The Villainess Proposed a Contractual Marriage

As Rochelle Peter watched Echo step out of the carriage, she clenched her teeth.

She couldn't fathom why Echo was accompanying the Luminel ducal family. Even more puzzling was seeing Glen, who usually kept a stoic face, escorting Echo with such gentleness.

Her feelings were understandable. After all, Rochelle had no clue about Echo's whereabouts.

Previously, when Harte and Elphisia visited the Peter viscounty to arrange Echo's living situation, Rochelle was left out of the meeting. The viscount and his wife had dismissed everyone, leaving no room for Rochelle to join.

Even after the arrangements were made, the viscount couple didn't bother to inform Rochelle of the outcome. They simply brushed it off, saying they had sent Echo far away.

Rochelle dismissed her concerns at that point.

It was better for that unsettling presence to vanish somewhere while she stayed at home. Though young, Rochelle understood all too well how crucial a flaw in bloodline could be.

For her own future, it was fortunate to be rid of a blind sister.

Believing this, she had been enjoying the fresh air of the hunting festival when...

"Not at all. Now that I can see a bit, even if it's blurry, just looking out the window made the time fly by," Echo replied.

"So you still can't see very well."

"But if I get really close, I can make out shapes. I'm so excited that I'll be able to see even better in the future!"

Echo giggled.

Her younger sister, who had always kept her eyes closed, surrounded by that awful grass smell, was now gazing at her conversation partner with beautiful golden eyes.

'Wait... what if she introduces herself as part of our family?' Rochelle thought, panic rising.

There's no way her disability could have completely healed in the meantime. If so, a single word from Echo could determine her own future.

She'd have to silence her somehow.

With this, Rochelle decided to take action.

The opportunity came sooner than expected.

For a moment, while everyone else had left their assigned tents for various reasons, Echo was left alone, keeping watch over their spot.

Rochelle discreetly glanced around before entering the tent where Echo was sitting.

Swish.

Echo reacted to the sound of the entrance being pulled back.

"Tina? I guess the cookie table was close by?"

"Ha, so your eyes haven't really improved after all," Rochelle sneered.

"That voice..."

Echo didn't need to search far for the answer. The girl's voice coming from directly in front of her had been etched into her mind for a long time.

"Rochelle...?"

"You remember well. Despite never having seen my face."

Rochelle spoke harshly, trying to break Echo's spirit. It was a tone that had become habitual when addressing Echo. But Echo's reaction was starkly different from what had become the norm.

"What does that matter? This is our tent. I'd appreciate it if you left quickly."

"... What?"

For a moment, Rochelle doubted her ears.

The experience of Echo showing such an edge was truly foreign. Enough to leave the proud Rochelle momentarily speechless...

"... Ha, I don't want to talk to you any longer either, reeking of grass as you do. I just came to give you some advice."

"Advice?"

"Yes. Advice."

Rochelle approached Echo closely, revealing her blatant hostility.

"You, if you dare mention our family name, I won't let you off easy. I don't know how you ended up here, but it's all temporary anyway. Got it?"

Whether her sister harbored ill will or not was no longer Echo's concern. Let alone the threat not to use the family name—even if the viscount couple begged, she had no intention of doing so.

"You don't need to worry. I absolutely won't."

"... Don't say it twice."

"Unlike you, I don't lie."

"Me?"

She could have backed down at this point. However, Echo's defiant attitude irked Rochelle. The memory of her sister's past subservience kept clouding her judgment, holding Rochelle back.

"Have you gone mad? I don't know how you got mixed up with the ducal family, but do you think they'd actually accept a blind person like you? You couldn't even do proper maid work with those eyes."

"I'm not blind. I'm healing properly. They say my eyesight will be fully restored by next year."

"Who says that? If that were possible, Mom and Dad would have fixed it long ago!"

"The Holy Maiden said so. She said this isn't a disease. So everything you're saying is wrong."

Rochelle found it utterly ridiculous.

The Holy Maiden, no less.

Isn't she too precious to descend except for occasional national events? It was obvious that Echo's claim of having a connection to such a Holy Maiden must be a lie.

"Does Glen know about this? That you're just spouting lies left and right?"

"It's not a lie, but even if it were, it wouldn't matter. Glen would believe everything I say. You might not know this, but Glen is really kind."

"Ugh, you Echo...!"

Rochelle recalled the past.

Days when she always approached Glen with patience, but he never let her get close. It had been strange to see Glen offer such a kind escort to Echo when they got out of the carriage.

At the time, she thought he was just setting an example as Cardi's heir.

