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Chapter 06
Lucienne’s eyes widened in confusion when she saw Paello smile. One after another, the servants’ mouths fell open as if their jaws were about to drop.
Lucienne herself was stunned for a moment.
It was the first time she had ever seen Paello smile—a smile that had never once been described in the original novel.
It was as if a million roses had bloomed all at once.
What did I just see?
After laughing for a brief moment, Paello raised his head.
“You didn’t know that man was a spy, did you?”
“…Pardon?”
“I don’t interfere with whatever the press says. And that man wasn’t a victim. He really was a spy.”
“What?”
Paello motioned for the people around them to leave before lowering his voice.
“One of the Empress Dowager’s aides brought a letter this time. We discovered through the truth serum that he had come to eavesdrop on it.”
Lucienne tried to remember whether there had been any faction in the original novel that opposed Paello.
Perhaps because the story was mainly told from the heroine Verdi’s perspective, there wasn’t really anyone who could be called Paello’s enemy.
He spent the entire story protecting the Empire, maintaining his poker face, and cooperating with Verdi.
Although Paello eventually became one of Verdi’s men, that happened close to the ending, so he never had any particular emotional conflict with the male lead.
The closest thing to an opposing force was the demons. But there was no way the spy could have been a demon.
Demons couldn’t understand human language, so eavesdropping was impossible for them in the first place.
So Lucienne had no choice but to ask.
“Who sent the spy? Do you have any idea?”
“It was the Emperor. Even he didn’t know what the purpose of the intelligence was.”
“What?”
That made even less sense.
The only son of the Empress Dowager had become Emperor, and his children were the current Emperor and Princess. There were no problems within the imperial family.
“Why would someone spy on a letter from the Empress Dowager? Was there something important or secret being exchanged?”
“It was simply an invitation to the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet.”
“……”
Lucienne fell silent for a moment as she went over the original story again.
There had never been anything about Paello attending the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet. No, Paello hardly attended any imperial palace parties at all.
Instead, there had been an episode where the Empress Dowager visited the Ronater territory.
Verdi had been investigating Hanana’s case, and the Empress Dowager came because she felt lonely with the princess away from the imperial family for too long. She stayed for several days.
Verdi was running around doing all sorts of things back then. Paello had tea with the Empress Dowager a couple of times, didn’t he?
Other than that, nothing particularly important had happened.
Whatever. I’m getting divorced anyway, so what does it matter? If there’s a problem, the protagonists will deal with it themselves.
Just as Lucienne gave up trying to figure it out and tilted her head, Paello said something unexpected.
“I intend to attend the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet this time, since I cannot determine her intentions.”
“What?”
What is this? Why is the original story changing?
“You’ve never attended before.”
“Now that we’ve discovered a spy, I thought I should check the atmosphere in the imperial palace myself.”
Paello gazed steadily at Lucienne.
“There isn’t much time left before the banquet, so we will have to leave tomorrow afternoon.”
“I see. How long are you planning to stay?”
“If nothing happens, perhaps three or four days.”
Three or four days.
Lucienne nodded in understanding. Since the capital was far away, the total time would be considerably longer once the travel time there and back was included.
I need to cause some irreversible trouble while Paello is gone.
What could she do that would be bad enough for him to return, find the situation impossible to resolve, and declare a divorce?
“I see. Have a safe trip.”
But Paello’s expression changed again.
The very tip of one eyebrow lifted ever so slightly.
“You speak as though you aren’t going.”
“What?”
“I was telling you to prepare.”
Lucienne’s pupils shook violently, and Paello rose from his seat with an expression that indicated the conversation was over.
“Then I’ll see you tonight.”
Paello gave a slight nod before leaving the dining room.
See me tonight?
She instinctively saw him off, but Lucienne was left bewildered by his unexpected words. Thinking about it again, she realized that Paello seemed to have genuinely enjoyed watching her eat earlier.
Is he saying we should have dinner together too? Ha!
A scoff escaped her.
I’m supposed to get divorced. Why would I show him something he’d enjoy?
She decided that she would never eat with him again.
With that resolution, Lucienne decided to look through an atlas instead. Knowing the geography of the Empire would make life easier for her.
She spent the entire time studying the atlas and even enjoyed afternoon tea.
