章節 6: Contract conditions (1)
Collins Estate.
"Young master, I have brought your breakfast," the butler, Alfred said as he entered Edgar's study with a tray.
He found it odd Edgar was not seated at his desk as he normally would. Instead, Edgar was peering out his window which had a clear view of the entrance of his home.
Alfred placed the tray down on the desk and straightened it out before turning around to see if there was anything else Edgar would need. Unfortunately, it did not seem like Edgar realized he was even there.
"Young master," Alfred called out again.
"Good morning Alfred," Edgar looked away from the window to Alfred standing behind him. "Thank you for breakfast."
"Are you expecting guests? Should I prepare breakfast for them or have drinks prepared?" Alfred figured that was the reason Edgar was staring out the window.
The only person Edgar did this for was his mother, but it wasn't due to him being excited about her visit. Instead, Edgar did this to see who was tagging along with his mother so he would know to abruptly leave home.
"I am honestly not sure. I gave her the invitation but it is not certain she will arrive unless she is truly desperate," Edgar went back to looking out his window. He was curious to see if Alessandra really would visit him.
She was never seen out in public so her coming all the way here to make a marriage contract with him was intriguing.
"A woman visiting? In broad daylight?" Alfred was utterly surprised.
Edgar frowned, turning to look at Alfred once again. "What are you trying to say, Alfred? That I am some kind of whore?"
"Yes," Alfred bowed.
Edgar couldn't believe Alfred had answered honestly. Had it been anyone else, Edgar would have sent them out, but Alfred was a long-time friend and father figure. "I am not. Please refrain from saying such a thing if the guest is to arrive. She might become the lady of this house."
"W-What," Alfred had to hold onto the desk to stop himself from falling.
Edgar stared unamused at Alfred's dramatic reaction. "Why are you acting like it's such a surprise I would get a wife?"
After a brief moment, Alfred recollected himself since he needed to get the truth. "Your exact words when the king suggested you marry where I am never fucking getting married. I would rather jump from the roof and die. Maybe I misinterpreted those words. I apologize."
"Alfred, I sincerely believe I inherited my dramatic nature from you. I am not interested in marriage, but the woman I met last night was intriguing. A perfect way to piss off the king and ward off some people from around me."
"I do not understand," said Alfred. How would the lady coming piss off the king and ward off others?
"It will be self-explanatory if she arrives today. If a Barrett comes to visit me, let them in. Not the father," Edgar added since he could not stand the man.
"Barrett? Is it Kate?" Alfred spoke softly. She wasn't what Alfred had in mind to be Edgar's wife nor did he see how intriguing she was. "Did you drink at the party last night Edgar?"
"No, I only had a quick smoke break," Edgar replied, leaving the window to see what Alfred brought him for breakfast.
"Smoke? Excuse me, I shall check all your cigars," Alfred bowed, ready to leave the room to check Edgar's supply.
"What the fuck for?" Edgar looked to Alfred for an explanation.
"If you find Kate Barrett to be intriguing-"
"Are you crazy?" Edgar stopped Alfred in his tracks. "The baron has another daughter. Alessandra Barrett is the older one."
"Thank goodness," Alfred held his chest and sighed.
"You are aware of the rumors concerning her right?" Edgar believed Alfred shouldn't be so relieved yet.
"Anyone is better than Kate in my book. If that younger girl were to become your wife, I would finally retire after forty years. We are not so sure Alessandra will even arrive. When was the last time you-"
A knock at the door interrupted Alfred.
Alfred excused himself to see who had come to see Edgar. He opened the door to find a maid, seemingly scared to hand him a paper before going back to her duty. Alfred closed the door as he read the paper. "It appears we are in for a surprise. Alessandra Barrett wishes to have an audience with you."
Edgar was pleasantly surprised to hear she had arrived already or even that she had come at all. "Invite her to my study."
"Yes young master," Alfred bowed, then proceeded to do as he was told.
"Stop bowing so much Alfred. You are not a priest," Edgar said as Alfred left the room. "Alessandra Barrett, what an interesting person you are."
Edgar wanted to judge if the baron truly had nothing to do with Alessandra wanting to get married. Their meeting wouldn't have been that coincidental as he told the baron he was going out to smoke and then Alessandra magically appeared.
The only thing making Edgar believe this might be a coincidence was the baron not sending his younger daughter.
Meanwhile, Alessandra exited the carriage her father gave her to ride around for the day. Luckily, Mario had spoken to the coachman and nothing about this visit was to be mentioned to her father.
