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Chapter 05
“What the hell are you doing right now…?”
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Nox’s lips stopped just a hair’s breadth away.
But just because their lips didn’t touch, it didn’t mean their breaths didn’t mingle.
The hand that had been gently holding her chin slowly descended, settling on the nape of her neck.
A shiver ran down her spine, her shoulders hunching involuntarily at the touch gliding over her smooth skin.
“Miss Gong, do you dislike it when I do this?”
“…Of course I…! What do you think…!”
Her face, flushed to its limit from an intimacy she had never experienced in either her past or present life, burned even hotter.
Nox, who had been silently gazing down at her, pulled away without a hint of hesitation.
Stunned, she rubbed her hot cheeks and looked up at him. He smiled, somehow looking even colder than before.
“Well then, erasing the ‘Name’ will be difficult. What shall we do?”
Her words caught in her throat.
So, now…
‘Is he saying he won’t help erase the Name unless I do all sorts of things with him?’
He was truly a madman.
Left speechless by the absurdity, all she could do was gape. Nox merely deepened his smile, as if her reaction was exactly what he wanted.
Yevgenia, who had been biting the inside of her cheek unseen, asked.
“…How far do you intend to go?”
“Hmm. As far as you can’t handle?”
“Isn’t that something you’d only know after trying?”
Even though the skin revealed by their close proximity was already tomato-red, her attempt at bravado, as if she were accustomed to such things, was entirely unconvincing.
Nox let out a small snort and closed the distance again.
This time, he held her by the nape and the waist, pulling her into an embrace.
“Wa-wait, mmmph…!”
As the flustered Yevgenia opened her mouth to speak, a slippery tongue invaded the space between.
The tongue, which had lightly grazed her front teeth, now scraped against the ridged roof of her mouth.
An itchy sensation crawled down her throat, and without realizing it, she clutched at Nox’s clothes.
He caressed the gums holding her teeth, then explored the soft area beneath her tongue.
The feeling of someone else’s tongue touching a place she herself wasn’t fully aware of!
Frowning, she shook her head slightly.
“St-stop, mmph, enough, ah…”
A wet, squelching sound echoed in her mind.
It felt as if his tongue was probing not just her mouth, but her entire body.
Her burning-hot hands moved from Nox’s clothes to grip his forearm, then his shoulder.
Her palms were filled with the feel of his solid body.
The sensation of having her very breath stolen with each exhale made her skin crawl.
Nox, not missing the moment when the strength slightly left her hands, lightly bit her lower lip.
“Ah…!”
A short, sharp pain, and then he was gone, wiping his sullied lips with the back of his hand.
Red lipstick smeared around his mouth, creating a strange, provocative atmosphere.
Yevgenia, panting shallowly, hastily rubbed her own lips.
“Do you still think you need to try to find out?”
“Th-that’s…”
As Yevgenia struggled to form words, Nox slightly lowered his body, completely blocking her path, and his subtle hand traced her waist.
Their narrowed distance meant her heaving chest brushed against his with every breath.
Each time her breasts were lightly pressed against his solid torso, a prickling tension spread through her.
Her thighs involuntarily tightened against the knee that was subtly pressing between the folds of her dress.
Cupping Yevgenia’s cheek with one hand, he whispered lowly.
“How about it. Is it okay to go further here? I really intend to go all the way.”
“…Y-you… you madman…!”
Scarlet with rage, Yevgenia pushed him away with all her might.
But somehow, it felt less like she had pushed him away and more like he had allowed himself to be pushed.
She hastily straightened her dress and stood up, glaring at him with an intensity that hurt her own eyes.
“For what… for what purpose are you… trying to go… all the way? Is this really necessary to erase the Name?”
“Oh? What if it isn’t? Are you going to slap my cheek or something?”
“Depending on your answer.”
Her voice was layered with complex emotions—anger, embarrassment, and more.
Staring straight at such a Yevgenia, he tilted his head slightly and replied with an utterly casual attitude.
“It might not be. Or it might.”
