The Villainess Proposed a Contractual Marriage

The girl's questioning betrayed her anxiety. Glen offered a greeting as harmlessly as possible.

"I'm Glen. I was invited to the viscount's estate today."

"Oh...! You're one of the guests coming today?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Phew..."

The girl finally exhaled, seeming relieved.

'What a strange kid...'

Naturally, introductions couldn't be one-sided. As the girl hesitated to speak first, Glen took the initiative.

"What's your name?"

"Can I call you Echo?"

"... Sure."

A timid permission was granted. Echo was still touching the tall grass with her eyes closed.

Glen wondered about the attic and the peer he hadn't been introduced to.

He remembered being introduced to Rochelle Peter as "the viscount's only daughter" before sneaking away from the gathering.

But Echo's existence meant that introduction was incorrect.

Still clumsy at indirect speech, Glen carefully asked:

"Hey, Echo. Can I ask why you're not playing with the others?"

"I'm not supposed to."

"Why?"

"They said I'm not supposed to be here."

"... Who said that?"

"Mom. And Dad too."

Echo crawled closer, closing the distance between them. Then she grabbed Glen tightly with both hands and pleaded:

"So please keep it a secret. Don't tell anyone you met me. Please."

"..."

"You won't, right?"

"Alright... I won't."

"... Thank goodness."

Echo retreated, almost collapsing.

Glen tried to leave the attic first, unsettled by the strange atmosphere. But at that moment, Echo cried out, grabbing him.

"Um, wait...!"

"Echo...?"

As if seeing through Glen's intentions despite her closed eyes, Echo anxiously asked:

"Could you... stay just a little longer...? It's my first time talking to a friend instead of an adult..."

Glen couldn't bring himself to refuse the girl's request, which seemed to hide some kind of story.

There was still plenty of time, so he could go back down at an appropriate moment without issue.

Glen, who had been hesitantly trying to stand, sat back down on the grass-scented floor.

"..."

"..."

Though Echo had asked him to stay and talk a little longer, she made no move to speak. And Glen, naturally quiet, was the same.

As a result, the silence turned into a contest of who could better endure the awkward atmosphere.

How long had the silence enveloped them?

Glen was the first to reach his limit of patience.

"Hey, Echo."

"Oh, yes?"

"Why is there so much grass on the floor?"

"Oh, this stuff."

Echo pulled something out from behind her in response to the question. What was illuminated by the slanted light was a blade of grass tied in knots.

However many she had knotted together, it was as long as a snake or rope.

"I needed it to make this."

"Hmm, I see."

Even with the result shown and explained, it wasn't really a proper answer. From Glen's perspective, not knowing Echo's circumstances, it looked like a completely useless object.

"What's good about making that?"

"It can grant wishes. You know, someone told me that if you successfully weave grass blades 100 times without breaking, God will grant your request."

"Really?"

Glen was surprised.

He had never heard such a thing even while living with Harte, who was closest to the gods.

But Echo nodded with a bright smile.

"It's true. Because I've already succeeded in weaving grass 100 times once."

"... Did your wish come true?"

"Yes. I had several wishes in mind, and one of them was to make a friend. Then you appeared, just like that. Amazing, isn't it?"

"I guess so..."

Glen agreed but didn't believe it. It seemed like an obviously bogus ritual to anyone. It was a reasonable mindset, since if multiple wishes were set, one of them was bound to come true eventually.

"What are your other wishes?"

"Hmm, for Mom and Dad to find me? But actually, this is cheating. Because it takes two wishes to work."

"Two wishes?"

In response to Glen's question, the girl pointed to her closed eyes.

"You see my closed eyes? Actually, I can't see. I've been like this since I was a baby."

"... So that's why."

"Yeah, because I can't see, Mom and Dad always have to hide me. That's why I asked you to keep our meeting a secret."

In truth, the reason Echo was relegated to the attic wasn't simply due to prejudice against her disability. If anything, it was because the Peter viscounty was noble and had gained authority through blood ties.

The Peter viscounty officially had three sons and one daughter. All the children were famous in social circles for their exceptional beauty.

