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Chapter 6
“Ah, that’s…”
Without hesitation, I slammed the newspaper down on the table in front of them. The woman’s face drained of color as she saw the front-page article, but the man didn’t waver in the slightest.
“Ahaha… How could this have happened…?”
“Clean this up. Immediately.”
I hadn’t come all the way to the guild just to demand my money back. Getting a refund meant nothing to me.
“Hmm… why are you angry?”
“You’re asking why I’m angry?”
The man looked at me as if he truly didn’t understand. His expression was the picture of innocence, as if he hadn’t done a single thing wrong. Naturally, that only fueled my anger even more.
“What I commissioned was for you to print an article saying I was cheating.”
My goal was for my reputation to be ripped to shreds beyond repair. If there was even the slightest chance it could recover, then Giselle would try to force me into yet another engagement. Just so she could push me out of her sight again.
“…Then what sort of fix are you asking for?”
“Of course, you’ll need to publish another article.”
“Are you saying you want the blame for the broken engagement to fall on you?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I want.”
This time, unlike before, I didn’t avoid his gaze when I answered.
In his violet eyes, something flickered strangely. Flickering eyes? That had to be my imagination.
“Is this related to your intention to leave the capital?”
If he had simply asked whether it wouldn’t be faster to dig up dirt on the other side instead, I would’ve either dodged the question or told him it wasn’t his business. I had no intention of laying out my circumstances in detail.
But his intuition was uncomfortably sharp.
“You’re right.”
I could see in his expression that he insisted on knowing exactly what consequences his work would bring.
If only you had been that stubborn about doing the job properly in the first place.
“Understood. For now, we’ll do as you wish.”
That for now irritated me, but before I could think further, the woman beside him suddenly stepped forward and grabbed my hand.
“Y-Yes, exactly! Don’t worry about the cost.”
Trying to soothe me at last, she urged me to sit.
“Do you already have a method in mind?”
I had rushed here as soon as I saw the article. I hadn’t had time to think that far ahead.
“Well…”
“Since we already published a correction, the paper won’t run another one, no matter how much money we throw at them.”
And that—that—was exactly what made me furious. I opened my mouth to ask how he planned to fix it, but he beat me to it.
“What about this? What if others were to witness you together with your lover?”
That wasn’t a bad idea. In fact, if people saw me going around with a lover even after a correction had been published, they might despise me even more.
That would also be a greater humiliation for Redic Bangaeger, my fiancé.
“Not bad. Then, as for the lover…”
“I’ll do it.”
“…What?”
“…Excuse me?”
Honestly, it didn’t matter who played the role of my lover. Anyone would do, as long as they could act the part naturally. Yet his unexpected eagerness to handle the aftermath himself slowly eased my anger.
I wasn’t the only one surprised. The woman who worked with him also widened her eyes in shock.
“Dahlia, make the arrangements so we can carry this off properly.”
“Ah, y-yes! Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
The woman, Dahlia, seemed to come back to her senses only then.
I hadn’t said a word, yet the two of them were already putting together a plan step by step.
“Since the article came out today, the sooner you’re seen, the better. Let’s arrange for tonight.”
Tonight? Already? This wasn’t supposed to be a date, but I couldn’t afford to argue over semantics. I simply nodded.
“Fine.”
As long as they handled things properly, I didn’t care whether it was a date or something else.
“Then I’ll come pick you up.”
He was even more enthusiastic than when he had first accepted the job.
Guess he’s the type who can’t stand seeing a task botched.
Still, that was a hundred times better than someone who turned away from problems.
That evening, I was waiting for him at the place we had agreed upon. It wasn’t some hidden alley, but right out on a main street. Unsurprisingly, whispers rose from all around me.
“My goodness, without a shred of shame…”
“Poor Lady Giselle.”
Those kinds of insults were nothing to me. I pulled my hood a little lower over my face and kept waiting.
Soon, a carriage without any crest rolled to a stop before me. I had assumed he would arrive in an ordinary commercial carriage, but this one was surprisingly luxurious.
Is this even the right carriage?
Just as I thought that, the door clicked open.
“…I don’t recognize him. Who is he?”
“Maybe a visiting gentleman, new to the capital?”
The whispers around me instantly shifted away from me and toward the man stepping out.
It was him—the very man I’d been waiting for.
His attire wasn’t that of a noble, but rather something you might expect of royalty. The stark black formal suit he wore contrasted brilliantly with his hair, bright enough to be blinding. The lace at his sleeves and collar suited him almost too perfectly.
I found myself blinking at him in astonishment. When he spotted me, he smiled. Gasps of admiration rippled through the crowd, but I couldn’t spare them a thought.
He strode up to me, his face glowing as if he had just found his beloved, and took my hand.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“…N-No.”
“Then let’s go in, Saya.”
I couldn’t afford to look flustered. With determined eyes, I tightened my grip on his hand.
As we entered the softly lit coffeehouse together, the whispers from outside faded away.
His fingers slipped between mine. I remembered thinking earlier in the day that his hands were long and delicate, but now I could feel the solid strength in each joint.
Focus. Just think of him as your lover.
He acted as though he truly were, making it surprisingly easy to convince myself.
Since Saya’s confession, Kirill’s sleep had been plagued with restless dreams.
For several nights in a row, Saya appeared in them—sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, sometimes screaming.
Now, unable to sleep properly, Kirill pressed his throbbing head into his hands and closed his eyes. That at least dulled the pain for a moment.
Inside the dressmaker’s shop stood Giselle. She had insisted on stopping by to collect the corsage and ribbons she had ordered.
Kirill, feeling stifled, told her he would wait outside. As he stood guard at the entrance, he heard a strange commotion from down the street.
There was Saya, visible in the crowd. She looked like she was waiting for someone.
Kirill clenched and unclenched his gloved hand, trying to shake off the unease that had haunted him for days.
“…If you didn’t know, then I’m sorry. Anyway, I’ll be going now.”
Saya’s voice held nothing—no blame, no sadness. And that emptiness weighed on him all the more heavily.
He forced himself not to approach her. He didn’t trust himself to hear anything good if he did.
Saya had always been kind to him, even after he began spending more and more time with Giselle. Their relationship had only soured after Saya’s engagement.
It was Giselle who had shown him a picture of Redic Bangaeger.
“Bangaeger? Do you have some business with him?”
“Ah, he’s Saya’s fiancé.”
“…Fiancé?”
Giselle’s reaction had been indifferent, as though she were brushing off some trivial matter. Kirill couldn’t understand it—after all, this was her own younger sister.
Then Giselle had brightened, as though struck by a brilliant idea.
“Will you say you were the one who introduced them? If Saya thinks you introduced him, she’ll trust him more. Right now, she won’t listen to a word I say. You’re… her friend, aren’t you? Please?”
For a young noblewoman, an engagement was essential. If she missed the right timing, her reputation could suffer irreparably. Giselle, surely, wouldn’t want her sister to be left in such a position.
Kirill had believed she must have chosen her sister’s match with great care.
“I didn’t know he was that kind of man either.”
After witnessing Redic’s behavior, Giselle had acted distressed about being tied to such a family. Words Kirill hadn’t dared to say aloud weighed heavily on him.
But… did she really not know?
Whatever the process, the fact remained: he bore responsibility for Saya’s engagement.
Just as he tried to turn away, a carriage rolled to a stop in front of Saya. It bore no crest, and he didn’t recognize it.
Then a man stepped down. Saya quickly pulled up her hood. The man smiled brightly and took her hand.
The unease and anxiety that had gnawed at Kirill for days suddenly consumed him whole.
