chapter no 3

The fact remained that Adelia was Roarston’s junior at the academy, and that she was smart enough to graduate as valedictorian.

Even when Roarston had still been attending the academy, he had heard rumors about a genius in the year below him. So it wasn’t as though the two of them had been complete strangers.

But there was one far more important fact.

And that was that their marriage…

★A COMPLETE FRAUD★.

In the past, the Whitten family had completely fallen into ruin when Adelia was ten.

Adelia’s mother, fed up with her gambling-addicted husband, abandoned her barely four-year-old daughter and left.

Her father, meanwhile, left Adelia in the care of a cheap, low-paid nanny and spent his days partying and squandering what little money they had.

By the time Adelia’s father could no longer endure his creditors and was forced to declare bankruptcy,

ten-year-old Adelia was only a fourth-year student at the academy.

Adelia was exceptionally intelligent, so the academy provided her with financial aid for her tuition. But there was nothing they could do about her living expenses or finding her somewhere to stay during the holidays.

That was when an anonymous benefactor reached out a helping hand to Adelia.

It was none other than Roarston’s father, the late Duke of Ipsel.

Well, Father had always taken pleasure in supporting scholars, so it wasn’t all that strange.

The late Duke of Ipsel donated a huge sum of money specifically because of Adelia, allowing the academy to build a dormitory.

Thanks to that, not only did Adelia benefit, but so did the other students from distant regions who had been forced to move from one uncomfortable boarding house to another.

It was through this connection that Roarston and Adelia came to know each other.

Adelia had graduated as valedictorian of the academy, but she had no money to continue on to a research laboratory. So Roarston offered her a contract.

If she would marry him and pretend to be his wife, he would spare no expense in providing everything she needed until she graduated from the research laboratory.

Roarston recalled the frightened expression on Adelia’s face when he had proposed the contract marriage and gave a small chuckle.

—Wh-Why are you going this far for me?

—Because I absolutely hate being nagged to get married already.

It was as red as a perfectly polished ruby, he thought.

Besides, Adelia was the perfect person to part ways with cleanly and without any hard feelings once their contract marriage ended.

That clever junior of his seemed to have absolutely no interest in humans.

Only microorganisms.

“Duke Ipsel. What good news has you smiling so much?”

At the familiar voice that suddenly came from behind him, Roarston flinched. He casually rubbed the back of his neck before turning around.

A well-built middle-aged woman stood there, looking at him with her mouth hidden behind the edge of her fan.

“It’s been a long time, Marchioness Heisenne.”

“Yes, it certainly has. It’s been over a year since I left the capital to recuperate, so has it been nearly two years?”

“Has it really been that long?”

Roarston responded politely before eventually asking with a slightly uncomfortable expression,

“Is everyone in your family doing well?”

“Oh, yes, of course. Everyone is doing wonderfully.”

“That’s a relief…”

“Except that my daughter, Violet, hasn’t been eating a thing day or night ever since she heard that news. She says she has no appetite.”

Ugh.

Roarston groaned inwardly.

“To think that the first news I heard upon returning was that the Duke of Ipsel had gotten married… And I hear you didn’t even have a wedding ceremony? Just what sort of precious young lady is she for things to have turned out that way?”

Marchioness Heisenne continued needling Roarston.

‘Precious young lady,’ my foot.

Considering that they hadn’t even held a wedding ceremony, it was ridiculous.

What she really meant was, What sort of problem is there that you haven’t even had a wedding ceremony? She was being blatantly sarcastic.

“Our schedules didn’t allow for it. We intend to hold an official ceremony later.”

“I’m sure Violet will be delighted to hear that.”

Roarston let out another quiet laugh.

She really came here intending to stick the knife in.

Among all the nobles he knew, no one was quite as troublesome as the Marchioness of Heisenne.

According to rumor, she had been secretly in love with the late Duke of Ipsel for many years.

Around the time Roarston’s mother passed away, the marchioness had also lost her husband. There was even a rumor that she had thought, Now’s my chance, and secretly tried to seduce the late Duke of Ipsel.

