Chapter 10

Yvette answered briefly and clenched the hand that had held Noel’s into a fist.

For some reason, her palm felt ticklish.

“From now until the flower withers again, no physical contact.”

“What a shame.”

At that, Noel let out a soft laugh and withdrew his hand.

“Is everything I needed to do finished?”

“Yes. I think we can stop here for today.”

Yvette nodded.

Whether the physical contact with him had worked or not, she felt much better than before.

“Then I suppose it’s about time I named my wish.”

Noel leaned back in the chair with a relaxed face.

Yvette, on the other hand, tensed the moment she heard the word ‘wish.’

She had said she would do anything, but in truth, she was a little anxious.

Realistically speaking, there was nothing Noel could want from her.

‘Still, he is the male lead, so he won’t ask for something absurd.’

Just as Yvette waited with a nervous heart—

Noel finally spoke.

“I thought about it, and there seems to be only one wish that would benefit me.”

“……What is it?”

Yvette swallowed dryly and asked. She could not even imagine what kind of wish would come out of his mouth.

Noel watched her expression, then smiled faintly.

“For the time being, you’ll have to be my fiancée.”

“……What?”

To suddenly ask her to be his fiancée.

Yvette stared at Noel with a blank face.

Unlike her, who was dazed, Noel’s expression was full of composure.

“I think it’s an easy condition. Is it not?”

At his question, Yvette slowly shook her head. Then she asked bluntly.

“Are you insane?”

At the blunt expression, Noel narrowed his eyes.

“……Why do you think that?”

“Because otherwise, there’s no way you’d suddenly bring up an engagement like this.”

When Yvette muttered with a serious face, Noel answered seriously.

“I’m sorry, but my mind is perfectly sound.”

“Then you really are asking me to be your fiancée?”

If he had said he was insane, she would have understood.

But for him to say that in his right mind—

Yvette seriously wondered if she might be dreaming.

‘……Surely he didn’t fall in love with me at first sight or something?’

No wonder it had seemed suspicious from the moment he jumped at the suggestion of physical contact.

Yvette looked at Noel with eyes full of doubt.

Then, as if reading her thoughts, Noel continued.

“I’d prefer you not misunderstand. I don’t mean to actually become engaged to you.”

When he drew such a firm line, Yvette felt awkward and subtly avoided his gaze.

She felt a little embarrassed for having gotten excited on her own, even for a moment.

“You should have said that from the beginning. I was startled, thinking you were proposing to me.”

“I said ‘for the time being’ from the start. Weren’t you the one who misunderstood on your own?”

Noel raised both hands shamelessly, as if it were not his fault.

Then his expression turned mischievous.

“Or don’t tell me you were hoping it was real?”

“As if. There’s no way I’d hope for something like that.”

Yvette, caught off guard, cut him off sharply.

“Anyway, please explain properly. What exactly do you want me to do?”

“It’s not difficult. Just pretend to be my fiancée at official occasions.”

“……Why do you suddenly need a fiancée?”

“Lately, there have been more and more people bothering me about marriage.”

As he spoke, Noel slowly crossed his legs.

His figure lounging comfortably in the chair felt like a languid beast.

Yvette pretended not to notice while stealing glances at him.

As expected of the male lead, perhaps.

Even his every movement seemed to subtly capture people’s attention.

Just looking at him, she could understand why people bothered him.

“……So I just have to pretend to be Noel’s fiancée in front of other people?”

“That’s right.”

Yvette thought for a moment.

She was in a position where she had to meet Noel regularly anyway, even because of the curse.

If she had the excuse of being his fiancée, meeting him would be much easier.

‘I don’t plan on marrying anyway, so I don’t need to worry about rumors.’

Objectively speaking, it was a condition in which she had nothing to lose.

Having finally made up her mind, Yvette spoke.

“I’ll do it. The engagement.”

“Then the contract is established.”

Noel smiled brightly and nodded.

“Do you have anything else to ask?”

“The duration—how long were you thinking? We can’t pretend to be engaged forever.”

“For now, about a year. After that, I think it would be best to decide based on the situation.”

A year.

Yvette clenched her fist under the blanket.

