《The Heroine Had An Affair With My Fiance》 Chapter 1 Prologue ¡°Hey, Ciel.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I didn¡¯t even have time to look at Tyrael, who timidly entered my office. Because my freaking fiance will be coming soon. I was busy flipping through the documents that I was looking at. Tyrael, who was standing by the door, seemed to be fidgeting her index fingers. ¡°I have something to say to you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± I slightly frowned, indicating that she needed to hurry on to what she wanted to say. Still, at the answer that didn¡¯t come back, I reluctantly raised my eyes and looked at her. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s¡­..¡± Tyrael wasn¡¯t looking at me. She looked down at the floor and licked her lips, like a person who was delivering bad news. And I have no idea why her face was beet red. I turned my gaze back to the documents that I was finishing. It was a list of things that I¡¯ve gathered so that I could cleanly break up with my fiance. Unfortunately, nothing has been confirmed so far to be considered as strong evidence. I think the rest will be pretty much the same. Is it a failure again this time? This is crazy. I reached out to the next document. ¡°I have a lover.¡± My hand suddenly stopped. What? Tenses spread throughout my body. If I look in the mirror, I look ghostly white. I looked at Tyrael, not knowing that the papers I was holding were falling to the desk. The female protagonist was truly amazing. Even so, Tyrael was the epitome that reminded me of lilies, but she seemed like an angel as she held her blushing cheeks. On the other hand, I felt an indescribable misery. The fact that the female protagonist fell in love meant that the original story had begun. Soon, the male protagonist will appear to destroy the family of my fiance, the villainous rookie. And I, my family will be swept away because of it and disappear together with the dew of death. ¡°I¡¯m doomed.¡± Feeling despair, I dropped on my desk like cotton wetted with water. If I had known this would be the case, I would have just grabbed a few jewels or something. Since I succeeded in befriending the female protagonist, I thought it would be possible to break up with my fiance. What kind of wealth and glory do I have to endure and die together? As I giggled like a madman with the papers on my forehead, I suddenly felt her stare. As I slowly lifted my head, Tyrael, who didn¡¯t know what to do, was seen. There was a strange sense of guilt on her face, and she seemed apologetic for saying this to me just because I didn¡¯t have a good relationship with my fianc¨¦. It was only then that I realized that I made a mistake. I am me, and Tyrael was Tyrael. Tyrael didn¡¯t fall in love to kill me on purpose, so I had no choice but to congratulate her. My head hurt, but I struggled to pull my upper body up. Yes, it is not too late to say my congratulations to Tyrael as I pushed back my gloomy thoughts. I forcibly straightened my expression and raised the corners of my lips laboriously. Still, she¡¯s a close friend, so maybe I can convince the male protagonist to spare me since I¡¯m Tyrael¡¯s friend. ¡°Congratulations.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± At that moment, Tyrael, who smiled brightly, blinked her eyes. Then she looked down at the floor, avoiding my gaze. I think there¡¯s something more to it, as she continuously taps her index fingers once again. Tyrael has always been like that. Even if she had something that she wanted to say, she beat around the bush, and she would not open her mouth until the other person became frustrated. So I didn¡¯t feel any discomfort. Just like usual, we would have had tea time to chat about who our partner was and how the relationship is going, but now that the guillotine is rattling in front of me, I just can¡¯t afford to do it. But since I already congratulated her, it¡¯s already enough right? I couldn¡¯t say, ¡®you can leave now¡¯, so I asked out of courtesy. ¡°Which family is he from?¡± ¡°About that¡­..¡± ¡°Maybe, it is, His Majesty the Crown Prince?¡± The male protagonist who stole the female protagonist¡¯s heart and my life was none other than the Crown Prince. It wasn¡¯t the time yet for Tyrael and the Crown Prince to meet, but then I couldn¡¯t think of anyone who would be dating Tyrael. However, Tyrael, who should nod shyly, looked at me with big round eyes. ¡°What do you mean about the Crown Prince?¡± ¡°¡­¡­?¡± ¡°¡­¡­?¡± A questionable silence lingered in the office. Tyrael had a puzzled look on her face. Her eyes were telling me ¡®Why is the Crown Prince of the empire brought into this conversation?¡¯ I was also bewildered by her reaction. What? In the original story, Tyrael said that the Crown Prince was her first love. ¡°Then who is it?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ That.¡± Tyrael avoided my eyes and bit her lower lip. Suddenly, an absurd hypothesis came to mind. No way. ¡°The head of my family?¡± ¡°No!¡± Tyrael hastily denied it enough to wave both hands. I felt relieved knowing that. Then I wondered if the innocent and pitiful female protagonist got involved with the head of my family, just because we¡¯re close. Anyway, this was the beginning of a story I was unaware of. I needed to know for sure how this had happened. Feeling the guillotine hanging in front of me a little farther away, I calmly thought about Tyrael. ¡°Then is it Sir Ezekiel?¡± Tyrael shook her head. ¡°Lord Jeff?¡± She continued to shake her head. ¡°Count Eufena?¡± As she shakes her head once again. I think I¡¯ve given almost all the names of half-hearted young men in the empire that could be associated with the female lead. I was slowly getting annoyed by the repeated shaking. It¡¯s not even twenty questions, so why is she being like this? I clasped my trembling forehead. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°That¡­¡­ You know him very well.¡± ¡°Okay then.¡± Well, there were no nobles in the Empire that I did not know about. ¡°And¡­.. he doesn¡¯t get along with you that well.¡± Tyrael glanced at the papers lying on the desk. I took that gaze as a pang of guilt as if saying, ¡®You¡¯re not on good terms with your lover, but I¡¯m sorry that I have a lover.¡¯ So, in the sense that I don¡¯t care, I gathered the papers together and put them out of Tyrael¡¯s eyes. Now that I learned that the Crown Prince was not Tyrael¡¯s partner, it was more important for me to know who stole Tyrael¡¯s heart than to find my fiance¡¯s flaw. ¡°It is easier for me to know the person if I¡¯m that familiar with him. So who is it?¡± After a while, Tyrael could hardly open her mouth. Then she suddenly asked me a question, as she fidgeted with her fingers and looked deeply into my eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not going to get mad, are you?¡± ¡°Why would I be angry?¡± ¡°Promise me. That you won¡¯t be mad¡­¡­.¡± It was a request I couldn¡¯t understand. Why would I be angry with Tyrael whether she dates or not? However, due to the atmosphere, I think that it would be best to say that I would understand because if not, I knew that she would not open her mouth unless I made a promise to her. ¡°I will never be angry. It¡¯s your life, what can I say about it? So who is it?¡± Tyrael tried to dig her nails into her hand. She licked her lips, avoiding my eyes, twisting her hair, tapped the innocent floor with her shoes, and then murmured with a voice that I could barely hear only if I listened. ¡°¡­¡­ it is, Sir Essit.¡± ? ?? ??? Instantly, a question mark popped up in my head. Who? I think my ears must have been broken. So I asked Tyrael, who couldn¡¯t look at my face properly. ¡°Who is it again?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Tyrael¡¯s face turned beet red. After biting her lips for a while, she couldn¡¯t make a sound and only murmured in the shape of her mouth. ¡°Essit.¡± Are you crazy? I pulled my fingers and pinched the back of my hand. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m dreaming because I¡¯m sick. It was around the time when I was just staring at Tyrael with no sense of reality at all. Tyrael, who was glancing at me, closed her eyes tightly. If someone who didn¡¯t know the circumstances seemed as if I was about to cry. I can confidently tell them that they¡¯re wrong. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. But it¡¯s because you don¡¯t get along with him¡­.¡± Well, Tyrael made excuses. But none of them fit right into my ears. No matter how trashy Duval Essit is, he was still my fiance. But how did this happen? Whether I heard it or not, Tyrael continued. ¡°Since I fell in love with Duval Essit, and it¡¯s an engagement that neither side wants, why don¡¯t you just let him go¡­.¡± (T/N: Waaahh. This White Lotus argh!!!!) I never knew that Tyrael was this talkative. A woman in love could change everything. Tyrael, who glanced at my frozen face, finished her excuse and uttered absurd noises. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ciel. But we¡¯re still friends, right?¡± Are you crazy? When I said nothing, Tyrael began to cry. It was then. I heard someone walking, and the door swung open. It was my fiance, Duval Essit. As soon as he saw me, he looked down due to annoyance and belatedly found Tyrael and stiffened his body. ¡°Duval Essit!¡± Tyrael immediately hugged him. While comforting Tyrael with a startled look on his face, he stared at me with cold eyes. As if saying ¡®why did you make my sweet and innocent lover cry in vain¡¯ as he kept his gaze on me as if I¡¯m his enemy. He sighed coldly and twisted the corners of his lips when he couldn¡¯t find anything to say because of the situation. ¡°I didn¡¯t come here because of this, but I¡¯ll tell you now that this has happened. I want you to break our engagement. I¡¯ll pay generous alimony.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll do that for me?¡± Tyrael, who poked her head out of his arms, said. I alternately looked at my fianc¨¦, whom I thought was trash, and at the trash who I thought was my friend. Just what the hell happened, why did the story become like this? TO BE CONTINUED¡­ Chapter 2 Chapter 1 (Ciela¡¯s POV) (T/N: I changed her name from Ciel to Ciela.) There was a romance novel that I enjoyed reading. The title is ¡°The evil dragon doesn¡¯t bite¡±. Long ago, there was an evil dragon that went crazy. Evil dragons often killed humans. While humans who couldn¡¯t stand it subjugated the evil dragons with the help of the five warriors. At the very last moment, the evil dragon placed a curse on the leader of the five warriors, who would later become the first Emperor of the Empire. It was a curse that caused him to lose his intelligence and run wild whenever the red moon appeared. Hundreds of years later. The Crown Prince who is the Male Lead of the story inherited the curse that is profoundly hidden in the history of the Empire. He gradually turned into an evil dragon starting from his coming-of-age ceremony. His appearance was ugly and his personality was dirty. He made every effort to delay the curse somehow, but in the end, he had no choice but to give up and accept the fate of becoming an evil dragon. But just then, the Female Lead appeared. Born as an illegitimate child of a nobleman, the Heroine is one of the descendants of the five warriors and can allay the curse of the evil dragon. Like fate, the two fell in love at first sight. However, just like any other novel, some villains tried to interfere with their love. One of them was Duval Essit. -Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: Author-nim, are you sure that Duval would regret it? ©¸ Author: Yes > < Duval wasn¡¯t the main villain. He was a jovial villain who occasionally quarreled with the female lead. A supporting role is sometimes described in one or two lines. It was exactly that level. But I was not obsessed with Duval. -Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: Author-nim, Duval, can¡¯t you just take him away? He¡¯s not even recyclable. ©¸ Author: I can¡¯t take him away right now because I¡¯m gonna kill him anyway, but I would make him regret it. ©¸ Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: Oh, I don¡¯t know if he would regret it¡­. But before you kill him, please let him walk on a path that would make him feel miserable. ©¸ Author: Okay > < To be precise, I was obsessed with Duval¡¯s fiancee, Ciela, who had no more presence than Duval. Ciela was a character who could not dry her tears because of Duval, who cheated on her all the time, and the more I read, the more I see myself who had a foolish past. I broke up with my boyfriend of 5 years. The cause was due to my boyfriend¡¯s affair. My boyfriend cheated on me three times in total. No, maybe I only found it three times. It started when I discovered after I had sent an anonymous message to a woman saying, ¡®I¡¯m bored, but when you have time, would you like to go for a drive with me?¡¯ ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°Oh, about that. It was when we were fighting and you didn¡¯t answer any of my calls. We didn¡¯t meet, we just randomly sent messages. And I wouldn¡¯t have done it if we didn¡¯t fight at that time.¡± We should have broken up then. I was fooled and deceived by those stupid words, ¡®If I hadn¡¯t fought with you.¡¯ The second time was when I saw a picture of him being affectionate with a woman whom I didn¡¯t know. The photos were carefully crumpled and thrown in the trash. ¡°Who the h*ll is this?¡± ¡°Ah, the people I met at the game had a crush on me. Never mind. I threw it away because I was afraid that you would misunderstand me.¡± Stupidly, I fell for it again. I was nervous because this has happened before, and I didn¡¯t want to argue anymore, so I didn¡¯t investigate any further and just agree with him. But I couldn¡¯t pass the third time. ¡°Why did you save my name as a man¡¯s name?¡± My boyfriend tried to convince me that it was a misunderstanding because most of his co-workers are male, and he didn¡¯t want them to tease him. Did he think that I¡¯m that pushover? No, I¡¯m not! So I broke up with my boyfriend. And to relieve my stress, I turned my attention to a Ropan novel. Then I saw , and I met the character of Ciela, who was in a similar situation as me, in a written version. Ciela¡¯s fianc¨¦e, Duval Essit, was more of a bastard than my ex. Duval left his fiancee, Ciela, and changed his lover once a month, but in the end, he married Ciela and started living in two houses. Ciela knew Duval was having an affair. She also knew that he didn¡¯t love her. There were several times when she fell due to shock whenever he saw Duval kissing another woman because she was born with a weak body. However, her unrequited love was so deep and old that she could not abandon Duval until the end of the novel. -Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: Author-nim. What are you going to do with this bastard? When will he regret it? ©¸ Author: He¡¯ll roll like crazy and regret it. I even added a tag so I won¡¯t forget it, so don¡¯t worry, okay! > < I hated Duval that much, and author-nim did add a tag ¡®Remorseful Man¡¯ included in the novel , which is considered as a healing novel as well. Even though the Male Lead, the Crown Prince, was not a man of regret. I trusted the author to roll Duval like crazy. [As a result, Ciela and Duval Essit became the dew of death sentences for harming Tyrael.] Until I saw the sentence that Ciela died with Duval. ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: ???????? ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: Author-nim???????? ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: You said that the bastard would regret it. ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Road: Why didn¡¯t he regret it? ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: When you kill them, you said that he will regret it even if you kill them. ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: No ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: Why did Ciela die? ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: Seriously. ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Road: What is it? ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: Oh ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Path: I¡¯m getting crazy ¨C Ciela¡¯s Flower Road: Wahhhh! ©¸ I think the Female Lead is dead. ©¸ Don¡¯t dwell on it. ©¸ Author: I did want him to regret it, but It wouldn¡¯t fit with the current plot, that¡¯s why I took it out. ©¸ Ciela¡¯s Flower Road: What about the tag of ¡°Remorseful Man¡±? ©¸ Author: I will remove the tag ¡°Remorseful Man¡± ?? ©¸ Ciela¡¯s Flower Road: What? ¨C Save Ciela: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ¨C Save Ciela: Then let¡¯s go after Duval¡¯s descendants. ©¸ ?? ©¸ This person always goes crazy whenever it¡¯s about Duval, and she¡¯s doing it again. ©¸ And she even changes her nickname. ©¸ Ciela is not the female lead, so there is nothing you can do about it. ¨C Save Ciela: ??????????????????????? ¨C Save Ciela: Then she should have told me earlier. ¨C Save Ciela: So I didn¡¯t expect that much. ¨C Save Ciela: Ugh! ¨C Save Ciela: I feel so bad for Ciela. ¨C Save Ciela: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. ©¸ Stop posting these weird comments. ©¸ You¡¯re the only one who¡¯s commenting here. ©¸ Save Ciela: Ciela is dead, but how come no one reacted about it. ©¸ I will report this person ©¸ Save Ciela: Oh wait. [Comment can¡¯t be posted due to excessive comments. Please use this space wisely.] Remaining time to write: 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds] ¨C Save Ciela: ??????????????????????????? [Comment can¡¯t be posted due to excessive comments. Please use this space wisely.] [Time left until you can write: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds] That day, I drank beer due to disappointment. The side dish was my favorite fried chicken skewers. That night, after finishing my round of drinking, I saw a preview for the next chapter and the author said,¡° Ciela was alive!¡± I went to sleep hoping for the next chapter. Then I woke up late in the afternoon¡­¡­ ¡°What?¡± For some reason, I became Ciela Labyrinth in . -?¨A ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ?????? ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ¨@?- (Ciela¡¯s POV) ¡°No this is not it.