Whether that was true or not, the late Duke of Ipsel had never shown interest in anyone after losing his wife.

So the Marchioness of Heisenne turned her attention to his son, Roarston.

As luck would have it, her own daughter, Violet, was hopelessly infatuated with Roarston, so she had planned to marry the two of them off.

That way, even if she couldn’t get the duke himself, she could at least get her hands on the wealth of the ducal family…

He got married in the blink of an eye? How dare he make my daughter cry. I’ll never let this go.

In truth, the marchioness regarded her daughter Violet’s whining as little more than an annoyance. Yet for some reason, she acted as though she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world and kept grinding her teeth at Roarston.

But Roarston was by no means an easy opponent.

“I have a meeting, so I’m afraid I must be going, Madam.”

Roarston smiled pleasantly and gently turned the marchioness by the shoulders, steering her in the opposite direction.

“What? Oh, my…”

His movement had been so natural that even the marchioness being maneuvered away thought she was being escorted.

After politely(?) seeing the marchioness off,

Roarston was left with a great deal to think about.

I never expected the marquess’s family to have returned to the capital. I just hope Adelia doesn’t run into Miss Violet…

And that wasn’t the only problem.

There was another reason Roarston had gone as far as entering into a fraudulent marriage. Aside from having to deal with attacks from the marchioness’s family and relatives.

There was one woman who had been persistently pursuing him for a very long time.

Roarston had told her repeatedly that he had no intention of marrying her, but the woman refused to listen.

In any case.

Even if it was a fraudulent marriage meant to deceive other people, a wife was still a wife.

Moreover, Adelia was his junior.

And she was also a child whom his father had supported for many years.

He couldn’t possibly leave someone with whom he shared such a deep connection surrounded by a pack of hyenas.

Absolutely not.

For the time being, it would be better if I went with her whenever she commutes to and from the research lab.

Roarston made up his mind.

While Roarston was skillfully dodging the knives hidden in the Marchioness of Heisenne’s words,

Adelia was touring the research laboratory with Professor Siern.

She was still completely enthralled.

“Professor, I-I think that’s…!”

Adelia pointed somewhere and gaped.

Professor Siern brushed back his bangs and nodded. His eyes, briefly revealed, glittered with pride.

“It’s exactly what you think it is.”

“The automatic nucleus extractor that was newly invented last winter…! I-I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this with my own eyes!”

“Would you like to try it?”

Adelia’s eyes widened as though they were about to pop out.

“Am I really allowed to?”

“Of course. You’re part of this research lab now, so it’s best that you become familiar with the equipment.”

Siern approached the nucleus extractor and fiddled with various parts before placing a Petri dish containing microorganisms being kept as specimens beneath it. Then he gestured toward Adelia.

“Come over here and give it a try.”

Adelia’s breathing grew heavier.

She was actually going to get to use equipment this advanced.

And not just any advanced equipment—it was the latest technology available.

It would probably take at least three or four years before this equipment became widely available to the academy or ordinary research institutions.

But I can use it right now…!

Because she had joined this research lab!

Dear God, thank you so much…!

Following Siern’s instructions, she placed her eye against the microscope lens and carefully took hold of the tube used to extract the nucleus.

Then, with extreme caution, she brought the tip of the tube toward one of the microorganisms.

The tube inserted itself as though being sucked inward, deftly extracting only the red nucleus.

“I did it, Professor!”

“Good. Now move just the nucleus over here.”

Adelia carefully transferred the nucleus as Siern instructed.

The nucleus placed on the new Petri dish twitched slightly before becoming still.

Stripped of its protective membrane, it had become even redder, and it looked awfully…

“Delicious…”

“…What did you say?”

At Siern’s words, Adelia blinked and gave an awkward little smile.

“Well, when I look at it through this microscope, the nucleus looks just like a perfectly ripe cherry…”

“That nucleus was extracted from a microorganism that causes intestinal disease.”

“But still!”

“…?”

Adelia’s green eyes began sparkling excessively once again.

Professor Siern realized, yet again, that something had gone terribly wrong