If the coachman showed any signs of betraying what he promised, Alessandra didn't mind playing into the rumors about herself to threaten the man.
"This is huge," Alessandra commented as she looked around the entrance of the duke's estate. It was no wonder why he was the biggest catch to get married to. The man was filthy rich. "Good morning," she said as armored men walked past her.
"Good morning," they replied in unison.
Alessandra was surprised they had not flinched when they looked at her mask. 'At least the guards here are not afraid of stupid rumors,' she thought.
Moments later, the large doors of Edgar's home opened up revealing a man in butler clothes.
"Welcome Alessandra Barrett. The duke is expecting you," Alfred greeted the young woman. He did not react to her mask and made sure not to stare at it since the action would be rude. He made a mental note to tell the other workers to do the same.
"Good morning. It's nice to meet you," Alessandra said as she approached Alfred. She held out her hand to properly greet the man when she stood in front of him.
Alfred shook her hand happily. It was rare for many of Edgar's guests to greet him like this, but Alessandra did it without a second thought. "Come, I shall lead the way."
Alessandra felt unable to breathe when she entered the duke's home for the first time. The duke appeared to be a collector of many paintings Alessandra wished she could get her hands on. The home was painted in white with countless famous paintings around.
She was amazed by the interior of the home but once she realized how much she was ogling at it, she cleared her throat and just looked ahead to where the butler was taking her.
"I'm sorry. I did not get your name," Alessandra said after she noticed she had not asked for the butler's name.
"Alfred," he replied.
"Nice to meet you, Alfred," Alessandra smiled.
"He is in here," Alfred knocked on the door and then opened it for Alessandra to walk in. He did not know how Edgar and Alessandra got to the point of wanting to marry each other, but Alfred was starting to like the young woman.
"Thank you," Alessandra told Alfred before entering the room. She felt her heart skip a beat when the door closed behind her and Alfred had not come in behind her.
"I wasn't expecting you to show up, but if you did, breakfast time was not my guess," Edgar sat at his desk watching her every move. He began to inspect the type of person Alessandra was.
"Was I meant to come in the night as a thief would?" Alessandra responded without thinking.
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章節 7: Contract conditions (2)
"I suppose coming at night would have made my men think you were a criminal. Take a seat," Edgar pointed to the free chair on the other side of his desk. "I am extremely curious to know how you were able to leave your father's home when it is said you never leave. Did you play a trick on your father or did he let you out willingly?"
As Alessandra was taking a seat, she digested Edgar's words carefully. "I am not working with my father. In fact, he would never allow me to visit this place. He would even call me crazy for thinking you would ever invite me into your home."
"Does your father hate you?" Edgar bluntly asked. There was no point in beating around the bush when what they were here to discuss was serious.
Alessandra thought about it before giving her answer. "I don't think my father hates me. He is ashamed of me. Who would want a daughter with a reputation like mine in a world like this?"
"It is a parent's job to love their child no matter what. It's a shame you were born as a baron's daughter. You would have been loved elsewhere." To Edgar, it was only people with wealth who cared to distance themselves from someone all because of reputations.
"If I were the daughter of farmers they would have rightfully cast me aside to sell their crops-"
"Why would something so drastic happen to a farmer's daughter for her to end up wearing a mask? Whatever you are hiding, it was done because you are a baron's daughter right?" Asked Edgar. "High society is quite competitive."
Edgar was well aware of the things young women do to others they were jealous of. Alessandra was no doubt in the line of someone's jealousy.
"Yes," Alessandra gave up since he was right. It all happened due to her being a baron's daughter.
"Someone must have been really jealous of you, Alessandra. Fine, let's say I believe this is all your planning and your father is not involved. Why would someone who has lived a vast majority of their life in hiding want to marry someone who has the spotlight on them?"
"Truthfully, me asking you about marriage was something that just slipped out of my mouth. I was looking for someone to get married to, but I never pictured that person to be as grand as you. I have considered three things, Duke Edgar. One, you are a private person so there would be no need for me to mingle with many people. Two, I can ward off people from coming around you. Lastly, you are capable of controlling my family," she explained.
Before falling asleep last night, Alessandra thought critically of the benefits of marrying Edgar. If she were to bring someone below her father's status, her father and stepmother could easily push that person away and Alessandra would have to stay caged up.
Now, if a man like Edgar were to come asking for her hand in marriage, her father could hardly object to it. Her main objective was to get away from her home.