‘Within that year, I need to find a way to break the curse somehow.’

She never knew when Noel might change his mind and turn away.

So she had to escape this curse as quickly as possible.

“Since it’s come to this, how about drawing up a contract? I think it would be cleaner for both sides.”

Yvette cautiously suggested, watching Noel’s expression.

After all, one should be thorough in preparation.

She could not feel safe with only a verbal agreement as it was now.

“That would be good.”

Noel nodded.

“We’ll coordinate the details the next time we meet.”

“Why not now?”

At Yvette’s question, Noel answered calmly.

“I stepped out in the middle of work, so I need to go back in.”

“Did I interrupt you?”

“No. I was about to take a break anyway.”

With that, Noel slowly rose from his seat.

“I’ve told the servants, so rest comfortably before you go.”

“……Thank you.”

Yvette bowed her head deeply and muttered.

She felt sorry for having caused him trouble in various ways.

“Then I’ll see you later.”

With those words, Noel left the bedroom.

Once the tension eased, Yvette finally collapsed and buried her head in the pillow.

At this moment, she did not know.

That this contract, made without much thought, would flow in a direction very different from her intentions.

* * *

Three days after meeting Noel Averon.

Fully recovered, Yvette began decorating her home in earnest.

Witley was nice as it was, but perhaps because someone else had decorated it, it did not feel like ‘my house.’

So Yvette threw herself into decorating the house herself.

Habert, who had become Witley’s caretaker and butler, looked at her with worried eyes.

“What will you do if you overdo it and collapse again?”

Yvette let Habert’s worried nagging go in one ear and out the other.

“I won’t have my condition worsen like that again, so don’t worry.”

It had already been three days since she met Noel, but the flower showed no sign of withering.

Thanks to that, thoughts of him had long since been pushed to the back of her mind.

“Habert, do you think white curtains would be best for the living room windows? Or would that make the room look too bright?”

“If it pleases you, young lady, any color is fine. Witley is your townhouse now.”

“My townhouse. Just hearing that feels good.”

Yvette laughed aloud and looked around the living room.

She had only thought about which furniture to change and which to keep.

Still, just imagining it was fun, and she could not stop smiling.

‘I never knew a life without money worries could be this good.’

As she looked around the townhouse with a proud heart—

Ding dong—the doorbell rang.

“It seems we have a guest. I’ll go check for a moment.”

Habert, who had been tidying the living room, hurried to the front door.

Yvette watched with wide eyes.

‘There shouldn’t be anyone who would come looking for me—who could it be?’

Just as her curiosity was deepening, Habert returned holding an envelope.

“Here, a letter has arrived for you, young lady.”

“……A letter?”

Yvette took the envelope Habert held out with a puzzled expression.

On the white surface, only her name was written, with no sender.

“Can you tell who sent it?”

“I was told it was a letter sent from the Larishi baron’s household.”

The moment the name Larishi left Habert’s mouth, Yvette’s expression hardened sharply.

‘How does that man know I live here, and why did he send a letter?’

Yvette lightly bit the tip of her tongue and let go.

She had a bad feeling about this.

‘First, let’s check what it says.’

There had to be a reason he was sending a letter now after being quiet all this time.

Yvette reluctantly read the letter from the Larishi baron’s household.

[It has been a while, Yvette.

I am writing because there is something I must inform you.

Thinking about it, the Blanche seal is still in my hands.

You know as well that the seal is absolutely necessary to fully inherit the title, don’t you?

I will keep it safe until you come to retrieve it.

— From your loving uncle.]

“……Loving, my foot.”

Yvette let out a disbelieving laugh the moment she saw the name at the bottom.

Though it looked on the surface as if he were acting in her interest, the intent in the letter was obvious.

‘In the end, he’s saying that if I want to inherit the title, I should come to the baron’s household.’

A noble of the Aiden Empire had to possess the family seal when inheriting a title.

It was a system created to prevent someone other than the heir from inheriting the family.

‘To think Baron Larishi had the seal.’

She had been in such a hurry to leave that she had not thought that far.

Yvette frowned and crumpled the letter ruthlessly.

She would rather avoid facing Baron Larishi if at all possible.