“Let’s marry.”
I stared blankly at the man in front of me.
Hair that gleamed like silver thread, swept cleanly back to bare a cool forehead. And beneath it, a pair of red eyes.
Was it the sunlight pouring into the garden?
His face looked unreasonably handsome today, and it kept catching my eye—but this was hardly the time to care about that.
What had I just heard?
“Pardon?”
The question slipped out before I could stop it, and Cain’s eyes narrowed.
His expression was usually a blank, but today his thoughts were especially hard to read.
“I don’t see why you’re surprised. Didn’t you say so yourself? That you wanted a contract marriage.”
…Well. It was true that I had said that.
This was the world of a parenting novel.
To keep my daughter Melody safe, and my own life along with hers, I had to get married somehow, and soon.
But that didn’t mean I was asking the Duke to marry me!
“W-wait a moment, Your Grace. It’s true that I need a contract marriage, but even so, this is…!”
Cain was the head of House Asheln, a ducal family whose wealth and power were said to rival the imperial house itself.
And, as befitted the father figure of a parenting novel, he was also in possession of an inhumanly beautiful face.
People said the dragon’s blood running in his veins had left some flaws in his character… but whatever else was true, he was the most eligible bachelor in the empire.
And me?
As far as society was concerned, I was an unwed mother who’d been thrown over by some man and left to raise a child alone.
Granted, that was only an act I was putting on for my own reasons, but that was how it looked to the world.
A contract marriage would end in divorce someday…
I had already made my peace with that for myself. But I didn’t want to become a stain on Cain’s life for no good reason.
I was already so deep in his debt. I couldn’t do that to him.
My conscience stung so badly that I blurted out in a rush:
“There’s no need for you to sacrifice yourself, Your Grace…! This is my problem, so I’ll find someone else to—!”
But in that instant, something complicated flickered across Cain’s usually impassive face.
Was he angry? Or hurt?
A crease formed between his brows, and he fixed his darkened eyes on me.
“If anything, I’d like to ask you something.”
“…”
“The man who contracted to protect you and Melody is standing right in front of you, and you mean to marry some other bastard?”
Nobody told me marriage was part of that contract.
The words rose all the way to the tip of my tongue, but under the fierce light in his eyes, I pressed my lips shut.
Cain took a step closer.
“I don’t understand. Am I lacking as a contract husband? Not good enough for you, perhaps?”
No. Of course not. Far from lacking, you’re far too much…
I shook my head back and forth on reflex.
At that, the line of his mouth eased, just slightly.
“Then have I failed to earn your trust all this time?”
You’ve earned more than enough of it…
I was about to nod along again when I caught myself just in time.
“That’s not it, but still, marriage is a different matter…!”
“I’ll treasure you and the child both. So, Viola.”
He held my gaze with an almost relentless intensity, took my hand firmly in his, and murmured,
“Marry me.”
For some reason, that sweet, low voice left my throat dry.
“A contract marriage… That is what you mean, right?”
Instead of answering, Cain only let the corners of his mouth curl up smoothly into a deep smile.
How had it come to this again?
I thought back to what had happened a few months earlier.
“Miss Viola, are you in?”
“Ah, yes! Just a moment!”
At the call from outside, I hurried to open the door of the apothecary.
Phew. I really haven’t had a second to breathe today.
Grinding medicine, making salves, tidying up. Busy, busy, busy.
As the only apothecary and clinic in a country village, it came with a surprising amount of work.
And of course, I couldn’t skip buying what I needed from the herb gatherers.
“You’re early! Thank you for coming all the way out here every time. It must be such a bother.”
“Ahaha. I’m only stopping by on my way past.”
James scratched the bridge of his nose bashfully and laughed. On his way past, my foot. It was an obvious lie.
He really is such a simple, honest person.
Not just James, of course. The people of Heiron village were like that across the board.
Maybe that was why Melody and I had settled in so well.
Come to think of it, it’s already been over a year since we made our home here.
To be honest, I’d had a lot of worries.
It was my first time living in the countryside, and as far as anyone knew, I was an unwed mother.
Honestly, I was worried from the start about whether I could even raise a three-year-old properly…
But far from shunning us as outsiders, the villagers had looked after us with real care.
Thanks to them, I’d even opened this little apothecary, and we were living well.
I was smiling contentedly to myself when James set a bundle of herbs on the table.
“Will the herbs we talked about yesterday be enough?”
“Yes, yes! I’ll take those!”
I was taking the herbs James handed over and sorting them one by one when a groan escaped me.
“Oh, right! You wouldn’t happen to have any spikeleaf, would you? I’m almost out of what I bought.”
“You won’t be able to get that for a while…”
“What? Spikeleaf? Why?”
“Seems some high-and-mighty somebody is paying extra to buy up every bit of it. Even the herb gatherers from the next village over came and swept it all up.”