“…”
“Well… Even if it’s not strictly necessary, a night with a beautiful woman like you is something not to be missed. Ah, is this also an answer worthy of a slap?”
Smack!
The slap was so forceful that Nox’s cheek flushed red instantly.
Seeing him stroke his own cheek and burst into laughter made her blood boil.
“…Madman. To think a creature like you is truly of the imperial family… The Artlux Empire must be nearing its end.”
He looked more like a madman now than in any of the previous moments she’d seen him.
‘A night, my foot! Go spend a hundred, a thousand nights by yourself!’
Nox must have calculated, in that brief moment, that as long as she was ‘Princess Yevgenia Martur,’ she couldn’t possibly expose his true identity.
There was no other explanation for him showing such an attitude to someone who knew his secret.
What made her even angrier was the reality that his calculation was perfectly correct.
‘Damn imperial bastards!’
Wearing an expression of utter disgust, Yevgenia turned away with a huff.
It felt as if Nox’s laughter was following her from behind, souring her mood further.
“Madman… To think I sought help from such a scoundrel…”
Her past self seemed so naive it made her shudder.
There must surely be a way to break off the engagement even without erasing the Name.
Even if she couldn’t break it off, she could just get her hands on Raymond first and send him to the abyss.
If all else failed, she could just meet another man and create a ‘real’ heir herself.
Any of those options seemed better than receiving help from that madman.
‘If I go looking for that bastard again, I’m not Yevgenia Martur, I’m Yevgenia Larson!’
‘…Even now, if I drown Raymond and become Larson, would it work?’
A month had passed since she slapped Nox and walked out.
Yevgenia was sincerely prepared to change her name to Larson.
She was in a state of mind where, if he would just help her break off the engagement, she’d be willing to do anything—kisses or whatever.
And for good reason.
“Prince Larson, are you serious?”
“…Yes. But… what’s with that tone? It’s been bothering me since last time.”
“It’s expressing the psychological distance between me, who wants to break off the engagement, and Prince Larson, who can’t understand that.”
At Yevgenia’s utterly sincere reply, Raymond shook his head from side to side as if exasperated.
Nox had made a similar gesture before, but why did it look so different on him?
Even the face that had seemed the most handsome in the world before she regained her memories now looked like a butter-smeared gorilla…
“Sigh, Yevgenia. Get a hold of yourself. The moment the ‘Name’ manifested, our marriage became a foregone conclusion.”
“…Let’s assume that’s true, for the sake of argument. Then isn’t it you who needs to get a hold of yourself?”
“Why me?”
The near-instant urge to curse was absolutely not due to a lack of patience on Yevgenia’s part.
Her icy gaze turned to the woman beside Raymond, and then to the woman in front of her.
Pink hair like cotton candy that seemed to envelop the darkness, matching Raymond’s black hair so perfectly.
Large, round eyes with an expression dripping with innocence, and even dainty lips…
The very picture of a ‘female lead’…
“Lady Stella Aer.”
“…Ah, y-yes, Princess Martur!”
“Doesn’t anything occur to you, Lady?”
“Huh…? Wh-what do you mean, I don’t quite…”
‘That you’re riding in the same carriage as people about to have their engagement ceremony? That you coordinated your dress color with the prospective fiancé? That it’s a color that clashes with the dress of the prospective fiancée, i.e., me?’
These were points so obvious they didn’t require much thought.
Unlike Yevgenia’s cream-colored dress, the outfits of the two lovebirds had somewhat darker hues.
But the fabric was so luxurious, with light shimmering and reflecting off the dark material, making their attire sparkle all the more.
It looked like a meticulously prepared couple’s outfit, seemingly designed to wear colors opposite Yevgenia’s while perfectly blocking any potential complaint from her about ‘wearing too drab a color to a banquet’…
And what about the cufflinks and necklace matched to each other’s eye colors?
Was it really such a common situation to ride in a carriage with your prospective fiancée while dressed in attire that clearly screamed ‘We’re in love~’ to anyone who saw it?
