Looking for the Villainess’s Contract Husband
Chapter 11
‘Hup.’
For the first time in my life, I encountered a pair of eerie, blood-colored eyes. They stared at me as if I were prey.
Compared to that gaze, the eyes of the wolves that had chased Paul and me through the forest could almost be described as warm.
I realized anew how difficult it was to capture someone’s atmosphere and appearance in mere words.
The ‘Jack Esperanza’ etched in my mind from the novel’s passing descriptions was nothing like this.
The man looking at me from across the desk, his head tilted at a crooked angle, could only be described with one word: ‘chilling.’
Black hair covered a white, straight forehead, and beneath sharp eyes, those red pupils looked like the physical manifestation of a wild beast.
For a moment, the image of the wolves in the forest overlapped with him, and I almost flinched backward.
However, I bit the inside of my cheek and managed to hold my ground.
‘I can’t show that I’m scared.’
Whether it was a beast or a person, they were bound to try and devour you if you looked weak.
Moreover, I couldn't afford to give a fragile impression from our very first meeting to the person I had to propose a ‘deal’ to.
A deal is, after all, something that takes place between two people of equal standing; it should never take the form of one person granting a favor to another.
I wasn’t sure if I should call it luck, but those thoughts and my subsequent behavior seemed to have made a somewhat positive impression on the Duke.
I saw a flicker of interest spark in those blood-red eyes that had been so menacing just a moment ago.
“……Hmph.”
The corners of the expressionless Duke’s mouth twitched upward slightly.
Only then did he rise from his seat and gesture with his chin toward the old man standing behind me.
“Good work. You may leave. Make sure no one gets near.”
“Understood.”
The old man bowed politely and left, closing the door behind him. The Duke walked around the desk and pointed to a sofa on one side of the room.
“Sit. You are a guest of sorts, I can’t have us talking while you're standing.”
“……Thank you.”
I felt a subtle thorn in his words, but I ignored it and approached the sofa.
However, as I nonchalantly tried to climb onto it, I froze.
‘……It’s high.’
Perhaps because it was designed for adults, the black velvet sofa reached up to my waist. I could get up if I put my legs up first, but I worried that doing so would make me look like a complete child from behind.
“Ah. Just a moment.”
Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind me, and my body was abruptly hoisted into the air.
‘Ack.’
I was so surprised I couldn't even let out a gasp. By the time I blinked, I was already settled on the sofa.
The Duke, who had removed his hand from my waist, shrugged and sat down across from me. His brow furrowed slightly.
“My apologies. Lucian climbs up just fine, so I did that out of habit.”
His sincere apology was somewhat unexpected. I tilted my head, then smiled softly.
‘That’s a relief.’
He seemed a bit blunt and cold, but he didn't appear to be a rude or arrogant person.
‘Well, if he were, he would have appeared as a villain alongside Marquis Diarmuid in the original story.’
I had been worried because, if my plan succeeded, my mother would have to live as his wife, at least on the surface. This was a stroke of luck in the midst of misfortune.
I took a light breath and organized what I wanted to say in my head.
Meanwhile, the Duke tilted the teapot on the table, poured some tea himself, and pushed the cup toward me.
“So.”
The sharpness that had briefly vanished returned to the Duke’s face. He looked at me with eyes full of wariness, making no effort to hide his suspicion.
“Who are you? As far as I know, Marquis Diarmuid has only one daughter. Are you some hidden illegitimate child?”
Hearing that, I stopped before I could wrap my hands around the warm teacup and marveled internally.
‘Is this what it means to be a Ducal family?’
Paul had lost consciousness after bringing me here, and I hadn't uttered a single word about myself since I woke up. Furthermore, according to Paul, the knights who had come to fetch my mother and me had intentionally avoided wearing badges symbolizing the Marquisate to prepare for any potential ambushes.
So, even if they had searched Paul’s belongings, it wouldn't have been easy to identify which family he belonged to. Yet, he had accurately brought up the name of the Diarmuid Marquisate.