My goodness. My eyes went wide before I knew it.
“What a strange thing to happen.”
Of all the herbs, why that one? It was gentle enough to use even on children, but its effect was just as weak.
James shrugged as if it were nothing, but a strange instinct stirred in me.
Something about this is suspicious.
Hardly anyone knew it, but I knew of one hidden property spikeleaf had.
…Could it be?
A certain noble house flashed through my mind, but I soon shook my head.
No. What’s the point of thinking about it? I’m not a noble young lady or anything anymore.
I’d been thrown out of that family long ago. I’d have no reason to get tangled up with nobles again, so there was no need to dwell on it.
“More importantly, Miss Viola.”
“Yes?”
“Did you hear there’s a festival down in the lower village?”
A festival. At the welcome change of subject, my stray thoughts flew away in an instant.
“Of course. Of course I heard! I was actually thinking of going with Melody.”
“Ahem, a-hem. By any chance, would you like to go with me, just the two of—”
“Waaaah!”
It happened right then. Melody, who had been waiting quietly for the herb trade to finish, came thundering in circles around us.
Oh, you. You got bored, didn’t you?
“Melody~ No running!”
“Uu-uu.”
“Hey, now. I told you running in the apothecary is dangerous. We’ll go outside and play later.”
“Uu.”
When I put on a stern voice, Melody’s shoulders drooped glumly.
I couldn’t help snickering. She always acted so grown-up, but she really was just a little kid.
I scooped Melody into a hug, her lips pushed out in a pout—and only then did I remember that James had been saying something.
“Oh, right, I’m sorry! I didn’t catch that. Could you say it again?”
“Ah, well, you see!”
James, who had frozen in place with a dazed look, startled and opened his mouth again—but once again, I didn’t get to hear him finish.
“Would you go to the festival with me, just the two—”
“Mommy!”
Because Melody flung herself straight into my arms and rubbed her face against me.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Uu-uu, Mommy…”
The child made a crying face and jabbed her finger toward the kitchen. Don’t tell me…
“You’re hungry already?”
“Uu-uu!”
I was sure I’d fed her a big lunch. Children really did digest things at a different speed.
“I’m so sorry, James. We keep getting interrupted.”
“Ah, well—”
Mommy. The moment it looked like the conversation might start up again, Melody began to whine.
“What do I do? Melody’s being extra fussy today. Let’s finish this next time! Thank you as always!”
I hurried to pay him, and James turned away looking crestfallen. The way he trudged off made him look strangely deflated.
“Hehehehe.”
“And what’s that suspicious laugh about?”
“Uu-uu!”
Melody shrugged as if she had no idea what I meant.
Then—hup!—she hopped down out of my arms.
I followed her into the kitchen and started slicing the bread I’d bought that morning.
“What kind of snack should I make you? Bread with grape jam? Or should I put cheese on it and cut the ham into flower shapes?”
I might not look it, but I was confident in my ability to make food look pretty. It was a skill I’d picked up naturally for Melody, who ate as cutely as a hamster.
“Uu!”
But Melody, who had been hungry only a moment ago, suddenly shrugged and shook her head back and forth.
“Huh? You just said you were hungry.”
“Uu-uu.”
The child patted her tummy as if to say it was completely full. Why is she acting like this today? And back when James was here, too.
I was puzzling over her sudden change of heart when it happened.
“Ow.”
I must have cut my hand on the knife, because a stinging pain spread through my finger.
Ugh. Today really is a weird day.
At my age, making a mistake like this.
“Mommy?”
“It’s just a little cut. I’m fine. It’ll heal right up once I put some medicine on it!”
With an awkward smile, I stole a glance at Melody’s face. Ugh. I knew it.
Melody looked as if the world had come to an end.
I’m really fine!
I’d always healed quickly to begin with. Strangely enough, ever since I was little, even bad injuries had never left a single scar.
But Melody apparently felt differently, because she teared up and clutched my finger tightly.
Then she blew on the cut. Hoo.
And then—
Whoosh.
A golden light spread out from Melody and soon wrapped around my hand. The wound vanished in an instant.
I went rigid at the unbelievable sight.
“Huh…? Holy power?”
And not an ordinary amount of it, either. To heal a wound in a single breath like that meant it was considerably strong.
But why would our Melody have it?
I stared at Melody in shock, but the child looked even more startled than I was, her eyes as round as a rabbit’s.
Just like someone who’d been caught at something that must never be found out.
It was at that very moment.
Ugh!
A sudden, violent headache struck, and at the same time, memories of my past life came flooding into my head.
“Mommy?”
Melody called me, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer.
A powerful truth had taken over my mind.
The first law of parenting novels: The heroine’s mother always dies early in the story.
This was the world of a parenting novel I had read in my past life.
And its protagonist was Melody.
Which meant… I was the mother of a parenting novel’s heroine.
Oh no. Somebody help me!
