Chapter 57

Alice and one of the maids looked flustered, clearly at a loss. Judging by the scene, it seemed like Cleas had barged in without warning.

“How did you even get in here without permission…”

“I needed to see Brother Zerno. Anyway, you were about to say something after ‘If it’s Ulysses’? What was it?”

How much did he overhear?

As I frowned, Alice was mouthing something behind Cleas’s back.

[ ‘I should go see him.’ Start from ‘I should go see him!’ ]

Alice made an X with her arms and silently mouthed the words again.

[ He didn’t hear anything before that. The gardeners were working, so it was loud. Really loud. When it got quiet for a moment, that’s when he heard, ‘I should go see him’—! ]

Ah, Alice.

My sweet, B-rank attendant!

She must have sent the gardeners to work because Cleas was about to barge in.

‘Once Cleas leaves, I’m definitely giving her a bonus…’

I sat down on the sofa, pretending nothing was wrong.

“If you have an appointment with Brother Zerno, you should be heading there, not to my room.”

“Oh, I just have something to ask you.”

Cleas smiled gently and walked over to the sofa across from me.

“So, why did you go to the tavern? I heard Ulysses dragged you there. And not just anywhere, a place deep in the alleys.”

“Are you putting people on my tail now?”

“I wish I had. Then I’d know what you two talked about in that alley, and why you went into the tavern.”

His slightly husky, low voice sounded almost like a beast’s growl.

“I don’t like the Grand Duke of Akelos, but Ulysses is even worse. Nike.”

“….”

“I wouldn’t be too happy if my woman fell for someone like that.”

Cleas leaned in close, his lips nearly brushing my ear. Then, in a whisper, he asked.

“So, will you tell me? What happened last night?”

Honestly—

‘Uuggh!’

—I felt sick just looking at him.

Especially when he got that close to my ear, I wanted to grab him by the hair and shove him away.

‘Hold it in. Just a little longer.’

I needed to figure out what he was planning. Now that Ulysses was involved, there was a good chance the rest of the adultery five were tangled up in this as well.

‘Getting a potential power-wielder hooked on drugs is unheard of. If I can get to the bottom of this, it’ll give me a huge advantage in taking down the adultery five.’

“Before I get really angry. Please, Nike.”

His sweet voice turned cold in an instant.

It gave me chills.

It sounded just like the day he locked me underground.

‘Cleas is deciding right now whether to see me as an enemy.’

Cleas shifted his posture, and now I could see Leonard and Alice.

While Alice looked like she was about to whack Cleas on the back of the head with a hoe at any moment, Leonard looked incredibly anxious. Not because he was afraid the tavern incident would be discovered, but because he was worried I might actually grab Cleas by the hair.

But what I did wasn’t what either of them expected.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ୨ৎ ໒꒱ ‧₊ ୧‿︵

Cleas stared silently at Nikaearsha, who refused to say a word.

He already had enough headaches dealing with ‘business’ matters. His conversation with Zerno earlier didn’t seem like it would lead anywhere good, either.

‘And now Nikaearsha went all the way to the tavern?’

When he heard about it at dawn, he was grinding my teeth.

It was bad enough that she suddenly started acting so cold, but now she was sticking her nose into his ‘business’ as well?

That morning, while they were still in bed, Mikarin said.

“See? Sister really is strange…”
“…Yeah. Where did your sister lose her sense of fear?”
“Wasn’t it the Grand Duke? Maybe she’s thinking of leaving you to become the grand duchess instead. Maybe that’s why she’s trying to find your weakness.”

Mikarin clung to him, her voice trembling with tears.

“If my sister is really trying to gather leverage with that motive… then I can’t forgive her.”
“….”
“I’m not going to let her get away with this, even if she’s my sister. I’ll go talk to her myself…!”

Cleas gently wiped the tears from Mikarin’s eyes.

“What could you even do if you went? Stay in my arms where you won’t get hurt.”
“I can’t help it. I’m just worried about you. If only Lord Ulysses weren’t acting so strange, I wouldn’t even be suspicious of my sister.”
“Ulysses?”
“Yeah. Last time we met, I tried to comfort him, but he got all sensitive about it. It was like he was taking my sister’s side.”

She blinked her big, deer-like eyes as she spoke.

“Isn’t it strange for Lord Ulysses to take my sister’s side? What if… the two of them are plotting something together?”
“Like what?”
“I mean, what if they’re just pretending to be on bad terms and are actually teaming up behind your back to target you?”

Mikarin’s worries weren’t entirely unfounded.

‘If that’s really the case, I can’t just let it slide.’

Since she hadn’t awakened, Nikaearsha’s only value now was her status as the grand duke’s daughter. However, if the ‘business’ worked out, even the power of the grand ducal family wouldn’t seem that important anymore.

‘So maybe it’d be better to just get rid of her…’

That was the thought running through his mind when—

“Cleas…”

Nikaearsha’s voice sounded different.

No, it was more like how she used to be, before everything changed.

“Why do you never understand how I feel…?”

“Nike?”

“I failed to awaken. So now I’m just a reckless troublemaker, the villainess of Delosif…”

She looked at him with a pitiful expression.

“That’s why someone like me doesn’t suit a bright, sunny guy like you…”

Nikaearsha’s eyes twisted in pain.

Those eyes, always a bit clouded, now shimmered as if they might tear up at any moment.

“So I tried to make you hate me. If people start saying I’m addicted to drugs from that tavern, even your family might talk about breaking off the engagement.”

“….”

“Soon, everyone will be saying I’m hooked on drugs. There’s nothing good about being close to a girl like that.”

“….”

“So don’t act so friendly with me anymore. You should find someone better than me…”

“….”

“When you talk to me this sweetly… it just makes my resolve weaken.”

Cleas stared at Nikaearsha in silence.

After a moment,

Ha…

He let out a soft, breathy laugh. Then he pulled her into an embrace, holding her head against his chest.

“You were thinking things like that?”

“…Let go of me.”

He smiled and pressed his forehead gently against Nikaearsha’s.

“I have no intention of letting you go. So don’t ever do something that foolish again.”

“But—”

“More importantly, I want to kiss you right now.”

Cleas smiled sweetly.

Yeah, this was the Nikaearsha he knew.

She never hesitated to sacrifice anything for him, and she was never afraid to go against her own family or face the world’s judgment, as long as it was for him.

“When you kiss, you’re supposed to close your eyes, Nike.”

“Hey! C-Cleas, there are people here! Maybe wait until no one’s watching… Ah, my brother!”

She pushed hard against his chest.

“My brother walked past the hallway just now! Didn’t you say you needed to talk to him?!”

Cleas, now perched on the edge of the sofa table from the push, furrowed his brows. But then, a small laugh escaped him.

‘She really has no sense of timing.’

To Nikaearsha, a kiss was probably the most special gift she could give.

And yet, she always put his business first.

That side of her used to drive him crazy, but today, for some reason, it felt kind of endearing.