“Hehe. You must have been thinking of the Grand Duchess. Newlyweds are nice, aren’t they?”

This was why he hated old married men. If only he’d put that insight to good use, exterminating the Tartars. However, Reinhardt steadfastly maintained a blank expression.

“Don’t talk nonsense, and prepare for the mission.”

“Yes, yes. That’s right.”

John, who responded with a look that said he knew everything but would let it pass, left the operations room with the painting.

Glancing at the painting tucked under John’s armpit, Reinhardt absentmindedly took out another painting from his pocket as soon as John disappeared. In the painting, his wife was smiling with the most beautiful smile, sending the cutest wink in the world.

It was the only painting left untouched, without any special paint.

“….”

As Reinhardt stared at the painting, he thought to himself, ‘If only I used this painting, I could subdue the Tartars much more efficiently.”

“Your Excellency! The preparations are complete!”

Upon hearing the voice from outside, Reinhardt stood up from his seat. It was finally time to test the painting.

“I command the formation! March forward!”

The soldiers of Erestein advanced with the painting of Irovel, painted with special paint, and held it up like a shield. Indeed, did the painting really have an effect? Instead of attacking the soldiers, the Tartars, who noticed them, immediately rushed towards the painting.

And…

“Kieek… creak.”

The Tartars bit into the painting and ruthlessly chewed it. Meanwhile, the soldiers stabbed their swords into the Tartars’ necks.

“Oh! The painting is really effective, isn’t it? It feels much easier than dealing with them directly!”

John exclaimed as he pulled out the sword from the Tartar’s neck.

However, unlike John, who looked excited, Reinhardt’s expression darkened significantly. With each painting being destroyed, one Tartar lost its life. It was supposed to be a help in saving Erestein, but Reinhardt was not happy at all.

Not only was he not happy, but he felt miserable. Perhaps it was because he knew how beautiful her smile, hidden under the special paint, was.

“…D*mn it.”

He finally rescued the painting that was about to be pierced by a Tartar’s tooth.

Not a soldier, but a painting.

“I command the formation! Protect the painting!”

In the end, he had to give an order that would make his soldiers doubt his sanity. He intended to use the painting, and that was why he entered the contract marriage. If he was like this, why did he even enter into a contract marriage?

He couldn’t bear the overwhelming frustration and the fact that he himself was pathetic.

“Gee!”

In the midst of it, his finger was pierced by a Tartar’s tooth that was about to chew the painting. After beheading the Tartar with his other hand, he looked down at his finger, blood dripping from it. If he didn’t try to reclaim the painting, he wouldn’t have been injured.

Why did he do such an unreasonable thing?

There was only one reason that came to mind.

“…This is a big problem.”

* * *

“Just a little faster…”

“Just one more…”

Every day, Reinhardt fought the Tartars with that thought in mind. Perhaps because he rushed more than necessary, his body was getting more and more wounded.

“Just use the demon’s painting. What kind of whim is this?”

Despite the complaints from his subordinates, including John, it didn’t matter. Although he was slowing down more than he had expected, he was now close to being able to eliminate all the Tartars that came through the breached barrier.

If he could do that, he would finally be able to return to the southern region.

‘What am I going to do when I go back…?’

He couldn’t come up with a clear answer to that question himself, but for now, he just wanted to see the real thing.

‘Rather than seeing the painting that was drawn with such poor skills, I want to see the real thing.’

If only he had learned painting along with swordsmanship when he was young. While being overwhelmed by regret, he was looking at the painting of Irovel, which looked like something a grade school student had drawn.

“Your Excellency, a letter has arrived from the southern region.”

John, who sometimes took away the commander’s attention, brought a letter instead.

Maybe, just maybe, with hope in his heart, he hoped it was his wife. However, Reinhardt confirmed the sender and let out a sigh at the clearly written name, ‘Jade Mute.’

Of course, Irovel would never send him a letter.

Why did he keep foolishly expecting it? With a mixture of self-blame and disappointment, Reinhardt roughly opened the envelope. Once again, there would probably be useless words written inside. That was what he thought as he casually read through the letter.

“…That d*mn son of a b*tch, Amil?”

He spat out the curse. Not once had he ever cursed or even used informal language towards his cousin.

“John, how many of the remaining troops are there?”

“Four, sir.”

“That should be manageable for you alone, shouldn’t it?”

“What? What are you saying? I understand your desire to go back quickly, but it’s not just about the Duke’s family! I also have a beloved wife and children like rabbits…”

“My household is on the verge of collapse right now.”

“….!”

