“Hahahaha…”
“Hehehe…”
“…”
“Kuh, hahahaha…”
“What are you laughing at!?” Nathan suddenly threw the book he was holding at Pose.
Pose dodged it easily and smirked. “How on earth couldn’t you defeat your own brother even once? If this is a skill, it’s a pathetic one, seriously.”
“Shut up, will you?”
The Diollus Duchy was thrown into chaos. Princess Diollus, who had just finished her isolation, was kidnapped by a mysterious masked man.
How delighted he had been upon hearing the news. He thought that one of the assassination teams he had ordered had succeeded safely. But no matter how long he waited, no one brought the princess before Nathan.
So naturally, the ones who succeeded in the kidnapping weren’t Nathan’s planted assassins.“He reacted quickly and countered the opponent. As expected of the crown prince. He really thinks on his feet.” Pose added, “If only I had made a contract with someone as smart as him… it would have been nice.”
“Do you want to die? What makes you think Lark used his brain for this?”
Bang! Nathan slammed his fist on the table. “That girl must have seen the future and told him everything. Since she was likely to be kidnapped, she must have told him to come up with a plan no matter what.”
“Hmm, I wonder…”
“Otherwise, it hasn’t even been a week since the isolation was lifted. How did he move so quickly!?” Nathan yelled, tearing at his hair.
“Damn it, Vista! What a formidable spirit this is!”
“Hehehe.”
“Every spirit has weaknesses, but I don’t know how to deal with this one. It’s like they can predict all my moves. What more can I do here?”
Just as Lark’s side couldn’t predict Nathan’s plan, Nathan couldn’t predict his as well. He could be sure about how Vista saw the future, how far into the future they could show, or whether they could show a new future if the current one were changed… Because of this uncertainty, Nathan had to try various attempts and face them head-on.
“My head hurts.”
The first thing he needed to do was to separate Vista’s contractor from Lark.
“Ugh. It’s damn difficult to gather the assassins… Some of them can’t be contacted, so it seems that wretched aide is caring for them.”
“Shouldn’t we do something before the assassins are taken care of completely?”
“Exactly. We need to change our orders. First, we have to find out where Rubetria Diollus, the Vista’s contractor, is hiding.”
Every time Lark anticipated and responded to Nathan’s moves, his desire for Rubette, the contract of Vista, grew stronger.
Nathan licked his lower lip sneakily and muttered with a wicked smile, “…Now I understand why Vista became a dangerous elemental.”
“Intriguing, isn’t it?”
“Well, it drives me crazy.”
Nathan’s eyes gleamed with madness.
***
A gentle warmth radiated softly, and the scented candle placed by the head of the bed lightly tickled the tip of the nose in the bathroom.
Swoosh—the legs stretched out on the water’s surface, and white foam flowed from the ankles to the calves.
“Oh, my, how can our lady have such beautiful skin?”
Rebecca, who was wiping my shoulders, exclaimed in an excited voice.
“Sigh…” Leaning against the luxurious marble bathtub, I sighed and tilted my wine glass.
“Here is the total sales report for the month of July for ‘Blanc de Ruby.’ Since the cosmetics store launch, it has reached a record high of 10,835,660,000 marks as of today.”
“Hmm. Thank you, Sienna…”
Standing beside me, Sienna handed me the report she received, but I couldn’t quite focus on it as my mind felt uneasy.
“Sigh…” I let out another heavy sigh.
It had been a week already since the self-made kidnapping drama.
Lark and Ren only had a mere three hours of sleep each day after returning from work, and it had been a week of such routine. Even those precious three hours of sleep were spent with them guarding me, claiming to protect me in this ‘safe house.’
Every time I saw them taking a nap on the first floor, I felt so guilty…
“Why do you have that expression?”
“I can’t help but wonder if it’s okay for me to live so calmly.”
“Oh, why worry about that? On the contrary, His Highness the Crown Prince has specifically instructed that you continue your usual activities without any discomfort.”
Although I lived in hiding, I lived luxurious days no different from those in Lubon. The area where Rebecca, Sienna, and I stayed, hidden away, was incredibly spacious compared to the first floor which looked like an ordinary house.
There was nothing lacking in terms of the bedroom and bathroom; if I needed anything, Ren would bring it for me. He also took care of managing the store and discreetly handled communication contacts.
“There’s no need for you to feel uncomfortable, my lady. To be honest, you’re the one who has suffered unnecessary harm due to the crown prince’s involvement in the succession battle.”
“Hmm.” Sienna responded with a slightly annoyed tone.
Without knowing the full details, they believed that Lark was solely responsible for the danger I was in.
‘But more than that, it’s because I acted as if I knew the future, arousing suspicion from the 2nd Prince and ultimately getting exposed as summoner.’
To be precise, at this moment, what the 2nd Prince is targeting is not victory in the succession battle, but ‘me’. It wasn’t my intention to cause Lark trouble by revealing the future. I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with this situation that I had needlessly created.