'No way... really? That cold Glen shows a different side only to this good-for-nothing?'

Having grown up in a family that thrived on marriage alliances, Rochelle had been conditioned to constantly remind herself of the importance of a good match. As such, it was hard for her to accept Echo, who seemed to have snagged a man far better than herself.

The emotion she felt was inferiority.

It felt like her little sister, who she had always deemed beneath her, had stolen both her love interest and her future in one fell swoop.

"How dare you...!"

Rochelle raised her hand. Even at that moment, Echo couldn't see well enough to notice. She could only perceive that Rochelle was making some kind of gesture.

That's when it happened.

"Echo! I'm back. Look at this! Doesn't it smell amazing? There are so many delicious cookies... huh?"

A girl pulled open the tent flap.

The girl with passionate red hair tied in two braids blinked her eyes, as blue as today's sky.

It was Tina.

Until then, Tina hadn't noticed the situation. So she greeted them nonchalantly.

"Oh? It's Rochelle? Hi! It's been so long."

"... Hello."

Rochelle, who had come to an abrupt stop, returned the greeting quietly, maintaining her posture. Then Tina asked innocently.

"What were you doing? Your hand is raised weirdly."

"It's nothing..."

Just as Rochelle was about to quickly lower her hand, Echo interrogated her in a voice tinged with heat.

"Rochelle... were you about to hit me just now?"

"... What?"

"Did you think this was still your house? Were you trying to take out your frustrations on me like when I was trapped in the attic?"

"You, you...! What on earth are you saying...!"

"What am I saying? I told you. Unlike you, I don't lie."

The atmosphere reversed in an instant. Even the innocent Tina quickly grasped that Rochelle's awkward posture matched Echo's statement.

"You were going to hit Echo? And what's this about being trapped in an attic?"

"Urgh..."

Rochelle flinched at Tina's suddenly changed attitude.

Tina didn't know about Echo's past. She had only heard that there were circumstances requiring Echo to be taken in.

"Get out of here, Rochelle."

Tina raised her round blue eyes threateningly.

Tina had always left only a cute impression. But the look in Tina's eyes as she faced Rochelle carried an unfamiliar intensity.

It was as if she was face to face with a fierce beast baring its claws.

Intimidated, Rochelle left the tent without expressing a word.

Flap!

As the entrance fluttered in her haste, at that moment...

"Ah..."

Rochelle let out a dejected groan.

For good reason—she had discovered a boy her age standing quietly just beside the entrance, as if waiting.

Moreover, the boy's identity was Glen, who she had been trying so hard to catch.

Shame and humiliation welled up like blood rushing in reverse.

"Lady Rochelle Peter."

"..."

"I don't like 'Lady'. Actually, I've been uncomfortable with the habit of distinguishing people's ranks every time we speak. That's one thing the Director absolutely taught us not to do."

"What's... what's wrong with that? I'm a noble! Of course I can say such things!"

"No, you can't."

Glen firmly denied Rochelle's assertion.

He had learned through Harte that no one has the right to treat people carelessly. After all, Harte, who could annihilate humanity if he wished, always humbled himself.

Frugal and unpretentious. And treating everyone with affection regardless of their status.

Glen had always wanted to emulate that spirit of using mountain-shaking power for mundane tasks like carrying burdens.

"Authority isn't a right to treat others carelessly."

"You're saying that because you're not a noble yet, Glen. I'm sure you'll change your mind later?"

"I won't change. Even if I do change, there's one thing that will never change."

"What..."

Rochelle, looking crestfallen, asked quietly. It was the indignation felt by someone truly convinced of their own logic. Therefore, Glen voiced the truth he had learned over the past year.

It was a truth diametrically opposed to Rochelle's logic.

"Family is precious in any situation. That's all."

It was questionable whether Rochelle, who viewed family as a means to an end, could empathize. But Glen had no intention of persuading or reforming Rochelle.

He had seen what misaligned relationships could be like.

Knowing that there are irreparable relationships, like the case of Tina and her birth mother.

Glen bid Rochelle farewell without sharing any more hurt.

"I'll keep today's incident a secret. So please don't approach Echo from now on."

"... Why are you so kind to Echo? She's not prettier than me, and she's not even family..."

"She is family."

Glen asserted confidently.

"Perhaps, someday..."

The boy, looking unusually gallant and handsome today, smiled gently.

Rochelle sensed a deep feeling of defeat. She didn't want to hear the next words. But Glen, with his universally ideal appearance, inevitably continued speaking.

"She might become even more family than she is now."