Chapter 43

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: A Convincing Performance
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“If you could provide the exact measurements, I'll pass them along to the tailor immediately.”

The tailor's assistant—no, the Cartiel informant—who said this refused to move from his post in front of the Duke and Duchess Argenta's room.

The tailor with forty-seven years of experience, who had been standing beside him, had long since fled, his face as red as a beet.

“W-Well, I'm pressed for time, so I'll just get back to work.”

That certainly woke me up! Ho ho ho!

Rick, the head of Argenta's intelligence, didn't spare the disappearing tailor a single glance.

His gaze was fixed on the informant from Cartiel.

*W-Would it be alright if I went? I'm not an assistant from this workshop, but I do similar work.*

He'd known from the moment the man approached with those words.

And he knew what the man was up to.

“Hmm. They're taking their time…”

But the Cartiel informant, pretending to be a tailor's assistant while pressing his ear to the door, seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the man behind him was debating whether or not to slit his throat.

It was obvious the bastard planned to use Cartiel's wind ability to eavesdrop.

“…”

A pleasant smile bloomed on Rick's face.

And His Grace the Duke had surely figured out this man's intentions as well.

*…I wonder if Her Ladyship knows?*

Rick scratched his cheek.

As the head of the family's intelligence and a fourth-floor Argenta, he too was aware of the fake Pero plan.

He also knew they hadn't actually spent the night together.

And yet.

“Ah…!”

The sounds reaching his exceptionally sharp ears sounded all too real.

“?”

A look of confusion crossed Rick's face.

*Is it real? Anyone could tell this is the start of a passionate night.*

*That's not a tone you can fake.*

Rick's eyes shifted to the Cartiel informant.

The informant was also listening intently, his face slightly flushed.

*Look at this shameless bastard.*

He was probably only supposed to confirm if their relationship was real, yet this scoundrel was still eavesdropping minutes after the… unusual sounds began.

*The nerve.*

“I'll go get the rest of the relevant materials for you.”

Rick finally spoke up.

His pleasant smile met the flustered gaze of the Cartiel informant.

The Alloje informant, who had also been posing as a tailor's assistant, had already slipped away, apparently having gathered all the information he needed.

That left only Rick and the Cartiel informant in the hallway.

“Ah, w-well, it's urgent, so I'll just, um, wait here.”

The Cartiel informant stammered in response.

Rick's pleasant smile widened. Of course, the sounds from inside the room were also growing more… suggestive.

“A little harder.”

“Like this?”

The enthusiastic sounds were enough to confuse even Rick, who knew the plan.

*Wait, how are they going to handle the Pero awakening if they're doing... that?*

The doubt was fleeting. His faith-like belief soon took over.

*The head of House Argenta can do no wrong.*

*—Thump.*

Having reached this simple conclusion, Rick placed a hand on the assistant's shoulder.

“Let's just go.”

“W-Well, I'd rather not.”

Meanwhile, the conversation inside grew even more suspicious.

*It seems their plan is to show that they truly have a 'deep relationship.'*

*…This is part of the plan, right? It has to be.*

The sounds that were confusing even Rick would surely be heard even more clearly by the Cartiel informant.

“…It’s so deep.”

“Even if it hurts, just bear with it. Soon… it’ll feel better.”

A soft voice, followed by a moan.

“…”

“…”

The Cartiel informant's face grew progressively redder.

In contrast, Rick's smile bloomed ever more brightly.

*Should I just kill him?*

Rick watched the informant's reddened face, entertaining the outrageous thought.

As he pondered the one hundred and one ways a person could die by accident, Rick did his best to ignore the sounds coming from within the room.

*It has to be fake, right?*

*They have to be acting.*

*Or is it real?*

*Is our lord finally getting his happy ending?*

“Let's just go, hm?”

Happy ending or not, one thing was certain: he couldn't let this man stand here any longer.

When he insisted, the Cartiel informant finally relented.

“A-Alright. Ahem.”

At last, the Cartiel informant turned to leave.

***

Our promise. To only hold hands while we sleep.

In other words, to ensure Diello's lily would never disappear.

Diello's words must have meant he intended to keep that promise.

And yet.

*—Thump.*

Before I knew it, I was lying on the bed.

The sound must have been loud enough for those outside to hear. After all, this mansion was full of people with sharp ears.

Before I had a chance to react, Diello was on top of me.

His strong arms planted themselves on either side of my head, and his shadow fell over me, filling my vision.

“!”

My startled gaze met his composed one.

He looked at me with eyes as pure as a clear lake—not at all the look of a man who had just pinned someone down.