Add to that the tearful educational fervor of Viscountess Peter, and her sons, except for the eldest, entered families above their station as adopted sons-in-law.

Of course, even the eldest son's bride was an earl's daughter, making their marriage business a great success.

Amidst all this, their beautiful daughter - Rochelle Peter, and her twin Echo Peter were born.

Rochelle was lovely from infancy. In contrast, Echo bore no resemblance to her family and was born with severe visual impairment.

The viscounty was thrown into crisis.

For nobles, bloodline is a critical matter. It's just that the Luminel duchy had an abnormal way of thinking.

If the in-law families learned there was a defect in the bloodline, protests would surely pour in. There was even a chance that it could hinder the marriage prospects of Rochelle, Echo's twin sister.

So the Peter couple decided.

To hide Echo and treat her as if she didn't exist.

Claiming their only daughter was the lovely Rochelle.

They placed themselves under self-hypnosis to shed their guilt.

Learning the general circumstances, Glen bit his lip hard.

'So that's why there wasn't a single light in the attic...'

Because she was blind from the start.

Because she had lived a life unaffected by light.

Echo's world must have always been night.

"... But actually, it's okay if I can't open my eyes. I just hope that when I weave the grass, the world I know will change."

Born and abandoned immediately, her family doesn't know. What those eyes that can't project objects see.

"It would be nice if the whole world was just black..."

What those eyes project is not form, but essence.

Those eyes, deprived even of the right to distinguish between heaven and earth, saw the hearts of others.

It was impossible to describe in human language the hearts of people that Echo's eyes captured. She could only express with her tongue and lips that they were extremely ugly and hostile towards her.

So she closed her eyes completely.

She was even afraid to peek at the heart of Glen, who had unilaterally become her friend, so she didn't even squint.

As Echo felt guilty about this fact, Glen spoke.

"... Want me to help?"

"With what?"

"Tying... the grass knots."

"Thanks. But it's okay. If someone helps, it might be cheating and the wish won't be granted, you know."

Echo smiled faintly.

Even as they continued their conversation, Echo endlessly tied knots at the ends of grass blades, weaving the segments. But just when it seemed to be going well, without fail, the grass would snap with a crack!

It's a difficult task even with proper eyesight. Watching a blind person repeat this made Echo's yearning tangible.

As skilled as she was desperate.

As desperate as she was swayed by superstition.

Glen hoped Echo wouldn't despair.

"Echo."

"Did you call me?"

"Yeah, I think it's about time for me to go back."

"Oh, I see..."

Echo said goodbye with a voice dripping with disappointment.

"Goodbye, Glen. Be careful going down the stairs."

"... You take care too, Echo. I hope you succeed in tying the grass."

"Thank you."

As Glen was about to leave the small attic, bending low to exit through the door.

Echo's pale cry rang out from behind.

"Glen! Remember, our meeting here is a secret! Okay?"

"I absolutely won't tell anyone."

"Phew, thank you..."

After coming down from the attic, Glen surveyed the viscount's estate through a window. The red sun bringing the sunset was stretching the shadows long in the distance.

Not a single child could be seen in the garden, perhaps tired of playing. They were likely enjoying naps or games inside the mansion as they pleased.

'Echo... must still be weaving grass.'

Glen descended the stairs, reminiscing about the unexpected encounter.

It was the finale of the parenting gathering.

---

---

About a week after the parenting gathering, afternoon at the Luminel duchy.

I was talking with Elphisia while strolling through the duke's estate grounds.

"... Glen's been acting strange lately."

"Oh my, so it wasn't just me who felt that way?"

"You noticed too, Elphisia?"

"He was never talkative, but it's gotten quite severe lately."

As expected of Elphisia.

She pretends not to care but observes Glen more diligently than anyone. So instead of making excuses, it would be better if she approached him first.

"He's been plucking grass and tying it together. I don't know where he heard such a strange thing."

"Isn't it related to what he asked you the other day?"

"That's certainly possible, but..."

It was after returning from the parenting gathering that Glen asked me an unexpected question.

[Director, does weaving grass blades 100 times really grant wishes?]

At least it's not a story from the scriptures related to the gods. There's no way I wouldn't know a verse that I can recite by heart with my eyes closed.

