My Mom Got A Contract Marriage

‘I was careless.’

Brynn’s eyes also widened. 

Lauv was clearly outside, so how?

After glancing outside the door unconsciously, Brynn stepped in front of Lilica at an slant.

It was too conspicuous if she blocked him head-on, so this much was appropriate.

“W—What is this?”

Atil’s face was filled with shock, betrayal and anger.

Atil entered with large strides.

Before Brynn could stop her, Lilica quickly blocked his way. 

“Atil, wait a minute—”

“Get out of my way!”

Atil pushed her aside. Lilica grabbed his arm.

“I’m sorry, but let me tell you my side of the story first.” 

“Get lost!”

Atil shook his arm off roughly.

Lilica was much smaller than him, so she stumbled backwards when his arm struck her face.  

Normally, she would have fallen back with an, “Ack!” 

Normally. 

Lilica paused. She covered her mouth with a hand.

Rolling—

White front teeth fell into her hand. At the same time, blood began flowing out from her mouth.

“Princess!”

Fjord ran over with a shout.

Atil was so surprised that he couldn’t even stop Fjord. Lilica’s eyes were also wide in surprise.

‘Front tooth? Ah!’ 

It was the tooth that has been shaking since two days ago.

It was going to be extracted today or tomorrow.

Afraid that Atil would blame himself, she spoke quickly.

“I’m oway—” (I’m okay)

As she didn’t want to swallow blood, the blood accumulated in her mouth and her pronunciation became awkward. 

When she spoke, blood began flowing out. 

Actually, it wasn’t entirely blood, but saliva was mixed within and so it looked rather dismal. 

Brynn, who was well aware of the situation, was the only one that remained calm. 

She came over and held out a folded handkerchief.

“Please bite on this tightly, Princess.”

“Ung.”

As she nodded, Lilica wanted to speak with Atil again, but she looked at Fjord. 

The hand holding her shoulder was trembling.

His reddish-gold eyes quiver with nervousness.

Lilica patted the  hand on my shoulder.

“I’m oway.” (I’m okay)

She couldn’t speak clearly while biting on a handkerchief. She swallowed down a sigh.

“This is…”

Atil clenched his fist.

His voice was trembling. He jumped towards Fjord.

“This is all because of you!”

“I’m not the one that hit the princess, it’s you!”

The furious Fjord responded immediately in retaliation. 

The both of them grabbed the other’s collar, and it seemed like they were about to grapple at any moment.

The panic-stricken Lilica looked at Brynn, while Brynn smiled at her.

As long as the princess is safe and sound, it doesn’t matter.

At the sight of her relaxed look, Lilica’s jaw dropped without realising it. 

So, at times like this, that is to say.

Lilica raised her voice.

“Lauv!”

Bang!

The door slammed open roughly.

Everyone turned their startled gazes over towards Lauv, who was standing there.

Lilica looked over in delight, but her eyes soon widened in surprise.

At first glance, Lauv looked like he had been rolling around in a pile of fallen leaves. 

He strode in with a rarely seen angered look. 

He spoke through gritted teeth. 

“Your Highness, you’re taking your joke too far.” 

Unaware of the reason, Lilica looked at Atil and Lauv alternately. 

“I’m sorry, I—”

Lauv ran over to Lilica upon catching sight of the state of his master. 

“Princess!”

Lilica intended to say that she was fine, but she smiled at him reassuringly instead, while internally thinking how many times has this been. 

But her smile didn’t help Lauv in the slightest.

Her teeth came out. 

He’d easily spotted that. 

To hit someone and cause their teeth to fall out, a relatively large amount of strength would be required. 

While he was away, his lord suffered an attack that caused her teeth to fall out.

Someone had hit Lilica with that amount of force.

That fact caused Lauv to tremble all over.

If someone had actually hit her like that, Lilica wouldn’t be able to stand normally like this right now, but he didn’t think that far.

“Who the hell was it?”

His words came out from between gritted teeth.

It was hard to control his anger. The blood of the wolves that run within his body boiled.

He’d almost lost his master.

Fear was invoked instinctually.

His pupils contracted and the colour of his eyes became brighter.

Fangs could be seen through his slightly parted lips.

Surprised, Lilica called out to him in a loud voice. 

“Lauv Wolfe!”

The handkerchief fell out, but she didn’t care about that.

“I’m fine. I wasn’t attacked. Calm down.”

“But.”

“Really, my teeth fell out because it was time for them to drop. Atil, you were also surprised, weren’t you? My teeth were loose, so that’s why this happened.” 

Blood gushed out again as she spoke, so Lilica closed her mouth.

Brynn took out a new handkerchief, wiped the corners of her mouth, and made her bite on it again.