That was when two maids entered and politely bowed.
“It is time for your bath, Your Grace.”
“Huh? Isn’t it too early?”
The maids looked even more confused by Lucienne’s question.
He said he’d see me tonight. Is there some kind of banquet?
If she needed to dress up for a party, then preparing from now seemed about right.
At that moment, Hanahna, who was standing beside her, carefully spoke.
“Your Grace, tonight is your conjugal night with His Grace.”
Chirp, chirp.
The birds she had been hearing since early morning were still chirping now.
“It’s a little noisy, isn’t it? Maybe there are so many birds because the tree near the window is so large. Some people say we should cut the tree down, but then I feel sorry for the birds, you know? Haha.”
Lucienne had been staring blankly toward the window when the pharmacist, who was mixing medicine nearby, spoke.
After fulfilling her mandatory conjugal duties the previous night, Lucienne had come to a pharmacy in town to get contraceptive medicine.
She had put on a robe and pulled the hood deeply over her head in case someone recognized her.
“This one is for before, and this one is for after.”
After receiving the medicine and listening to the instructions, Lucienne left the pharmacy.
After making sure no one was nearby, she took off her hood and let out a sigh.
Phew. I didn’t get caught.
After taking her medicine, Lucienne immediately headed back to the Grand Duke’s castle. She had heard they would be leaving for the capital at one in the afternoon, so she needed to hurry.
“……”
As she walked, she found herself patting her heated face with her hands.
She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened the night before.
It had been their mandatory conjugal night.
When she first heard about it, she had wondered whether she should avoid it. Unlike the original Lucienne, she didn’t love Paello.
But her reason and curiosity had told her otherwise.
Isn’t one of the defining traits of a male lead in a romance-fantasy novel his incredible stamina?
She had finally gotten the perfect opportunity to experience for herself just how real those scenes in the 19+ sections of romance-fantasy novels were—the very scenes that had made her swallow hard while reading.
The meal is already set before me. Wouldn’t refusing just be my loss?
That curiosity had made Lucienne obedient.
However, she didn’t want to do the commonly seen “pregnancy-and-run” trope from novels.
Of course, in the original story, Lucienne never became pregnant. Apparently, children born between demons and humans were extremely rare in the first place, so the same should have been true for half-demon Lucienne and human Paello.
But since Lucienne was a transmigrated soul, she couldn’t be certain that something like that wouldn’t happen.
Whether she was the protagonist or not, wasn’t getting pregnant after a single night basically a transmigrator cliché?
Whatever else happens, I absolutely cannot get pregnant.
So Lucienne had casually asked Hanahna about contraception and discovered that this world had contraceptive methods as well.
Both preventive and emergency contraception existed. And apparently, they were even safe for women.
Nobles looked down on them as methods used by poor people and refused to use them, though.
Right. I just need to make sure I don’t get pregnant. Whatever Paello does, I’ll just lie there and stay still.
With that decision, Lucienne had endured the night before as Paello mechanically fulfilled his duties as a husband.
Her thoughts hadn’t changed much since then.
“Wow, maybe it’s because he’s the male lead.”
Still amazed, Lucienne stopped walking and completely covered her face with both hands.
Honestly, she hadn’t felt as though Paello loved her. His movements had been as monotonous as could be.
And yet Lucienne felt as if she had tasted the forbidden fruit.
She fanned her heated face with her hands before hurrying onward.
So I have to keep doing this until I get divorced? Because I’m the wife of the Grand Duke of Ronater?
Their next conjugal night was two months later. Since the experience had been much better than she had expected, the thought of spending another night with Paello made her secretly excited, and her heart began to race.
So that’s why there’s a “body before heart” trope.
For a moment, she even wondered what it would be like if Paello did the same thing while actually having feelings for her.
Ah… should I try being loved at least once?
At the same time, Lucienne finally understood the feelings of the body’s original owner.
So that’s why.
That must have been why Lucienne had hidden her demonic strength and tried to earn Paello’s love until she killed the administrative secretary, Hanana.
Then Lucienne suddenly realized where her thoughts were heading and frantically shook her head.
No! What am I doing getting my hopes up?!
She clenched her fists and set herself a new goal.
Get a grip. I have to get divorced before next month’s conjugal night.