¡± I asked for Ciela to live, but I didn¡¯t ask to become Ciela? I liked Ciela, but I didn¡¯t want to be Ciela herself. My ex-boyfriend¡¯s affair is already exhausting, but her fiance is the worst. However, even after several nights of sleep and waking up, to the point that I even slapped my cheeks hard enough to shed tears, it wouldn¡¯t go back to normal, so I decided to live with reality without hesitation. I grew up as an orphan anyway, I had no regrets in my previous life, in which I was barely able to survive as a part-timer. I was betrayed by my boyfriend whom I thought I could trust. Fortunately, I was possessed before the novel started in earnest. At the end of the novel, Ciela dies. It was because of the business Duval was running in the novel. Duval runs a business so that he can pester the female lead, but the male lead finds out about it and goes straight to the guillotine. It was only natural that Ciela, who had married him, went directly to the guillotine together. ¡®I have to change the original plot.¡¯ The best thing to do is to break up with Duval. However, Duval¡¯s engagement to me was not easy to turn around due to the relationship between the two families. So, while looking for a way to break up the marriage, I decided to try to get acquainted with the Female Lead Tyrael. ¡®If I become friends with the Female Lead, I won¡¯t be taken to the guillotine.¡¯ And it was easy to be friends with that woman. I provided financial support to Tyrael, who was living in poverty in a slum, and helped her in both ways so that she could find a place in the aristocratic society. Tyrael seemed wary of me at first, but as time passed, she opened her heart and began to believe in me. Within a few months of meeting like that, we became best friends. Even in that eventful social circle, Tyrael and I were best friends. I was relieved because the original was twisted well. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ciela. But we¡¯re still friends, right?¡± But I didn¡¯t know that it would turn up like this once I changed it. -?¨A ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ?????? ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ¨@?- (Ciela¡¯s POV) ¡°Oh,my.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh when I thought of what happened earlier when Tyrael announced that she would be engaged to Duval. I was sitting alone in my office. Tyrael, who threw the bombshell, snickered away when I stared intently at her, and Duval glared at me like he was going to eat me and followed Tyrael. ¡°Ha,ha,ha!¡± After looking at the space and laughing for a while, my intention of running away from home occurred once again. What the hell is this situation? It¡¯s good that I broke up with my fiance, but the woman I thought was my best friend stabbed me deep in the back. It was really strange to see the pleasant and the unpleasant coexist. What the hell did I commit in my previous life? Are there the only people who have cheated on me? I¡¯m not even mad anymore. As I was laughing out loud, something on the desk caught my eye. A few days ago, a close aide to the Crown Prince asked for cooperation from me, the so-called best friend, to arrange a meeting between the Crown Prince and Tyrael, who can ¡®diminish the evil dragon¡¯s curse¡¯, and it was related to that. It was already widely known that Tyrael, who was born as an illegitimate child, could purify. So, they asked for my help so that they could meet. They want it to be romantically arranged like they would naturally meet or something. ¡®A fateful encounter.¡¯ Well, as long as the situation turns out like this, it won¡¯t be bad for me. D*mn it, Tyrael. I immediately picked up a quill and wrote a letter to the Crown Prince¡¯s entourage. [Unfortunately, Tyrael is getting engaged soon.] Then the reply came right away. [What do you mean by that? You just said that she is not dating anyone, that is why we are discussing the possible engagement with His Highness.] What are they talking about? They said that they only want them to have a natural meeting. That¡¯s why they asked for cooperation, but has it already been done? I was able to understand the situation only after exchanging a few more letters with the Crown Prince¡¯s aides. And that person also seemed as twisted as me. ¡®Huh¡­.¡¯ I picked up the quill again. And this time, I wrote a letter to the Crown Prince himself, not to the Crown Prince¡¯s close aides. [Hello, Your Highness. This is my first time sending a letter to you, so I¡¯m sorry to say this. That His Highness prospective fianc¨¦e and my fiance were in a relationship. If you¡¯d allow me I would like to meet you, are you available by any chance?] Of course, it wasn¡¯t written like that. If I wrote it like that, I would be charged with contempt of the Imperial family. In keeping with the royal etiquette, I wrote three pages and chapters in a long and complicated manner. After finishing the last sentence, I stopped writing to fold and seal it. Everyone¡¯s twisted. So why can¡¯t I? I tapped on the desk for a moment and pondered, then impulsively wrote a few more words at the bottom of the letter. [P.S. Would you like to have a relationship with a person who had an affair?] Then I carefully folded it, sealed it with wax, and sent it to the Crown Prince. Without figuring out what kind of repercussion the letter would bring. TO BE CONTINUED¡­ Chapter 3 (Ciela¡¯s POV) It has been more than a week since I sent out the letter to the Crown Prince. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he coming?¡± It¡¯s already 10 am. Too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. At this moment, I was lying in bed while hugging a pillow. Because the curtains were drawn, the room was as dark as night. ¡°I thought that he would at least send me a rejection letter.¡± After sending the letter, telling him that his prospective fiancee is having an affair with my fiance. The next day, I kicked the blanket, wondering what I had done. On the second day, I was so nervous thinking that the Crown Prince would attack me with a sword, asking if I dare to despise him. Then on the third day, I thought maybe the letter was missing and on the fourth day¡­.. I¡¯m Done. What¡¯s the point of all this? Even if it¡¯s a headwind, I thought there was going to be some sort of response regarding the woman that he intended to marry. I didn¡¯t know that he would ignore me. ¡°Then I guess there¡¯s nothing that I can do about it.¡± The Crown Prince seems to have already fallen in love with Tyrael. It was said in the original story that he fell in love at first sight, so even if she had an affair with another man, he must have liked her enough to cover up her mistake. Damn that Female Lead (*)buff. (T/N: This is an adjective which, in youth slang, means attractive/attraction.) I curled up like a shrimp around the large pillow that I was hugging. Yeah, since I¡¯m going to break up with Duval, his affairs are not my business anymore. He can have a pretty love life whether it¡¯s two or three, I won¡¯t care anymore. Because I¡¯ll just date my pillow. The pillow is soft, warm, it doesn¡¯t cheat on me, and I¡¯m the only woman that it¡¯s going to love. ¡°Milady.¡± I was currently rolling around the bed with my pillow when May came in. She brought hot chocolate and a sandwich for me, who was still in bed until noon, as she was carefully calling me. May was my exclusive maid, and ever since she heard about Duval¡¯s announcement for a divorce a week ago, her complexion has never been good since then. ¡°Is there anything else you want me to do?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. Thank you.¡± I lifted my heavy body and tried to sit up in front of the table. ¡®Oh, I feel like I¡¯m dying.¡¯ Ciela¡¯s body was weak enough to be called a sunfish. Since I¡¯ve spent several months trying to find Duval¡¯s weakness and getting to know Tyrael with this body, I was on the verge of getting sick. I slowly drank the hot chocolate. The warmth spread throughout my body, which seemed to have calmed down after screaming in fatigue. Sooner or later, Duval would send a request to break off the engagement. Then I¡¯m going to sign right away and give myself some rest and healing. ¡®I want to go to a hot spring.¡¯ I heard there is a good hot spring in the far south, so I¡¯ll have to check it out. I became happy at the thought of the steamy hot spring. Then I¡¯m going to eat some boiled eggs and do the sheep¡¯s hair with a towel too. I should also drink some peach ice tea instead of sikhye. It was around the time when I was chewing a sandwich without care, drawing such a happy feature in my mind. May, who was standing depressed, spoke to me. ¡°Milady, your face has become thin.¡± Huh? I turned my head and looked in the mirror from afar. Pink eyes and purple-blue hair that reached to my waist. A face that looks pretty enough to slap the cheeks of any celebrity. I still can¡¯t get used to my gentle eyes, wondering If I can keep my gentle act, which is the opposite of the real me. These days, I just ate and slept, and my round face seems to have gained more flesh than the first time that I¡¯ve transmigrated to this body. Or maybe it¡¯s because I slept too much. ¡°Even your eyes were red and bloodshot.¡± Well, the thought of breaking up with that b*stard made me so excited, I couldn¡¯t sleep that much. ¡°The amount of food that you¡¯re eating has also decreased.¡± Anyone who lays down for 20 hours out of 24 hours a day will eat less for sure. ¡°You¡¯re having such a hard time, how can those people¡­.. Waah (Crying).¡± May, who was desperately crying, covered her face with both hands. Until the time that I possessed this body, Ciela was a quiet and gentle young lady of the Marquis¡¯ family. She¡¯s a young lady who elegantly chatted with the other young noble girls, and dreamt of a beautiful wedding together with her fiance, Duval. So even if I said it was okay, May hardly believed me. I think she must have been very shocked. ¡®May had the same personality as Ciela.¡¯ Pure, unspoiled, and soft-hearted. It¡¯s not my duty, but seeing her worry like that doesn¡¯t make me feel good. So I opened my mouth to comfort her, to tell her that it was okay but she spoke before I could. ¡°That can¡¯t be, you shouldn¡¯t be this sad. I¡¯m going to destroy both of them.¡± What? ¡°I will never let them be. I will destroy their name.¡± Ahhhh¡­. Okay? ¡°Milady, look at this. With this alone, we can destroy those two!¡± ¡­¡­. Wait, has she always been like this? I look at what May proudly pulled out from her pocket. And I was so startled that I raised my voice without realizing it. ¡°Where did you get this?!¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve got my entire month¡¯s worth of paycheck!¡± What May took out was a half-sized round copper plate about the size of the palm of her hand. Two parakeets with their backs turned to each other are engraved. May added a supplementary explanation thinking that may have not known what it was. ¡°This is a token that can be used to ask help from the Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild!¡± -?¨A ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ?????? ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ¨@?- (Ciela¡¯s POV) Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. It was a guild that helped all sorts of things related to love relationships. However, this guild was a bit unusual in a way that it helped out differently than the usual dating assistance. [Sample of it was like, my husband came home late. And I got a feeling that she was seeing another woman. However, I couldn¡¯t get any evidence, so I came to know about this guild¡­. After shaving off all of my husband¡¯s eyebrows and hair in the way the guild taught me¡­.. I kicked my husband out. I, then, filed for divorce.] And what if¡­. [I was able to catch red-handed the person whom I thought was my lifelong companion, who shared the same bed with another person. So, while I was into it, I sent all the employees out of the mansion and burned their clothes together. So once they noticed what I did, they had nowhere to go and didn¡¯t know what to do in the bedroom. I caught the scene in the middle of it, so it¡¯s a win for me.] [Using this guild, I was cured of an incurable disease. It¡¯s a little¡­. -expensive, but it¡¯s all worth it. It would be rated as a four and a half star. But then the price was cut in half because the house was destroyed while trying to catch an affair.] In a word, it was a guild that would help the client catch an affair if they paid a large sum of money. Regardless of the request, a month¡¯s salary is enough just for counseling, so I asked her again. ¡°How did you know about this?¡± I asked May, who was bravely walking down the stairs that are narrow enough for one person to pass through. I was lucky that May couldn¡¯t see my face. I just need to control my voice. Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild was not openly advertised as ¡°We help catch an affair.¡± It¡¯s not even a large guild, and those noble men and women who had infidelity may have heard the rumors and hid their relationship. Working in the shadows, they only reached out to those who desperately needed the guild, and superficially acted like a common stone on the side of the road. ¡°You can know everything.¡± May, who spoke proudly, stopped. We finally arrived in front of a tightly closed door. The unpatterned door did not even have a handle, but it was assimilated on the surrounding walls and would pass by it if you didn¡¯t look at it closely. May pushed the door without hesitation. Then, she flinched and immediately looked back at me, as she whispered. ¡°Lady Ciela, you have to be careful.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°There are rumors that the guild master is a very dangerous person.¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°They said that if someone messed up with him, he would turn those people into dolls. It was also said that they brought those cheaters and torture them in the basement¡­¡­ It¡¯s a groundless rumor, but there¡¯s nothing wrong with being careful.¡± ¡°Where did you hear that?¡± ¡°Rumors are true to some extent.¡± May turned back, as we were startled at the sound of another person¡¯s voice. Behind us stood a man in his late twenties, he had a mischievous grin.. He had a fighting parakeet emblem badge on his chest, and everyone could tell that he was a member of this guild. The man looked at May who was so surprised and glanced towards me who was trembling. Then, he clenched his teeth with a look that seemed to hold back his laughter. Luckily, May was frightened and didn¡¯t seem to notice anything. In that gap, I stepped behind May so that she could not see when I slit my neck with my thumb. At my warning, he wiped out his laughter and said a commercial remark. ¡°Sorry, but according to the guild principle, only the client can enter the guild.¡± Then May hurriedly turned to look at me, as if she had never expected this to happen. ¡°What should I do? For Milady to go in alone-¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay May. I¡¯m not a child.¡± ¡°What if Milady turns into a doll!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be cuter then, and it¡¯s going to be okay, so don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°He is not as evil as the rumors say, I mean my Master.¡± A man chimed in. But when I glared at him, he quietly shut his mouth and placed his right hand on his left chest. And with an inappropriately solemn expression, he spoke as if declaring. ¡°The Master is a good and wonderful person. This Leather guarantees..¡­ No, I mean¡­-sorry.¡± The man quietly squatted in the corner, his shoulders were trembling. As I take the ferocious expression off my face, I slightly smiled at May and said. ¡°It may take a long time, so go back first. I¡¯ll be back as soon as it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°But¡­¡­¡± ¡°He may be the guild master, but I don¡¯t think that he¡¯s reckless enough to turn his client into a doll.¡± May hesitated, wondering if she would leave me alone. But as I continued to persuade her, she nodded with difficulty. ¡°Okay then, Milady. And excuse me, guild member-nim?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± May clenched her fists, then shouted at Leather. ¡°You must destroy the people that Milady commissioned! Our lady is a very soft-hearted person. She might cancel it or request for them to be watched, but don¡¯t do just that! Do you understand?!¡± ¡°Who¡¯s the soft-heart¡­. -oh yes, I understand.¡± Leather, who made eye contact with me, hurriedly bowed his head. He looked like he had a lot of things to say, but he wouldn¡¯t want to trade his life for it. As May nodded secretly, he then whispered, ¡®I¡¯ll guide you,¡¯ and opened the door wide. The inside had the shape of an ordinary small guild with a single receptionist behind a wooden counter. The receptionist¡¯s eyes widened when he saw me. As he was about to say hello, he noticed May behind me and quickly shut his mouth. ¡°Good day, Milady.¡± May waved her hand with an anxious look. I waved my hand, telling her not to worry. The guild¡¯s door, which boasts thorough soundproofing, was shut. And- ¡°You said you¡¯ll be resting for a while, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Anyway, there were guests who were looking for Master a few days ago.¡± ¡°Someone requests a face-to-face conversation, and he would like to consult with the Master personally.¡± The doors hiding throughout the guild suddenly burst open. From the inside, several strong men in group uniforms came out. Looking at the scene with narrowed eyes, Leather said sarcastically. ¡°Can I break the Master¡¯s fiance and that woman?¡± ¡°No, leave them alone for now.¡± I looked around the guild members. ¡°I created this guild to solve other future problems, not to catch someone else¡¯s affair every single time, and I also told everyone to keep it a secret because I don¡¯t plan on expanding my business.¡± ¡°¡­¡­!¡± ¡°How did it even get into the ears of my exclusive maid?¡± The faces of those who made eye contact with me, that seemed to be hiding something turned blue. Some of them held trembling eyes at the glint of my ominously wriggling ¡®shadow¡¯. One corner of my mouth kept rising due to displeasure. I unfolded the purple fan that I always carried, half covering my face. And whispered in a low voice. ¡°The one who couldn¡¯t control his mouth, come out.¡± I¡¯m going to punish that one first. TO BE CONTINUED¡­. Chapter 4 -?¨A??¦á??¦á¦á????¦á???¦á???¨@? (Ciela¡¯s POV) -?¨A ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ?????? ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ¨@?- Everyone became quiet as they stood still, except for one who kept pestering me earlier, Leather. For whatever reason, after I asked the person responsible for revealing the guild to my personal maid to come out, everyone immediately looked behind me. At the same time, Leather simply smiled with a questionable look as if asking ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯. I would have been deceived by his innocent look if not for the unison of the guild member pointing out to him saying, ¡®It was him!