Lilica thought that everyone would go, “Oh, I see,” after she explained the situation. She thought that they would become relieved, but the atmosphere didn’t change in the slightest.

While she was stewing in puzzlement, Brynn offered an answer readily.

“But if it weren’t for what had happened, the princess’s teeth wouldn’t have fallen out.”

The words that summed up the entire situation made Lilica feel rather troubled. 

She patted Fjord and pointed towards the sofa. Then, she ran over and grabbed Atil’s hand.

She scanned his mood furtively, but it didn’t seem like he would shake her off. 

When she pulled him by the hand, Atil let himself be dragged by her obediently. He seemed to have lost his will to fight completely.

When she came out of the cabin while holding Atil’s hand, she spotted the two previously chosen guards standing side by side.

The two looked this way and greeted each other with a bitter smile.

Lilica was startled by their messy appearance and they greeted each other.

‘They’re much more of a mess than Lauv was.’

She took Atil to the table in front of the cabin.

Lilica took out the handkerchief she was biting and said. 

“I’m sorry, Atil. I know that you value this place a lot, and that you hate Fjord, but I still brought him here.”

“Why are you apologising?”

“What?”

Lilica looked up in surprise. Atil gritted his teeth.

“Why, why are you apologising?”

The intermittent questions caused her to be rather bewildered. Turquoise eyes began wandering about.

Even that pushed him into a whirlwind of uneasiness, or was it anger, no, it was an unknown emotion. 

“Because I made a mistake?”

“What?”

“As I’ve mentioned previously—”

“I’ve given you this place. Whoever you chose to bring here is up to you.”

“It’s not completely mine. We agreed to share ownership.”

“But you have the right to bring whoever you want.”

As he continued, Atil felt despondent. Why were they arguing about this?

This wasn’t what he wanted to talk about. He wanted to talk about something completely different.

However, the more Lilica apologised, the harder it became to mention it.

He grabbed Lilica’s hand and made her bite the handkerchief. He hated the eyes that looked at him puzzledly. 

He said.

“Why aren’t you telling me to apologise?”

Blink, blink.

From her eyes, it looks like she hadn’t even thought about it. He became angry.

Atil raised his chin and used the handkerchief to stop her from saying anything. 

“It’s okay to be angry. You can be angry. Even if I was agitated, it’s ridiculous of me to hit you like this. I…” 

He had something more that he wanted to say, but he stopped and sighed.

Why did he have to explain this personally?

I didn’t intend to hurt you.

Those words didn’t come out. Instead, rebarbative words came out of his mouth.

“You’re the one that got hurt, so why are you apologising while telling me that it’s alright? Don’t be obsequious. It makes your origins evident.” 

The moment he uttered that final sentence, he went, “Oops.” 

Lilica’s face turned red.

She slapped the hand that was holding her chin and spat out her handkerchief.

“I’m not ashamed of my origins at all!”

“I—”

“I’ve never been servile! Yes, getting hit hurts, but Your Highness was also surprised, weren’t you? You seemed so bewildered, and my teeth were shaking. Besides, ptui!”

Atil stiffened when she spat out saliva. 

Lilica wiped the corner of her mouth and uttered a short swear.

That short yet harsh word caused Atil to hold his breath.

As Lilica stared straight at him, her eyes burned brightly. 

She was a child from the slums.

But she had never felt ashamed, and this was her pride and dignity.

“Although I knew how much Your Highness hates Barat, I still made this decision. I knew that you’d be angry, but I still did that.”

Her turquoise eyes sparkled.

“That’s why I apologised. My feelings of apology haven’t changed. Because.”

Earlier, when Atil came in, his face and voice was filled with anticipation. 

He sneaked in after making the two escorts throw Lauv out.

Lilica promised to beautify the garden and return it to him, and Atil couldn’t have been unaware that there was activity going on here.

Additionally, perhaps he’d noticed that she wasn’t present in the morning.

That’s why he’d come straight to the cabin.

Thinking that Lilica was definitely preparing a surprise party or something. 

But what would he think when he saw her and Barat there? 

He must have felt betrayed.

Nevertheless, Atil wasn’t furious with Lilica, but expressed his anger towards Fjord first.

Lilica knew that it’s because he cared about her.

“It’s because I like Your Highness.”

It’s because she liked him, so she worried about any harm he’d suffered, and felt extremely apologetic. 

She thought that getting slapped was still considered cheap.

Those words were rather simple-minded. 

Atil deflated instantly. He sank into a chair and wrapped his hands around his face.

Why was this weak little sister so good at saying the things that he can’t say?

Isn’t it scary?

Isn’t she afraid?

