Benedict had come to a conclusion.
Elena Christie was a woman hopelessly obsessed with love.
"I won't agree to a divorce until you receive a Not Guilty verdict."
He'd told her that being released was enough, but Elena had insisted on continuing their Contract.
"Your Grace, we're destined to be together. Just accept it."
Benedict could only press a hand to his forehead at her audacity in invoking destiny itself.
She wanted to remain at the Grand Duke's residence with him, even if she had to go to such lengths.
At the same time, he had to admire her restraint. No matter how deeply she loved him, she never expressed those feelings in direct terms, presumably because doing so might violate their Contract.
After all, Elena seemed more terrified of their Contract ending than anyone.
Of course, if she goes home, she'll have that worthless father and brother waiting for her. Perhaps it's better to keep her here where I can protect her.
Although he knew he ought to send Elena back to her family, even if he had to force her, he found himself making excuses.
He conveniently ignored Victor's report that both men were currently being held in detention on assault charges.
Elena had even declared that she would risk her own safety to catch the real murderer for him.
What does she expect to accomplish with that frail little body? I'd be better off catching the culprit myself.
Despite his grumbling, Benedict crouched down and painstakingly carved a wooden club.
Naturally, this was purely for the sake of catching the murderer more effectively. It had absolutely nothing to do with worrying about Elena's aching back after their repeated crime reenactments.
Elena had also demanded that he behave more affectionately toward her.
No matter how he looked at it, that hardly seemed necessary for the trial.
Using their circumstances to satisfy her personal desires. What an audacious woman.
Determined not to encourage her, Benedict deliberately hardened his expression.
He watched her demonstration with considerable reluctance.
"Benedict~♡"
The sound of his name on her lips sent a sudden wave of dizziness through him.
Benedict swallowed hard and looked down at Elena.
Why on earth is she looking at me like that?
Her eyes were already unusually large, yet now she was blinking up at him as though pouring all her attention into him.
Her thick golden lashes cast delicate shadows over her blue irises, making them shimmer like sunlight scattered across the sea.
Having spent most of his life on battlefields crowded with men, Benedict had never encountered a look quite like it.
Is that how people look when they're in love?
It was an unmistakable attempt at seduction.
He knew he ought to reject it without hesitation, yet the unfamiliar sweetness of her gaze and voice was almost overwhelming.
In the end, Benedict succumbed to those eyes and felt his face grow hot.
It only caught me off guard because I have no experience with that sort of look.
He was confident that anything requiring physical ability would present no difficulty whatsoever.
No matter how Elena attempted to seduce him physically, he could remain completely unmoved and treat her strictly as his contractual partner.
He'd been fortunate enough to be born with extraordinary physical gifts. Not once in his life had he encountered a physical challenge he couldn't overcome.
And yet…
"I thought you were good at anything physical."
"Of course I am. I graduated from the military academy at the top of my class. On the battlefield, I've cut down dozens of enemies in a single exchange and taken enemy commanders' heads—"
All she'd done was wrap her slender arms around him.
Arms so delicate he could have snapped them with one hand if he'd wanted.
Yet somehow, his body refused to obey him, as though he'd been bound by invisible, treacherous threads.
If only they had been steel chains. He could have torn those apart with brute strength.
But those wretched invisible threads ultimately led to disaster.
"Eek!"
The instant Elena screamed at the top of the staircase, Benedict's body moved on instinct.
His powerful arms effortlessly caught her waist, which was so narrow and delicate it scarcely seemed possible.
As expected. My skills haven't diminished in the slightest.
For one brief moment, he felt relieved.
There was clearly nothing wrong with his physical abilities. Whatever absurd malfunction he'd experienced earlier must have been a momentary lapse.
"……!"
Unfortunately, it didn't take long for him to realize that his belief in that momentary lapse had itself been a mistake.
An unfamiliar softness spread from his fingertips, through his muscular forearms, and along every tightly packed fiber of muscle in his body until the sensation seemed to engulf him entirely.
He had never felt anything like it.
This was a woman's body, fundamentally different from the rough, heavily muscled men he'd spent his life surrounded by.
The instant that realization struck, his ability to think deserted him.
And when his mind stopped functioning, his body followed.
Damn it.
Benedict possessed such extraordinary falling techniques that he'd once walked away from a plunge off a cliff without a scratch.
But if he attempted any of those techniques now, Elena would inevitably end up underneath him, cushioning his fall.
BANG!
In the end, all his impressive training accomplished was to send him crashing onto the wooden floor, the back of his head taking the impact.
His skull throbbed from the collision, and his back stung.
My lower body… I can't feel…
There was an unfamiliar heaviness below his waist.