¡¯. ¡°You are my right hand person. Then how come you¡¯re not following the rules? If the guild becomes known it would be difficult for us.¡± ¡°But Master, the extra payment we receive is just so hard to pass.¡± ¡°Raise your shoulder.¡± In the innermost part of the guild, is actually my office. As a punishment for being a blabbermouth, Leather won the ¡®1 hour steady push-up position¡¯, flinching as I corrected his posture. However, 30 seconds later he continued to tease me with his cheap-mouth. ¡°Anyway, 80% of that money goes directly to the Master¡¯s safe.¡± ¡°You know I don¡¯t need more money.¡± ¡°But, Master!¡± Leather immediately looked up at me. I patted his head with my purple-colored fan, while sitting comfortably on a luxurious red sofa, adorned with 99% pure gold on the border. ¡°Correct your posture.¡± ¡°I also bought that sofa with the commission.¡± ¡°Well done then. It¡¯s soft and nice.¡± ¡°Same goes to the beautiful carpet here.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°I bought that desk with the commission as well.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Even that chandelier!¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡± Somehow, I noticed that as well, that the office was livelier than before. I unconsciously turned my gaze around the room filled with admiration, without me noticing that Leather had gotten up from his position. I¡¯m a person who has no sense of style, especially for interior designing. Even for a room as simple as this, I tend to buy only what¡¯s necessary without being excessive. But compared to my room in the Labyrinth¡¯s mansion, which was designed with the latest interior and handled carefully by May, the guild¡¯s office was literally just an assortment. However, in just a few days, the room had completely transformed enough for it to be called as a place for secret meetings with the royal family. ¡°I even bought a display case for these dolls!¡± ¡°Oh my¡­..¡± To complete the design of the office, a limited-edition glass display case was placed in the office that was made by a well known craftsman in the Empire. Leather with both hands on his waist, pulled out his chest and proudly said. ¡°I did all of this on my own!¡± ¡°Good job! But who told you to stand up?¡± ¡°But that¡¯s so unfair, I¡¯ve done all of this, but I¡¯m still getting punished.¡± He then eagerly picked up the ledger and held it out to me, as he continued his protest. Still, I simply ignored his attempt and squinted my eyes on him. Knowing that I won¡¯t open it, he unfolded it instead. Turned the page full of letters and pointed to the very last item, it was the amount of money stored in my personal safe. I was so surprised. ¡°Did you earn that much?¡± It¡¯s enough to buy a large mansion on a well known street¡­ Or not just that, it can also buy an entire land in the capital city. ¡°Yes. So please trust me on this, Master. I promised that you wouldn¡¯t have any problem with this.¡± While saying that, Leather then offered a refreshing peach ice tea. Though it was summer, it did have a considerable amount of ice on it. As I finally gave in and accepted the glass, he smiled happily and went on my back to massage my stiff shoulders. ¡®This is why I can¡¯t get mad at him that long.¡¯ I slowly felt relieved. Not because I was satisfied with the changes in the office nor because of the amount of money that was placed in my personal account. Still, there¡¯s a problem that needs to be pointed out and should be addressed, so I ought to mention it right away. ¡°It¡¯s not that¨C I don¡¯t appreciate everything, and I know for a fact that earning this much would really help a lot. But the thing is, shouldn¡¯t we be focusing on the main reason why I created this guild? And those are to gather information in regards to Duval¡¯s affair, but I haven¡¯t received any report about it.¡± ¡°About that¡­.¡± Troubled about the turn of events, Leather gave off a worried face, as if telling me that he tried but no results were found. Seeing his reaction, I simply looked away and took a sip of the iced tea. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I know that It wasn¡¯t easy to investigate.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± If it was an easy task, then I wouldn¡¯t have created this guild. From the time that I possessed this body, the first thing that came to my mind was to find ways on how to break-up with Duval. The exact moment when I possessed this body, was the time that Duval had a girlfriend and when I opened my eyes, I saw Duval kissing another woman. That¡¯s when I realized that I transmigrated. In order to get back at him, I purposely spread rumors in the society that he was having an affair. However, that alone could not break my engagement with Duval. In this world, there are two ways to completely break-off the engagement with your partner. Firstly, to have a mutual agreement. Second, is to provide solid evidence that your partner was having an affair with another woman. Of course I did try the first option, but whenever I asked for a break-up, Duval would always say, ¡®Ciela, are you that desperate to get my attention?¡¯. That¡¯s when I decided to give up on it. Well the second option was not that easy to achieve, that¡¯s why it needs to be done in the shadows. ¡®For that reason that I created this guild.¡¯ To be honest, I did not intend to go this far. ¡®Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild¡¯. Just by looking at the name itself, who wouldn¡¯t have guessed that it was roughly taken from my first name. Since the first and second method are that hard to achieve, that¡¯s when I came up with a third method. And that is to break off our engagement using a long and complicated lawsuit. To my advantage, I started to gather evidence about Duval¡¯s affair with another woman. And while doing that, I coincidentally met other people who had a similar situation as I am, and helped them out a bit. Those connections made me create such a guild.¡¯ ¡°We are doing our best to find conclusive evidence about Count Essit¡¯s history as a womanizer, but we couldn¡¯t find anything that can be used in the trial¡­..¡± Leather dragged the end of his speech, with a defeated look on his face. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I tapped Leather¡¯s hand which was busily massaging my shoulder. The Argentine Empire, the main stage of the novel , was an empire in which adultery was so prevalent that some readers jokingly said that the title should be changed to . In other words, there are guilds that professionally erase evidence of infidelity. As I have known, to avoid unnecessary rumors that would affect his image, Duval habitually uses this guild. Since our guild has just been established, we don¡¯t have that much manpower yet, that¡¯s why we are being pushed aside whenever we try to look for any evidence related to Duval. ¡°Anyway, I received a request to finally break-off our engagement, so it¡¯s all over now. Still, it would be better to have a back-up plan just in case, so continue to collect any evidence related to Duval¡¯s affair.¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll do my best. Trust me.¡± Leather, who returned to his original self, nodded his head eagerly. Hay.. I would prefer him being serious than this careless self. As I ponder, I continue drinking the remaining iced tea that Leather gave me. Knock. Knock. Someone then knocked on the door. ¡°A customer came in, and personally requested to have a meeting with the Master. What should I do?¡± I remembered a few days ago that a visitor eagerly requested to have a consultation with me, I guess it¡¯s the same person. Clients would usually meet with Leather, who always pretends to be the guild master. So this is the first time that such a request came to me. After the shoulder massage, I looked back at Leather who was currently massaging his neck. ¡°You told me that I won¡¯t get involved?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know how, but that client knows that I¡¯m not the guild master.¡± ¡°You may have done something to be suspicious?¡± ¡°No I did not. He knew right away as soon as he saw me. He said, ¡®Your not the guild master, right?¡¯¡± What? Does that person read minds? That¡¯s very strange, I¡¯ve thought about the request for a moment. As I¡¯ve finally made my decision. ¡°This is so frustrating. Let¡¯s just forget about it.¡± ¡°But the client paid a lot for this request. He even mentioned that he would only ask one question and leave. He won¡¯t be asking for more, just one will do. Are you still going to refuse?¡± ¡°What kind of question is that?¡± ¡°Someone offered him an alliance in having a (*)revenge affair, and he wanted to ask a question about it.¡± (T/N: (*)Revenge Affair- is having an affair with the intention of hurting their partner.) Revenge affair¡­. I kind of felt guilty that I flinched without realizing it. Is it possible that it¡¯s related to the Crown Prince. Even with that thought, I answered back as if I¡¯m curious. ¡°That is such an odd question. Okay then, let¡¯s go.¡± -?¨A ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ?????? ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ¨@?- (Ciela¡¯s POV) I wore a mask and a robe to keep my identity. Adding up a voice-changing artifact to hide my gender. ¡®It would be difficult for me, if it would be known that I¡¯m the guild master.¡¯ The Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulator are not associated with anything illegal, but were not that welcomed as well. Since one must have the capability to commit infidelity, and 80% of them are all high-ranking nobles in the empire. We could be considered as their mortal enemy. After making sure that I would not be recognized or be connected with Ciela Labyrinth, I made my way through the long hallway and slowly opened the door to welcome the client. As soon as I took a step, I immediately held my breath. A dense rose scent flowed inside the room which immediately gave me a headache. Rose scent filled the drawing room. Is this person that rich, to use such a generous amount of perfume? ¡®This is just way too much.¡¯ ¡®Just what kind of perfume is to be used like this?¡¯ I frowned for a moment, then pulled myself right away. The client is wearing a full mask, that¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t see its appearance. A glass table and two sofas were placed at the center of the drawing room, which was decorated lavishly to raise the image of the guild. One of the sofas was occupied by a mask person whom I believed to have poured the perfume on. I slowly breathed out to make myself get used to the scent of the rose perfume, and sat down at the remaining seat. That person never took his eyes off me even just for a moment, then he finally opened his mouth and said. ¡°Are you the guild master?¡± ¡°Yes I am.¡± I roughly replied to his sudden question and intently looked closely at him. The client wore a ¨C a half-masked that ended at the tip of his nose, ¨C unlike mine that is a full face mask, -but then I couldn¡¯t guess who it was since he was using a voice modulator as well. But I can really tell that he is a very handsome man. His hair was a natural gold color. While his eyes had a unique gradation of red and gold hue. It¡¯s definitely not orange, but more like the color of a setting sun. It is so hard to express it in words. I was so mesmerized by his eyes, it made me forget to ask about the revenge affair that was mentioned by Leather. ¡®Color of the eyes can¡¯t be changed even with the help of magic, so I¡¯m 100% that it is the original color.¡¯ Who is this person? Is there such a character in the original story? Then, he finally reacted with his arms and legs crossed, exuding an authoritative atmosphere, as he raised the corner of his mouth. ¡°Take off your mask.¡± ¡°¡­.. Sorry?¡± ¡°Take off your mask.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± I thought I heard it wrong, but his face looked otherwise. I stared blankly at his absurd request. Then, somehow, the man showed an embarrassed look. ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna do it?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s all you have to say, then I¡¯ll have to get going.¡± ¡°Wait a minute.¡± He grabbed me as I was about to get up. At the same time, the scent of roses that had filled the room disappeared in an instant. It made me feel like I was dreaming. He seemed embarrassed by his sudden request that he apologized afterwards. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s just that I needed to check on something, that¡¯s why I was being rude.¡± Hmm. He does seem sincere, but the unpleasant feeling didn¡¯t go away, so I needed to turn the table, this time I crossed my arms and legs. Then, I asked him half-heartedly. ¡°What is it that you want to check?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain in depth as it is a personal matter. But I¡¯ve proved that you are the guild master.¡± Well, it doesn¡¯t seem like he can read minds, so I really can¡¯t tell. But, is it related to the disappearance of that rose scent from earlier when I entered? ¡®Well, that¡¯s not important now.¡¯ To the point that I believe that it was just an illusion, because everything happened so fast. And I can tell that even if I asked him, he would deny it. But unlike the first time I came in, the man in front of me loosened up his stance, as he relaxed his arms and legs in a respectful posture, after a while he finally spoke. ¡°Are you really going to keep everything a secret?¡± ¡°If I can¡¯t, then I won¡¯t be able to stay in business for long.¡± ¡°Ah, that seems to be right¡± He nodded and continued to remain silent. As I waited, the man seemed to ponder about what to say, then suddenly his ears reddened and touched the corner of his mouth while avoiding my gaze. It seems that something is troubling him and was embarrassed on how to explain it. Then he started mumbling whether he wanted me to hear it or not. ¡°I can¡¯t come up with an answer even after thinking about it for a few days¡­.¡± I can tell that this is not gonna be a short conversation, based on his action, that¡¯s why I asked for tea to be brought inside. I sipped the hot tea as I waited for the man to prepare himself. So at the time that I had my third cup of steaming tea. For him who had not touched the teacup, finally spoke in a trembling voice. ¡°A few days ago I¡­. No, a friend of mine received a letter from a young lady. Her fiance and my friend¡¯s prospective fiancee we¡¯re having an affair, so the young lady who wrote to my friend offered an alliance that they should have an affair as well.¡± ¡°¡­..¡± TO BE CONTINUED¡­.. Chapter 5 (Ciela¡¯s POV) ¡°The problem is¡­. -he has no such thing as a prospective fiancee.¡± The man¡¯s ears turned deep red as if they were about to burst. Taking advantage of the time that he wasn¡¯t looking at me, I continuously drank the tea one after another. The situation made me lose my mind to the point that I didn¡¯t even notice the hot tea burning both my lips and my tongue. ¡®Okay, I need to calm down.¡¯ My hand that grabbed the teapot continuously trembled. I spent my time trying to focus on pouring the tea without spilling it. With the continuous filling and drinking of tea, my mind became clearer little by little. ¡®I¡¯m positive that this person is not the Crown Prince.¡¯ About a week ago. I¡¯ve checked with the Crown Prince¡¯s aide several times. Is it true that the engagement between Tyrael and His Highness the Crown Prince is being pursued? A confirmation letter was sent to me by one of the Crown Prince¡¯s people, it briefly contained, ¡®Yes it was true.¡¯ Then that means, the person sitting in front of me is not the Crown Prince. ¡®Knowing that someone suggested the same thing for the same reason as me.¡¯ And is now asking me for an opinion about it. It was truly a bizarre coincidence. This novel is truly all about infidelity. Isn¡¯t this reason enough for the novel to change its title into ? ¡®Okay, I¡¯ve calmed down now.¡¯ I took a deep breath and organized my thoughts. I lifted the teacup unknowingly then stopped when I realized that I¡¯d already emptied the cup and drank all the tea. So, I tried to refill it, but the teapot was also empty. That¡¯s when I finally noticed that my stomach was bloated because I was over-drinking myself with tea. ¡°He received a lot of courtship letters, but this is the first time that someone offered him a revenge affair, I¡¯m lost on what to do?¡± After composing himself, the man finally spoke slowly and gently. And the reddish ears that he had before, returned to their normal color. ¡°I want to know what she meant when she offered to have an alliance in the form of an affair. I¡¯ve heard rumors that you¡¯re an expert when it comes to cheating partners, that¡¯s why I seek your opinion about this matter.¡± What did he mean about me being an expert when it comes to cheating partners? I feel like there is something more to it than that. Well, he could have meant about me being the Guild Master and nothing else. Let¡¯s see¡­. So his friend received a letter from a young lady, telling him to have an affair with her to take revenge against their partners, however, that person doesn¡¯t have a fiancee while the lady who offered the alliance had a cheating fiance. ¡°Might you consider that she may have misunderstood you? She may not know the fact that you don¡¯t have any prospective fiancee.¡± ¡°As I¡¯ve said, It¡¯s not me, but someone I know-¡± ¡°Our guild cannot accept applications other than the person directly involved. Did you fill out the request form with lies?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Well, I don¡¯t think that she would have misunderstood me, because of my standing. There¡¯s no way that she wouldn¡¯t know.¡± A strong conviction can be felt in the way the man spoke. Hmmm¡­ Is he some sort of a celebrity that every move would be revealed to the public? ¡°I think¡­..¡± After thinking that much, he opened his lips again and said, ¡°The young lady¡¯s fiance is famous for his philandering. Perhaps that is the reason why the young lady offered that kind of alliance. In addition, she offered to the opposite sex that she was interested in.¡± I was a bit shocked at how confident he is. Then, something hit me. ¡®This man seems to have the answer to his question, so why is he still seeking advice?¡¯ ¡°And I know for a fact that she won¡¯t be asking just anyone.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I thought that the young lady treated me as someone special.