My Contract Husband Resembles the Male Protagonist - Chapter 1
“Ha! He’s stubborn, really.”
Phew!
I carefully examined the front page of the newspaper again today.
Will the Emperor marry today, or perhaps tomorrow, the day after…?
But it’s been years of waiting.
In the original story, the Emperor, known for showing off his incredible physical strength, doesn’t meet any women, let alone reveal his true name and face. Instead, he quietly rules the country.
Since his ascension, the corrupt empire has developed remarkably.
The once dominant aristocracy, which was old and rotten, has crumbled, and they’ve successfully incorporated emerging talents to establish their unique governing system.
But why?
Why are you not getting married?!
“Are your subjects doing a bad job?”
If you’re such a diligent Emperor, take a break and get married. Or better yet, resolve the issue of succession as soon as possible. That’s the way to go, isn’t it?”
Argh!
This stubborn Emperor.
I gripped the newspaper, trembling.
“Get married, please. Get married! I don’t care who it is, just marry anyone!”
“Miss Enya.”
At that moment, I heard a soft, low voice.
I opened the door and greeted the man entering with a bright smile.
“Dale!”
“You might get hurt if you run.”
When I rushed to hug him lightly, Dale smiled shyly, his face blushing.
He couldn’t even embrace me with his face contorted with embarrassment.
But that just made him more adorable.
“Dale, is your work finally finished? Was it another late night tonight?”
“I’m sorry. It got busier than I expected.”
“I’m not scolding you, Dale. What if my husband overworks and collapses?”
Startled by my concern, Dale flinched and avoided eye contact, but he couldn’t hide his satisfaction.
“Well, if you must get married, it should be to someone like him.”
“Rather than pushing like a madman, like the Emperor in the original work who claims to love, I found myself a warm, affectionate, caring, and dedicated (handsome) man.
I leaned on (handsome) my man’s arm with a contented smile.
“Truly, it worries me that you leave early and come back late every day.”
“If I ever fall ill, I believe Miss Enya will take care of me.”
I looked at him in disbelief, and Dale flashed an awkward smile.
“After all, your wife is an excellent healer.”
“Still, it’s better if you don’t get sick, isn’t it?”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I embraced him a little tighter, enjoying the comfort of his broad chest.
A pleasant fragrance wafted from his warm embrace.
The best harvest I gained was by running away to the countryside and leaving my family behind to avoid marriage to the emperor.
My (handsome) husband.
“Ah… really, I refuse to take the title of the Empress, and I’ll definitely stay married to someone else. I won’t go back. Whether they find me or not.”
I held my lovely husband tightly and thought.
The Emperor should also hurry up and marry someone.
My marriage, he doesn’t even know about it.
***
All these events began a few months ago.
“Lady, do you really not think about marriage at all? Even a little?”
The elderly woman, who often made herbal medicine, asked me.
“Now it’s almost time to leave this place.”
I looked at the calendar as I packed the medicine.
“Come on, Grandma! Don’t look down on me just because I have a cold. You have to make sure to take all the medicine I’ve made on time. Got it?”
“Oh, not even thinking about marriage, huh?”
“No.”
“Ah, come on. How about meeting my grandson, even just as a friend?”
“Only if he’s handsome.”
Upon hearing this, the elderly woman chuckled.
“Very tall! Is that enough?”
“If he’s wealthy too.”
“I’ve been working since I was a kid, so I’m sure I’ve earned quite a bit. Is that really all you need?”
“I’m sorry! In truth, I have no intention of getting married.”
I rejected her as I put down the medicine bottle.
“Tsk, tsk. That’s a shame. Why on earth won’t you get married? I like you just fine.”
“By the way! Grandma.”
I quickly cut off the elderly woman’s words.
“You remember last time, right? You pretended to take the medicine I made and secretly threw it away in the field?”
“Miss Healer, you’re exaggerating! I would never… When did I… Hahaha! Oh my, I forgot something at home. Thank you!”
The elderly woman swiftly dashed away from my scolding.
She’d probably not take the medicine properly this time either, but my job here is done.
“It’s already evening.”
I thought as I cleaned up the store.
“Grandma, I just saved your grandson.”
It’s been three years.
For the past three years, I’ve been wandering the continent as a drifter.
Now it’s time to leave this village.
There was one reason I never settled anywhere and kept running.
Was it because I’m a criminal?
No.
“That sickening Emperor…”
I thoroughly examined the newspaper.
The newspaper praised the Emperor for suppressing the old aristocracy and implementing successful policies or completing monster subjugations. What I wanted, like “<Emperor, His Majesty, Falls in Love with a Mysterious Woman of Secrets!>” and such special features didn’t exist.
The reason I’ve been wandering for three years is to avoid marriage with the Emperor.
“Enya, His Majesty, the Emperor, has issued the Empress Dowry. He wishes to welcome you as his Empress.”
Three years ago, I was notified of my marriage to the Emperor, as if it were an assassination.
It was also much earlier than the original story.
Why?
That’s when I realized.
It was a prelude to my future falling into destruction faster than the original story.
As soon as I received the Empress Dowry, I ran out of my house and roamed various places, and fortunately, my runaway life was successful.
“But now, even that’s over.”
“The Emperor initiated numerous policies right after his ascension, but one of them posed a problem.
It was the recent residential law reform.
The pretext was to accurately survey the number of imperial subjects to supplement the empire’s military forces.
In reality, he was systematically cutting the foundation of the nobility who had amassed excessive power in the previous reign.
The fact that the Emperor himself, not a noble, directly initiated the census of the empire’s population was evidence of this.
That meant investigating the composition of each household.
It started from the capital, and it would soon move east.
‘Before that, let’s head south.’
The South had the lowest population, so it would be the last place the influence reached.
It was already the tenth?
Or was it the eleventh?
I had moved so many times that I couldn’t even remember, so I was used to unpacking.
Whoosh!
I burned all traces and only packed a single trunk.
“I’ve got a magic pouch for endless herbs and a fake ID.”
That was enough.
‘The next destination is the domain of Count Grunwald in the south.’
I set out on the long journey once again.
