VWTI 35

Chapter 35

“Miss, are you perhaps planning to run away in the middle of the night?”

“Something like that, yes.”

At some point, Yulan’s fingers beneath my hand had gone still.

It made me feel as though I’d tamed a wild animal, and that thought made me smile for no reason.

But that was only from my relaxed point of view. Yulan, who had suddenly found himself on the verge of receiving a request to help a noble lady elope, clearly didn’t feel the same way.

You could tell from how he vaulted over the back of the sofa and claimed the seat beside me.

“Miss, are you out of your mind?”

“I have been for quite a while now. Haven’t you heard? The mad noble lady who stirs up the capital’s social circles of the Atrux Empire.”

“Ha… Then explain properly. If this really is an elopement, I’ll go straight to Duke Martur and report it.”

“Oh, that would be a problem.”

When I crossed my legs, the neatly arranged hem of my dress rolled up.

Only then did Yulan realize he’d been sitting on it. As he leaned back, I pulled out the necklace I’d been keeping close to my chest and held it out to him.

“…An advance payment?”

“No. It’s something my mother gave me as a gift. This should be enough as a token of love, don’t you think?”

“Don’t tell me…”

Even with just that much, I knew Yulan would understand.

The moment I confidently voiced my true request, wearing a satisfied smile—

“Introduce me to a young man who can pretend to be my lover!”

“Have you fallen for me already?”

The words, spoken almost simultaneously, were more than enough to leave my mouth hanging open.

It seemed I had overestimated Yulan.

Something like an elopement, a man who could be moved by money but discarded once he was no longer needed, and a keepsake from my mother that could serve as a token of love.

Wasn’t it natural to think that weaving those three together would lead to a request to create a fake lover?

“…Wait. If you ignore the fact that he’s not just any noble, doesn’t that description fit Nox pretty well?”

Of course, that “Nox” happened to be Yulan Atrux, the empire’s second prince—but as long as that fact was hidden, there really was no better candidate.

And since that very fact was also his weakness, it wasn’t as if he’d truly end up settling down in the Martur ducal house under the pretense of a request.

“No, that’s ridiculous. I’ve already had far too much contact with Yulan. Getting any more involved would be a bad idea.”

I could confidently say I wouldn’t fall in love with him—but a person’s heart isn’t something you can control by will alone.

Especially since Yulan and I already had a physical relationship.

If we interacted any more frequently or deeply than this, it would be all too easy for feelings I didn’t want to develop to take root.

Pressing a hand to my throbbing head, I sank deeper into the sofa.

“I admit there’s no one more suitable for this request than you. But I need a man of clearly established noble birth. Preferably someone of very low rank, living in some remote countryside far from the capital.”

“…Is that also part of your plan to break off your engagement?”

“I knew you’d catch on.”

When I clapped my hands as if praising him, Yulan’s expression twisted as though he were looking at something strange.

I wouldn’t say my plan was flawless, but given the circumstances, it was hard to imagine something fitting better than this.

Feeling as though my abilities were being doubted, I found myself rambling on.

“I’ve been pretending to love Raymond all this time, but in truth, there was someone else I’d given my heart to from the very beginning. The difference in our status was too great, and I didn’t want him to suffer because of me. So I found Raymond—someone whose status matched mine and who wouldn’t fall in love with me.”

“…An interesting load of nonsense.”

“Well, hear me out. I deliberately acted extremely jealous so no one would ever doubt my love. Then, after marriage, I planned to secretly meet the man I truly loved. And just in case he might lose heart, thinking my feelings had changed, I even gave him the necklace my mother had gifted me as a token.”

Thinking about Evgenia in such a timeline almost brought tears to my eyes.

Wasn’t it a beautiful love story?

It was no different from the protagonists of the sentimental novels so beloved by noble ladies and young misses.

Of course, the misdeeds ‘Evgenia’ had committed up until now were… well, no—very severe.

“Lately, I’ve been attending banquets with Raymond, trying to normalize my image even a little. As for the victims of my past behavior… If this works out, I should probably visit them one by one and apologize.”

It might all be dismissed as mere performance, but if the famously arrogant Lady Martur were to personally visit people and bow her head, it would lend even more credibility to this far-fetched tale.

After hearing my grand explanation, Yulan was deep in thought.

At first, it must have sounded like nothing more than “interesting nonsense,” as he’d said—but the more he listened, the more convinced he seemed.

Still, we needed an event to really drive the nail in.

If all I wanted was a simple lover, I could have brought in any country noble.

But this part was tricky—that was why I’d come to Yulan.

“As soon as possible, the man I love needs to come to the Martur ducal residence.”

“…So you don’t intend to keep this confined within the ducal household.”

As expected, Yulan didn’t disappoint.

“Right in front of the duke’s gates, he should shout at the top of his lungs—loud enough to reach the distant Aier barony—‘Give me the young lady!’ It’d be even better if he went on about how we’ve already shared a bed.”

If we dragged things out outside the mansion, it wouldn’t even take a day for rumors to spread through high society that ‘Lady Martur has a lover.’

And inside the mansion, I would cling to him, sobbing as I confessed.

“I planned to hide it for the rest of my life, but seeing my Name slowly fade, it’s clear the gods themselves wish to expose my sin. You’re planning to cover up the incident of the Name fading like that.”

“Then my father will truly believe it’s the will of the gods—and he’ll stop digging into the imperial family.”

“And while we’re at it, your engagement will be swiftly annulled as well?”

I smiled broadly at Yulan’s question.

That alone seemed to be answer enough. He relaxed and leaned his upper body back against the sofa.

As we lay there half-reclined, facing each other, the atmosphere began to feel a bit strange, so I quickly changed the subject.

“Ahem. Anyway—so. Do you know of anyone suitable? Someone drowning in debt but deeply filial would be perfect. People are weak to tragic love stories about pitiful men, you know.”

“Well, that’s true. Even better if that pitiful man also happens to be handsome.”

“You really know your stuff. Done some stirring yourself, have you?”

“I won’t say I haven’t.”

His casual tone made it easy for me to smile as well.

Then, as Yulan stroked his chin, he spoke in a serious voice.

“If we follow this plan, the man doesn’t necessarily need to be a noble. No—in fact, it might be better if he’s a commoner. That would make your claim that you couldn’t bring yourself to marry more believable.”

“Oh, that’s good. If he were a noble, I’d have pushed for marriage no matter what. Or rather, that’s what my father would think. But if he’s a commoner…”

“There’s no sane noble who’d marry a commoner, nor parents who’d allow it. If it were a doting father like Duke Martur, he’d kill that commoner without hesitation.”

“Perfect. …But is there a commoner who could keep acting without freezing up, even in front of my father?”

A noble’s acting skills might not be perfect, but at least he wouldn’t seriously believe my father could kill him.

Commoners were different.

Even a baron could easily kill a commoner who merely bumped into his shoulder—so a commoner who overturned a marriage between ducal houses…

“He wouldn’t die peacefully. And even if my father didn’t act, Duchess Larson certainly wouldn’t let it slide.”