Looking for the Villainess’s Contract Husband
Chapter 5
Since I had received the order, I had to follow it, but the knights seemed to hesitate at the thought that their targets held a higher social status than themselves.
Finally, Mom took a deep breath and let it out. Pulling my shoulder closer to her, she snapped coldly.
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on me or my child. We will go on our own.”
Having said that, Mom looked back at me.
She gave a small smile as if telling me not to be afraid, her voice softening.
“Livi. You mustn’t leave Mom’s side.”
“Okay, I understand.”
I nodded vigorously and clung to Mom’s arm.
In that state, we slowly moved our feet and boarded the carriage.
Perhaps because they had to hide the fact that we were members of a Marquis’s family, the exterior of the carriage was shabby and lacked any crest, but the interior was quite luxurious.
It was large enough for two people to sleep comfortably.
Of course, that didn’t make me happy.
‘It’s basically a mobile prison.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Even if it looked luxurious on the outside, this carriage was ultimately a declaration that they had no intention of ever letting Mom and me go.
The captain, a man full of suspicion and caution, followed us while blocking any path of retreat, even though knights were already standing guard on both sides of us.
Once Mom and I were inside the carriage, the captain personally locked the door tight.
Mom lightly placed her hand on the door and tried to push, but it didn’t budge.
“Hurry up! The Marquis is waiting!”
The captain raised his voice toward the knights. The outside grew even more boisterous.
I climbed onto the carriage seat on my knees and peeked out the window, but Mom wrapped her arm around my shoulder and turned me to face her.
Mom lowered her head to meet my eyes and whispered softly.
“Livi.”
“Yes.”
“We’re following their orders for now, but we’re going to look for a chance to run away. So if an opening appears, don’t panic and follow Mom immediately. You trust Mom, right?”
“Yes!”
“……Right, my baby. Mom will… Mom will make sure those people can’t do anything bad to Livi. No matter what….”
Mom murmured in a trembling voice as she pulled me into a hug.
Anxiety seeped through the way her hands tried to hold me as close as possible.
Just then, the captain and the knights swarmed out of the tower.
After sealing the tower entrance with chains and padlocks, they mounted the horses that were snorting around the carriage.
The captain shouted loudly.
“Depart!”
Soon, with a heavy jolt, the carriage began to roll.
‘So it’s really happening.’
I hugged Mom back and bit my lip anxiously.
If things continued like this, just like in the novel, I would be imprisoned away from Mom by the Marquis, and Mom would become the villain’s puppet and meet a miserable end.
I glanced out the window, desperate to find an escape route.
It was then that my eyes happened to meet Paul’s.
“……!”
Paul looked startled and whipped his head away.
My eyes narrowed at his excessively flustered reaction.
‘……Ho-oh.’
Maybe that person could be quite useful?
The carriage moved steadily toward the Capital.
Even though I occasionally stopped the carriage by feigning illness, the pace was considerably fast.
“Cough.”
“Livi, are you okay? Should I tell them to stop the carriage?”
When the cough, which had now become a habit, escaped my lips, Mom’s face hardened instantly as she asked.
I shook my head.
“I’m okay. Rather than me, Mom, your face looks worse because you’re worrying about me….”
“No, Mom is fi— ugh.”
At that moment, Mom hurriedly covered her mouth with one hand and gagged.
As soon as I saw that, I pounded on the locked window from the inside with all my might and shouted urgently.
“Mister! Mister! Mom is…! Mom is sick! Mister!”
“Livi, you’ll hurt your hand if you do that.”
Even while keeping her mouth covered with one hand, Mom tried to stop me.
My eyes welled up with heat.
Should I call it a relief? Perhaps having heard my cry, the carriage stopped before long.
I heard the sound of the latch turning with a clatter, and then the door opened, letting in a rush of cold air.
The captain, Gilbert, who blocked the entrance of the carriage with his body, spoke with a stiff face.
“What is the matter, Young Lady?”
“……It seems I’ve developed motion sickness after not riding a carriage for so long. I need to get some fresh air, even if only for a moment.”
Mom finally pulled her hand away from her mouth and spoke quietly.
