FRL 10

Chapter 10

As though those words had been a signal, the employees who had been cautiously watching from nearby suddenly lit up and grabbed Vanessa by the arms.

“What is this…!”

Perhaps it was because she had only belatedly realized what was happening.

Before she could react, the measuring tape swiftly began taking her measurements one by one.

“Can’t you stop this right now? If you don’t let go by the count of three…!”

No. If they took all her measurements like this, she really would end up wearing that dress…!

Just as Vanessa gathered up the last of her pride and was about to swing her arm—

Knock, knock.

With two monotonous knocks, someone opened the door and entered.

“I thought I should come just in case. It seems I was right to come.”

The person who had entered the room, completely unaware of Vanessa’s predicament, was none other than Ian Ruscliffe.

“Ian! You…!”

“Have you taken all her measurements?”

“Whew, huff… Only… her bust remains…!”

Apparently, Vanessa’s resistance had been stronger than expected. The employee, who had been dodging her wildly flailing hands while trying to take her measurements, panted heavily.

“…Measure it accurately.”

What exactly are you telling them to measure accurately? Are you insane?

Vanessa stopped waving her arms and stared at Ian with a horrified expression.

“I will measure it without even an inch of error!”

Why are you agreeing with that?!

Unable to believe what she was hearing, Vanessa let out a hollow laugh. Ian, meanwhile, looked straight at her with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Huh? W-wait… Where are his eyes slowly drifting toward?

“Ian Ruscliffe?”

“I can hear you, so you don’t have to keep emphasizing my name… Sasha.”

Damn it, his voice was so good.

Vanessa barely managed to keep herself from melting at the sound of it and widened her eyes.

“Sasha?”

“Since we’re going to be husband and wife, I thought it would be nice to have a nickname for you.”

“……”

“You may call me by my name as well, if you prefer.”

So the smiley face in his letter really had been modeled after his own expression.

Ian wore the exact same smile as the one in his letter. He glanced toward the employee cautiously placing the measuring tape around Vanessa’s bust before turning his gaze away.

“…I’ll wait in the drawing room.”

Vanessa noticed the tips of Ian’s ears had turned red.

Had Ian always been capable of looking like that?

Contrary to his words, his reddened ears made him look unmistakably embarrassed. And despite knowing full well that she was marrying him through a contract, Vanessa couldn’t help but wonder, just perhaps…

“Why? Weren’t you the one who told them to measure accurately?”

“……”

“What? Are you embarrassed?”

“There’s no way.”

The dry, unbearably cold voice settled over Vanessa’s ears, crushing her momentary sense of triumph as though he had just discovered her weakness.

It was enough to make her realize that perhaps her thought that their relationship might not be completely bleak had been nothing more than wishful thinking.

“I don’t need to see it. And I won’t have any reason to in the future, either.”

After finally finishing the exhausting battle over the fitting, Vanessa entered the drawing room, where Ian was staring out the window.

At the sound of her presence, he slowly turned his head.

I really can’t tell what he’s thinking.

His eyes meeting hers were still as dry and listless as though he were staring at a boring book.

He doesn’t think there’ll be any reason to see me.

He could at least try harder to make it obvious.

It’s a contractual marriage.

Vanessa grumbled inwardly and let out a quiet sigh.

Whatever. What good would getting angry now do?

After all, she had practically used Ian to avoid marrying Carlisle Leonard.

If she was going to complain about his cold attitude, she would have been better off making the proposal to someone else.

He was a man who had supposedly even made plans to become a saint at the age of forty, and he was so rigid that it seemed as though he truly didn’t understand a single thing about a woman’s heart.

Vanessa subtly avoided his fixed gaze and sat down across from him.

“…The tea tastes good.”

At his slowly spoken words, Vanessa glanced at her teacup.

“I’m glad it suits your taste.”

Couldn’t you at least take a sip before saying that?

Vanessa unconsciously pursed her lips before quickly pressing them together again. She stared absently at the teacup before her.

Despite its cloudy color, the tea carried an incredibly sweet aroma that lingered around the tip of her nose.

Just one sip was enough to gently soothe her previously sour mood.

It was milk tea made with honey and milk.

Her maid, Dia, used to make it by hand especially for her.

