Bala: The Duke's Contract Wife

The Wrong Name

Rose had forgotten the last time she slept really well without having nightmares or waking up in the middle of the night.

Maybe Victor was right. She felt numb from everything when she fell asleep after forcing her body to become tired.

Or maybe what made Rose able to sleep well was because she was accompanied by two men, Victor and Paul?

Ah, no way.

"Rose?" Paul called her slowly. The girl's eyes opened to see the boy looking at her with worried eyes. Rose's eyes blinked several times before her eyes finally got used to the rays of sunlight from the window.

Huh? The window is open? Usually, Rose would be the one to open her own window curtains because she never allows Lisa or other servants to enter in the morning.

With one hand on her eyes, Rose tried to adapt to the sunlight. A large figure was sitting by the window. A tobacco rod was tucked between his lips.

"What time is this?" asked Rose.

"It's almost lunchtime, Rose," said Paul, "You look very well-rested. And I didn't want to wake you up. But soon we're going to have lunch so... I finally woke you up."

Rose scoured her eyes. She stretched her body. When she grunted a little, Victor immediately asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Rose said as she sat leaning on the bedframe. Her lower abdomen didn't hurt like the first time she did it. Although her back felt a little stiffer.

"You guys... stayed here while I sleep?"

Paul nodded quickly. "We had breakfast here too!"

Rose blinked. Her gaze went from the father to the son. "Why?"

"Aren't we both your guardians," replied Paul, "How can we leave Rose in her most vulnerable state?"

"Uh... okay..." Rose started to realize that she might have oversold the reason Victor slept in Rose's room.

"Rose," called Victor. His tone was serious. "Can you attend a meeting with me?"

"When?"

"Whenever you're ready."

"..."

"The others are waiting in my office but–"

"You let your knights wait... for me to wake up?"

"Uh... yes."

Rose stared at the man straight, trying to figure out if Victor was joking or not. When she found out he was serious... Rose got confused. Why did the man prioritize her? Isn't the meeting more important?

That was the first time Rose was left to sleep while other men had to wait for her. If Victor were Rendre, the man would have scolded Rose if she had his male friends waiting for even a second.

It's... Weird.

Rose washed and dressed after successfully expelling the two men from her room. But when she was about to tie a ribbon to her dark blue dress, her bedroom door opened.

"Vic, make it a habit to knock before entering," protested Rose.

The man walked up to Rose and began to take over tying the ribbons behind her body. Rose put her wavy hair aside to the shoulders to ease Victor's work.

"Why? I've even seen the whole of you," Victor said.

Rose could only sigh roughly.

After finishing tying her dress ribbon, Victor led his wife into his office again. Rose could see Rositta was already sitting in the guest chair. Unlike before where all military division commanders were present, this time there were only Johan, Gale, and Quay.

As soon as Victor sat in his chair, the atmosphere of the room became thick. The man supported his chin on both hands.

"Countess of Rozar reportedly committed suicide yesterday," Victor said.

Instinctively, Rose immediately looked at Rositta, who turned out to look surprised.

"Suicide?" asked Rose.

Johan nodded in confirmation. "Her body was found hanging from the ceiling in her room."

"The reason?" asked Rose again, "And who reported it?"

Johan put up an uncomfortable look. Gale also seemed reluctant to answer. Seeing that, Rose laughed.

"Rositta, because the men here won't tell me, this is your first lesson," Rose said. "What reason did Countess of Rozar give for suicide?"

Rositta rolled her eyes to think. She tapped her chin a few times. "Uhm... Countess of Rozar is not the kind of person who would kill herself..."

"You're right."

Rositta turned her eyes to Rose. "So she was killed?"

"Most likely."

"Why?"

Rose clicked her tongue. "Use your brain, Rositta. Who is most likely to kill Countess of Rozar and what reason would they give to make it look like suicide?"

"The killer is... the count," Rositta said quietly, "because he learned that the countess had a part in my abduction..."

Rose nodded, signaling for the girl to continue her deduction.

"... For the reasons they would put as her suicide... Does it have anything to do with you humiliating her at the tea party at that time?"

Again Rose nodded.

Suddenly a banging sound was loudly heard. Victor hit his desk with his fist. It left everyone in the room looking at the man in shock.

What is that guy's problem this time?

"How dare the count drags Rose's name as the guise of his murder," growled Victor.

Honestly, Rose didn't understand why the man was so angry.

"The whole Maraina is talking about it now," Gale said quietly. The old man was careful in his speech, afraid Victor would explode. "But because of the events with the Emperor, many people still do not believe the rumors that Countess of Rozar's suicide because of the Duchess's behavior."

"But isn't this a great opportunity?" Rose's question made everyone in the room turn their heads. All focus was on Rose.

Their gazes looked a little blank like they don't understand what Rose was talking about. She looked at Rositta, at least the girl should have understood.

It turned out that Rositta was the same, staring at Rose with confusion.

