Translated by d6y (ko-fi)

Chapter 23

No, no…

No, it can't be!

I wanted to gaslight myself into thinking it didn't happen, but the evidence right in front of me was laughing at me, saying, "What the f*ck did you think you'll do?"

Fortunately, I'm still in my pyjamas.

If my clothes were slightly wrinkled, I would have smashed the window and thrown myself out.

Yeah... I didn't have to cause an accident...

With tears in my eyes, I mourned myself. (t/n: this is hyperbolic, she's not actually crying lol)

I looked down at Lancer, who lay beside me with one arm crossed over his forehead.

He couldn't know how my mind was burning like wildfire in a dry season.

He was sound asleep, his face free of worry. He almost looked like an angel, laying coolly with a smile on his face.

His pyjamas peeked out from under the covers.

A few buttons on his top were undone, making them defenceless.

"What the hell is he doing sleeping with his clothes like this?"

What if he catches a cold later? I grumbled to myself and gently shook Lancer's shoulder.

"Lancer, wake up."

"Mmph..."

"Wake up. How long do you plan on sleeping?"

But Lancer showed no sign of waking up.

He just laughed in his sleep.

"Hehe… more..."

More of what?

I rolled my eyes at his nonsensical sleep talk.

Unaware of my gaze, Lancer tossed and turned and continued to talk in his sleep.

"Praise me for doing better… that I did a good job..."

"..?"

What the f*ck is he dreaming?

I shook my head at his nonsense.

He didn't seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon.

I guess he must've been very tired last night.

I'll let him sleep some more.

I'm just gonna leave Lancer alone, retire to my chamber, and call for a maid to change my clothes then return to the Kaerun Duchy.

With that in mind, I turned to Lancer to ensure he was still asleep.

As I did so, I caught sight of Landseer's undone pyjama shirt buttons once more.

"..."

Lancer… why are you so clumsy?

For some reason, his undone buttons bothered me.

I would be reminded of them constantly if I left him alone like this.

Hmm… come to think of it, he said he doesn't usually wear pyjamas to bed...

If you think about it, Lancer was going against his usual norm solely for my sake.

For that, he deserves a little kindness.

The moment I reached out to button up his pyjama shirt,

"Youngest Master, we're in trouble!"

Lancer's door burst open and Rachel's pale-faced rushed in.

"Youngest Master, I couldn't find Princess Skyla-"

Rachel couldn't finish the sentence, more like there was no reason to finish.

Her eyes met with mine.

"..."

"..."

Silence.

Her eyes glanced at me, then my hands, but soon awkwardly tore them away to look back at me.

Her cheeks, which had been pale, were flushed like ripe tomatoes about to be harvested.

"Oh… um… uh…"

Rachel seemed to have forgotten how to speak our language.

I, on the other hand, felt like a piece of bread dipped in a fondue from hell.

"Rachel, this is…"

"...Have fun."

Rachel said in a soulless voice as she slowly faded away beyond the door.

Bang.

The door slammed shut.

Silence began to flow again in Lancer's room, but it was a different kind of silence.

"..."

I stared down at Lancer, still asleep on his bed, and my hand clutching his buttons.

Why must Rachel see me trying to button up his shirt now?

When I realized this, my hand instinctively went to pull the rope.

Ring, ring, ring!

A loud bell rang down the corridor.

"Hmmm..?"

The sudden noise caused Lancer to finally open his eyes.

Still half asleep, he stares at me with hazy eyes, and a feather-soft smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.

"Did you sleep well, Skyla?"

"No."

"Why?"

Ignoring the question, I tugged hard on the rope once more.

I had to fix this right now before Rachel started spreading weird rumours to everyone else!

Meanwhile, Lancer, who didn't understand what was going on, was still smiling.

"You know, you were in my dream last night."

"Why would you make me appear in your dream without my permission? Give me my paycheck."

"Okay. How much?"

"Nevermind."

At my words, Landseer stood dumbfounded for a moment, then spoke.

"In my dream, you and I got engaged, and we travelled to the Hebnia Kingdom to celebrate our engagement."

"You were dreaming."

"By any chance, Skyla, was I in your dream too?"

