When the Train Pulls In, Our Engagement Expires

[Contract Marriage + Pretend Romance Turns Real + Both Pure, Happy Ending]

Straightforward and genuine heroine × shrewd, calculating hero

Character contrast: innocent vs. scheming, with sparks flying

[She thought they were simply using each other, but he quietly fell for her]

Ophelia Membrad is the daughter of an ancient count's family, yet the capital's social circles have branded her as “arrogant and sharp-tongued.” After being ostracized and publicly humiliated by a group of noblewomen her age, all she wants is to read in peace and make it through the year.

Then a man appears: Dieterfren Falenster, a wealthy merchant from a neighboring country. At 27 and still unmarried, he's fed up with his family pestering him to wed.

He recognizes her working under an assumed name at a book-rental shop and hands her a contract on the spot. “Pretend to be my fiancée for one year. I'll help you manage your estate's finances and introduce you to the Crown Princess. In return, fend off all those annoying matchmaking attempts for me.”

The terms are clear, the rewards and penalties spelled out, and even “intimate contact” is expressly forbidden.

Ophelia signs. She thinks it's just a deal where they each get what they need.

But she doesn't know that from the very beginning, he never intended to be just her business partner.

· PS:

1. Both leads are pure, with no third parties;

2. During the fake engagement, the hero is restrained and respectful. Later, he pursues his wife without angst, and the sweetness goes through the roof;

3. Concerts, clubs, garden parties: in the world of aristocratic society, a contract couple push each other to the limit.