*Is my mind in the gutter?*

*Maybe it's possible to have a normal conversation in this position... and I'm just the one with a dirty mind?*

His gaze was so pure it made me question myself.

Then, he leaned down toward me.

*—Peck.*

His lips touched my forehead, then the tip of my nose, before leaving an even hotter warmth on my neck.

*No way.*

“Wait—”

“An Argenta never breaks a promise.”

He whispered, as if to calm me, and smoothed back my hair.

“I know that, but…”

If he had wanted to do something, he would have done it long ago.

He's had countless opportunities.

But unlike his usual awkwardness, this was so natural that it took me by surprise.

“I thought… you were serious for a moment.”

Diello responded with a faint, mysterious smile, which soon broke into a soft laugh.

Then, as if worried someone outside might overhear, he whispered very softly in my ear.

“They say that to tell a lie, you must deceive not only your allies, but yourself as well.”

“Well… I suppose so.”

That may be true, but.

As he whispered, he cupped my cheek with one hand.

Heat radiated from his large hand, spreading across my cheek and neck as if I'd been touched by something hot.

And he wasn't even using his pyrokinesis.

“But… is it okay to be this… forward?”

Perhaps it was the heat, but I found myself asking, flustered.

Diello tilted his head slightly, as if asking what I meant.

“I’m fine, since I already have a reputation as a villainess.”

*But Diello's reputation… it's going to change, isn't it?*

“You’re worried I’ll get a reputation for being unable to control my desires, for throwing my bride onto the bed with servants just outside the door.”

Diello said, reading my mind perfectly.

And in very direct terms.

He seemed completely unfazed by his own words, yet I could feel my own face growing hotter.

“It’s fine.”

“…People might think you’ve become a more… assertive person.”

I was trying to say that our plan to make people let their guard down could be jeopardized.

But my words were cut off by his kiss.

“Have you forgotten, Croire?”

His lips brushed against my nose, and as my eyes widened at the warmth, he whispered.

“I’m supposed to be head over heels for you, remember?”

I had thought he was like a clear, calm sea, but the smile he wore now was like a bewitching flame in the dead of night.

With that smile still on his lips, he kissed me.

Then, after a moment’s pause, he pulled away.

“…”

In the blink of an eye, he had retrieved the first-aid kit from the corner of the room.

As if nothing had happened, he gently took my hand.

*—Swish.*

The bandage unraveled from my hand.

The deep cut, which refused to heal despite daily disinfection and bandaging, was exposed once more.

“…Ah.”

I let out a small gasp and instinctively covered my mouth.

I was afraid the people listening outside would misunderstand.

*…No, wait.*

I hesitated for a moment, then slowly lowered my hand.

*I'm supposed to let them misunderstand, right?*

My face flushed at the thought of what they were imagining, but this was necessary.

And a sound that came out this naturally was even better for the act.

Just then, Diello spoke.

“The wound… it’s so deep.”

He held up the antiseptic with a troubled smile.

“Even if it hurts, just bear with it.”

He whispered softly, then dripped the antiseptic onto my wound.

“Ah…!”

After I had cried out like that several times, I was about to bite my lip hard enough to draw blood.

“I don’t want to see you hurt those pretty lips.”

He gave a faint smile and examined my hand again.

Having finished disinfecting the wound, he held up a fresh bandage and asked.

“Should I wrap it a little looser?”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

It cuts off the circulation if it’s too tight.

Diello nodded in agreement.

Just then.

*—Knock, knock.*

A knock came from the door.

*—Knock, knock, knock.*

But the second knock followed immediately after. It wasn't a request for an answer, but a signal.

Ah.

“They must be gone.”

That was Rick's signal from outside.

Diello seemed to realize it too, letting out a low chuckle.

“They… heard everything, didn’t they?”

Diello, who was putting away the first-aid kit, nodded at my words.

“Yes.”

“How embarrassing, now that I think about it.”

Especially after I’d been so bold in front of everyone. I covered my face with my hands.

After putting the kit back in its place, Diello held something up.

“Shall I take your measurements?”

It was a measuring tape.

“For what?”

My mind still flushed, I asked without thinking. Diello pointed to his own thigh.

“…”

“…”

After a moment of silence, I remembered something important.

*…Oh, right. We kicked everyone out so we could measure his thigh circumference.*

“I’ll do it.”

I quickly snatched the measuring tape from his hand.

*That would be way too embarrassing!*

Then I waved a hand at him.

“Cover your eyes.”

At my words, instead of covering his eyes, Diello obediently turned around.