‘Even with no eyes around.’”

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