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°Ahm, I guess so¡­?¡± ¡°As expected.¡± The man¡¯s face turned bright red when he answered without much thought. ¡®Wait. So that means he has already fallen in love with that woman? Looking at his face right now, he looked like he innocently planned for their children too!¡¯ ¡®She must be someone that he liked before all this.¡¯ At this moment, bitterness started to seep in, compared to some who had a fiance but made them feel like they don¡¯t exist, and even if they cheat, they would still love that person, but then if they do the same no one wants to respond to their attempt to have an affair. I was expecting to hear at least a word from the Crown Prince, like thanking me for letting him know about his fiancee¡¯s affair, but Isn¡¯t this a bit too much? ¡®I¡¯m so disappointed. Still, I¡¯m hoping that he will respond.¡¯ As soon as this conversation is over, I will hurry towards the master¡¯s room and punch the doll modeled after the Crown Prince. ¡°Thank you, you¡¯ve helped me a lot.¡± ¡°¡­ You¡¯re welcome.¡± I answered half-heartedly, but the man who received my response didn¡¯t care at all. ¡°If I have another question, I¡¯ll look for you again.¡± With that, the man prepared to leave. I thought that he was going to ask some troubling questions because he paid a huge amount of commission for this request, but I guess that¡¯s just it. I immediately got up from my seat, so I can open the door beforehand as a courtesy to the guest. ¡°Oh, I almost forgot.¡± A cold voice, as cold as the midwinter, resounded through my ears. The moment I looked back at him, a deathly stare came right at me, as if choking me. ¡°If there¡¯s any request coming from a lady that matches the description from the letter I told you about, don¡¯t ever accept it.¡± I immediately understood what the man was saying. What if we received any request coming from the young lady he mentioned, we have to ignore it. ¡°She¡¯s a soft-hearted person, If she got involved in a guild like this, it would affect her.¡± No, I don¡¯t think so. A soft-hearted person wouldn¡¯t lie or even suggest having a revenge affair with anyone. Instead of addressing her heart, she offered an alliance, which is way more complicated. There¡¯s no way that girl is soft like he said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Our guild values whoever makes a contract with us first. Because the next client involved in another client¡¯s affair may tell lies.¡± Well, I did not raise this guild so poorly for us to be deceived that easily. Once we receive a request, an investigation would be conducted to check if the client¡¯s words are true or not. I wasn¡¯t that worried, but considering the atrocities that this man exudes, it would be troubling to receive any request related to that woman. It is best to avoid such people. After this, I¡¯ll instruct Leather to reject all requests related to that woman. But then again, I don¡¯t know who that woman is. ¡°But, you can tell me who the lady is right?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the answer obvious?¡± I knew it. While agonizing the situation and avoiding the man¡¯s fierce eyes, a sudden thought came to mind, so I immediately said; ¡°I¡¯ll give you a recommendation. When you go to see the young lady, buy some roses from the Lilstein Flower Shop.¡± ¡°Roses?¡± The man frowned at my words, wondering why this suddenly came out. To loosen the boundaries that this man had placed, I put on a smile that I used whenever I portray the ¡®Vulnerable Ciela¡¯. Then I realized he wouldn¡¯t be able to see it because I¡¯m wearing a mask. ¡°Yes, it is a flower that most noble ladies are anxious to get, because it can¡¯t be bought that easily. I can assure you that she would be very delighted.¡± The man looked at me with suspicion. Either way, I didn¡¯t put my business smile away. The reason I recommended Lilstein¡¯s rose was because of the two conditions of the flower. First, Lilstein¡¯s roses can only be booked by one person, in a month. Second, there is no fixed price for Lilstein¡¯s roses. The one who bids the highest price becomes the owner. The purchasers of Lilstein¡¯s roses who had overcome these atrocious conditions would be known to the social world. In other words, if this man bought the flower, I could infer who he was and who his partner would be. The man furrowed his eyebrow. ¡°You.¡± As he called me, a rose scent swept into the tip of my nose. It was the same scent I smelled when I first entered the room. It was still dense, but it wasn¡¯t at the same level as before. ¡°You seem to have very impure intentions.¡± ¡°Of course not! This is just a recommendation hoping that your love will come true.¡± I delivered my words full of business kindness, but the man seemed to have no faith in my words. He narrowed his eyes, as he stepped forward and stood tall in front of me. And he spoke coercively, exuding an authoritative atmosphere to the extent that made me feel so insecure. ¡°With that being said, I will never buy that rose.¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s too bad then.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°There is a myth saying that if the rose of Lilstein, would be gifted to a lover who just started dating, would continue their relationship as a married couple.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever heard such a myth. Who would ever believe that?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, then I can¡¯t help it.¡± ¡°¡­.. That is so pathetic, I¡¯m not a kid to believe those kinds of things.¡± Then he started walking as he tried to pass me by. The scent of roses that lingered on the tip of my nose suddenly became strong. It was so powerful that it hurt my nose, I couldn¡¯t help but frown. Just what the h*ll is this? As soon as he leaves, I¡¯ll have to tell Leather to ventilate the room. ¡¸You need to listen to what I have to say.¡¹ As soon as I heard the man¡¯s voice, everything suddenly stopped. To be precise, It¡¯s as if I lose control of my self-consciousness. It¡¯s so strange to feel the strength in my body loosened. As if my soul jumped out of my body and floated away. The man looked back at me slowly. When I met those sunset hue eyes, It seemed right that I had to obey him unconditionally. If he told me not to blink, I had to stop blinking, and if he said not to breathe, I had the urge to hold my breath just to follow him. The man who had been observing me with a frown gave off an order that I couldn¡¯t resist. ¡¸Forget everything about today¡¯s consultation. Whatever will remain as a record, set it up appropriately.¡¹ ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡¸Answer.¡¹ ¡°Yes.¡± ¡¸Oh, why didn¡¯t it work before? All right, take off your mask.¡¹ Yes, I have to take it off¡­.. -but then, I stopped while trying to take off the mask as the man told me to. If I ever take off the mask, my identity would be revealed. If someone finds out about it, everything I¡¯ve built up until now would be destroyed! ¡®I can¡¯t let that happen!¡¯ That moment, I strongly resisted with all my might, even though my mind was unconscious. Like light flashing in the darkness, the thick fog that clouded my mind suddenly faded. I came to my senses, and my hazy consciousness finally awakened. ¡­ Wait, what am I doing? I couldn¡¯t remember what happened as if the film had been cut off. I reflexively retreated from the man standing too close to me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. What did you say?¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Embarrassment filled the man¡¯s face, who recently had no emotion on him. For some reason, he looked at me suspiciously, as if he were looking at a rare creature until he finally stopped when he noticed my uneasiness and said. ¡°I¡¯ll come back again.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ -okay.¡± Okay. It seems that everything¡¯s good. Wait, did I just dozed off? What just happened? Then I started to move again and open the door leading to the hallway. But then I felt someone looking at me, it was the guest that I¡¯d had a conversation with. I¡¯m not sure why but he was looking at me strangely. But then again, everything went smoothly that day. -?¨A ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ?????? ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ¨@?- (Ciela¡¯s POV) The next afternoon. ¡°Hello, Lady Ciela¡± The Crown Prince visited our house without notice. ¡°It¡¯s our first time meeting, but it¡¯s not good to come empty-handed.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, his ears blushed slightly, as he calmed down he then finally presented a bouquet of splendidly blooming blue roses. It was Lilstein¡¯s rose. TO BE CONTINUED¡­. Chapter 6 (Ciela¡¯s POV) * * * Exactly five hours before the Crown Prince appeared. The me, who was killing time by lying comfortably on the sofa in the master¡¯s room, did not even dream of what would happen in the afternoon. ¡°What are you still doing here?¡± Leather asked, as he walked around carrying a pile of documents that he¡¯d been checking since this morning. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna go home, May keeps pestering me.¡± Yesterday, I gave back the commission to May. All while relying in good faith that she won¡¯t have to pay since she won as the 100th client reward of the guild. Then, May looked at me suspiciously, pestering me with questions, asking if I really did request it or backed out, that¡¯s why I was able to return the money. She even asked the full details about the request. I made a few white lies of course, but in the end I eventually came out on the pretext of having an appointment. After hearing what happened to us, Leather giggled mischievously. ¡°Can¡¯t you just reveal to her who the guild master is?¡± ¡°The fewer people who know, the better.¡± Besides, even if I told her the truth, I knew for a fact that she wouldn¡¯t believe me. In the eyes of people, I, Ciela Labyrinth, is a fragile lady in both body and mind. ¡°It always surprises me whenever I hear about the master¡¯s reputation.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°Do you know what¡¯s the most ridiculous thing I¡¯ve ever heard? That even when the master breaks a flower, you¡¯ll be shedding tears and say, ¡°Flower, I¡¯m very sorry¡±. But the truth is, you¡¯re a person who would turn those people that you don¡¯t like into a doll and¨C ouch!¡± I threw a pillow at Leather and sarcastically said, ¡°It¡¯s not like that!¡± ¡°Then what is it!¡± ¡°A doll.¡± Then I hugged the stuffed toy of the Crown Prince the size of my forearm that was lying next to me. A few months ago. We received a request from a toy maker to eradicate adultery. The request was successfully completed, but the toy maker, who had no funds to pay us, said that instead of money he would make a very expensive doll that money could not buy. It was okay because I didn¡¯t do it for money anyway, but he was very stubborn so told him that he could pay me back later. That led me to think of what kind of doll that he would create for me, that¡¯s when I decided that I wanted a miniature doll of my favorite character in this novel, Crown Prince Reynos. It was a secret that I couldn¡¯t share with anyone, that the Crown Prince, who is only gentle to the woman he loves, was definitely my ideal type. But since I gave up on that dream early, for me to continue with my fangirling, there¡¯s this thing called the original (*)buff. (T/N: In this context the word ¡®Buff¡¯ has a different meaning and that¡¯s; being an enthusiastic fan; In fiction, it usually has the meaning of recharging energy whenever the main character or the people around him are in crisis.) ¡®I didn¡¯t even have a chance to meet him in person, so I decided to fangirl over his miniature doll.¡¯ Reynos did not engage in any external activities as a Crown Prince. Even in the original work, due to the curse of the evil dragon, it was a mystic concept that revealed the identity of the female lead, Tyrael, and a few close friends. ¡®Even in the novel cover, only the sub-male lead was shown, which brought out a lot of speculation that one of them is the Male Lead.¡¯ Still, I remember how the author described him, his hair color, eye color, and facial features, so I asked him to create the toy based on that information. Then, the toy maker brought me a wonderful embodiment of my imaginary Crown Prince. And of course, I¡¯m very satisfied with it. However, there¡¯s this one problem. ¡®Who asked the toy maker to create it like a (*)puppet doll?!¡¯ (T/N: puppet is any small model of a person or animal able to be moved by strings or rods.// But the one that the toy maker made doesn¡¯t have any strings attached to it, just like plushies.) In this world, ¡®puppet doll¡¯ is the same as a ¡®voodoo doll¡¯. I really had no idea about it. That¡¯s when I heard that only human dolls are the safest one to have. Fortunately, I was informed about those things, so I was able to explain to everyone in the guild that I¡¯m not putting any curse on that doll. It was simply an ordinary stuffed toy that resembled the Crown Prince. Still, I couldn¡¯t convince everyone. So whenever the guild members saw the doll, they would immediately look at me as if I was a villain. That¡¯s when the rumor started, about me turning those people who have offended me into dolls. This is all because of Labyrinth¡¯s special ability. Because of that, my reputation keeps leaning toward the dark side. ¡®Even if I used it a lot, it wouldn¡¯t be unfair. And I¡¯ve only used the special ability once.¡¯ (T/N: I still have no idea what that ability is but I¡¯m excited about it.) (PR/N: i¡¯m more excited about the prince discovering a doll of himself XD) ¡°Still, I wanted to know who he is¡­.¡± Leather looked at the plushy doll pitifully, saying, ¡°Just how did you get caught by this devil here?¡± I wanted to protest and defend myself, while hugging the plushy doll. But then, I suddenly felt unpleasant as if anger started to arise. To release my frustration, I started punching The Crown Prince doll, frowning. ¡°Huh?!¡± Leather started to freak-out at my sudden mood change. I either pinched the doll¡¯s cheeks with anger or squeezed it like a laundry. The doll, filled with soft cotton, returned to its original state in no time even if i pressed its body deep. I¡¯ve been beating this doll that mimics the Crown Prince since yesterday. It was a protest of its own against not having received a reply so far. In fact, there must have been another reason why I continued hitting this doll, but unfortunately I can¡¯t remember anything at all. Why is my memory like this? Leather, who was looking at my actions with a pale face, stuttered. ¡°You¡¯re not going to make me a doll, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to do that even if you gave me money for it.¡± I¡¯ve successfully relieved my anger by squeezing the doll¡¯s head like a stress ball. I glanced at the doll¡¯s head, as it slowly went back from its original form, then I changed my expression as I stroked it with the image of a saint who seemed to embrace all the evil in the world. Why do I have to feel guilty, I didn¡¯t do anything wrong? The bad person here is the Crown Prince, who has not yet contacted me at all. Ugh. From today onward, I¡¯m no longer his fan. I got up from my seat and prepared to leave. The doll was gently placed on the spot where I was lying down. Since my doll had a hard time getting hit earlier, I placed a soft pillow on it¡¯s head for it to have a good rest and covered it with a blanket like a duvet. ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°Variety store.¡± ¡°If you need anything, I¡¯ll prepare it for you.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s personal.¡± As it was said that it was a personal matter, Leather did not hold onto me any longer. I left the guild after saying goodbye. -?¨A ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ?????? ©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥ ¨@?- (Ciela¡¯s POV) At the variety store, I bought a map of the continent. I also purchased booklets that describe each country and their culture, as well as essays from people who traveled to different places. ¡®I¡¯m leaving this place.¡¯ The realization hit me, as I punched that plushy doll. That no matter what I do, the love triangle between Tyrael, Duval, and Reynos has already begun. A genre of two men fighting over a woman. Just thinking about it made my stomach churn. ¡®I can¡¯t watch that even if I die.¡¯ Like the saying goes, ¡®If you don¡¯t like the temple, why should the priest stay?¡¯ I decided to leave this d*mn place, as soon as I broke my engagement with Duval. It was when I returned home with a bunch of long-term travel supplies for my sweet escape from the Empire. It was when I was about to tell May that, ¡®I¡¯m going to leave this empire,¡¯ our loyal butler appeared and said that a visitor came, making all my plans put into a halt. ¡°For me? Who is it?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡­ I was just delivering the words that were instructed to me, Milady.¡± The butler wrinkled his brow not knowing what to say about the identity of this unexpected visitor. But then, I remembered that I instructed all the members of the Ciel¡¯s manipulation guild, that ¡°If ever you visit me, do not ever reveal your identity, as long as you mention my name they won¡¯t kick you out¡±. So it seems that they¡¯ve followed my instructions well. ¡®I wonder who it is? Is it Leather?¡¯ However, unless it was an urgent matter, Leather never appeared in front of me whenever I portray my role as ¡®Ciela Labyrinth¡¯. Furthermore, didn¡¯t I just visit the guild today? Wondering, I headed to the front door to check on the visitor. And I was shocked. ¡°Hello, Lady Ciela.¡± ¡°¡­¡­..!¡± Golden hair that looks like melted gold. And golden eyes that shine brighter than the sun. A gorgeous face that I would never get tired of looking at all day, even if he¡¯s wearing a plain black robe, it did not affect his overall appearance. From the outside, he looks like a warm and sturdy knight, but I know in all aspects who this person is. He will show his boundless kindness to the people within the boundaries he has set, and his endless coldness to the people outside. I inadvertently shut my mouth before I could even call him, ¡®Your Highness¡¯. I, Ciela Labyrinth, have never met the Crown Prince. So I had to pretend that I didn¡¯t know him. Although he turned out to be exactly what I imagined him to be, so I just go through the motions of it. ¡®Oh. Come to think of it.