However, the light in her eyes as she looked at Gilbert remained sharp and unextinguished.
For a while, Gilbert met Mom’s gaze in silence as if in a battle of wills, before he finally spoke.
“……The sun is setting anyway, so we shall rest here for the night. I will leave the door open, but you must not leave the vicinity of the carriage.”
Mom replied with a nod instead of words.
Gilbert called two knights to guard the carriage and moved away.
The place where the carriage had stopped was in the middle of a snow-covered forest.
I helped Mom sit on the edge of the carriage entrance.
“Mom, sit here.”
“Thank you, baby.”
Mom smiled faintly and stroked my hair.
Then, as if she felt nauseous again, she covered her mouth with one hand and gasped for breath.
I peeked over Mom’s shoulder and saw the knights, who had been watching us from near the carriage, finally turning their gaze elsewhere.
I felt a bit disgusted, as it felt like they chose to suspect us first even when someone was sick.
Then, a small whisper pierced my ear.
“Livi, where is Sir Gilbert?”
Surprised, I looked down to see Mom, still pale-faced, covering her mouth with one hand.
Mom’s voice was clear, not sounding like a sick person at all.
‘Was it an act to some extent?’
I marveled inwardly. And I replied just as quietly.
“He’s saying something to the other knight misters right now.”
“Is that so? What about the people guarding the carriage?”
“They’re looking toward Mister Gilbert.”
“Thank you for letting me know. Can you sit here for a moment? Mom has something to check. You have to stay quiet.”
“Okay.”
After hearing my answer, Mom scanned the surroundings for a moment.
The knights were moving busily, each tending to their tasks like starting a fire or preparing a meal.
The two knights guarding the carriage were chatting and chuckling with their comrades, their guard seemingly lowered since Mom appeared ill.
Mom rose slowly and carefully, trying not to draw the knights’ attention, and took a step.
She peered intently into the forest, appearing to look for an escape route.
Just as Mom was about to take another step.
“So… huh?”
The knight who had been talking with his comrades suddenly looked this way and discovered the seat next to me was empty, his face hardening.
He hurriedly looked around and, spotting Mom, quickly moved to block her path.
“What are you doing, Young Lady? The captain must have told you not to leave the vicinity of the carriage.”
Mom’s shoulders flinched as she stopped. She quickly smoothed over her look of dismay and said calmly.
“……I was just taking a walk. I thought walking like this would settle the motion sickness faster than just sitting still.”
“If your condition is that bad, how about taking some medicine?”
“I can endure this. If you have medicine, I’d rather you give it to my daughter.”
After brushing him off coldly, Mom turned around and came back to me.
I saw Mom, her back to the knight, biting her lip in a way that wasn’t obvious.
‘As expected, it’s not easy.’
A sigh escaped me at the sight.
Truly, for taking two people who had nothing, including physical strength, the surveillance was excessively tight.
‘At least the road to the Capital offers some possibility of escape. Once we’re inside the Capital’s walls, it’ll be impossible.’
I took Mom’s hand as she returned weakly to the seat beside me, patting it while lost in thought.
I carefully went over the things I had desperately organized in my head for the past few days.
‘The Marquis’s goal is to use Mom to give birth to a successor with Diarmuid blood, and then groom that successor to his liking to seize control of the Duchy.’
In that case, the partner doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘Patrick Brian,’ right?
‘First of all, Patrick is absolutely out. Not in a million years.’
Mom would inevitably be drawn to Patrick, who resembles my biological father, and Patrick is destined to fall in love with the Imperial Princess.
I didn’t want Mom to suffer by losing her heart to someone destined to love another.
‘First, to satisfy the Marquis, the person must at least hold the rank of a Duke.’
Also, a man with a cold and heartless personality—the exact opposite of Patrick—someone Mom would never likely fall for.
Considering the reverse as well, a man who wouldn’t become needlessly obsessed with Mom.
And finally…….
‘A man to whom I can propose a deal, using the safety of Mom and myself as collateral.’
Amazingly, there was exactly one person in the empire who satisfied all those conditions.
‘……The Duke of Esperanza.’
Jack Esperanza.
He was one of the extras in <The Princess’s Man>.