"I don't have nightmares."

Ring, ring, ring!

Impatient, I tugged faster on the rope.

Soon the door opened with a squeal.

Rachel reappeared. She looks like she didn't want to answer the call.

"What's the matter… oh, should I change the bedsheets?"

This is what Rachel was thinking when she asked that question,

'I knew that Princess Skyla and the youngest Master had a close relationship, but when did they start talking to each other with their bodies..?'

No, Rachel. It's not like that.

Lancer doesn't know how to communicate with his body. He probably still thinks babies come from storks.

"Rachel, just in case you misunderstand, what you saw was me trying to button up Lancer's shirt."

"Ah, yes..."

She already stopped listening.

'So why was the youngest Master's shirt unbuttoned in the first place? Who took it off first?'

She was already writing a steaming novel in her head.

This is serious.

If I left this as it is, strange rumours would reach Duke Soli's ears.

I had no choice but to try to go head-on.

"Lancer, tell Rachel the truth."

"What truth?"

Landseer was puzzled, suddenly being forced to confess the truth out of nowhere.

I didn't have time to explain the details to him.

"Yesterday I was waiting for you and fell asleep. What happened after that?"

"Huh? You slept."

As soon as Lancer's subtle reply fell, Rachel's pupils began to shake like a continent in an earthquake.

'They slept, they slept, they slept-'

No, no, no!

I couldn't stand the thought of being caught up in such a scandalous affair.

I kicked the duvet off of me.

"Rachel, I need to talk to you alone for a minute."

I pulled Rachel into the room I was supposed to stay in last night.

"Rachel, listen to me," I said to her after I locked the door to the room. "Lancer and I really didn't do anything last night."

"Ah, yes…"

Her reply sounded unpleasant. Even though she said that I knew her head was in a completely different place.

People tend to only listen to what they want to believe.

"Whether you believe it or not, that's up to you, and I don't want to explain any further, but," With a heavy sigh, I put my hands on my hips and glared at her. "Don't tell anyone about what you just saw. Do you understand?"

"But, Princess…"

After a moment's hesitation, Rachel forced herself to speak, and I didn't have to listen to her to know what she was going to say.

'But you two are so in love..! Why aren't you opening your hearts to each other? The youngest master is so fond of Princess Skyla too…'

"Don't tell anyone."

I cut off her thoughts.

"If any srumorsrumours begin to circulate that I spent the night with Lancer, I will come for you and issue a temporary mansion law forbidding all employees of the Kaerun Duchy to marry, and you will not be able to marry Austin, our butler."

"Wait, no, Princess..!"

"Remember, your honeymoon's next year."

I patted Rachel's shoulder, she was frozen with a smile on her face.

"Be a good girl, Rachel. You know I like you, right?"

I'm so sorry for threatening your love, Rachel.

"...Yes." Rachel bowed. And with that, the situation was settled.

I had to blackmail Lancer's servant, but it couldn't be helped.

The Crown Prince must never hear of this.

I thought to myself as I finished a quick breakfast with Lancer and climbed into the carriage provided by Duke Soli to return to the Kaerun Duchy.

The imperial ball is next week.

My plans cannot be disrupted.

I wonder how many noble families will be enraged when the Crown Prince and I announce our engagement.

I must never show them a single flaw.

With that resolve, I arrived at the Kaerun Duchy and sought out my maid, Phoebe.

"Phoebe."

"Yes, my lady."

"How much of the fortune have I accumulated so far?"

"About thirty million francs."

A million francs was about what a count would earn in a year. Of course, I was from a ducal family, so I earned more than that because I had a bigger business.

I've saved a lot of money, I'm glad I didn't spend it.

"Are you going to start a new business?" Phoebe asked.

"No."

I smirked and shrugged.

"It's just, in the last few days I've had a lot of people mistake me for a commoner and look down on me because I'm dressed a little modest, you know?"

"It's certainly happened a lot lately."

"So I'm going to do something I don't usually do."

Tak, tak.

I started walking towards my mother's room instead of my office.

Yeah, I haven't been spending much money for a while.

Let's see if I can do something to revive the economy of the imperial capital for the first time in a while.

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