¡¯ In the original story, it was the Crown Prince who sent Ciela to the guillotine, so I unknowingly looked at his waist just to check, because he may have come to kill me out of anger towards my reckless request to have an affair. I was so vigilant that the butler intervened without notice. ¡°Did you two know each other?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Yeah.¡± I was in the midst of looking at his waist with nervous eyes, to see if he came here with a sword. Then the Crown Prince said. ¡°Since it¡¯s our first meeting, it¡¯s not good to come empty-handed.¡± Ack! Thinking that he might attack me, I suddenly flinched and took a step back. That¡¯s when I saw what the Crown Prince held out to me, then I felt so embarrassed for thinking too much. This- Wait? Lilstein¡¯s rose? ¡°Oh, thank you.¡± With a surprised heart, I rushed over to receive the bouquet of flowers. I was so distracted that I didn¡¯t even notice that the Crown Prince was strangely shy with his ears dyed in pinkish red. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the drawing room first. May, please prepare some tea and refreshments. Butler-¡° ¡°Yes, Milady. Come this way, sir.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll be guiding him instead.¡± After giving some instructions to May and our butler, I personally guided the Crown Prince towards our drawing room. Because I can¡¯t carelessly have the servants serve him. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust them, but we¡¯re talking about the Crown Prince of the empire, making a mistake is not an option. But in the end, it was me who made a mistake. ¡°Please come in.¡± I even forgot that I was still holding the book of, ¡®A guide for a long-term travel¡¯ due to the sudden meeting. I opened the door to the drawing room and looked back at the Crown Prince. But he didn¡¯t follow immediately. As he followed me, I noticed that he kept looking at the book that I was holding full of curiosity, as he softly licked his lips that only I could hear it. ¡°Milady, you do know me, right?¡± Dang. I should have left it to our butler! ¡°Please, don¡¯t ask me how I knew.¡± He narrowed his eyes and came closer enough for me to feel his breath. The moment I held my breath, I was more surprised at what he did next, he snatched the travel guide with his gentle hand movement. ¡°Long-term travel? Where are you going?¡± Intense aura came out of him, and fierceness fluttered on those low-sinking golden eyes that were mainly focused on me. Then he whispered in a very low voice. ¡°Aren¡¯t we supposed to have an affair?¡± (PR/N: I think i just fell for him- wahh sorry readers-) TO BE CONTINUED¡­. Chapter 7 (Ciela¡¯s POV) ¡°What? Oh about that¡­. Well, I thought that His Highness the Crown Prince rejected my proposal.¡± My heart fluttered on those wildly intense golden eyes. Why is he looking at me like that? I pretended to be as serene as possible and awkwardly smiled, as I continued my words. ¡°I was thinking of going on a long trip.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember rejecting your proposal.¡± ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t received any response for over a week.¡± ¡°A week?¡± The Crown Prince suddenly became embarrassed as he asked me back. He lowered his gaze onto the floor as if he was counting something. He clicked his tongue on the realization as he immediately raised his head to look at me. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t realize that it was that long.¡± ¡°No, It¡¯s okay. I know that you¡¯re a very busy person, and there¡¯s nothing we can do about it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I was busy¡­ I just needed to check on something.¡± He lowered his eyes and entered the drawing-room. As he passed me by, I noticed his cute ears reddening. I sat across from him so I could observe him better. And it seems that he didn¡¯t mean any harm, that¡¯s why the tension that I felt when he first came, slowly disappeared and a soft smile came into sight. Feeling at ease, I buried my face in the bouquet of roses in my arms and inhaled the sweet scent. I slowly fell in love with the sweet honey scent that came from it. I expressed my sincere gratitude. ¡°Thank you so much, Your Highness the Crown Prince. It may not be easy to find but how did you¡­¡­¡± I stopped myself, avoiding any details on how I know about the auction for this rose. Come to think of it, how did he manage to get this? Lilstein¡¯s roses can only be obtained through an auction. And I heard that the recent auction was particularly fierce? That curiosity disappeared the moment I met his golden eyes that were smoothly forming a line. ¡°I am glad that you are so happy.¡± He¡¯s so handsome that he can do anything with that face of his, and to add it up he is the Crown Prince of this empire. He may have used that influence to win these roses. To express how much I appreciate it, I delicately hugged the bundle of roses carefully so i don¡¯t crush it. ¡°I¡¯ve only heard about it, but seeing it for the first time surpassed my expectations because it¡¯s so pretty. I¡¯d like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.¡± ¡°As expected, you¡¯re so competent¡­..¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± The Crown Prince, who was tapping the handle of the chair with a serious face, smiled. He was indeed the male lead of a Ropan novel. As if a halo was reflected behind his head even though he was just smiling. I squinted my eyes to protect my precious eyes, thinking that I should also be repaying the effort of gifting me such an expensive bouquet, so I intend to exaggerate it a bit since (*)praise makes even whales dance. I smiled sweetly and said. (T/N: ??? ?? (*)There is a saying, ¡°Praise makes even whales dance¡±. It is said that even whales that do not have a body structure to dance will dance if they give a sincere compliment.) ¡°And I think it¡¯s even prettier because someone as wonderful as His highness brought it to me.¡± ¡°¡­¡­!¡± This time I saw it right, the Crown Prince¡¯s cheeks turned bright red. He looked at me with wide eyes, then coughed incoherently and dropped his gaze to the floor. Aww, I guess he¡¯s very shy. I didn¡¯t know that the Crown Prince had such a side. I focused all my attention on my optic nerve, at such a rare sight. Then something came to mind, in the words that he uttered earlier, ¡®As expected you¡¯re so competent..¡¯ Somehow after that, I heard him say, ¡®I¡¯ll visit more often then.¡¯, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I heard it clearly because my senses other than my sight had become dull. Just then, May brought in some tea and desserts, as she served, she kept giving me a knowing look with her sparkling eyes, as if asking me who he was. I just nodded to her and sent her out, signaling her that I would tell her later after she poured tea in the Crown Prince¡¯s teacup. Perhaps he was very thirsty because he drank it all at once without even savoring the scent of the tea leaves. In addition to it being hot. ¡°It tastes so good. What kind of tea is this?¡± To answer his question, I took a sip of tea. I can tell just by smelling the scent of the tea, but this tea is transparent and has no smell at all. ¡­..Wait, is he blind? Earlier while I was looking at the travel brochure, I asked May to bring me some hot water to drink, but then the Crown Prince suddenly came and forgot to ask May to change the refreshment to some tea. ¡® I can¡¯t believe that I served the Crown Prince with plain water.¡¯ I looked at the Crown Prince with trembling eyes. In the meantime, he kept avoiding my gaze and continued to drink fresh water, saying it tasted good. Is it because he doesn¡¯t have any sense of taste, or is he just saying anything because he was ashamed of my compliments? Looking at him closely, his hand that was holding the teacup seemed to be shaking¡­. I felt like I had to answer, so I roughly lied about it. ¡°It¡¯s a unique tea that came from the farthest part of the East. Originally, it was colorless and odorless, but people may taste it differently. ¡°I see, that¡¯s interesting. I¡¯d better request for this to be added to the Imperial Palace as well. But anyway, I¡¯ll formally say my goodbye now.¡± The Crown Prince, whose complexion returned to its original state after continuously drinking the so-called tea, fixed his gaze on me. As he placed his right hand on his left chest and lowered his head slightly. ¡°Reynos Ruhr Arzentime. As you know, The Crown Prince of this empire.¡± ¡°I am Ciela Labyrinth, the eldest daughter of the Marquis Labyrinth.¡± I also greet him with the same courtesy. For some reason, this scene seems so familiar as if I¡®ve seen this before, but anyway, we only met for the first time today. After we exchanged greetings, the awkwardness that I felt earlier as if we met on some sort of a blind date had passed. Hmm. So should I say it first, since I proposed it? To overcome my embarrassment, I place my gaze diagonally. Then started to speak, while fiddling the Lilstein¡¯s rose in my arms. ¡°Can I say that you are accepting my offer?¡± ¡°Well.¡± Brief silence passed, as he finally nodded his head. His expression was overly serious, but he didn¡¯t look offended. Since it¡¯s finalized, shall we start in earnest. ¡°Then, shall we decide on the setting of the period? I think that¡­..¡± ¡°Before that, Milady, I have to say something to you. I don¡¯t have a potential fiancee¡­.¡± We spoke at the same time, giving a surprise to both of us. I blinked for a moment, then held out my hand towards Reynos, encouraging him. ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°No, Milady you first.¡± ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll tell you first. I think it¡¯s better to set a time limit on how long we will be having an affair.¡± ¡°A time limit?¡± Reynos asked as if wondering. ¡°Well, you know. I wasn¡¯t supposed to be cheating.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you cheat?¡± ¡°Well, in the first place, an affair is established when I have a fiance.¡± But once my engagement with Duval broke, then there¡¯s no reason for me to have an affair anymore. It¡¯s to my advantage if we keep seeing each other, but not for Reynos. Because I know that he¡¯s receiving different courtship letters every day. And I couldn¡¯t honestly say, ¡®I don¡¯t want to get hurt, so I¡¯ll draw a line in advance.¡¯ ¡°Anyway, this relationship¡¯s purpose is to have an affair, so it¡¯s a meeting with a clear purpose. So, there must be a clear ending as well.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°If it¡¯s good after that, we¡¯ll keep seeing each other.¡± After saying those words which were full of my self-interest, I shrugged. Reynos didn¡¯t say anything, as he bit his lips with a serious expression on his face as if thinking deeply. Then he lifted his eyes, met my gaze, and whispered. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, Milady. If ever that I don¡¯t have any fiancee, and not consider it cheating¡­. Will Milady still meet me?¡± Ahm¡­ Why is he asking me that question? I blinked my eyes slowly as if trying to understand what he meant. Well, if Reynos doesn¡¯t have a fiancee, then¡­. It was a sudden change of scenario, so there was no immediate answer. Then, there¡¯s no reason for us to have an affair with me, right? I unconsciously tilted my head as I pondered on things. Reynos, who was observing me silently, moved his soft red lips to spit out a languid voice that seemed to be alluring. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t have to answer. So how long is it? I mean the time limit?¡± ¡°Your Highness and Tyrael¡¯s -ahm¡­. Well, is it okay for me to call her by her name? I mean His Highness prospective fiancee.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°Yes. Until the engagement between His Majesty and Tyrael becomes completely null and void.¡± ¡°What about you? Your breakup would be more urgent than mine.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine. Count Essit said that he would send an annulment of our engagement soon.¡± ¡°Aha! That¡¯s good then, Milady.¡± Smiling beautifully with his eyes bent and eyebrows that curved perfectly, he crossed his legs gracefully. ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to your cooperation. I will do my best to cheat.¡± ¡°Me too. I look forward to this alliance.¡± ¡°So is it our first day today?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s our first day.¡± ¡°I see. But can I ask you something, to whom did you hear that I have a prospective fiancee?¡± I gave him the name of his close aide who I¡¯ve exchanged letters with. Reynos then asked me not to tell anyone about his so-called fiancee, since it¡¯s top-secret. Not to mention it to anyone at all. Of course, I gave him my word. After we exchange promises. Then Reynos, who checked his watch, said that he had to leave, so I got up to see him off. As I was gathering the bouquet of roses that had been set down next to me, at some point he came to me. He smiled softly and whispered. ¡°Milady, are we considered lovers from now on?¡± ¡°Uh¡­.Yes, that¡¯s right?¡± ¡°Then, can I do something like this?¡± Speaking subtly, he reached out. The destination was my messy hair as I bent down to collect the bouquet. Contrary to his playful tone and expression of his face, the hand that tucks my hair behind my ears was very delicate and cautious, so I couldn¡¯t help but blush and smiled. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°What about this?¡± He gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me. I wanted to hold his hand, but I felt regretful that I couldn¡¯t. I smiled and let him pull me. It was large, warm and maybe because of his sword training, I can subtly feel his calluses from it. ¡°As much as you want.¡± ¡°Then how about this¡­¡± As if waiting, he held my hand tightly and pulled it towards him, and slowly raised it. Passing through the waist, over the chest, to the nape of his neck. And¡­. ¡°¡­..!¡± Red soft lips fell on the back of my hand without notice. It was as if clear and hot energy had stamped it and claimed. In the meantime, those glamorous but not excessive golden eyes were looking at me as if he was observing my reaction, so I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off them. I felt like I was being eaten up as a whole. Suddenly, a feverish feeling rose throughout my body. The moment he realized it, his lips fell apart. I belatedly found out that I was holding my breath, so I exhaled deeply to let it all out. Only then did Reynos let go of my hand and smile shyly. ¡°Let¡¯s go slowly from here on.¡± TO BE CONTINUED¡­. Chapter 8 Chapter 2 Episode 8 (3rd person pov) ¡®Rema¡¯, a salon located in the center of the capital, was a place where children of famous families gathered and interacted. Even a countess could enter only if they were supported by fame or financial resources. ¡°Oh my, lady! It¡¯s a necklace I¡¯ve never seen before¡­ Oh my god, look at this brilliance! Excuse me, but may I know where you got it from?¡± ¡°This time I bought a wonderful stallion. Maybe there will be a newborn by the end of the year somehow.¡± ¡°There are rumors that the second prince will officially enter the social world soon. Is that true?¡± In the hall decorated with expensive objects, young aristocrats, dressed in gorgeous clothes, were having conversations. From gossips with no nutritional value to unfounded lies, to important real information that everyone should open their ears to. Various stories floated in the air. It was the ability of each of them to distinguish between the lies and the truth. ¡°Did you hear that?¡± A group of young girls sat around a round table near a wall of the salon. A lady, who was leading the conversation with her sky-blue fan fluttering, folded the fan. Then she rolled her eyes and brought out an interesting story. ¡°I heard that the Young Master of Essit has a new girlfriend.¡± ¡°Well, has it only been a day or two?¡± Another lady, who was sitting opposite of her, spoke with a sign of disinterest. That was because Essit was a wealthy family that didn¡¯t meet Rema¡¯s standards, and the successor, Duval Esitt, was already famous for his womanizer side. ¡°Oh my gosh, listen!¡± The lady with the sky-blue fan, who was suddenly lost in conversation, trembled and made an uplifting expression. ¡°That new lover, well¡­¡± It was around that time that the bell on the door rang clearly. The lady of the sky blue fan, who stopped her words, looked up. As soon as she saw someone coming into the salon, she lowered her voice and whispered to the girls around her, ¡®look over there!¡¯. Whoever it was, the curious eyes of the young girls reached one place. And their eyes widened. ¡°Thank you for taking me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m flattered.¡± The person who lightly kissed the back of the lady¡¯s hand who just walked in was definitely Duval Essit. But who was the girl who got a kiss on the back of the hand? Surprisingly, it wasn¡¯t Duval¡¯s fiancee, Ciela Labyrinth. ¡°It would be nice to be able to¡­¡± It was Tyrael Puritina, the illegitimate child of Count Puritina, whom Ciela Labyrinth was with so much. In the strange atmosphere that surrounded the two, the onlookers reflexively checked their surroundings. The person they were looking for, Ciel, was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Tyrael, who was regretting her parting with him, fell into Duval¡¯s arms. The young girls who were watching gasped silently. Maybe she was Young Master Essit¡¯s new lover? ¡®Nonsense.¡¯ ¡®Unless you go crazy.¡¯ ¡®Are you crazy?¡¯ Everyone who saw the scene thought the same thing. No matter how much she grew up with the ability to purify, the illegitimate child, Tyrael, who came from a slum, was rejected by the aristocratic society. Everyone was terrified at the thought of how much Ciela was around Tyrael like that. It was then. ¡°Starting here today¡­ I¡¯ll do it. Then¡­ It will be over.¡± Through the open door, a familiar voice flew in their ears. It sounded like it was coming to this place through the salon hallway. The young girls stopped breathing without realizing it. Various emotions such as sadness and absurdity, interest and curiosity, dominated their heads as they vividly pictured what was about to happen. Soon the master of the voice appeared at the door. The young girls, who were expecting a certain tragedy, had to swallow their breath again for unexpected reasons. ¡®What¡­¡¯ ¡®Who is it?¡¯ The one who appeared at the door was Ciela Labyrinth, as everyone expected. She doesn¡¯t like to be noticed, so she doesn¡¯t show up at the salon at all unless she¡¯s with Tyrael. But the young girls were not surprised by that. ¡®He¡¯s¡­¡¯ ¡®Handsome!¡¯ ¡®What are they doing?