She hadn’t even seen it after marrying Carlisle…

Only now did Vanessa truly feel that she had returned to the past.

She savored the familiar scent before taking a small sip.

Mm. Just as she remembered.

Milk tea tasted best when she was drinking it after returning to the past.

Vanessa placed the half-empty cup down with a small clink and looked at Ian.

“Ian.”

“Yes, Sasha.”

His voice was gentle, but his gaze was utterly dry.

If she only listened to his voice, she might have thought it was filled with affection for her.

But just look at those eyes.

Even a freezing winter wind would probably feel warmer than that.

“Can I change one of the conditions?”

“……”

“……”

“That… might be difficult.”

Unlike when he called her by her nickname, there was hesitation in his voice.

Vanessa shrugged.

She hadn’t expected him to agree anyway, but receiving a definite answer still left a slightly bitter taste in her mouth.

It seemed inevitable that society would spread rumors about her being a woman who received no love from her husband.

Vanessa silently savored the milk tea in her cup.

Well, there was nothing she could do about it.

Being able to drink Dia’s milk tea again was enough comfort for her.

She glanced toward Ian.

There was still plenty of tea left in his cup.

Judging by his expression, he looked like he wanted to go home.

“All right. If you’ve finished your tea, you can leave—”

“Tell me.”

“……”

“My ears are open.”

He asked her why with an expression that practically screamed how desperately he wanted to leave.

What an utterly impossible man to understand.

He had been like this even in his forties, but back then, at least, he hadn’t been quite this difficult to read.

Vanessa softened her eyes as she looked at Ian, who was still watching her with that peculiar expression.

“There’s nothing else I need to do besides the fitting, right? Then… I’d like you to leave now.”

“…Earlier.”

Ian slowly opened his mouth, looking once at the teacup and then once at Vanessa’s smiling face.

“Were you upset?”

“……”

“If you were, I apologize.”

Was I upset?

Vanessa’s smile deepened at his perfunctory apology, given without the slightest understanding of what had actually been wrong.

“What do you have to apologize for? It’s a contractual marriage, after all.”

At her words, Ian’s brow twitched.

Contract.

He rolled the word around on his tongue before quietly exhaling and rising from his seat.

“Vanessa.”

The nickname was gone from his voice, replaced by nothing but a bitterly cold winter wind.

“We’re going to be together for a long time. It would be troublesome if you kept drawing a line between us like that.”

After saying those words, Ian glanced at the tea he had barely touched before walking past Vanessa.

Only after his back had disappeared into the distance did Vanessa stare blankly, her mouth slightly open.

“…Why on earth is he angry?”

She couldn’t easily fall asleep that night because what had happened that afternoon kept swirling around in her head.

Not only had he piled on all those conditions forbidding physical contact, he had even said there would be no reason for them to see each other—yet he disliked her calling it a contractual marriage?

“Honestly. How ridiculous.”

The Ian Ruscliffe of his twenties was even more impossible to understand than the Ian of his forties.

Back then, perhaps it was because she had been a cripple, but he had seemed a little warmer than he was now.

“Ugh…”

Vanessa groaned and flopped down onto the bed.

It was enough as long as I could avoid Carlisle.

Now that her wish had come true, she knew that wanting anything more from Ian or commenting on his behavior would simply be her own greed. That was why she had kept quiet.

“…Still, this is too much.”

Even so, there was no denying that Ian Ruscliffe’s behavior was excessive in some ways.

It’s almost as if… yes, almost as if he really…

Vanessa sat up and picked up the letter she had left beside the bed, examining it carefully once again.

The enormous list of wedding preparations—from the items needed for the ceremony to even the maintenance of the garden—

Even though she knew that illusion would shatter the moment she saw his expression and actions in person, she couldn’t help but wonder.

He seems… happy that we’re getting married, doesn’t he?

But Ian was a man who hated unnecessary emotional expenditure more than anything.

That must have been why he had made plans to become a saint at the age of forty.

She could count on one hand the number of times she had seen him with a woman by his side. And when it came to people he actually associated with, there was practically only one person—

Tese Descartes, who was currently the Crown Prince and would eventually become Emperor.

Vanessa shook her head slightly, dumbfounded.

…Good grief. What a ridiculous misunderstanding I’m making.