Reinhardt, as well as John, had a grave expression. John asked hesitantly, “Could it be that the influence of Marquess Leopold?”

“It seems so.”

Thud.

A letter from Jade fell from Reinhardt’s hand, and unintentionally, John read the contents of the letter.

[ Your Excellency, it seems that the Grand Duchess has been swayed by Marquess Leopold. ]

“But… Jade is prone to exaggerating trivial matters and having delusions. It could be the case this time as well. Please trust your beloved wife.”

“…And what if I can’t trust her?”

“….”

“….”

John knew some of the scandals involving The Young Marquess of Leopold*.
[ T/N: I’ve just realized that Amil hadn’t inherited the title. It was supposed to be the young marquess. ]

The Countess Marta, who was rumored to be a lovebird with her husband.

Marquise Hammad, who was said to be a lifelong celibate…

Numerous women had fallen for him and ruined their lives. It was understandable that Reinhardt couldn’t trust his wife.

“There’s nothing we can do.”

John sighed deeply and patted Reinhardt’s shoulder.

“I’ll take care of the northern region, so Your Excellency, please go and protect your family.”

“Thank you.”

Reinhardt got up from his seat and rushed out of the mansion. Watching his back, John thought to himself, ‘He’s faster now than when he went to subdue the demons.’

* * *

When Reinhardt was young, he had received the heir education with Amil at the Erestein Grand Ducal Mansion.

At that time, Amil was seventeen years old, just starting to shed his boyishness.

One day, their economics teacher burst into tears and handed in her resignation. The reason was that she couldn’t hide her feelings anymore, which had already reached Amil, his student.

In shock, the Erestein hired a male teacher. However, the same result followed, and one after another, the teachers expressed their favor toward Amil and ended up getting dismissed. In the end, the heir education was discontinued by Erestein.

“I didn’t like those teachers anyway. It’s better this way.”

Amil, who should have been confused about what had happened, smiled happily and returned to his own home. Reinhardt wondered why he smiled like that, but since it was an unrelated matter, he didn’t pay much attention to it.

However, if it involved his wife, the story would be different. She was a woman who could easily fall in love with anyone, and he was a man who could easily get love from anyone.

It was obvious what would happen when the two of them met.

‘This is why I turned down your offer to help out in my absence…!’

Reinhardt gritted his teeth.

Even though he had already declined the offer, he couldn’t understand Amil’s intentions of coming all the way to the mansion to help.

“Damn it!”

No matter how quickly he rushed to the southern region, it would take at least seven days. During that time, Reinhardt prayed desperately that nothing would happen between them.

* * *

[ Is everything going well? ]

Amil couldn’t easily reply to the letter sent by the emperor.

“Irovel, can you tell if my chest muscles are growing as you advised?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“If you touch them, you’ll feel that they’re firm.”

“Then, ask Sir Mute to touch them. Sir Mute! Come here and touch his chest!”

“No, my chest is not a peach. Why are you asking him to touch it like you would touch a fruit?”

When he thought about their recent relationship, he couldn’t say that things were going well at all. It wouldn’t be easy, though he hoped he could find strength by thinking about the things that was promised. The emperor promised many things in exchange for separating Irovel from Reinhardt.

A beachside villa, diamond mine rights, numerous jewels, money…

And most importantly, painkillers.

Only the Emperor, who had access to the imperial herb garden, had the means to obtain them.

“Ugh…”

Amil let out a pained groan.

He had been suffering from this inexplicable pain for over five years. Even the doctors had given up on him, saying there was nothing they could do.

He had only one hope left.

…To divorce Irovel from Reinhardt and obtain the painkillers from the emperor to free himself from this agony.

However, in his current state, it was hard to expect anything more than a friendship with Irovel. Still, that didn’t mean there was no hope. It didn’t necessarily have to be infidelity as the only way to divorce them.

‘I need to find a weakness to make Reinhardt abandon her.’

Amil made a resolution as he straightened his disheveled clothes.

Coincidentally, he held an item in his hand that could prove Irovel’s weakness. It was a detachable voice magic device that he had secretly attached to his office and retrieved.

In the quiet dawn with no one around, Irovel and Jade’s voices flowed from his bedroom.

“No, besides that. Did you find him handsome or not?”

“Ah…”

“He was handsome, I guess.”

“I knew it!! My words were right, weren’t they?”

“I said he was handsome, but I didn’t say I fell for him.”

“But isn’t that what it means to you, Madam?”

“No, not really. If I fell for every handsome man, I would have asked Reinhardt long ago to marry me for real instead of a contractual marriage.”

‘A contractual marriage…’

Amil’s lips formed a smooth smile.

—