Liking someone was akin to grabbing a hold of one’s weakness. It was easy to exploit goodwill. 

How many people had thought of profiting from another’s affection?

Those people would only end up hurting him. 

“Your Highness?”

She was calling him that again, and Atil immediately felt scared.

Since earlier, he was being called ‘Your Highness’, and not ‘Atil’.

He looked up hesitantly. A worried face came into view.

When he saw that she was still worried, the words weighing on his mind flowed out easily. 

“I’m sorry.”

He spoke briefly, and Lilica smiled.

“I’ll accept that apology for now, Your Highness.”

Atil pulled her closer by her arm. He sighed and asked.

“What in the world do you like about that punk?”

“Hmm… he’s really pretty, and good at curtseying—”

“Face? It’s because of his face? Ah, that’s true. What else is there that’s worth looking at a Barat for aside from their faces?”

Anything else can be gossiped about, but when it came to looks, Barat was untouchable. 

Atil even acknowledged that point. 

Atil looked at his sister, dumbfounded. 

Lilica’s face flushed.

“Uh, it’s not because of his looks. And for some reason, uhm. There’s a place that bothers me.”

“I’m saying, his looks?”

“Oh, I already said it’s not. It really isn’t because of that. My mother is the most beautiful person in the world!”

Atil was at a loss at the sudden and baffling declaration. 

Lilica spoke triumphantly.

“That’s why I won’t be brought down by a pretty face.”

Is he considered just a pretty face? 

Atil swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. 

* * *

Fjord felt like he was sitting on a thorny cushion.

He looked down at his arm while sitting upright on the sofa. 

When he rolled up the sleeve of his chiffon blouse, he spotted a bandage wrapped tightly around his arm.

He clenched his fist, opened it, and rotated his shoulders.

He didn’t feel any pain whatsoever. He couldn’t see his wound, but he could tell that it had healed completely.

The bandage was just a formality.

‘In the span of a night?’

He should still be suffering from the wound for at least a week.

It raised a question, but he didn’t bother to express it. He didn’t even ask.

It’s because old families would have a secret recipe or two, and three or four hidden artifacts.

He glanced at the window anxiously.

He couldn’t see them while seated, but Lilica and Atil were talking somewhere outside. 

‘Atil Sau Takar.’

He closed his eyes.

When he was young, he hated him blindly. 

It’s all because of Atil that he had to go through such suffering, and that his father had to die. 

He grew up listening to those kinds of poisonous words that were everywhere.

Especially from his mother.

His shoulders couldn’t help but shrink at the thought of his mother.

His mother, who tried anything and everything to raise Barat to the highest position. 

His mother, who always did her best

She mixed flesh with Takar, who she hated so much, by having a direct descendant of the imperial family marry into her family.  

Thanks to such a mother, he became Barat’s greatest masterpiece. 

“It’s funny, isn’t it?”

His mindset was only broken when Atil’s birthday party was being held. 

As he was turning ten, and his first birthday in the double-digits, a grand birthday party was held.

It was also an occasion to introduce the child to everyone.

As such, Fjord met Atil for the first time. 

He remembered his mother’s fingers digging into his hair and turning and fixing his gaze in Atil’s direction. 

“That’s your enemy.”

Her whispering voice surfaced in his mind vividly.

So that was Atil, who he bore such hatred against…

When he recalled it now, a bitter laugh would flow out from between his lips.

He was just a kid.

He was just a child that stared at him desperately, bearing a similar hatred and anxiety.

‘He was just like me.’

Fjord came to a realisation.

It wasn’t Atil that caused him agony. It wasn’t Takar.

It was the person with her hand placed on his head. 

It was a Barat.

The desire to become Takar, to become the best, the one who didn’t have any qualms about the means, even if she had to rack her brains and gulp down her tears. 

Barat’s desire to rise to that position.

That’s the reason that he cries in pain.

Ever since then, Fjord has never hated Atil. When Atil stared at him, he merely gave a bitter smile. 

He could fully understand why Atil hated him so much.

He would’ve cursed someone out when he saw what Barat did. Unless he himself wasn’t a Barat. 

But he was a Barat.

That’s why he constantly avoided him, and always turned around and took the longer route.

‘But.’

But Fjord met Lilica.

Her caring actions, 

Her affectionate words,

Her ingrained kindness,

Her unconditional goodwill

All that she’d done were little things.

Akin to the crumbs of a sugar cookie that glimmered like glass. 

However, he was fascinated by the sweet taste he’d never tasted before, the aroma, and the iridescent colours, so he was unable to avert his eyes.

He wanted to be a little closer. 

He wanted to collect the crumbs that kept falling.

It was akin to a drop of water falling on the lips of a person that has never drank water before.