¡¯ An unidentified blond man was seen escorting Ciela. They thought he was a cool-looking handsome man, but the moment he smiled at Ciela, he gave the impression of a gentle puppy. The mouths of the young girls, startled by this situation, opened wide. Isn¡¯t he really like the man in a romance novel, ¡®cold to others, but kind to his lover¡¯? ¡°Miss Puritina, I¡¯ll come back in time for the¡­¡± Duval¡¯s voice, which was comforting Tyrael, who was saddened by their separation, faltered for an instant. They had just discovered Ciela and the blonde man. His expression hardened. Like someone who has deprived something of his. ¡°¡­¡± Ciela, seeing Tyrael and Duval a minute late, blinked her eyes indifferently. It didn¡¯t seem like she was shocked by their appearance. The onlooker girls watched Ciela¡¯s reaction to witnessing the affair between her best friend and her fianc¨¦e eagerly as they peeked over their fans. However, contrary to the expectations of the young girls, it seemed that it was Duval who was more shocked. Duval, who had been frozen for a while, licked his lips. ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come pick you up when I¡¯m done.¡± The blond man kissed the back of Ciela¡¯s hand before Duval could continue. The young girls were silently astonished. Silently nodding her head, Ciela glanced at Tyrael and Duval. Then, casually, she went inside. After saying goodbye, the blonde man went straight back. Tyrael, who had a somewhat blushed face, followed the blonde man with her eyes. Duval, who was staring at him as if to kill him, shot a look at Ciela, saw Tyrael off, and hurriedly left. ¡®What the hell is this?¡¯ ¡®What happened?¡¯ Curiosity soared to the top of their heads at the unusual situation. The girls stared at Ciela as she moved, forgetting that it was rude. Then they sneaked up to her to add a word. ¡°Hello.¡± Seeing the young girls approaching, Ciela smiled faintly. One of the young girls, who was weary of Ciela who seemed to have a story, asked cautiously. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Just¡­ It¡¯s how it looks.¡± Ciela, who answered softly, lowered her eyelids. Then it overlapped with her usual fragile image, making it more difficult to ask her. ¡®Well, well.¡¯ The young girls, who understood the situation on their own, clicked their tongues inwardly. That filthy bastard made another mess. It also happened to her best friend, so how deceived she must have felt. The girls were not usually close to Ciela, but their feelings were the same. So they comforted Ciela with sincerity. ¡°Hey, Ciela¡­¡± Then, when they saw Tyrael approaching with a smirk, they became one mind and made an impression on her. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°She shouldn¡¯t be noticed.¡± ¡°If it were me, I wouldn¡¯t have come here. Who made it possible for her to enter this place?¡± They didn¡¯t pinpoint who they were talking about, but their target was clear. The young ladies did not hide their sharp accusations. At the end of their continuous criticism, Tyrael left the room alone, unable to utter her words. ~*~ From that day on, Ciela¡¯s unconventional steps began. The only man she was known to be with was Duval, but now, wherever she went, she was always with a blond man. The noble girls paid attention to Ciela¡¯s move. They noted that the blonde man Ciela was with was very handsome, but it was more fun because Duval and Tyrael¡¯s behavior was absurd while watching them. Until now, Duvall had not paid a wink of attention to his fiance to the extent that it was pitiful. However, from the moment Ciela started appearing with the blonde man, he began to become conscious of her. Tyrael was next to him, but Duval was obviously uncomfortable seeing the blonde man next to Ciel. Anyone could see that those were the eyes of wanting to chase after them. Meanwhile, Tyrael was anxious to speak to Ciela, and she blushed whenever she saw the blonde man, firmly helping to kindle the fire to onlookers¡¯ delight. ¡®What is this?¡¯ ¡®Triangle- No, is it a quadrilateral relationship?¡¯ However, Ciela and the blonde man didn¡¯t really care about Duval and Tyrael. When Duval approached to talk to them, they would naturally leave. ¡®What the hell is this?¡¯ ¡®Anyway, what the hell is the relationship between Ciela and that blonde man?¡¯ ¡°What is the relationship between you two?¡± One day, a courageous young girl asked Ciela directly. Then she answered with a shy expression: ¡°He¡¯s someone from the temple I know.¡± ¡®From the temple? Do you mean that he¡¯s a priest?¡¯ Judging from the atmosphere it gives off, it didn¡¯t seem like that, and people just accepted it in the sense that they don¡¯t want to go into detail. ¡°It seems that Miss Labyrinth has finally given up.¡± ¡°I thought so too. If it can¡¯t be fixed, it¡¯s better to give up.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°More than that, Miss Puritina really has no concept. Anyone who knows grace shouldn¡¯t be like that.¡± The young girls constantly murmured over the four of them. While they were diligently deducing the identity of the handsome blonde man, they quivered, arguing that Labyrinth and Essit, who had been engaged for a long time, were breaking up. Tea party, prom, charity party, etc. Everywhere Duval went, Ciela did not serve him, so he went directly to the Labyrinth mansion. But Ciela did not meet him. To be more precise, her exclusive maid, May, said, ¡®Who is the one that is sick?¡¯ Duval¡¯s anger rose to the top, but he couldn¡¯t help it. He was so hot-tempered that he stomped his feet. Then, in a famous boutique, an encounter with a lion that no one could have imagined took place. Chapter 9 Chapter 2 Episode 9 ~*~ (Ciela¡¯s pov) Today was the day I decided to go to the boutique to match Reynos¡¯s clothes. May, who had been looking at me for the past few days with her face that she would die of curiosity, asked carefully. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That man.¡± Aha. Reynos. Until now, I had never told May about Reynos. In front of noble girls, I insisted on the protection of the ¡®pure and delicate Ciel Labyrinth¡¯ image, but I don¡¯t have to do that in front of May. I motioned for her to come closer and whispered in her ear. ¡°Someone who¡¯s cheating with me.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that. If he cheats, there¡¯s no reason for me not to either.¡± ¡°Miss.¡± May put her hands on her waist and furrowed her eyebrows. I said that May was my maid, but she was more like my real sister. Since May¡¯s mother was also my nanny, the original Ciel and her grew up drinking the same milk at the same time. So I didn¡¯t feel bad at all, even though it wasn¡¯t something a maid should say to her master. I looked at her leisurely, waiting for the nagging to follow. That cheating is bad, or that you shouldn¡¯t do it, blah blah- ¡°I wholeheartedly agree with miss cheating on him.¡± But, May even clapped her sternly. ¡°But I think you should do it with a really cool person.¡± ¡°Cool person?¡± ¡°Yes. So, for example.¡± May, who was looking for examples while narrowing her brow, lifted her fingers one by one. ¡°The handsome, the powerful, the rich.¡± ¡°There is no such person in the world.¡± ¡°No, there is. For example, the Crown Prince!¡± May claimed that she had never seen the prince¡¯s face, but he must be handsome. ¡°It would be nice if all three were satisfied, but at least two should be satisfied. Like as handsome as the Crown Prince, as powerful as the Crown Prince, or richer than the Crown Prince.¡± ¡°Why does that sound like the emperor?¡± ¡°His Majesty the Emperor is a married man.¡± That¡¯s right. ¡°In that sense, that man is disqualified. He¡¯s handsome, but he doesn¡¯t look like he has the money or power. I know just by looking at it.¡± No, I don¡¯t think so. Don¡¯t you know how expensive Lilstein¡¯s roses are? ¡­Ugh. ¡°May, wait a minute.¡± Ah¡­ ¡°Anyway, I am against it. The truth is, I don¡¯t like all men in the world. At least the Crown Prince should be able to get along with a young lady!¡± ¡°Thank you for telling me that.¡± ¡°Right? So you better not hang out with him.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I appreciate it.¡± Mei, who was about to say ¡®why-¡¯, was startled. She finally realized that I was not the one who answered the past two times. Ah, why now? I lowered my gaze, ignoring the burning face. ~*~ ¡°Please forgive her rudeness.¡± I was on my way out into town in a carriage. I lowered my head to Reynos who was sitting across from me. Criticizing the royal family? Even if I was taken to jail right away, I had nothing to say. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Thankfully, Reynos smiled prettily saying that it was okay. ¡°Your maid has a good eye for people.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°As she said, there is no one in this empire who meets all the conditions except me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You think so too?¡± ¡°¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if that was a joke or a serious remark, so I just blinked. ¡°¡­¡± Judging by the atmosphere, it doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s going to take May and I to jail for slander of the imperial family. When I didn¡¯t answer right away because I was trying to figure out the situation, Reynos asked with a sullen look. ¡°You don¡¯t think so?¡± ¡°Oh, no!¡± I don¡¯t know what it was, but no one hates compliments. Hmmmm, I started praising him with all my heart. ¡°You¡¯re the most handsome person I¡¯ve ever seen. Anyone who walks by will say the same thing. His Majesty is the most handsome man in the Empire-no, the world.¡± Reynos¡¯s face turned red. He seemed to like compliments when he swung his gaze away, so I decided to give him a little more push. ¡°When I look at Your Majesty, your eyes are so dazzling that it hurts-¡± ¡°Stop.¡± He covered his red face with his hand and cut me off. He seemed very ashamed that even the nape of his neck had turned red. I shut my mouth like a clam. After waiting for such a long time, Reynos, whose face color had barely returned to its original color, changed the topic while pretending it was nothing. ¡°Have you thought about what clothes to choose?¡± ¡°Well, to be honest, no. I woke up late.¡± ¡°Take it slow then. Today¡¯s schedule is all empty. Aren¡¯t you busy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± For today, I left all my work behind to Leather. He said he was going to kill me and whined, but for me, this date was the most important. Belatedly, I pondered which design would suit Reynos well. Then I asked a question that suddenly came to mind. ¡°But what should I call your majesty?¡± I¡¯ve never called Reynos outside. It was because there was no need because we had only a short meeting to stimulate the imagination of noble girls. On the other hand, we¡¯re going to a boutique today, so I thought it would be good to make a plan in advance just in case. ¡®I can¡¯t call you openly.¡¯ For convenience, Reynos used to introduce himself to others as an ¡®Imperial Knight¡¯. The clothes he wore today were also casual clothes worn by many of the Imperial Knights. Reynos pondered for a moment, then replied casually. ¡°Ray.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it too short?¡± ¡°Then what do you want to call me?¡± But isn¡¯t Ray too much like a nickname? If I call him that way, we might be mistaken that we are truly dating. I have to be careful not to cross the line. While thinking like that, the carriage arrived in front of the boutique. I was escorted by Reynos and got off the carriage. Upon entering, the owner of the boutique and the staff greeted us right away. ¡°Welcome¡­ Ah.¡± Then they looked at me and Reynos and flinched. What? Hiding my doubts, I said casually. ¡°I want to see men¡¯s clothes.¡± ¡°Yes, I will prepare it soon.¡± The staff who checked Reynos¡¯s physique flocked to the shop. They¡¯re probably going to bring matching clothes. Me and Reynos headed to the waiting room under the guidance of Madame. It was when I was walking down the long hallway, there was a waiting room with the door wide open, and I glanced at it without thinking. ¡°You¡­¡± The person in the waiting room looked at me and frowned. I also reflexively frowned. Blue hair and blue eyes. It was Duval, a man with a good and smooth appearance. I didn¡¯t think he came alone. The moment I saw the curtained dressing room and the dresses in front of him, I had an intuition that he came with Tyrael. Duval, who was leisurely looking at the pamphlet, got up and approached. Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I was intentionally trying to avoid him. Duval, who came all the way to the front, asked fiercely. ¡°Is the rumor true?¡± ¡°What rumor?¡± ¡°This man.¡± Duval¡¯s gaze fell on Reynos. Reynos frowned as he looked at Duval. ¡°Are you really her lover?¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I laughed out loud at the absurd question. What do I have to say to get a good answer? Suddenly a good idea came to me and I winked at Reynos. Then I gently linked our arms and brought his body close, and spoke in a voice as if I were in love. ¡°Yes.¡± Reynos stiffened. Meanwhile, Duval looked as if he had been hit in the head with a hammer. Looking at the changing room, he lowered his voice and fired. ¡°You¡¯re leaving me and dating another man?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to break up with me anyways?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t really going to do it¡­ Ha, right. Did you want to get my attention like this?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Hey, take it easy. There are limits to what you should do.¡± ¡°What??¡± ¡°Did you think I¡¯d be nice to you if you brought a guy like this?¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± Still clinging to Reynos, I squinted my eyes as Duvall groaned in pain. Then, as if frustrated, he gritted his teeth, talking in a voice that Tyrael wouldn¡¯t hear in the changing room. ¡°Okay, fine¡­ You must have wanted to hear this, but no matter what kind of woman I meet, you are the one I love the most. Are we okay now?¡± What? I beg your pardon? Chapter 10 Chapter 2 Episode 10 I was stunned by the sudden confession of love. I forgot to point out that this is crazy bullshit. I was speechless and looked at Duval. Duval arrogantly raised his chin. ¡°Was that enough?¡± ¡°You¡¯re crazy.¡± It wasn¡¯t what I said. That¡¯s what Reynos said. Duval¡¯s complexion hardened at the unexpected meddling. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re crazy.¡± Reynos¡¯s face as he spoke was also cold. It¡¯s good to get angry instead of me, but it can lead to fights. I grabbed Reynos¡¯s wrist as a sign that I was going to solve it. However, I couldn¡¯t stop Duval¡¯s words that followed. ¡°I don¡¯t know where he came from.¡± Duval glanced up and down at Reynos. His expression was ferocious, but he wasn¡¯t intimidating because he was half a span shorter and had a different physique. ¡°It would have been better to fall for something nice.¡± ¡°Are you going to do it?¡± I felt a chill in Reynos. It was such a strong chill that even Duval, who seemed to grab his neck at any moment, took a step back. Raynos raised one corner of his mouth and ruffled his hair wildly. It was an action that only appeared a few times in the original work, and was only done when he was genuinely angry. I think that¡¯s exactly what happened when the woman was kidnapped. His eyes completely changed and he killed the criminals horribly. Judging by the look in his eyes, he seems to be losing his mind even now. ¡®Why?¡¯ Have you been that passionate in our acting? I don¡¯t know what it is, but I wanted to stop it before something big happens. ¡°Hold on, I-No, Ray.¡± It was at that time when I widened the gap between the two of them and intervened. ¡°Ciela!¡± A soprano-toned voice resounded in the waiting room. The sharp air as if walking on thin ice broke at once. I looked towards the sound. Tyrael, who had just come out of the dressing room, stood there with her eyes wide open. Like the female protagonist of this novel, Tyrael was very pretty today. She has shiny blonde hair and green eyes that resemble greenery. A slender body with white jade-like skin. An elegant gesture that anyone would look back at at least once. There¡¯s a dress- ¡®Wedding dress?¡¯ No, I was wrong. Tyrael was wearing a white dress reminiscent of a wedding dress. It seems that it is not for everyday use since the fabric was dragged on the ground. Did you come here to get a banquet dress? ¡°How are you¡­¡± Tyrael¡¯s voice, who had been muttering to herself, slowly faded. Like a person who struggled to hold back the desire to cry. Then, with both her hands raised up the rich skirt, she hurriedly ran over. ¡°How is your pain?¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes. It must¡¯ve hurt a lot.¡± Ah. Lately, I told May to send Tyrael back whenever she comes to see me with the excuse that I am sick. Idiot. Do you believe that? I replied coldly. ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± ¡°Thank God. I was worried.¡± Tyrael¡¯s face as she said that was still full of depth. Besides, it seemed like there was more to say. From the pattern of her behavior in the past, I could have guessed what she was going to say, but I asked while pretending I didn¡¯t know. ¡°Anything else?¡± Tyrael shrugged her shoulders as if she was about to cry at my blunt question. She soon bit her lip, and murmured in a voice barely audible. ¡°Hey, Ciela¡­ Are we still friends?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Thank God!¡± Tyrael smiled broadly at the answer without a single thought. She seems to be worried about me recently, ignoring her wherever I go. If that¡¯s the case, she shouldn¡¯t have had an affair with my fiance. Tyrael, fully relaxed from tension, grabbed Duval¡¯s arm tightly. Then she waved her dress. ¡°How about this?¡± She then released Duval¡¯s arm and spun around. Duval, who had been hardened up to that point, coughed slightly and finally answered. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s pretty.¡± ¡°What do you think, Ciela?¡± ¡°It¡¯s pretty.¡± ¡°Right? Hehe. I¡¯m going to wear it to the engagement party.¡± Hah¡­ That¡¯s why you¡¯re asking me I don¡¯t know what she¡¯s thinking. Is your head alright? I felt the urge to look into Tyrael¡¯s head for a moment. Perhaps he had the same thought, for Reynos made a sick noise. Duval glared at him fiercely, not sure if he didn¡¯t want his lover to be insulted. Tyrael also looked towards Reynos with her wide-open eyes, and only then seemed to notice that he was here. Like a girl who saw her first love, she blushed shyly. Then she said something strange. ¡°Who¡­?