Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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The people on the 4th floor know we have a contract marriage, so why are they reacting so sincerely?
"That... I'll put it on myself."
I waved my hand.
I had no intention of receiving the Duke's help with my clothes.
I would feel sorry towards Dielo.
Why is he being like this?
Is it because of the poison I saw during the meal? Is that why he's so sensitive?
I reached out to grab the dress, but then I paused.
Something's wrong?
"Dielo, was this dress originally in the mansion?"
"It was newly made. Of course, through a reliable source."
Dielo replied.
A sharp glint flashed in Dielo's eyes as he answered.
"Is there something wrong with the dress?"
"It has a strange smell."
Dielo examined the dress.
Unfortunately, because it was a dress, I couldn't purify it with the Purification Flame.
The Purification Flame is still fire, after all.
"Bring everyone who's good at handling rough things. And Nias too."
Dielo ordered the maid.
Nias was the name of the family's physician.
...Why Nias when there are no patients?
Is it because he's a doctor?
Well, if it's him, he might be able to tell if there's poison on the clothes.
Dielo seemed to sense something was wrong as well.
"Yes."
Dielo's voice was as gentle as usual, but the people on the 4th floor moved with more tension than usual.
"......"
That was to be expected.
I quietly stared at Dielo.
"Krua?"
A faint smile. Tilting his head as if asking if there was a problem.
He was the same as usual.
But I definitely felt a strange chill for a moment.
And after a while, the family physician Nias, who was examining the clothes with gloves on, wore a serious expression.
For a doctor, his skill in identifying poison seemed professional.
As if he had learned poison before medicine.
As I thought that, the old doctor's expression twisted.
"...Lord, the entire dress is permeated with poison. The only way to make it permeate so evenly is to wash it with water that has been poisoned."
"......"
Dielo and I met eyes.
They permeated it with poison in such a clever way? And I sensed it?
Was it because it was water that I felt it?
If Krua had been so sensitive to water, she wouldn't have been treated as a useless card.
That's how extremely sensitive my senses had become.
"The methods are getting more and more sophisticated."
Dielo frowned.
"I'll have a new dress prepared."
"It's okay to wear something I already have."
I waved my hand. There were plenty of dresses left over anyway.
Whether it was because of the villainess Krua's reputation, or because the Argenta people were originally so devoted to their mistress, there was a mountain of dresses I didn't even know about.
They were things that would be thrown away if I didn't wear them.
"Would you mind doing that, even if it's uncomfortable?"
Dielo said, looking troubled.
Then he gestured to Pielle, who was standing with Nias.
"The maids who did the laundry today... no."
Dielo tilted his head slightly and said.
"Investigate the fingertips of all the servants. There must be someone with poison on them."
At those words, I turned to look at Dielo.
Dielo smiled gently.
"Even if someone with immunity to poison touched it, there should still be traces on their fingertips."
Then, holding up the newly delivered dress on a hanger, he took a step closer to me.
"I thought the bride would do this, but was it not enough?"
Sweet breath reached me.
He couldn't not be someone who knew ten things when taught one.
"It couldn't have been not enough."
Perfect score! I smiled at him to show my satisfaction.
"Then, just in case."
Dielo lifted the dress.
"May I personally help you dress?"
It was the same suggestion again.
"Th-"
It would be awkward to refuse twice.
That's when I blinked.
—Click.
I turned around at the sound of the door closing, and there was no one in the room but the two of us.
Anyone could see what this meant.
'Have a good time!'
These people!
* * *
Among the items of noble families, there were many that could not be used alone.
Dresses were a prime example.
The higher the status of the noble ladies who wore them, the more complicated they were.
It was almost impossible to put on the clothes alone.
It was only natural, as the purpose was to subtly reveal that they could employ many subordinates by wearing clothes that required a lot of effort.
In that sense, my dress was also quite complicated.
"Clothes that are as easy to move in as possible."
Even the dress that I asked for again, with that request, was still one that I couldn't put on by myself.
Even if all the complicated lace decorations were removed, I couldn't fasten the buttons that went from my back to my neck by myself.
And that was the same with the clothes I was wearing.
"......"
The maids on the 4th floor, of course, knew that we had a contract marriage.
But as long as we didn't know when or where words might leak out, it was best to just appear as a sweet couple.
But, I didn't expect that we would be left alone like this.
Dielo, holding the clothes, asked.
"If you're uncomfortable, shall I tell someone else to help you dress?"
"No."
I waved my hand.
It would be even stranger to tell Dielo to leave now.
Above all, I felt sorry because it would seem like I was suspecting this man who was smiling gently.
"Then, would you mind if I asked for a little help?"
