The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 39
“Huh? Le-Leonid?”
“Greetings, James. Still as noisy as ever.”
They greeted each other familiarly, calling each other by name, as if they were acquaintances. Johanna, struggling to follow the situation, glanced around nervously.
“Uh… Were you interested in this exhibition too? That’s unexpected, haha…”
For some reason, James Kestner seemed uncomfortable with Leonid. He scratched his head and avoided eye contact, his behavior clearly indicating that he was hiding something.
“I’m not interested in an exhibition like this.”
“T-Then, what brings you here…? And what’s with the candy?”
“I’m quitting smoking. As for why I’m here…”
Leonid stepped closer and wrapped his arm around Johanna’s waist. Startled, she looked up, meeting his sunset-colored eyes. At the same time, a scent reminiscent of a snowy winter day enveloped her. It was his pheromones.
“Ah…”
For a moment, her mind swam, overwhelmed by the dizzying scent. The strong pheromones of a hyper-dominant alpha overpowered the scent of another alpha lingering on Johanna. Until she was completely engulfed by his scent, she could hardly breathe, panting heavily.
She felt Kestner’s bewildered gaze on her. Looking down at the gasping Johanna, Leonid smiled faintly and unwrapped a new piece of candy, placing it in her mouth.
“Lemon flavor, do you dislike it?”
“…?”
“If you like it, nod your head.”
Caught off guard, she nodded, and he looked at her lovingly, his eyes forming crescent moons. Even though she knew it was all an act, her heart trembled uncontrollably. Johanna instinctively averted her gaze. Watching her, Leonid turned back to James Kestner and spoke again.
“My fiancée… she’s very interested in historical artifacts.”
* * *
Leonid attending a dull exhibition he would usually ignore, was because one of the exhibits had been donated by his grandfather.
[The organizers want to express their gratitude, so go in my place.]
That old man, always pushing inconvenient tasks on him. Despite grumbling, Leonid dutifully honored his grandfather’s request. He walked around the uninteresting exhibition, smiling and shaking hands with the organizers, all while wearing gloves, of course.
Having roughly fulfilled his duty, he was about to leave the exhibition hall when he spotted a familiar face. It was Johanna Lucerne… the omega he had a contract with.
The ticket price for such an exhibition wasn’t expensive, so it wasn’t unusual to see someone from the lower echelons here. Thus, finding her there wasn’t particularly surprising, yet it was unexpected.
He never knew she had an interest in art.
Well, she did come from a fallen noble family. Even if their situation was difficult, her parents might have emphasized education enough for her to have basic cultural knowledge. Based on his investigation, her father was a debtor and gambler, so if anyone nurtured her artistic sensibility, it would have been her mother.
She stood in front of a large marble statue, lost in thought, seemingly deeply moved by the piece.
Leonid subtly shifted his position to see what the statue was. 《Lovers Dragged to the Afterlife.》 Of all things, her taste… He smirked crookedly.
He pulled out a piece of candy he carried instead of cigarettes due to his attempt to quit smoking, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. The sharp lemon flavor spread across his tongue, just the right amount of tartness since he didn’t like overly sweet things.
It was around this time that something unexpected happened to the woman still standing there dazed. A notorious scoundrel, whose face Leonid recognized, deliberately bumped her shoulder.
That lunatic is at it again with his scam tactics.
Leonid clicked his tongue quietly while rolling the candy in his mouth. He was curious to see how the woman would handle the situation.
The woman had the appearance of a delicate wildflower, but her eyes betrayed a strength that suggested she was more like a resilient plant. The kind that stubbornly pushes through, even with bricks laid over it.
In truth, Leonid didn’t dislike such a resilient character. He actually admired it. If the woman had been a beta or an alpha, he might have felt a certain level of human fondness for her. But she was an omega, and he had a deep-seated disgust for omegas.
It was a deeply ingrained repulsion, impossible to uproot. Even if she was the woman he had to be physically involved with, she wouldn’t be an exception.
The quarrel between James Kestner and the woman was dragging on. Just as Leonid was debating whether to intervene, he locked eyes with the woman. Recognizing him, she widened her eyes like a startled rabbit and began sending desperate signals for help.
