the marriage agreement

The porcelain cup barely made a sound as Rainer adjusted it with surgical precision, his fingers betraying none of the tension that simmered beneath his composed exterior. His eyes—cold, detached—remained fixed on the woman seated across from him. She had been talking for nearly half an hour, her words tumbling over one another in a desperate attempt to elicit something, anything, from him.

"Do you like cosmology?" Emmeline asked abruptly, her voice thinner now, as though she’d exhausted all the more suitable topics and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Regret bloomed across her features the moment the question left her lips.

Rainer’s expression didn’t change. “Not particularly.”

“I only thought…” she hesitated, fumbling for logic in the absurdity, “in the sea, the stars are a lost sailor’s only guide. I assumed you might... appreciate that.”

“I was never lost,” he replied, his voice flat, untouched by sentiment.

This wasn’t a courtship. It was a transaction sealed by imperial decree. A union demanded by politics and bound by war. And yet, here she was—his bride-to-be—trying to salvage some sliver of authenticity from a situation that allowed none.

He glanced at his watch, the motion deliberate, final. “Miss Emmeline,” he said at last, his voice cutting through the silence like glass across silk. “Let me be clear. The wedding will proceed at the end of the week. Once the war is over, so too will be this arrangement. Until then, you will bear the title of Lady Voss before the eyes of the Empire. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

The words were not cruel. They were clinical. Unfeeling. As though he were reciting terms of a business contract rather than the contours of their shared future.

Emmeline's hands folded neatly in her lap, concealing the tremor in her fingers. His bluntness left no space for protest—only acceptance. She had known from the start that love was never part of the equation. Still, the chill of reality settled in her chest like frost.

She had not come here to win his heart.

And yet, something in her felt... defeated.

...****************...

The gates of the Ashbourne estate creaked open under the weight of old iron and darker memories. Emmeline stepped out of the carriage, her figure graceful even in the dim twilight that clung to the stone walls like mildew. She didn’t pause to admire the house—its grandeur always felt more like a cage than a home.

Inside, the scent of aged wood and cold ash welcomed her with all the warmth of a noose. Her footsteps echoed through the hall, but she made no effort to soften them. Let him hear.

In the drawing room, her father sat by the hearth, a half-empty glass of amber liquor swaying in his hand. The fire cast flickering shadows across his face, making his features seem even harsher, his mouth ever twisted in disapproval.

“How was your conversation with the Captain?” he asked without looking up. His voice bore that familiar weight of impatience—as if the answer had already disappointed him before it was spoken.

Emmeline removed her gloves with slow, careful fingers. “Nothing special. We greeted each other.”

He turned to her now, sharp eyes narrowing. “You are truly of no use.”

The words didn’t sting anymore. They simply settled, like dust on old wounds.

She met his gaze, her voice calm. “It’s not that he’s lacking in beauty—or charm, if that’s what you were hoping I’d exploit. He’s in this marriage for one reason only. Business. Nothing more.”

His sneer deepened. “And you didn’t even try.”

Emmeline smiled faintly, a shadow of something cold and tired. “Why would I? You sold me into an arrangement, not a romance. He doesn’t want a wife. He wants a placeholder. And I… I’ve long stopped pretending to be something I’m not.”

He slammed the glass on the table, shards of crystal biting into wood. “Watch your tongue, girl.”

“I do,” she replied softly, brushing past him. “That’s why I don’t use it to scream.”

She climbed the staircase without another glance, feeling his glare like knives at her back. Her room greeted her with silence, the only place where she could let her mask fall—if only for a moment.

She sat before the vanity, staring into her own eyes reflected in the mirror. There was something shifting in them now. Not weakness. Not fear.

Something colder.

Sharper.

A woman preparing for war—but not the kind fought with soldiers and guns.

...****************...

Rainer sat alone in his private office, pen in hand, affixing his signature to the freshly inked agreement between himself and the Emperor. Beside the imperial signature, another name stood out in elegant script—Emmeline von Stein.

The day before war was to be declared, the Emperor had summoned Rainer for a private audience. At this point in time, Rainer was not merely a decorated war hero—he was a legend. His growing influence had begun to cast a long shadow over the imperial throne itself.

“The Northern Sea is their target,” the Emperor said, voice low but resolute. “Tomorrow, I shall announce the departure of our naval forces.”

“I am bound to serve until my final breath, Your Majesty,” Rainer responded, his words a formal vow of loyalty.

But the Emperor had come with more than military orders. “Before the departure,” he added, “you will marry the Prime Minister’s daughter. This union will solidify your standing within the battalion.”

Though couched as a strategic decision, both men knew the truth—this was no gesture of alliance, but a calculated move. The Emperor was attempting to tether Rainer’s rising power to the palace through marriage.

Rainer, sharp and unflinching, saw through the charade. Yet instead of open defiance, he countered with a proposal of his own.

“This marriage will be annulled upon my return from war,” he stated coolly. “In return, I want a partnership in maritime trade.”

The room fell into silence. In that moment, Rainer had posed the Emperor a challenge—choose between control of the army, or dominance over the empire’s economy.

With that, the negotiation ended. The die had been cast.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***