His eyes were wild and dark, and the employees retreated away from the room.
Claire knew one thing—her fiancé was so stubborn that he wanted revenge for the time she had kissed Dean Crissis, her closest friend, in front of him. He must have been furious. She wanted to provoke him anyway. The more she could break this man’s heart, the happier she could be.
“Smile?”
“Oh, that’s funny.”
Claire placed her hands on her hips.
“I never thought you would take offense for something so small. You’re more delicate than I thought.”
He gave a foul grin and narrowed the distance between them at once, but despite their difference in stature, Claire did not flinch. She wasn’t afraid of this man. There was only one thing she was afraid of—time. This human being was tiny compared to its magnitude.
“Where did you do it?”
Claire stared at him. She wondered if she understood that question correctly. The implication of it sounded cheap.
“Where did you do it?”
Claire stared at him. She was sure she understood the question correctly.
“How about you? Oh…sorry. How many other people should I ask?”
“Don’t change the subject. I’m asking you what you did with that little bastard.”
He fiancé had gone mad. Claire swallowed the words that threatened to leave her mouth.
“Let’s stop now.”
Then she stopped speaking. She had already finished the dress fitting anyway, and she wanted to find gloves for Louise then hurry back to the Academy to drink tea with lots of cream and sugar to get rid of the terrible taste in the mouth. Perhaps Dean Crissis will be sitting across her, smiling cutely.
“I’m going back to the Academy.”
“Answer the question!”
He grabbed Claire’s chin.
“Will you please leave? I have to change out of this dress.”
“Claire Iris.”
“…”
“You should understand that your brother sold you to me.”
His hand brushed against Claire’s face and ear, then trailed down her long, slender neckline. A chill ran down her spine.
“He sold all of you to me. Values, abilities and…your body.”
His hand reached her shoulder. The touch of his skin on hers was revolting, and Claire stepped away from his reach. She didn’t want to lose, so she forced herself to smile.
“Everything I’m required to give is stipulated in the contract.”
Her fiancé reached out his arm again, but she pulled back quickly.
“That’s all we have on each other!”
He grabbed her arm roughly. Claire yelled in a moment of pain, but he ignored it, and he smiled wickedly and began to drag her away.
“Let go of me now! What the hell are you…Now!”
“If you don’t like strange rumors, you’d better follow quietly. It’s written on the contract, ‘Do not damage Claire Iris’ social value until the wedding.’”
That was crazy. He was the one damaging it! However, she gave no resistance when he pulled her out to the street. The staff dared not stop him, afraid of the ferocious look in his eye.
“Please send the dress back later. It’s been finished yet…” someone said in a small voice, but it was barely heard by anyone.
Claire was half-thrown into the carriage.
“What the hell is this?!”
She screamed and the young man slammed the door shut.
“How about this. Let’s officially complete our relationship. You like doing paperwork, don’t you?”
“Are you crazy? Signing wedding papers is after the ceremony!”
He grabbed Claire’s wrist and pinned it against the wall of the carriage. The thump reverberated in the narrow space.
“I can’t help it.”
Their noses were almost touching, and his breath was unpleasant at close range.
“You keep acting frustratingly without knowing your place.”
“…”
“Perhaps it will be more peaceful if I tie your life down with a piece of paper.”
Claire bit her lip. Life tied down to paper…she couldn’t escape from it.
“Did you think you could get away?”
He spoke with a grim smile. Claire despaired that his words were probably true. But somewhere in her heart, in a corner, there was hope. Maybe she could run away. Maybe she could be happy.
“I…I’m not running.”
Claire spoke for her own sake.
“I will marry you. I will be part of the Müller family.”
If she kept clinging on to useless hope, her heart would decay.
And so she got rid of her hope.
“Let me go.”
She gave her fiancé a desperate look. Only then did he give a friendly smile.
“How about no?”
*
*
*
Claire was sitting in a deserted room. It was already getting dark. The Sweeney family must be waiting for her, and Dean would be worrying himself sick at the Academy. Claire covered her knees with both arms.
“Ugh…”
Her bruised-red arm ached from where she was forcibly dragged.
“Crazy bastard…”
The words that had repeated themselves many times in her head finally left her mouth. She learned it at the Academy, and it was her first time saying it.
“…A really crazy bastard.”
She couldn’t think of anything else adequate enough to describe him, and so she repeated it again.
Her fiancé had handed over the wedding papers to her and ordered her to sign it. If she did and he submitted it to the Imperial Court, their marriage was perfectly valid with the king’s permission. She thought this wouldn’t happen yet for months. She valued her last winter before anything else. When Claire refused, he locked her up.
She was weak. She pitied herself. It wasn’t like this at the Academy. She spoke confidently in front of many people and was the leader in various events. It was difficult sometimes, but she always smiled in the end. That incredible Claire Iris…did that exist only in the Academy?
Outside of the Academy, she realized she was a powerless human being tied to a piece of paper.
…What her fiancé said really was true. She wondered why she was resisting now. Whether she signed it in a few months or decades later, there was no difference.
She wished she get it over with and go back to the Academy. If she did that, what would she be doing now? Drinking tea with Dean Crissis?
‘You know, I signed my wedding papers today. Well, I forcibly dragged into doing it—no, how can I say that?’
Talking like this? Are you crazy, Claire Iris?
She clenched the skirt of her already ruined dress. Claire Iris was not weak, and she would hold on to the path that she believed was right.
She rose from her seat. It was then that the door burst suddenly burst open.