‘Since when was our empire such an open society?’
Yevgenia, massaging her temples, forced herself to turn her gaze from Stella to glare at Raymond.
Raymond then, lightly pulling Stella into a shoulder-hug, spoke.
“Yevgenia, don’t torment Stella. To bully such a delicate woman…”
“…Anyone would think I’m a rugged man.”
“Then why don’t you try acting more feminine, like Stella?”
“Huh?”
Good heavens, how could he utter such antiquated words?
Whether he misinterpreted Yevgenia’s shocked expression or not, Raymond now wore a somewhat smug look as he shrugged.
“Who knows? If you wait quietly, someday I might even pay you some attention.”
The first to react to that disgusting confidence wasn’t Yevgenia.
If not Yevgenia, and not Raymond who spoke… then there was only one other person, wasn’t there?
“…Gasp. My Ray, would you really? Stella, she… sob!”
“Oh, Stella. As if that could ever happen. For her to become a woman as virtuous as you would be impossible even if the goddess herself descended.”
“Ray…”
‘It’s truly a bumper year for bullshit…’
The problem was, this maddening spectacle wasn’t a first-time occurrence.
A month ago, the stern command had come down from Yevgenia’s father, Duke Martur:
‘Before the engagement ceremony, make appearances with Raymond at banquets and tea parties.’
At first, she thought it would just be a couple of places. But it turned out to be:
‘The more, the better. And make sure to reveal the ‘Name’ as much as possible.’
She understood her father’s intentions well enough.
Holding an engagement ceremony without any prior groundwork would inevitably stain the Martur Ducal House’s reputation.
While Yevgenia’s notoriety had already tarnished it somewhat, obstructing a perfectly fine prince’s future was another matter entirely.
But if she revealed the existence of the ‘Name,’ public opinion would definitely swing back in favor of the Martur Ducal House and Yevgenia.
A being from myth held that much power.
‘…I’ve been hiding it while going out lately because it’ll be troublesome later after the breakup…’
At first, Raymond had at least been somewhat discreet, only running to meet Stella at the banquet halls while keeping an eye out.
But as Yevgenia remained silent, he now openly brought Stella along when coming to escort her.
He seemed to think Yevgenia had finally accepted and submitted to his insane plan—main wife Yevgenia, concubine Stella.
Seeing such a sight made her want to just rip her dress apart and reveal the Name to the whole world right then and there.
At that moment, Raymond would become the true fool who couldn’t recognize his own fate, and Stella would become the tactless person obstructing that fate.
‘…In exchange, I’d have to rush into marriage with Raymond. Better to endure a bit of suffering now than bury my future in hell. Just bear with it a little longer.’
Looking at Stella, who was practically draped over Raymond’s lap, acting coy with soulless eyes, was it admirable or astounding…
Forcing down a sigh, Yevgenia rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window.
Then, seeing the mansion gradually approaching beyond the window, she quickly composed her expression.
Soon after, a polite voice came from the coachman’s seat.
Knock knock—
“Your Highness, Prince. We have arrived at Viscount Nagelsman’s residence.”
The moment the carriage door opened, Raymond stepped down and offered his hand for escort.
Just as Yevgenia was about to naturally place her hand on his, Raymond instantly withdrew his own.
“…What are you doing?”
“Hah. Yevgenia. Why are you so inconsiderate?”
What nonsense is this?
“What nonsense is this?”
Her inner thoughts slipped out unintentionally, but she felt no remorse.
The same words would have come out even if they’d gone through her brain.
Whether he had no sense of how nonsensical his words were or not, Raymond clicked his tongue with a pitiful expression.
“We have to let Stella down first. She’s delicate; just riding in the carriage with you must have been very taxing for her.”
Stunned into stillness, Yevgenia stood blankly. With cheeks dyed red, Stella cautiously stepped past Yevgenia.
Raymond, showing the most courteous escort posture yet, placed Stella’s hand on his arm and headed straight for the mansion.
“…Hah?”
