Chapter 19
Episode 19
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"It’s a joyous reunion with my daughter, so would you mind excusing us for a moment?"”
Those were the words Duke Alroze spoke as soon as I entered the audience chamber of the Alloze estate.
Naturally, he was looking at the Argenta people who were trying to follow me in.
The Argenta people, including Pielle, hesitated.
“Surely you don’t think I would harm my own daughter, do you?”
Duke Alroze asked, sounding dumbfounded.
At those words, Pielle and the Argenta people took a step back.
The Duke didn't know, but it was after I gave them a reassuring look.
—Creak… Thud.
And as soon as the audience chamber doors closed, the smile vanished from Duke Alroze’s face.
The gaze of a man looking at a tool, not a daughter, was cast upon me.
“So, how is the work progressing?”
Sending someone in secret to demand ‘proof of the first night’ wasn’t enough, it seemed.
To ask about this as soon as I arrived.
“I hear he’s clinging to you so tightly it’s sickening to watch.”
Duke Alroze continued.
I let out a hollow laugh, but I answered him faithfully.
At this moment, I had to be ‘Duke Alroze’s loyal pawn.’
“I’ve succeeded in continuing to share a room with Dielo for now. But the problem is that Dielo Argenta is too…”
I made a troubled expression and continued.
“…a devoted man.”
“What?”
When telling a lie, one must mix 95% truth with 5% falsehood.
That way, the other person won’t easily notice anything strange.
I didn’t know if Dielo was excessively devoted, but he was pure in many ways.
‘Anyone from Argenta who goes to the fourth floor, you can trust them.’
I sighed, thinking of one night when he had said that.
“Perhaps it’s because I’m from Alloze that he’s taking time to open his heart.”
“It’s not that you haven’t been trying?”
Duke Alroze’s sharp gaze scanned me.
I shook my head.
“Of course, I’m trying. But you know it too, don’t you, Father? For the head of the family and Pero to be together, it’s not enough to simply steal his purity.”
“…I know that.”
The more the head of the family opens his heart to Pero and gives up his purity, the more the seal suppressing the head of the family's ability will slowly disappear.
“So, it might take some time.”
“Tsk. Couldn’t you foresee that?”
Duke Alroze clicked his tongue at my words.
Then, with a brazen face, he said,
“It’s not for nothing that they say physical intimacy matters. Can’t you do it properly?”
I knew he was trash, but facing him directly, he was even more trash than I had imagined.
I had possessed Krua just as she was being carried away in a carriage to the Argenta family, so this was my first time meeting Duke Alroze face-to-face.
Thanks to that, this was my first impression of him.
Trash among trash. The lowest of the low trash.
As I thought that—
—Hoo.
The surrounding air seemed to grow heavy. To be precise, even the moisture in the air felt like it was pressing down on me.
And from the teacup placed between me and the Duke, I felt a strong pressure.
Naturally, the source was Duke Alroze.
The Alloze head of the family's Water Manipulation Ability had begun to pressure me.
I gasped for breath.
“Didn’t you hear that you have to seduce him somehow?”
—Pat!
The water in the teacup in front of him instantly transformed into a sharp blade, aimed at my neck.
“!”
Along with a tingling sensation, I felt something flowing down my neck.
This wasn’t tea, but blood.
My blood.
A chill ran down my spine.
“…Of course, I’m trying to do that.”
I said, lowering my voice without realizing it.
I felt like I would be stabbed in the neck if I tried to speak loudly.
“What’s the point of effort without results?”
Duke Alroze frowned.
An oppressive pressure made it difficult to even breathe.
It’s okay, you knew he would pressure you this much, right?
In the original story, Duke Alroze was thorough trash.
At this rate, I would have to report every night how far I progressed with Dielo.
Of course, there would be nothing to report.
If he came at me like this, I had no choice but to use my last card, even though I felt sorry for Dielo.
“…But it’s really not working, Father.”
I bit my lip with a troubled expression.
“Why, you’re not going to tell me that he’s lost his ability at that age, are you?”
The ability the Duke was talking about now was clearly not the Argenta's Fire Manipulation Ability.
He was probably talking about his ability in bed.
How vulgar.
I had guessed, but he was even more vulgar than I had imagined.
Thinking that, I shook my head.
“I don’t think so. But…”
I’m sorry, Dielo!
I made a declaration of conscience in my heart and then spoke.
…With a desperate look that showed I was really going crazy.
“He says he can’t possibly spend the night because his heart isn’t moved.”
He can’t get it up! What am I supposed to do!
“If we spend the night forcibly, he’ll close his heart even more, so it’ll be counterproductive… So, I’m trying to get closer slowly for now.”
“…I’m going crazy. Such talk of pure love…”
Duke Alroze leaned back against the sofa as if he was dumbfounded.
But he himself was the head of the family with Pero, so he would know.
That there was no use in spending the night without really opening one’s heart.
—Chwaak!
The tea water that had been about to cut my neck returned to his cup.
He put the cup to his lips without hesitation, drinking the tea mixed with my blood, and said,
“You never know when the real Pero will appear. Before that, you must take away that guy’s potential. Do you understand?”
“…I understand.”
Duke Alroze narrowed his eyes.
“What’s most important is not getting caught. Don’t forget, Krua Alroze.”
He lifted my chin with the tip of his fingers.
“Useless tools are discarded.”
And even after being used, I would be discarded.
Knowing that fact, I nodded.
The relationship between Krua Alroze and Duke Alroze was just like this.
Even in the original story, Duke Alroze had never acknowledged Krua Alroze, his illegitimate daughter, as his own daughter.
“…I will keep that in mind.”
I had fully expected this much conversation to take place.
I pretended to be mindful of the Duke’s mood and opened my mouth.
“But Father, there is something I would like to request.”
Duke Alroze raised his eyebrows.
Who would call this situation a conversation between a daughter and her father?
“What is it?”
He had an unpleasant look on his face.
What was I trying to request when I couldn’t even carry out my mission properly?
“I would like the allowance for maintaining dignity that goes to the Duchess to be transferred to me. Not all of it, but even about 1/10 of it.”
“Hoh.”
Duke Alroze had a dumbfounded look on his face.
It seemed like I was showing that I was greedy for money even though I couldn’t do my job properly.
But I had already created all the reasons to add.
“There’s almost no money that the Duchess can use personally in that household, except for the allowance for maintaining dignity. If I want to win Dielo’s heart, I have to do something about my clothes or beauty, but I can’t do anything because I don’t have any money.”
Of course, people’s hearts can’t be won with money alone.
But there are people who think that hearts can be won with money.
The representative person was Duke Alroze.
He twitched his eyebrows and then nodded.
“I suppose that’s true. I’ll transfer some of it to you. But.”
Then, he flashed his eyes.
“You must have better results when you come next month. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
Yes!
The allowance for maintaining dignity for the Argenta Duchess that I saw in the Argenta documents was enormous.
Enough to buy land in the center of the continent that was currently idle.
“Alright…”
As if the story was over, Duke Alroze gestured.
Was he telling me to go back now?
It was the moment I was about to get up.
“Then, turn around.”
“Yes?”
My back? Suddenly? Duke Alroze frowned when I asked back.
“Dielo Argenta’s name.”
—Thump, thump.
As he tapped the table as if knocking, Alloze servants dressed in black appeared silently.
They grabbed both of my arms.
Before I knew it, the Duke was holding a small blade in his hand.
“I have to carve it again.”
“……!”
A chilling word fell.