It seems to have originated from folk beliefs, but...

'Did he hear it while playing with the kids? But to be that focused seems excessive for children's play.'

We happened to be strolling near the training grounds at the time.

If my memory serves, it was currently the duke's private tutoring time with Glen. But unlike usual, there were no shouts of exertion or metallic clangs of clashing steel. Instead, the voices of the duke and Glen could be heard as faintly as an ant's footsteps.

"Your Grace. If I learn the footwork diligently, could I secretly meet people?"

"Why, of course you can! Back in my day, I used to sneak over the temple walls to play rock-paper-scissors with the Pope, you know."

"A-Amazing..."

Glen was as astonished as I was appalled.

'No, that really is amazing.'

I didn't know. I had no idea. It was news to me.

Who would have thought the duke and His Holiness the Pope were secret rock-paper-scissors buddies? And in their youth, no less.

"That's how I met my wife too. I personally infiltrated the temple and seduced her until she finally gave in."

He even had secret trysts in the sacred temple?

This scratches at me a bit.

As a temple holy knight, I want to reprimand the carelessness of the holy knight commander at the time.

"But that damned Pope was so resentful. We were close enough to play rock-paper-scissors together... but he didn't help at all. He was cold-hearted even when my wife was suffering from illness.

I truly wanted to seek divine help when she was on her deathbed, but he said divine power couldn't be leaked for such things."

In the end, Elphisia's mother passed away, unable to endure the pain. Even recalling those distant days, raw emotion filled the duke's voice.

"If only there hadn't been that 'promise', I would have scaled the temple walls again... I've never regretted my youthful impetuousness more than then. That's why Elphisia is so fortunate. Surely a son-in-law wouldn't ignore his wife's suffering, haha..."

At last, seeing Glen vaguely listening to the story, the duke changed the subject.

"Ack, I've gone on too long. Your question made me reminisce about the old days. So, where are you trying to sneak off to in secret?"

"I-It's nothing like that! I was just... curious, Your Grace."

"Haha, and here I thought. I thought you might be trying to play rock-pa... scissors with the Pope like I did."

The duke let out a hearty laugh, apparently pleased with Glen's eagerness to learn.

"Very well. For the time being, I'll focus on teaching you how to walk and run. In a short time... raiding the temple or imperial palace might be too much, but I'll make sure you can easily rob a count's family heirloom!"

Crazy bastard!

Please, I beg you not to.

Don't corrupt our good child, you mad father-in-law.

"Yes, Your Grace!"

Glen, couldn't you avoid such an enthusiastic response?

This is a very worrying part as a guardian.

Should I keep my senses on high alert even while sleeping from now on?

"Harte, you can hear everything they're saying, right?"

"... Yes."

"What is Father saying to Glen?"

"Um, well."

I hesitated for a moment. About whether this needed to be filtered or not...

But a half-truth would only cause unnecessary confusion. So I reported exactly what I had heard.

"It seems His Grace intends to raise Glen as a master thief."

"What the f*ck is wrong with that crazy bastard!?"

"..."

"..."

Elphisia, unleashing unfiltered curses at her own father.

This was the catalyst for adding moral education time to Glen's schedule.

---

---

When the night breeze turns cool, everyone in the mansion falls asleep. Then the only person awake in the mansion peeks out of their room to survey the outside.

Echo walks down the cold, empty hallways.

Although the world is endlessly dim, she's familiar with the mansion's layout, so moving around isn't a problem. She just needs to carefully feel her way down the stairs.

She used to fall and get hurt a lot by mistake in the past, but now she's fairly adept.

Once outside the mansion, she carefully plucks grass from the lawn. She's been scolded before for ruining the landscaping, so she plucks grass from the corners as close to the roots as possible.

Her daily routine ends after going up and down between the garden and attic about ten times.

Now to tie the knots.

Weave the grass blades, weave them a hundred times, and make a wish.

Hoping that someday, she'll be loved.

Hoping that someday, someone who loves her will appear.

Wishing that the person reflected in these eyes will have a beautiful heart.

Golden eyes that draw in moonlight sparkled in the darkness.