Sometimes I forget how slow people's minds could be...

"He dragged me as the reason for Countess of Rozar to commit suicide. That means Countess of Rozar had divulged about my involvement in kidnapping Rositta."

When all who were in the room were still staring in confusion at Rose, she continued, "He didn't blatantly accuse me and only caused rumors because he himself didn't know why I kidnapped Rositta. He is waiting for my reply."

"But if so, Count of Rozar will definitely change the place for the next auction, right?" asked Gale.

"You are right, Gale," Rose said.

"Do you have any plans to outsmart that, Duchess?" asked Johan.

Rose nodded. "So, I'm going to give Rositta back. As I said yesterday, Rositta would say that there are couples who are interested in buying a child. But this time Rositta will say that the one of the couple is me."

Rose waited for everyone in the room to digest her words. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Even Rositta was still staring at the confused Rose.

Urgh!

"I don't understand," Victor continued, "What's the use of declaring your identity as one of the potential buyers?"

Rose looked at the man in annoyance, 'Are you pretending to be stupid?' asked Rose through her gaze.

The man raised both eyebrows. 'I really don't understand.'

Rose cleared their throats. "Of course, to gain his trust. Rendre has interacted several times with Marquis of Ferinde's faction. If I were a buyer for Count Rozar, it would be easier to trust me. And he's going to try to get me to his side, so that I can spy on you, Duke."

That's when Victor's gaze darkened. 'What did I say, Rose?' he asked with his green eyes.

'But this is a formal meeting, Vic,' Rose replied with her own stare.

'I told you, you should call me by my name, especially in public.'

'All right... But it's already said. Next time I'll remember that.'

'No. Call my name now. Or our agreement about the teleporter is void.'

'Tch. What the hell do you like so much about me calling your name? Is that your weird kink?'

Victor raised his shoulders. 'I don't know. But hearing my name in your voice feels sweet.'

'Sweet?'

Victor's gaze became neutral. The man wouldn't answer Rose's undisclosed question.

While the others alternated their gazes between Rose and Victor. At that time they felt their two masters were communicating without speaking. Gale felt it was so adorable that the man had to refrain from whistling. Even Quay was surprised to see that. While Johan still put on a skeptical face.

Rose cleared her throat. "Count of Rozar will surely see me as an opportunity to spy on you... Victor..." Publicly calling Victor's name out of the blue felt strange to Rose. The name seemed foreign to her tongue. And especially she felt uncomfortable when all those in the room became shocked and looked at her directly. Because it was the common norm for family members to call each other with their earned titles in public places. Even a child will still call their father and mother with the titles they have.

Throughout history, only one noble couple often called each other's names in public places. Ramirez and Junifer, an Elysseria-Montserra couple like Victor and Rose, too. But Ramirez and Junifer lived about five hundred years ago and their love story was considered a legend for female nobles. In that day and age, almost all male nobles did not allow their wives to call them without their titles.

Victor, however, smiled contentedly when he heard his name called. The man smiled as if he had just won a bet. Ah, was it a bet? With Gale maybe?

Rose went on to explain, "Long story short, Count of Rozar would have trusted me more, as the adopted child of Marquis Fullmeir, to betray... Victor... rather than working with... Victor... Thus Count Rozar will not hesitate to show me the new place of the auction."

It was only after Rose explained it fully that Rositta and the men in the room understood.

Rose refrained from rolling her eyeballs.

"So what's your plan, Duchess?" Quay asked. Rose knew him as the commander of Maraina's spy division. Although, from the intel that Rose had previously collected, the number of spies that Maraina had could be counted with her fingers.

"After Rositta performs her role, I will write a letter to Count of Rozar requesting a meeting. The count will definitely invite me to the illegal auction. And I'm going to the auction with my partner."

"Your partner?" asked Victor in a low tone.

"Yes, I'm going to make the count think I have an affair. So I'll be going with my 'secret lover'. I'm going to make Count of Rozar believe that I'm not happy with my marriage. Then I want a child with that secret lover because if I get pregnant naturally... Victor... will catch our illicit relationship. Once I'm inside, I'll get Count of Rozar's accounting book. And you can catch them in action."

The atmosphere of the room suddenly became gripping. Much heavier than when Rose first came in. She could hear Rositta was trying to hold her laughter on the couch. So did Gale and a few other men.

Huh? What am I missing?

When she caught Victor's gaze, she realized the gripping atmosphere was there because of Victor.

Why? He doesn't like that plan? But it is a good plan...

"And who will play the role of this secret lover of yours?

"Oh, my first choice is Baldur." Rose only mentioned the name that first came to her mind. Especially since Baldur had asked to be her personal knight. It's natural that Rose wanted to use him, right?

But when Rose saw the corner of Victor's lips turned down and his green eyes that seemed to growl, though Rose did not understand fully the reason, she realized she had spoken the wrong name.