“Sigh…” I let out another sigh.
But my worries didn’t end there.
‘I want to talk. I want to confess. I know I shouldn’t, but I don’t want to deceive Lark so intensely…’
The little lie that started with “I am Vista’s contractor!” had now snowballed into a situation that couldn’t be stopped. Only Lark knew before, but now Ren knows as well. And it’s likely that the 2nd Prince also knows me as Vista’s contractor.
“The secret that Vista concealed, to the extent of erasing the mark on your hand, carries a forbidden weight. Perhaps Nathan didn’t actually know about what kind of spirit you contracted.”
“Does he need to pay a higher price to hear about my spirit’s identity?”
“That’s right. However, considering that he succeeded in summoning his spirit during the martial arts competition, the price might not have been too high.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Well, it’s not necessarily something to be thankful for… It’s quite easy to deduce that your spirit is Vista.”
Being pursued by the 2nd Prince, who is obsessed with a non-existent spirit, and Lark, who sacrifices his sleep and only gets three hours a day to protect me—such is the situation.
Furthermore, I am not able to provide much help to Lark in return.
I know the overarching future won’t change, but at the moment, there is nothing useful I can do. And once the future is altered, I have no way of knowing the subtle changes that will occur.
“Sigh…” I let out another sigh and tilted my wine glass. “But what is this? It’s so delicious. I can’t stop drinking it.”
Rebecca brought me a sweet orange-colored cocktail, which tasted like fruit juice, and it suited my palate quite well.
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah, it’s delicious.”
Sienna smiled and refilled my empty wine glass with the cocktail. It seemed like I had already consumed two-thirds of it while showering. “This was a gift for your birthday. It’s called ‘Val de Chiffon’…”
Rebecca examined the wooden box, which contained bottles, and read the label aloud, “It seems to be a trendy gift with flowers along with it on coming of age day. It’s a quite popular cocktail in the capital. Non-alcoholic, right?”
“Yeah, it tastes just like a regular drink. Do you want to try it too?”
“Hehe, no thank you. Enjoy it all, my lady.” Rebecca grinned and was about to set down the wooden box when she suddenly paused. “Oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
Without answering, Rebecca stared blankly at the side of the box. “Oh no…”
For the adult you,
Val de Chiffon.
-Caution: Please make sure to check your personal tolerance before enjoying. It may not taste like it contains alcohol as it is blended with sweeteners and fruits.
-Alcohol content: 12%
***
When he returned to the safe house in the early hours of the morning, well past 1 AM, Lark found it strange to hear a commotion outside the door.
“Ah, my lady!”
Surprised by Rebecca’s worried voice, Lark turned to look at Ren, who was standing beside him.
Ren, with deep exhaustion visible under his eyes, also had a startled expression on his face.
“Ruby!”
Lowering his voice, Lark quickly opened the door and rushed inside. The sight that greeted him was a mess.
“…?”
It seemed like preparations had been underway, as she was dressed in a silk nightgown. Rubette’s face was flushed and her hair was still damp, indicating that she hadn’t had a chance to dry it properly.
“Oh, you, you, you’re here?”
“I’m early today.”
Rubette was pacing around the room, with Rebecca and Sienna following her with perplexed expressions on their faces.
“Why are you like this?”
“Oh! Laaawk!”
Lark’s eyes widened as he saw Rubette approaching.
“My lady!”
“Ugh.”
Rubette grabbed Lark’s arm and giggled. “Bwotheer, do you know how to do the Kleina Lotdo (*a type of dance in the Descarde Empire social dance)?”
“…I do?”
“Great!”
As Rubette intertwined her left hand with his, Lark instinctively took her other hand and stretched it out to the side. It was the initial posture of the social dance.
Swiftly, as Rubette’s right foot lightly stepped in with one, two, three steps, Lark stepped back reflexively.
Forward with one, two. Backward with one, two. Dazed but determined, Lark gracefully danced with her.
As their joined hands were raised, Rubette spun around in a circle. The soft nightgown fluttered like a dress.
“…” Lark blinked, his hand instinctively wrapping around Rubette’s waist.
This time, they moved in a circle together to the left, one, two. Then to the right, one, two…
With a strong embrace, Rubette leaned back against Lark’s chest, following the outstretched arc of his arm and spinning around.
“Kyaha!”
And with a turn, Lark firmly supported Rubette’s waist as she leaned back into his arms. Her slender waist gracefully bent over Lark’s arm, and her red hair swayed above her delicate, white nape.
From her knees held straight, to the elegant finish.
Clap, clap, clap, clap… The onlookers, who had been holding their breath watching this unexpected dawn dance, began to applaud absentmindedly.
“That was impressive.”
“Amazing.”
“You’re incredible…”
Sienna, Rebecca, and Ren each expressed their admiration with a word or two.
‘Wait, what did we just do?’
Looking down at Rubette in his arms, who definitely seemed out of the ordinary, Lark couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “…What is this?”
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