¡± Hey, don¡¯t you two know each other? Every time she saw him, she blushed, so I thought she knew him. Was it just because he was handsome then? I looked up at Reynos. The expression on Tyrael¡¯s face was like seeing him for the first time. After all, engagements of high-ranking officials are often political. It wasn¡¯t unusual for some couples to see each other for the first time at their engagement ceremony. If they don¡¯t have any affection for each other, they¡¯ll just have to get rid of the political relationship. It was a moment when I thought that this headwind could end sooner than I thought. Suddenly, Reynos gently wrapped his arms around my waist. The back of my head touched his hard chest. The refreshing citrus scent from him lingered on the tip of my nose. Reynos¡¯s opposite hand wrapped around my upper body, and in an instant, I was wrapped in his arms. Duval¡¯s face hardened when he saw it. Raynos then made the declaration, raising the corners of his mouth, and clearly provoked them. ¡°Me? I¡¯m the lady¡¯s lover.¡± ¡°¡­!¡± Tyrael¡¯s eyes widened as if quite surprised. Duval gritted his teeth with an angry look. ¡°Let¡¯s talk for a moment.¡± Duval reached out as if trying to get me out of Reynos¡¯s arms. However, that attempt was thwarted by Reynos¡¯s slight twist. Reynos, who gave more strength to the hand holding me, spoke sarcastically. ¡°Where did you learn the rudeness to reach out to someone else¡¯s lover?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I was going to say. Where and when did you learn to flirt with someone else¡¯s lover?¡± ¡°Hey, stop talking about yourself.¡± He said, raising his hand lightly. For a moment, I could clearly see Duval¡¯s water-colored eyes trembling as if an earthquake had occurred. He hid the agitation in an instant and called my name. ¡°Ciela, talk to me for a second.¡± ¡°We can talk here.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll only take a little while.¡± Seeing the two of us separately, Duval reached out again. Reynos, who was still holding me and avoiding Duval¡¯s hand, whispered. ¡°Are you going?¡± ¡°No.¡± I narrowed my eyes. Then I found Tyrael looking at Duval and me alternately with an expression of ¡®what the hell is this?¡¯ and I explained the situation. ¡°He said he still loves me.¡± ¡°¡­!¡± ¡°So don¡¯t do this, you have Tyrael.¡± Tyrael¡¯s eyes widened in embarrassment. Duval, even more bewildered, was flabbergasted. Reynos joined the war to fan the house on fire. ¡°I heard it too. He said that the person he loves the most is the young lady of Labyrinth.¡± ¡°Ah, Young master Essit¡­¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s a lie!¡± ¡°Why would I lie? We are friends.¡± Tyrael¡¯s face became more confused as I smiled nicely. Driven by that momentum, I asked the madam, who was standing in the corner like a decoration. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear? That this man said he loved me.¡± ¡°That, that¡­¡± Madame¡¯s eyes, feeling that she was suddenly in trouble, trembled. If she says yes, she will get the wrath of Essit, and if she says no, she will get the wrath of Labyrinth. We were high-quality customers not to be missed. So, without waiting for Madame¡¯s reply, I scolded Duval, who was smirking. ¡°Can¡¯t you relax your face? She can¡¯t speak because of you. Do you have anything to say?¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be, right?¡± Duval hastily denied it, but Tyrael refused to believe him, as it was difficult to dig out the seeds of doubt once sown. ¡°You said you only love me. You said you didn¡¯t love Ciela anymore!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go out and talk.¡± ¡°No, we are talking here! Did you really say that?¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. It seems that Ciela heard something wrong.¡± ¡°My ears are fine.¡± Duval gave a bitter look as if to shut my mouth. However, it wasn¡¯t long before he started working hard to comfort his crying lover. ¡°Let¡¯s go out and talk.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it. I hate it!¡± Reluctantly, Duval paid for the dress Tyrael was wearing. Then, as Tyrael, who was crying bitterly, was dragged out, he turned around. He didn¡¯t forget to mouth the next words with a ferocious look at me before he left. ¡®See you later.¡¯ ¡®No.¡¯ Duval, angry at my response, tried to say something again, but Tyrael¡¯s cry grew louder. ¡®See you tomorrow. I¡¯m going to your house.¡¯ With a wrinkled impression, he left the waiting room without delay after he left his last words. The sound of crying out saying he had deceived her and the soothing voice saying no were getting farther away. How sloppy. Chapter 11 Chapter 2 Episode 11 ~*~ After Duval and Tyrael left, Reynos¡¯s clothing selection went smoothly. The staff moved in unison with their eyes, wishing that they would go quickly together. As a result, we obtained clothes that did not harm the dignity of the Crown Prince, but kept a neat atmosphere. ¡®I think you will look good with anything you wear.¡¯ ¡°How have you been engaged to a guy like that for over 10 years?¡± After a satisfying shopping experience, Reynos asked, just getting into the wagon. I sat down on the carriage chair and tucked my skirt and answered. ¡°It¡¯s a family promise. Is there anything special?¡± ¡°Even so, it is strange that you endured it. You have great patience.¡± It¡¯s not me, it¡¯s the original Ciela¡¯s patience. Raynos frowned as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the backrest. ¡°I don¡¯t think Essit will let you go.¡± ¡°Ah, he¡¯s the one who said that he was going to break the marriage first. I also recorded it.¡± Duval¡¯s main specialty was speaking two words with one mouth. So, I always carried a magic tool for recording, and I made sure to record anything that could be evidence. Thanks to that, alimony will be given, so the talk about breaking the marriage was well recorded. So my breakup wasn¡¯t a problem. Rather- ¡°Have you not known about Tyrael?¡± ¡°¡­No.¡± With a strange expression on his face, he answered slowly. Hmmm, as I expected, the engagement story went back and forth without even seeing her face because of her purification ability. So, wouldn¡¯t it be less cumbersome to use Tyrael¡¯s bad behavior as an excuse to cancel the engagement than to have an affair with me? He doesn¡¯t even like Tyrael. That¡¯s what I thought, but, well, you¡¯ll figure it out There was something else I was really curious about. I subtly closed the corners of my eyes and said in a playful tone what I really wanted to ask. ¡°By any chance, you haven¡¯t changed your mind after seeing her face, have you?¡± In the original story, Tyrael fell in love with Reynos at first sight. Reynos¡¯s narrative also describes his first meeting with her as ¡°his heart had never pounded so hard¡±. When Tyrael announced that she would be engaged to Duval, the probability of going with the original story converged to zero. But looking at her expression, she seemed to have fallen in love with Reynos at first sight. So what about Reynos? Reynos blinked slowly at my question. With a languid expression that can¡¯t read what he¡¯s thinking. I asked again, giving specific examples of the behavior. ¡°It was because she was prettier than I thought, so maybe your heart was racing.¡± ¡°My chest rate¡­did increase.¡± Reynos spoke slowly and placed his right hand near his heart. In that state, when he gently lowered his gaze, the long, pretty golden eyelashes created a shadow under the eyes, creating a mellow atmosphere. Reynos spoke slowly and placed his right hand near his heart. Huh? Without realizing it, the smile faded away. I looked at Reynos with trembling eyes. Then he looked at me and gently rolled his eyes, and whispered in a voice dripping with honey. ¡°Because I was with the young lady.¡± ¡°Me?¡± As he pointed his finger at me, he nodded softly. ¡°Yes. I was happy to be able to say that I was the young lady¡¯s lover.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an honor.¡± How can he choose only such sweet words? I smiled prettily along with Reynos. ¡°I was happy to be able to call His Majesty my lover too.¡± ¡°¡­Yes. We are lovers.¡± He spoke softly and grabbed my hand. And with his lips pressed against the back of my hand, he looked at me with his enchanting golden eyes and whispered a little. ¡°Are you okay? I heard you were friends with Miss Puritina.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m okay. I got it all sorted out.¡± It was really good, so I smiled broadly in a sense of reassurance. Nevertheless, the shadows cast on Reynos¡¯s face were not removed. We were just people who have just got to know each other, and he worries too much. I turned to change the mood. ¡°I hope it all ends sooner, both for me and for your Majesty.¡± ¡°¡­I know.¡± A hot breath tickled the back of my hand. The feeling of his lips passed through my skin. I could feel my face heat up in the golden eyes that did not fall off easily. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I muttered as I remembered what had happened a while ago. ¡°As soon as we get the break-up letter, I will sign it and send it to you.¡± It¡¯s ridiculous to say that the person I love the most is me no matter who I meet. There are people who will be newly engaged, and I thought that I would talk about breaking up with nothing else. ~*~ ¡°Breakup? I have no intention of doing it.¡± The next day after going to the boutique, Duval, who had been coming since early morning, said something like this. ¡®Oh, what kind of bullshit.¡¯ My head was dazed because I was not awake. At the front door, they were screaming to call me right away, so I was just coming out in my pajamas and a robe. I downgraded Duval¡¯s rating from ¡®a man who still knows common sense¡¯ to ¡®a man with no answers¡¯. Duval twisted the corner of one of his lips sarcastically. ¡°Aren¡¯t you okay with hearing that we are going to break up the marriage? Did you want to cry?¡± Looking at his face, I think that was the correct answer. It was so amazing that I burst out laughing. ¡°Why me?¡± This, too, was not the expected response. ¡°Who am I doing this for¡­¡± Duval clenched his teeth while talking to himself incomprehensible. Then he roughly shook his head and said as if he was showing great kindness to me. ¡°Who are you doing this for¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll take care of my lover.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re going to say to your fiance?¡± ¡°You are my fiancee.¡± ¡°What about Tyrael?¡± ¡°Tyrael is just¡­¡± He bit his lips. But I could easily imagine the backstory. I taunted him. ¡°If Tyrael hears it, she will be upset.¡± ¡°I do not care.¡± ¡°I care. As Tyrael¡¯s friend, I can¡¯t get over it, can I?¡± ¡°Friend?¡± Duval burst out laughing. ¡°Are you serious?¡± I smiled sincerely. Duval stared at me with an incomprehensible look. ¡°I thought you changed a bit, but the naive-ness is still the same.¡± ¡°Send a breakup letter.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t let you go.¡± ¡°Then I will send it.¡± ¡°Do you think I will sign it? No, do you think the Marquis of Labyrinth will allow it?¡± ¡°What does my father have to do with you?¡± ¡°You might think it would be fine because of your superiority, but I promise. If you break your marriage, you will be kicked out of Labyrinth. If you don¡¯t want to get kicked out, do it right.¡± Duval unraveled the words roughly. Even so, his voice was unwavering and he seemed to firmly believe that a dignified person would never break the marriage. Well, I could understand why Duval was coming out like that. Twenty years ago, Labyrinth was like a beggar. It was said that the previous marquis was doing business and invested in scammers, and then they all rolled up. The former marquis committed suicide, leaving only the estate and the capital¡¯s mansion left from the imperial family. Therefore, my father, the present Marquis of Labyrinth, suffered from a sense of duty to rebuild a ruined family as soon as he took over the title. ¡®It was Duval¡¯s father, Count Essit, who helped him.¡¯ He was a merchant and a person who bought a title with money, but he did not see his will because of pressure from other nobles. However, when he joined hands with Labyrinth, who had a strong political position because he was the descendant of the hero who defeated the evil dragon but with no money, he flew like he grew wings. Well, actually, Marquis Labyrinth made the right choice. Because he saved the crumbling family by joining hands with the Count. If it were me, I would have done the same. It would have been great if I had just made it there. ¡®Why did you even make your child engaged?¡¯ As they have been doing business together for a long time, Essit and Labyrinth have become inseparable. To be each other¡¯s strong helpers means, in other words, to not become enemies that can stab each other¡¯s heart when you turn your back. So, Labyrinth and Essit engaged young Ciela and Duval to forge a lasting friendship. In fact, Count Essit was a lustful man, and his son Duval also inherited the Count¡¯s blood from an early age, and there were rumors that he was throwing flirts at the maids. This seems to have been more serious. ¡®Besides, before I possessed Ciel, she wanted Duval, so no matter how much Duval cheated on her, she would just cry about it.¡¯ In other words, Duval deserved the critique. However, ¡°I¡¯ll give you three days before I tell the Marquis of Labyrinth. Get it sorted out.¡± ¡°Do not be ridiculous.¡± I wasn¡¯t the Ciela Labyrinth of the past. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You are the one who should send a breakup within three days, that is, if you want to walk around in the social world.¡± ¡°You fell in love with that man. What about it makes that man so good?¡± ¡°Everything.¡± Duval¡¯s face hardened as I spoke with a slight twist on the corner of my lips. He then uttered a threatening remark. ¡°A final warning. While I still say nice things, break up right away. Even if you get hurt and regret later-¡± ¡°Master, you have a guest.¡± ¡°Open the door.¡± I ordered the butler who was fidgeting behind me as a sign that I had nothing more to say. Duval grinded his teeth. ¡°You¡¯ll regret it.¡± ¡°Send the breakup as soon as it¡¯s ready.¡± I turned my back on him after cutting off the conversation. I should go to sleep. I wasted my time. Behind, an angry Duval cried out, ¡®you¡¯ll regret it, Ciela!¡¯ Yes, do whatever you want. I tapped my yawning mouth and heard it with one ear and let it out in the other. ~*~ And after a few days. I could see why Duval warned that I would regret it. ¡°I got a request from the Count of Essit.¡± Leather, who was looking at the list of clients of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild, said nervously. ¡°He wants the affair to be solved. What should I do?¡± Chapter 12 Chapter 2 Episode 12 ¡°What should you do?¡± He wandered around eagerly to expand the guild, but it had already reached Duval¡¯s ears. Leather was making a lot of fuss saying that a big case had been received, and I had to go to work in the early morning. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a big deal, but the commission is funny. ¡°As the rule¡­ Whoa. I have to solve it. Don¡¯t take it.¡± I yawned and answered, sitting on that fancy master¡¯s sofa. Then, Leather, who looked at me with passionate eyes, asked a question at once. ¡°Are you in a relationship?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Oh oh. Who is that poor opponent?!¡± ¡°If you keep doing that, I will date you.¡± ¡°Oh! Don¡¯t say such terrible things!!!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I mean. Ha¡­¡± I covered my mouth, which kept yawning, with my palm. Then, with the other hand, I stroked the doll of the prince next to me. Leather, who firmly believed that doll is a cursed doll, did not realize at all who I was dating. ¡°Oh, and this is a receipt.¡± Leather held out a receipt saying it was a commission paid. Eh. As I was wiping the tears from my yawn, I doubted my eyes for a moment. I opened my eyes, wondering if I was still not awake, and counted the receipts one by one with my fingers. However, no matter how many times I counted, the amount written on the receipt did not change. ¡°Did you add two more zeros?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you the enemy? He was ripped off a bit.¡± Leather laughed proudly. ¡­This isn¡¯t a rip-off, it¡¯s raw strength. ¡°Great job. I¡¯ll give you 30%.¡± ¡°Awesome, Master!¡± Reward and punishment for sure. This was the operating principle of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. It was also the secret to creating a great guild with a 0% resignation rate and 100% satisfaction. Leather with a bright face disappeared somewhere, asking me to wait for a moment. Then, after a while, he brought peach iced tea with ice and a large fan, put the iced tea in my hand, and started fanning me. ¡®Well, it¡¯s like a real fan. Good.¡¯ In fact, there was no need for a fan since Leather added an automatic temperature control function to the room during the interior work, but such kindness was always welcome. ¡®It¡¯s worthwhile to take 30%.¡¯ When I closed my eyes in this state, it was as if I had been on vacation at the villa where the breeze was blowing. Then, something suddenly came to mind and I opened my eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a plan change. Let¡¯s accept the request.¡± ¡°Are you referring to the request of Count Essit?¡± ¡°Yes. Instead, take one more 0 from now on. So that¡¯s 1,000 times the regular price.¡± I decided to test how far Duval¡¯s money would go. If you keep paying, it¡¯s good, and if you don¡¯t, you don¡¯t. As if he understood what I was thinking, Leather burst into laughter without stopping the fan. ¡°Wow, the real devil.¡± ¡°I was going to give you 30%.¡± ¡°I always thought of Master as an angel.¡± ¡°Do not be ridiculous.¡± ¡°Hey, you know my heart.¡± The fanning then grew stronger. It¡¯s not cool now, it¡¯s cold. I closed my eyes and waved my hand to slow down. And I thought about the letter of divorce to send to Duval. ~*~ Duval was not in a good mood these days. ¡°This week¡¯s report.¡± The luxuriously decorated guest reception room of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. Duval stared at the man with the report. Did he say his name was Leather? They said that the master would move on his own, instead of the cost of the quest being exorbitantly high. He heard from rumors that the man in front of him who had an ordinary impression was the master of the guild. On the contrary, he looked innocent. However, as a result of his own investigation, the master of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild was Leather, so Duval silently looked down and checked the report. In it, Ciela¡¯s week¡¯s worth of work was fully contained. Visiting general stores, cafes, boutiques, and inviting noble girls to tea time at the mansion¡­ It was the routine of an aristocratic young lady. Duval carefully read the last page and frowned. ¡°Is this all?