My Contract Husband Resembles the Male Protagonist - Chapter 5
“Bang! Bang!”
Somewhere, a dull sound of knocking on wood echoed.
“Ugh, Emma, it’s noisy….”
As I grumbled, it suddenly hit me.
Emma was the maid from the Marquis’s mansion who took care of me, and I’ve been on the run for three years.
Then, what was the source of this familiar noise?
“…What is this?”
Did I fall asleep at some point?
A blanket covered my body—
The same blanket I had given to the man.
“Did he leave?”
I looked around, but no one was there.
Come to think of it, this wasn’t the first floor where I thought I was.
“When did I come up to the second floor?”
I didn’t even know there was a bedroom here.
Calmly, I went out of the room, and the scent of something delicious wafted in the air.
The source of the smell was on the first floor.
I saw someone moving in the kitchen on the first floor.
“A man?”
It struck me at that moment.
That man was the one I brought home yesterday—the one with black hair and a broad back. I silently observed him from the stairs.
“Are you awake?”
Our eyes met.
It felt awkward, as if I had been caught spying on him.
I hid the hammer behind my back and approached.
“What, uh, what are you doing here?”
“Cooking… I was cooking.”
He smiled shyly.
“Do you usually skip breakfast?”
“No? I’m fine with anything you make. It’s even better if I don’t have to cook. …But who are you?”
“Ah.”
The man chuckled.
“My introduction came late.”
He handled someone else’s kitchen quite naturally.
Wiping a wet knife on a dry cloth and neatly placing an apron, whose origin was unknown, as if it belonged there, all felt as natural as if it were his own home.
“I’m Dale, the owner of this house.”
“I knew it. As expected, the landlord… What?”
For a moment, my eyes widened.
“You’re the landlord?”
***
I immediately went to find the lord’s aide and broker to hear more details.
“I mentioned earlier that there are some issues with that house. Unfortunately, the money you paid cannot be refunded.”
So, ‘some issues’ was precisely this.
It wasn’t the sale of the entire house but a partial sale.
To summarize the broker’s response:
-
- The house is divided into the first and second floors.
-
- There is a staircase on the second floor leading outside, and renovating the kitchen should not be a problem.
-
- The only available house to move into now is Dale’s house.
“No wonder the house was surprisingly cheap even for the countryside.”
There was a good reason why it was much cheaper than the average market price.
“Mr. Dale mainly uses the first floor?”
“Yes, mostly.”
“Can I use the second floor?”
“That’s correct.”
He consistently deflected my gaze, but he would look at me with a cool and shy smile.
Despite his cold appearance, our eyes meeting alone made him seem embarrassed.
“Why did you sell only one floor of this house?”
“Well, that…”
The man, no, Dale, briefly clenched his lips and mechanically wiped the moisture from the kitchen.
“I needed money.”
“Ah, money.”
Well, money is the most important thing.
I gazed at Dale discreetly.
When our eyes met, he lowered his head like a startled rabbit.
From his face to his neck, everything turned red. Unlike his appearance, he seemed unfamiliar with conversations with women.
The weirdest thing is not the house or the situation but that guy.
Can his confidence really be that lacking with such a face?
‘With a face like that, wouldn’t he be proud with every breath he took?’
It seemed like there was no mirror in this house.
Was he not interested in his appearance?
I stared intently at Dale.
“If my presence makes you uncomfortable, I can step out for a moment.”
“No, it’s cold. Where would you even go?”
“Anywhere…”
He couldn’t look at me as if feeling sorry.
“Don’t go, Mr. Dale. Just stay here. This is your house.”
The handsome man with a threatening build sat quietly on the sofa with a modest gesture.
Looking at me with moist and innocent eyes…
….Wait, is he bewitching me?
I casually wiped away the drool.
“Are you okay?”
“What? What are you talking about? I wasn’t thinking about anything.”
I shook my head while answering.
The man seemed neither feverish nor in pain, and he wasn’t suspicious.
Now, the problem was me.
‘Where should I go?’
There was no house available for immediate occupancy in Grunwald.
Unless I wanted to live in a barn, I had to leave for another territory.
“Sigh…”
It was already autumn, and the day turned dark quickly.
The window outside was already pitch black.
If I wanted to find another house, I had to leave soon, but there was no suitable place.
However, I couldn’t live in this man’s house, and I couldn’t get my money back.
Dale silently watched me, looking embarrassed about my dilemma.
Knock, knock, knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