He'd seen soldiers lose sensation in parts of their bodies after falling from great heights.
What if he could no longer use his legs?
Just as his mind began racing through the worst possibilities—
"Y-Your Grace…? Are you all right?"
He suddenly understood.
His lower body hadn't gone numb.
It had become far too sensitive.
Benedict blinked in alarm.
Elena didn't even seem to realize that she was sitting astride his waist.
The lining of her dress was thin, owing to the garment's poor quality, and he could feel the softness of her bottom against him with mortifying clarity.
Every time she fussed over him, cupping his cheeks and examining his face, the part of her body resting against his lower abdomen shifted and rubbed against him.
N-no…!
The overwhelming sensations made him forget how to breathe.
Worse still, his failure to breathe only encouraged Elena to become even more aggressive in her attempts to help him.
"Please! Try to breathe!"
Her hands began tugging at his clothes, exposing his broad chest to the open air.
By that point, Benedict had all but surrendered to whatever fate awaited him.
"……"
His thoughts grew hazy.
As he allowed himself to be swept along by the sensations coursing through him, he found himself beginning to crave something more.
And right then, Elena's small, lovely lips began drawing closer.
Feeling as though his mind were drifting somewhere far away, Benedict slowly closed his eyes.
The last scraps of his pitiful self-control were abandoning their duties and racing headlong toward the satisfaction of his own desires.
"Oh, goodness gracious! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't see a thing! Please, carry on with whatever you were doing!"
The voice brought his runaway instincts to a screeching halt.
Benedict shot upright.
Then he hurriedly began offering excuses for what had just happened.
"I… Let me make something clear before you misunderstand. I wasn't trying to save you, and I certainly didn't embrace you because I wanted to—"
Of course, Elena had been so distracted by the clock at the time that she hadn't listened to a word.
In truth, he'd been making excuses to himself.
Unfortunately, the clock that had captured Elena's attention created an entirely new problem.
Now she was declaring that she would earn money for his sake, too.
Does that woman really have nothing but me on her mind?
Even as he entertained the thought, he couldn't imagine how such a delicate woman intended to earn enough money to support an enormous residence and all its inhabitants.
"I'd earn the money faster by putting my own body to work."
That was how he'd arrived at the idea of subjugating the barbarians.
He'd fought barbarians several times before. They could be troublesome, certainly, but he'd never considered them a particularly serious threat.
The real problem was Elena.
She worried about him so excessively that she'd vehemently opposed the expedition.
But agreeing to her suggestion that he try investing wasn't an option either.
After all, the enormous fortune he'd accumulated over the years hadn't been the result of any deliberate financial strategy.
He'd simply invested because he had nothing in particular to spend his money on.
And because he didn't want anyone accusing him of competing with the Crown Prince in business, he'd deliberately chosen only investments Lawrence had passed over.
As luck would have it, every single one had turned into an extraordinary success.
Consequently, everyone believed Benedict had employed some elaborate scheme to humiliate Lawrence.
I had no idea Lawrence was quite that bad at choosing investments.
In any case, the conclusion was obvious.
Subjugating the barbarians was his only practical option.
Unfortunately, Elena's concern had gone a little too far this time.
"That's because you're the most important person to me, Your Grace. Why don't you just dismiss a few soldiers or servants and reduce your expenses?"
She'd undoubtedly made the suggestion out of love for him.
But Benedict was a soldier.
He could never accept being told to cast aside the people he was responsible for protecting.
His thoughts turned cold in an instant.
He needed to establish a clear boundary.
He'd been far too indulgent toward Elena until now.
When he finally spoke, his voice was icy.
"I'll say it again. Interfering in my affairs when you have no right to do so is a violation of our Contract."
He drew a firm line between them, restoring a boundary that had gradually become blurred beneath one excuse after another.
This was precisely why love and marriage had no place in his life.
They would only become troublesome obstacles.
The terms of their Contract needed to be upheld without exception.
And if Elena's overflowing emotions made that impossible…
Then I'll have no choice but to end the Contract and send her away.
For some reason, the thought left an uncomfortable tightness in his chest.
Benedict steeled his resolve once more.
"It's not about personal feelings…! Whatever our arrangement is, surely I'm allowed to worry about you as your wife!"
"I have no need for the concern of a fake wife."
The mirror hanging on the wall reflected Elena's stunned face.
She looked utterly devastated.
Benedict forced himself to look away, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
He had merely done what needed to be done.
Whether Elena was hurt by his words was of no consequence to him.
None whatsoever.
******
"Just as I thought. It doesn't bother me in the slightest."
Late that night, in Benedict's bedroom, he turned over yet again.
No matter how he lay, he couldn't seem to get comfortable.
That day had been the beginning of it all.