"It is true that I like to keep to myself but there are few parties I need to attend whether it is hosted by family, friends, or work-related. Am I to show up without my wife? It would be boring if you hid all the time," said Edgar. He was not looking to have his wife be a prisoner.
"You are misunderstanding something, Duke Edgar. I never hid because I wanted to. I did what I was told to. I would love to go out and view the town, attend parties, and dance around. I might not have the experience and my confidence might need to increase, but I do not wish to live in the shadows anymore," she looked right into his eyes as she made this confession.
Alessandra did not care to mingle with too many people not important to Edgar, instead, she wanted to go out and start enjoying her life.
"Hmm," Edgar made a humming sound as he contemplated something. "A week ago, I would have never entertained this conversation with you, but I am in the mood to play games," he placed a piece of paper on his desk.
"What is this?" Alessandra asked as she looked at the paper with fancy designs on the edges.
"A contract marriage needs to have rules and conditions right?" Edgar pushed the paper, a pen, and ink toward her. "Let's get started."
Alessandra's eyes widened as she realized he had officially accepted her proposal for them to get married. 'Isn't this a little too easy? I expected him to grill me some more,' she thought.
"What are you waiting for?" Edgar asked when she continued to stare at the paper without doing anything.
"Sorry," Alessandra reached for the paper and pen. She gasped when Edgar grabbed her hand before she could touch the paper.
"What happened to your hand?" Edgar spotted a faint redness around her knuckles. Glancing at her other hand, he saw that it was perfectly fine. "Did you punch something or did someone hurt you?"
"It's nothing," Alessandra pulled her hand out of his grasp.
"It is something seeing that you will be my future wife. I don't take too kindly to someone hurting my people. Name the person and I shall have them punished," said Edgar. Now that they were going to be husband and wife, her problems became his.
"It was an accident Duke Edgar-"
"Just Edgar is fine. See to it that you do not have any more accidents while you are living there before we get married," Edgar decided to leave the topic for now, but he would get back to it. He didn't like the feeling he got as he thought about the life Alessandra had.
"I will try my best. Based on our conversations, no love shall be the first condition. It shall not be a problem on my end," Alessandra stated as she wrote down the first rule.
"I hope you are like this until the very end."
Alessandra looked up from the paper to Edgar. He was a handsome man, but that was all. She knew nothing about him and frankly, if she was not so desperate to leave her father's home she would have never talked to a man like Edgar. "You are not my type, Edgar."
"So, there is a type," Edgar for some reason wondered what kind of man moved her heart.
"I was hidden away, but I was not blind. What should the second condition be?" Alessandra asked so they could move on from the love topic.
"Obviously, speak of this to no one besides my butler Alfred. He shall be a shield for you in dangerous times. Three, we need to communicate any issues we have. Do not allow something small to grow and become big. It is irritating," said Edgar.
"I agree," Alessandra saw no issue in that. "I must ask that I am able to keep my mask on until I feel comfortable walking around without it on."
"That is your business. Do whatever you wish. Five, we must sleep in the same room. Why are you looking so surprised? Did you honestly think I wouldn't sleep with my wife?" Edgar tilted his head slightly as he awaited her answer.
Alessandra thought they wouldn't share the same bed, but as he said, she would be his wife even though a contract was involved. "I suppose that makes sense. It is something couples do after all."
"Everyone does it. Young or old," Edgar picked up a smooth rock from his desk to move around in his hand.
"Young? How young?" Alessandra asked.
Edgar only now realized she had misunderstood what he meant. "Sleeping, Alessandra. I was referring to just sleeping. However, if you wish for something more-"
"No! Sleeping is just fine," Alessandra looked back down at the paper feeling completely embarrassed for thinking he meant something else. "Is there anything else?"
"No, we've covered the basics. Anything else should be handled with communication in the future. You do not appear to be a difficult person who shall make things hard in the future. We can add on whatever we think of as time goes on. Sign it," Edgar reminded her.
"Don't you wish to add a punishment for anyone who breaks the contract?" Alessandra thought he would fine her or imprison her if she were to break this contract. "We have not set a timeline of how long we shall be married as well."
"The main thing on the contract is to not tell others about it. If you let it spread that we are married under this circumstance, it will hurt you more than I. I shall remain a duke while others will go out of their way to humiliate you for needing a contract. I am sure you do not want that."
Alessandra shook her head saying no.
"Lastly, we shall be married forever. I thought that was obvious," Edgar revealed to Alessandra's surprise. "Be sure to add that to the contract now as it is important."
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