Fortunately, the dress I was wearing underneath was not see-through enough to be embarrassing.
"Of course."
Dielo approached.
Bringing stockings and various pieces of clothing in his arms, he looked like a skilled butler.
I received the silk stockings from him and sat down.
—Thump.
I was going to put them on myself, but Dielo willingly knelt down in front of me on one knee.
"Excuse me."
With a faint smile, he took the stockings.
In the moment I paused, his hand holding the stockings wrapped around the tip of my foot.
The moment a strange warmth was transmitted to my somewhat cold toes. Dielo smiled awkwardly.
"Your toes are cold."
Dielo, who had wrapped my toes in both hands, carefully pulled the stockings up.
His hand burrowed under the slightly raised hem of the dress.
Thanks to the fact that he tapped the side of my knee with his thumb like he was knocking, it wasn't an invasion that I met unprepared.
—Chop.
A soft kiss landed on my knee, where the hem had been lifted and a cool air should have been circulating.
I felt like a burning heat was being drawn up.
Afterwards, he straightened the stockings on the other side and looked up at me.
"You're more... skilled than I thought."
I ended up saying that after seeing that.
Dielo blinked his blue eyes.
"I imagined helping you many times."
Imagined?
"...You imagined helping me with my clothes?"
Dielo, the Duke, personally helping with clothes?
Sensing that I was wondering, Dielo laughed softly.
"Yes, you never know. It might become necessary."
He said, kissing my knee again.
"At least, I shouldn't be flustered because I don't know the etiquette."
I thought his lips on my knee trembled for a moment.
It wasn't like tension.
It felt more like he was suppressing something, like endurance.
"Etiquette..."
I repeated his words.
Men would never wear women's clothing?
"...Don't tell me you practiced?"
How else could he be so skilled?
"Of course not."
Dielo said with a straight face at my words.
"Krua is the first, and the first and last."
He said as if he was making a decision.
He got up from his seat and brought me my main dress.
His eyes were shining delicately as he fastened the buttons on my back and even brought a cardigan to put on me.
"......"
Even after I had finished dressing, he was holding the collar of my cardigan slightly with his hand.
"Dielo?"
It felt strange to have a strong man's hand tickling my neck.
It was definitely a meaningless touch.
It was just kindness.
Kindness... it should be.
"I thought the part that touched would be cold."
When he let go of the metal part of the cardigan, the warmed metal part finally touched the back of my neck.
"Ah."
I unknowingly let out a breath.
It was as if his warmth, which I occasionally felt every morning, was touching the back of my neck.
A person's warmth. Something that made people burn up even more than that.
"It's done now."
Dielo straightened my clothes.
It was so natural.
From sending people out, saying he would help me dress, to now, after helping me dress.
—Chop.
And even kissing the back of my hand right before escorting me.
From the back of my neck to the top of my knee where his fingertips had touched, and to the back of my hand where his lips had touched.
It was as if heat rash had bloomed all over.
I shouldn't be like this.
It shouldn't mean this.
Unlike me, who was biting my lip, Dielo had a refreshing expression.
"Shall we go?"
But at Dielo's question, I suddenly wanted to ask.
Was this all practice?
Was it really just practice to deceive other people in other places?
* * *
Dielo proceeded with his external schedule as if nothing had happened.
I couldn't help but feel nervous as I got out of the space where it was just the two of us.
An enemy who had cleverly infiltrated even the poisoned food and clothes.
There was definitely someone who was aiming for my life.
The fact that they tampered with my dress, not Dielo's clothes, meant that it could be someone who was aiming for my neck.
"Be careful, Krua."
Dielo repeatedly said that.
And he not only restricted those who came around to the people on the 4th floor, but also strengthened the security.
But even with such preparations, there was one thing that could not be prevented.
"Emergency! The Endless Sea Zone 2 has been breached!"
The knight who rushed in during the meal was clearly a knight who had come straight from the front lines.
Moreover, I heard later that he had been a knight of Argenta for over ten years.
Although he was an Argenta from the 3rd floor or below.
He was let in simply because he was a familiar face.
...No one would have thought that he would be bought by Kartiel.
"I'm sorry, Lord."
The knight, who said that, took out something else instead of reporting on the Endless Sea Zone 2.
"......!"
I widened my eyes, not knowing what was going on for a moment.
I saw the knight, who had rushed in to report, taking out some kind of pouch from his chest.
"Krua!"
The moment Argenta's Magical Power shone from the man's fingertips, Dielo, who had been sitting across from me, had already come to me and wrapped his body around me.
And.
—Boom!
A small explosion was heard.
The dining room was enveloped in a pure white mist.