‘Well, since Gilbert and his party passed through the Capital gates in disguise on the same day, he might have started investigating from there.’
Since this wasn't something I needed to hide from him, I spoke readily.
“No. I am Gretel Diarmuid’s daughter.”
“……If you mean Gretel Diarmuid, isn't the Lady of Diarmuid still unmarried?”
“Publicly, yes.”
“Hmm…….”
The Duke’s eyes narrowed. He was silent for a moment as if trying to gauge whether my words were true, then he eventually clicked his tongue.
“Well, it’s none of my business.”
Muttering softly, he leaned deep into the back of the sofa and crossed his legs. Taking a posture like that of a ‘predator,’ he spoke expressionlessly.
“I’ll ask out of courtesy before I send you back to the Marquisate. Why did you come to find me?”
His gaze made it clear that he expected nothing from me. But it was precisely that point that would help me gain the upper hand in the deal.
I met the Duke’s gaze head-on and spoke in a clear voice.
“To put it bluntly, I know that you, Duke, have no intention of getting married.”
2. The Supporting Character’s Secret
“To put it bluntly, I know that you, Duke, have no intention of getting married.”
My clear voice echoed through the drawing room.
At that, the Duke of Esperanza, Jack, let out a hollow laugh. It was only natural. After all, standing before him was a nine-year-old girl with messy hair.
Of course, it wasn't that Jack ignored Laviella’s words simply because she was a child. He was already raising a monster in his house whose worth could not be measured by age.
But in short, this was a matter of common sense.
‘There’s no way that silent fellow went around blabbing about his circumstances.’
There were now only two people in the world who knew ‘that fact.’ Jack himself, and the monster he was raising.
So, it was only natural that Jack’s mind couldn't comprehend how a nine-year-old girl he was meeting for the first time was exposing their secret.
“……You have a very vivid imagination, little lady.”
Therefore, the answer Jack could give was set. Until he knew whether the place the opponent struck was a lucky guess or a weakness they purposefully targeted, he shouldn't reveal anything hastily.
However, he almost failed to maintain his composure at the words that followed.
“Lucian Floyd.”
“…….”
“Ah, is it Lucian Cichlid now? Anyway, you're planning to hand over the Dukedom to that boy and step down.”
For a split second, Jack almost showed his flustered state. But the years he had spent as a Duke were not in vain.
Barely managing to compose himself, Jack leaned back a bit further with a deliberate, relaxed smile. He knew that by doing so, the smile on his lips would look even more prominent. Furthermore, it gave off a strange sense of intimidation to the opponent.
Jack tilted his head at an angle and spoke with a subtle sneer.
“I have no idea what you've been talking about for a while now. Do you really think I would hand over my title to a mere collateral relative?”
Though he hid his fluster, a bit of bloodlust inadvertently leaked into Jack’s voice due to his sense of crisis. It was a chilling aura that could easily make even adults hold their breath.
But Laviella remained steadfast. Her serene light blue eyes, in contrast to her messy light brown hair, were impressive.
‘……Was that the kind of impression she gave?’
Jack narrowed his eyes and looked at the girl. Perhaps because he had only seen Laviella lying unconscious for several days, the child he was now facing eye-to-eye had quite a unique presence.
Laviella looked directly at him with eyes that felt somewhat empty and said,
“If that child were truly an ordinary ‘collateral relative,’ that would be true. But he isn't, is he?”
“Young lady.”
In the end, feeling a sense of crisis, Jack growled lowly, threatening Laviella. It was an instinctive judgment that the longer the girl spoke, the more of a threat she would become to him.
But unfortunately for him, Laviella was quick-witted. Before he could speak further, she quickly spat out the main point.
“My mother will be your shield, and I will be that boy’s shield.”
At those words, Jack’s momentum, which had been so murderous it felt as if he might draw his sword at any moment, subsided for a while. He furrowed his brow and let out a voice that was inadvertently flustered.
“……What?”
