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Chapter 11:
The night came like a storm and shook me without mercy.
I woke up, congratulating myself for putting up the concealment magic.
Then I realized something was wrong.
Parts of my body were sore, and every muscle hurt badly.
The reason I could barely move was especially obvious.
A large arm was wrapped around my waist.
“I actually did it…”
I held my forehead and struggled with an indescribable feeling of misery.
I really did it!
“Are you awake?”
I quickly turned my head at the man’s voice behind me.
Leon Voltane looked surprisingly fine.
He was, of course, still lying there with almost no clothes on, but there was no sign of his previous mana exhaustion.
His dark circles were gone.
His pale complexion was gone.
His face was unbelievably beautiful.
I wanted to poke my own eyes out.
Especially because when he smiled slightly, everything suddenly seemed like it didn’t matter anymore.
“Don’t smile at me.”
“Then who should I smile at? The person who kept me busy all night?”
“B-Busy? Who kept who…! And don’t look this way!”
I turned away, wrapped myself in the blanket, and picked up my clothes from the floor.
Hmm.
They were completely wrinkled and even had stains on them.
While I was wondering whether it would be better for my reputation to wear these ruined clothes or ask for a new outfit, Leon moved first.
With a simple gesture, he canceled the concealment magic covering the room.
Then he raised his voice.
“Is anyone outside?”
A careful voice answered from the other side of the door.
“Yes, Your Grace. It’s Cyril.”
“Bring me one set of clothes.”
“And bring another set for your mistress.”
“Do you need help dressing?”
“No. We’ll manage ourselves.”
I felt like I was going to faint from embarrassment!
While I sat on the bed with both hands covering my face, Leon’s arm pulled me back into the bed.
“Sleep a little longer.”
Lying against the broad chest of the man beside me, my mind became complicated.
In both my previous life and this one, sleeping with a man before marriage had never even been an option in my mind.
“You deceived me, didn’t you?”
“Why?”
“A mage like you suddenly suffering from mana exhaustion? That’s strange.”
Leon yawned and pulled me closer.
His lazy voice sounded beside my ear.
“You can’t have a child alone, you know.”
“Well… that’s true.”
“So I pushed myself a little too hard…”
His sleepy voice continued.
“As a side effect, once every month, my mana drains so badly that I can barely endure it…”
Then he finished with a faint laugh.
“But it’s much easier when you’re here.”
His black hair brushed against the back of my neck.
The feeling of him resting his head against me like a spoiled child was far too vivid.
“You promised, didn’t you?”
“Promised what?”
“You have to protect me.”
I really wanted to cry.
“…Please, stop telling me your secrets!”
After getting dressed, I left the guest room.
The newly hired servants were standing in two neat rows outside the door.
At the very front, Rita was standing beside Cyril.
She secretly gave me a thumbs-up with a very suggestive expression.
I could almost hear her saying, That’s our Miss!
I wanted to faint immediately.
I tried my best to stay calm.
“Where’s Lucian?”
Cyril calmly answered,
“He hasn’t woken up yet.”
“Let him sleep. It’s not time for breakfast yet. Just make sure he’s awake before then.”
“Yes.”
“Did anything unusual happen while I was asleep?”
“One invitation arrived that you should check immediately. I placed it on your office desk.”
“Good. I’ll go to the office.”
I painfully moved my trembling legs toward the office.
Leon tried to carry me there without any shame, but I slapped his rude hand away.
On the desk was an envelope sealed with red wax.
“Why would Countess Chastang…”
The wife of Count Chastang, a close aide of the king, was a major figure in high society.
She was a high-ranking noblewoman with whom I had almost no contact.
I opened the envelope and read the letter.
It was an invitation to a flower-viewing gathering two weeks later.
On the surface, it looked like a peaceful social invitation.
But this was…
“A direct invitation to the execution platform.”
Yes.
It was practically a social execution.
Leon, who had been reading the letter over my shoulder, casually muttered,
“That’s exactly what it is.”
Countess Chastang was famous as the punisher of high society.
She often summoned young noblewomen who behaved badly in society and criticized their manners.
Because of her reputation and position, a young lady who received such a lecture could quickly become an outcast in high society.
I could easily guess why she had invited me.
She probably wanted to see what kind of person the noblewoman who was supposedly engaged to a commoner really was.
In my previous life, Countess Chastang had summoned me for a similar reason.
And I had been horribly humiliated.
“Wow. I already thought I was in serious trouble, but now I really want to faint.”
“You can’t faint.”
“What?”
“You need to start preparing immediately. Surely you aren’t planning to attend the gathering dressed like that?”
“What is wrong with how I’m dressed?!”
Leon looked down at me and shrugged.
I looked down at myself.
A simple brown dress.
Long hair hanging loose without even being braided.
A cold sweat ran down my back.
I couldn’t refuse Countess Chastang’s invitation.
Considering how much influence she had in high society, refusing would be almost like declaring that I had abandoned high society altogether.
So, to describe my situation…
“…I can’t attend the flower-viewing gathering looking like this!”
Exactly.
This was an emergency.
I didn’t have a proper formal dress.
After graduating from the Magic Tower, I had been too busy working to attend proper social events for a long time.
On top of that, I had sold almost all of my jewelry to gamble on the monster fight.
If I appeared like this, the noblewomen wouldn’t even bother laughing at me.
They would probably think I was a maid!
“Two weeks should be enough to make a dress.”
Leon casually said this, completely unaware of the problem.
“If we pressure a dressmaker, they should be able to finish one within a week.”
Cyril went even further.
Rita, who was watching the two completely clueless people, suddenly showed impressive quick thinking.
“Two weeks isn’t enough for a custom-made dress!”
“Well, if the Duke orders it, they could make one, but there would definitely be rumors. The nobles would use that against you again. An unmarried man and woman… ahem, cough, anyway!”
Rita counted on her fingers as she listed every method she knew.
The methods were probably things Mother had taught her at some point.
“Dress shops always have clothes that were made for someone but couldn’t be delivered because of some small problem. I’ll find something that suits you.”
“We can alter it so the original customer won’t recognize it. Don’t worry.”
“And because this kind of sale is important, the dress shop will make sure to keep it secret.”
She rattled off her ideas quickly.
I nodded.
It sounded much more realistic than forcing someone to make an entirely new dress in two weeks.
“Your jewelry can come from the house too! Miss, you almost never wear those pieces outside.”
“Rita. I have something to confess.”
“…What is it?”
“I sold all of them.”
“What?!”
This time, Rita practically collapsed onto the floor.
“No…! Miss never even got to properly wear them…”
“Rita…!”
“Those ruby earrings! Oh, no…”
Leon had been watching our little comedy.
He casually said,
“Jewelry can just be bought.”
“That’s true.”
I immediately changed my attitude.
Rita looked at me with an offended expression, slowly stood up, and brushed the dust from her skirt.
“But even if you’re buying a ready-made dress, you need to go shopping today. There won’t always be suitable dresses in stock.”
I rubbed my temples.
“But Lucian is at home. I don’t really want to leave him alone.”
My concern was unexpectedly solved very simply.
Leon casually spoke up.
“Just take Lu with you.”
I fell silent.
An unmarried man and woman who technically had no official relationship exchanging clothes as gifts could already be a little…
awkward.
But an unmarried man and woman taking a child shopping together?
“Of course we can’t!”
