ASDEF 09

Chapter 09

‘No choice.’

The memory of Daniel’s sticky gaze and voice from my dream flashed through my mind, and I unconsciously squeezed both eyes shut.

I quickly crossed my arms over my body to block him.

“No way!!”

“……”

Once again, a dark silence lingered.

Daniel stood perfectly still without moving a muscle.

Is he slowly savoring the other person’s fear? What the hell, he’s even scarier than Olf.

Like a rat in a trap, my whole body trembled violently.

Then, suddenly, an unexpected laugh reached my ears.

“Pfft!”

I cautiously opened my eyes to see Daniel letting out a snort of laughter.

He must have lost his mind from sheer joy.

I furrowed my brow at the sight.

“Whether this pleases him or not, I truly can’t figure this gentleman out.”

“Excuse me…?”

Daniel muttered to himself as he looked me over.

My clothes, worn and filthy from grilling goblins, clearing tables, and washing dishes all day long, and my hair messily tied up.

Feeling uncomfortable under his inexplicable gaze, I brushed off my clothes and smoothed my hair before asking.

“What exactly do you want from me…?”

I didn’t need to speak first, but in times like this, a direct approach was necessary.

Yes, let’s just hear what other threats he might have. Just as I was thinking that—

“I won’t beat around the bush. How about marrying me?”

“Ah, marriage…? Wait, WHAT?!!”

My loud voice echoed throughout the entire restaurant.

Startled, I took three steps back from him.

“Did you just say marriage…? The marriage I know of?”

“Yes, I’m saying you and I should get married.”

“Wh-why…?”

Why would Daniel want to marry me? What scheme is he plotting now?

I looked up at him with a gaze full of suspicion.

But somehow, Daniel’s eyes began to gleam even more clearly.

“Because I need you.”

“……”

“To be precise, I’m proposing a contract marriage for just one year. If you successfully complete the contract, I’ll give you my share of the Benson family’s assets. Whether it’s money or territory.”

At the sudden context, my mouth fell open involuntarily. A contract marriage.

I suddenly found myself standing at a great crossroads of fate.

But the problem lay elsewhere.

An ordinary person would have been shocked, hesitant, or deeply contemplative upon hearing those words, but my ears had blocked out everything else and only one word had embedded itself precisely.

“W-wait a moment, my lord. You said you’d give me assets? Money or territory, anything…?”

Yes. The problem was my materialistic sensibility, which completely forgot about future fate and everything else in the face of money.

On the day I played the role of Daniel’s lover.

I briefly dreamed a dream. That the ‘some young lady’ Daniel married might be me.

But in the original work, it was mentioned that Daniel first met that young lady at some ball. Not a commoner working in a shabby shop like this.

The ‘some young lady’ chosen to escape the Duke’s surveillance.

That formal marriage, which began that way, ends in less than even a year. And with Daniel’s death.

So I just laughed it off.

Am I really going to become that ‘some young lady’? Differently from the original?

Fortunately, my senses quickly returned, and I fell into confusion, retreating from Daniel once more.

Daniel strode right up to the tip of my nose and said.

“Just one year. After that, I’ll pay you whatever amount you want, whether in money or territory. I, Daniel Benson, swear it on my name.”

“……”

“It’s not a bad deal. You could earn in a year what you could never have working in a place like this for a lifetime. For a socialite young lady, divorce would be a big stain, but for a commoner like you, money is more important than honor, isn’t it?”

It was a tempting offer. A trap hard to refuse.

Who doesn’t know about the Benson family’s vast wealth and territories?

If I just hold out until Daniel dies, I could take my share and live high and mighty. Escaping this suffocating cycle of poverty.

But the problem was how I could possibly deceive all the notorious Benson family members.

It might be easy for him, but it’s hard for me!

I still feel dizzy thinking about how I barely escaped that day. And now I’m supposed to experience that hell again!?

As I hesitated, Daniel’s gaze turned cold.

“If you refuse, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll have no choice but to find another woman.”

Just as Daniel was about to turn away, I quickly grabbed his forearm firmly.

“M-my lord! It’s not that I’m refusing.”

“Then you’re accepting?”

“Why me of all people? I’m… curious about the reason.”

“Reason? Why are you curious about that?”

“I’m not an aristocratic young lady, so I’m clumsy at everything…”

It was something I really wanted to ask. They say coincidence becomes fate, but…

At that moment, Daniel looked down at me intently.

“That face of yours. It resembles the Felzga family a great deal. When I first saw you, I was so suspicious I wondered if you weren’t from the Felzga family.”

My face resembles the Felzga family?

I recalled my own reflection I’d seen through the mirror hanging in the shop.

Actually, the most astonishing thing to me after possessing this body was this face. Especially these green eyes.

No matter how I looked at my father, stepmother, siblings, or everyone around me, the distinct green eyes were uniquely mine alone.

Perhaps that’s why the villagers were always amazed just by looking at my eyes.

—

‘Oh my, I’ve never seen eyes like this before.’

‘It’s a color that holds green within it.’

—

“The characteristic eye color passed down through the Felzga family for generations. With that much, you can deceive everyone.”

“Even if the eyes pass, my identity would be exposed quickly…”

I grew fearful. Changing one’s identity overnight isn’t an easy thing. Even if I could mimic my appearance, it was bound to show in my speech and actions.

No, if I let Daniel withdraw his offer just like that, it would become my life’s greatest regret.

I bit my lower lip slightly and listened to his words.

“For the first month while we find a new residence, you’ll have to stay in the mansion’s annex, but after that, we’ll move to a new dwelling, so you’ll naturally escape the family’s surveillance.”

“I have to stay at the Benson mansion for a whole month?!”

Using Daniel as my sponsor to live comfortably was a great offer, but the thought of facing Duke Benson and Alisa again sent chills down my spine.

Even seeing my trembling lips, Daniel continued without batting an eye.

“These are the terms of our contract. If you accept, I’ll inform my lawyer immediately to make it legally binding. That would be cleaner for both of us.”

Daniel took out an envelope from his pocket and held it out to me.

I fixed my gaze on the envelope. I needed to say something, but no thoughts came to mind.

“Then I’ll take it that you understood everything I said. Don’t ask any more bothersome questions. You won’t get better terms than this.”

“……”

“If you accept the contract, come to Verstone Station on the first train tomorrow morning.”

“H-hey…!”

Before I could even finish my sentence, Daniel walked out of the shop. Climbing into his carriage, he disappeared into the distance without looking back.

After he left, I urgently pulled out the documents and read through them. Under the moonlight, the letters were faintly visible.

A one-year contract. Upon fulfillment, I would receive a portion of the Benson territory and 20,000 gold in alimony—that clause caught my eye first.

Twenty thousand gold. Not two hundred, not two thousand, but twenty thousand gold!!

My eyes snapped open wide. Even just hearing Daniel’s words had been tempting, but seeing the documented amount made it feel even more real.

With this much territory and wealth, it was a staggering sum enough to live idly for the rest of my life.

Yes, what’s social status compared to that? I can just practice and learn, right?

“Still, who willingly walks into a death trap… No. Should I just starve to death like this, Kim Eun-hee? Or become a lord’s son’s mistress?”

Normally, in possession stories, you’re supposed to follow the original novel to escape it, wasn’t that the case?

But that logic didn’t apply to me.

Whether I escape or not, who cares?

Either way, even if I go back to my past life, I’m as good as dead. So I’d rather live lavishly here for just one year, even if it’s only a year, and then die. Hehe.

Faced with the prospect of enormous money, I bared my teeth in a greedy smirk.