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Leather, who replied indifferently, turned to look at the picture on the wall. It was the attitude of a person who didn¡¯t care about anyone. Even so, he was upset, but at the end of that dry act, his tantrum broke out. Duval wrinkled the report with a grim look. To him, Leather gave an additional opinion in a low-pitched tone. ¡°As you can see, we are closely observing, but there are no unusual features.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t find any?¡± ¡°Are you doubting our abilities now?¡± When he narrowed his eyes in an unpleasant way, his gentle expression completely changed. A viper¡¯s eyes that seemed to hide deadly poison. Is he really the guild master? Duval was stern on the inside, but he replied bluntly, without showing any signs on the outside. ¡°That¡¯s what I saw. Obviously, Ciela has a lover. She herself said that herself, and she had witnesses besides me. Rumors have spread throughout the social world!¡± Leather shrugged his shoulders with a lifeless expression on his face. ¡°As far as I know, he¡¯s part of the temple.¡± ¡°Do you believe that?¡± ¡°We believe only what we see. Please understand that this is to prevent innocent victims. We¡¯re too busy solving other quests, so let¡¯s end this case-¡° ¡°Wait!¡± Duval clenched his teeth after he had stopped Leather from continuing. Then, he uttered his opinion in a trembling voice. ¡°I¡¯ll pay more money.¡± He was a suspicious person, so he not only used Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild, but also personally used people to investigate Ciela¡¯s whereabouts. However, no one knew as much as the Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. In other words, it was the only thing he believed in. In fact, all the people he summoned were silenced by Leather, who was following Ciela., so unfortunately, Duval didn¡¯t know that. When he said that he would pay more, Leather raised one corner of his mouth. It was a smile with a lot of meaning. ¡°How much?¡± Duval pondered for a moment, then lifted a quill and wrote the numbers on top of the report. It was the same amount as the request fee used so far. At that, Leather tilted his head. With an expression that doesn¡¯t look angry at something. Then he picked up the quill Duval had put down and added another zero. Duval was astonished. ¡°Crazy. That price to find out whereabouts?¡± ¡°If it doesn¡¯t come out after two weeks of being together, she¡¯s either innocent or completely hidden.¡± Leather leisurely rotated her index finger. ¡°Either way, you won¡¯t know unless you look closely. As you know, it costs a lot of money to be meticulous about anything.¡± ¡°No, anyway, this is¡­¡± That was the equivalent of Count Essit¡¯s quarterly expenses. Using this money won¡¯t destroy the family or anything like that, but it¡¯s not without damage either. In fact, there was already a slight blow to the amount used so far. ¡°If it¡¯s hard, there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡± After reading the hesitation, Leather tried to steal the report, and Duval hurriedly grabbed the end. ¡°I need time to think.¡± ¡°Time is gold. Especially for people like us.¡± ¡°What more are you trying to get? Here¡¯s ??the average cost. I must have already overpaid.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know where you came from, but there is no such thing as an average cost in our guild. Everyone is different.¡± Then Leather drew a line firmly. ¡°In your case, the subject we need to investigate is the ¡®Labyrinth of labyrinth¡¯, isn¡¯t it? If we do, we will be dragged into the labyrinth, but of course you will have to pay a risk allowance. That¡¯s why I, the master, don¡¯t move myself.¡± Duval¡¯s jaw tightened. ¡®Labyrinth of labyrinth¡¯¡­ That¡¯s right. Frightened by that, some intelligence guilds rejected the request to investigate Ciela. However, the cost was too high. At some point, Ciela, who was longing for only his love, suddenly brought up the breakup. Duval didn¡¯t think she really wanted them to break up. He had never imagined that she didn¡¯t love him. He wanted Ciela to act as blindly as she had before. So, in order to stimulate her sense of crisis, he persuaded her best friend Tyrael to break up the marriage. But then, it was as if Ciela had been waiting for the moment to happen. So he came here to mend his bad temper, but he couldn¡¯t even find evidence that Ciela had a lover, let alone find out who that blonde man was. What he had spent so far was enough money for a business. If his father found out, the house would be turned upside down. Maybe he¡¯ll be kicked out of his post. ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Leather, who had his chin on his hand with ease, smiled brightly. ¡°I think there have been reports of seeing a man who is close to Labyrinth. That his hair was gold¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Duval jumped up. Then he put a bar on his neck. ¡°Why are you saying that now?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m not sure. Isn¡¯t it impossible to catch a tough person?¡± Recalling the viciousness of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild again, Duval shuddered without realizing it. ¡°What would you like to do?¡± After throwing the bait he couldn¡¯t refuse, Leather laughed like a devil. ¡°Would you like to extend the investigation?¡± CH 13 Chapter 2 Episode 13 ~*~ Leather faithfully dealt with him as I told him. I can¡¯t be compared to him, but I¡¯ve been busy these days too. It was because an unknown man was regularly visiting me for dating counseling. ¡°Our guild is not a place to discuss dating counseling.¡± The guild¡¯s guest reception room was decorated with splendor. As I sat in the master¡¯s seat, I pretended to be in trouble and pressed down on my temples. ¡°So, why don¡¯t you pay more?¡± The man sitting opposite put a large money bag on the table. The sound of crashing gold coins against each other was quite heavy. He hid his face with a mask that ended at the tip of his nose, and he was a man with dull golden hair. I grunted deliberately while looking at the pretty eyes that looked like they had been graduated by half gold and red paint. ¡°If anyone hears it, they think we¡¯re accepting it for money.¡± ¡°Are you not?¡± ¡°No.¡± Huh. I folded my arms and raised my chin proudly to show that I was not moved by mere money. Then, I gracefully crossed my legs. In fact, there were complex reasons why I accepted the absurd request of ¡®dating counseling¡¯, where I had only received requests about affairs. First, because this man was the only customer who knew that Leather wasn¡¯t the real master. ¡®How did you know¡­¡¯ The second was that the ¡®first request record¡¯ with this man he left on his own was written in an absurd and insincere way. ¡®Dating Counseling.¡¯ ; There were only two words written on it. It was strange. I didn¡¯t even go through counseling in the first place, and I wasn¡¯t skilled enough to be alone with a man who just came for ¡®dating counseling¡¯. So, I looked back at my memories of what kind of dating counseling I had, but I only remembered the conversation I had with a man, but I couldn¡¯t remember the details of the conversation. ¡®Hmm.¡¯ So, the second time a man came for dating counseling, I gladly accepted it. When we met, I wanted to remember what the first consultation was like. However, there was nothing special about it other than staring intently at me, asking, ¡®why doesn¡¯t it work?¡¯ I was wondering what he was doing, so I met him three times with the desire to see him one more time, I met him four times, and then until the fifth time- ¡°The dessert shop you recommended back then was fine.¡± My thoughts were interrupted by the voice praising me. Okay, I thought you¡¯d be satisfied. It¡¯s a restaurant where two people eat. The corners of my lips went up with the pride that I mentioned the restaurant to the unknown man. After all, praise makes the cat- no, even the whale dance. ¡°Right?¡± ¡°Well. The young lady was also quite satisfied.¡± ¡°Because I knew she would be. Have you tried the green grape tart?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then you didn¡¯t eat the most important thing.¡± I was really sorry. The dessert shop I mentioned was famous for its tarts made with seasonal fruits. It¡¯s only made in small quantities, so if you don¡¯t go quickly, the only flaw is that you can¡¯t eat it. ¡®When I went with Reynos, there was only one left, so I ate it myself.¡¯ We were going to eat it together, but Reynos agreed that he didn¡¯t like sweet things. ¡®I¡¯ll have to go back and buy it later.¡¯ ¡°The crepes are good too, not just tarts. Try it later. Have you been to the opera house? I heard that the voice of the female lead actress was very good.¡± ¡°No, because we were short on time.¡± ¡°Okay, sorry. Now-¡° I spread the map I brought with me on the table. The locations of shops suitable for dating in the capital, such as cafes, dessert shops, bakeries, and workshops, were indicated. I pointed to a place on the map with the tip of a quill. ¡°Have you been to this bakery?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± That means you have been there. Then let¡¯s exclude it. ¡°What about here?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Okay, I¡¯ll put this on the next date course. I checked the places recommended in the previous consultation as if doing homework. The man answered honestly. After confirming that, in order to plan a new date course, I asked a question to the man who sat loftily as if he were of a royal family. ¡°Is there a special place she likes to go to?¡± ¡°Focus on good restaurants, because she likes to eat delicious things.¡± ¡°Meat? Pasta? Ravioli-¡° ¡°She said it doesn¡¯t really matter what kind.¡± ¡°Aha.¡± I¡¯ve never met a person who doesn¡¯t really care. They¡¯re usually the most difficult people in the world. ¡®I should just recommend the ones I like.¡¯ This is the fault of the person who clearly doesn¡¯t know. It means you can¡¯t blame me later. I glanced down at the map, gently tickling my chin towards the quill¡¯s collar. Be sure to include here, which is famous for steak, and leave it out here. Considering the route mainly to popular places¡­ I started to write on a blank piece of paper next to the map, looking for places to go. It was written with my other hand to hide my handwriting, so the letters were crooked, but not to the point of being unrecognizable. The man would stare at my actions like that, and then he would pause and ask questions like: ¡°Why is this restaurant not on the list? Marquis Vincent recommended- no, I heard it¡¯s a good place.¡± ¡°This? From whom did you hear that? It¡¯s a mess since Marquis Vincent built it roughly to steal slush funds. Well, if you want to go, I won¡¯t stop you.¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s okay.¡± Suddenly I saw the man¡¯s hand tremble. It seemed that he was angry with the person who gave him the wrong information. ¡®Where did you hear such nonsense?¡¯ It¡¯s a fact that you can immediately know even if you¡¯ve been involved in the social world for a little bit. ¡®Aren¡¯t you an aristocrat? Or shouldn¡¯t you have built walls with social circles?¡¯ I tilted my head and continued to do my job. Well, okay. I can also use this date course for Reynos and I. I¡¯ll just need to change the order and a few places. These days, the dates were completely led by me. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t know that Reynos would sneak out his notebook every time I didn¡¯t look with a bitter look on his face. ¡°Here, this week¡¯s recommended course.¡± Whoo, it¡¯s a really good date course that I planned. I pretended to be wiping off sweat that didn¡¯t come out, and pushed the paper I had been scribbling towards the man. Then the man roughly nodded and began to take notes in his notebook. I glanced at his busy pen, and opened my mouth at a sudden thought. ¡°By the way. Do you have any friends?¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± The man who had been diligently taking notes stopped. He seemed to be puzzled by the endless questions. I shrugged my shoulders, meaning I wasn¡¯t serious. ¡°Well, it¡¯s just, don¡¯t you usually do this with friends?¡± Not a Guild Master. The man seemed to be contemplating an answer. In the past, I would have sharpened my mind not to ask for personal information, but after meeting five times, it felt quite normal. ¡°There is no one for me to call it that.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± If so, it is understandable that he keeps coming to me for dating counseling. ¡°First love?¡± ¡°Does it look like it?¡± The man raised his eyebrows as if he was annoyed. That action convinced me. It¡¯s your first love. I was heartbroken. It¡¯s his first relationship, so he doesn¡¯t know where to ask and it¡¯ll be frustrating. As I recalled my first love, which suddenly ended in a mess and full of regrets, I felt moved. ¡®You¡¯re fighting. Have a pretty date with no regrets.¡¯ I looked at the man who was taking notes diligently. Then, I asked the question with the heart of a senior who wants to help their junior. ¡°Is your dating going well?¡± ¡°¡­? Why are you asking that?¡± ¡°I want to help. If there is anything difficult or you¡¯re not sure of, please ask.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going well, you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I leaned back on the sofa and pouted my lips. He was going to take care of it, but it hurts my heart when it comes out like that. The man who took his eyes off the notebook glanced at me. Then he mumbled low, knowing that he was being too aggressive. ¡°These days, I¡¯m reading a book related to dating. Do you have any recommendations?¡± ¡°A book?¡± ¡°Well. What I¡¯ve read so far are: , <101 Wolf¡¯s techniques to capture a young girl at once>, , ;, and-¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait. What are you reading?¡± Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only I couldn¡¯t close my open mouth. Realizing that something was wrong with my reaction, the man asked anxiously. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Why are you reading those?¡± ¡°To study?¡± CH 14 Chapter 2 Episode 14 ¡°Huh? Who studies love in writing!¡± ¡°If not writing, what should I study?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to study to know!¡± Although my ex-boyfriend and I had a trashy relationship, I still have 5 years of dating experience. I put my right hand close to my heart and gave advice as a dating senior. ¡°Dating is done with your heart.¡± ¡°Heart?¡± ¡°Sir, do you like the young lady?¡± ¡°Well.¡± The man¡¯s earlobes and cheeks turned red. I looked at him and asked solemnly. ¡°Do you love her?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you want to make her happy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°By showing only pretty things and feeding only good things?¡± Nods. ¡°What about plans about children?¡± ¡°Two sons, three daughters¡­ Wait¡­¡± He paused as he answered involuntarily. She¡¯s going to give birth to five, so I don¡¯t know who it is, but it must be difficult. If it were me, I¡¯d run away. In any case, the role of a man is important to have that many children. I spoke quickly before the man came to his senses and protested why I was asking that. ¡°Then read something other than what you are reading now.¡± ¡°Other?¡± ¡°Yes. or .¡± ¡°Are you not ashamed?¡± The man who interrupted me turned his head quickly. His face heated up, as if he had been severely insulted. ¡°You asked for a recommendation, so I made a recommendation.¡± ¡°How could I do that if we aren¡¯t married yet?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean together. You can do it alone. Or get married and see each other. You have already made plans for your children.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You can¡¯t have children just by holding hands.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If you want to have five, wouldn¡¯t you have to study diligently from now on?¡± ¡°Then¡­ I¡¯ll go.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I called out the titles of the books that I knew. The man diligently wrote down whatever I said despite his embarrassment and groaning. ¡°-Finally, I will also recommend . If you read this thoroughly, you will receive a lot of love.¡± ¡°¡­Have you read all of this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a trade secret.¡± I shrugged. Although we hid our identities from each other, I knew that I was also ashamed. Suddenly, the man whose face had returned to his original color looked at me. ¡°It looks like a lot of it comes from experience. You must be loved by your lover.¡± ¡°Hmm. Anyways, books are books, but there are other important things.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Talk a lot. Arguments always start with a small misunderstanding. Keep in mind that only honest conversations make for a healthy relationship.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± The man who nodded his head wrote again. I was a little excited about his sincerity, and I felt like a teacher and told him about what I thought of an ¡®ideal relationship¡¯. After teaching so many things, it was time to finish it slowly. The man who closed his notebook and finished preparing to go back looked at me with a proud face. ¡°Thank you. You are really talented.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a little bit.¡± Whoops. Compliments are always good. With a smile, I folded the map on the table and took the bag of money. Is this another solution? It¡¯s always fun to hear other people¡¯s love stories if it wasn¡¯t like a request to catch an affair, but something like this every day. ¡°Then¡­¡± The man got up from his seat. I saw him off with all my heart. ¡°¡­Come again.¡± ¡°I will.¡± The man left the guild with satisfaction. He didn¡¯t forget to give five stars to the guild reviews. ~*~ After a successful consultation, I returned to the Master¡¯s room and Leather was waiting for me with a smile on his face. ¡°Count Essit made an additional request.¡± Then, he presented a ledger with his earnings so far, and only after seeing it did I understand why he was so excited. ¡°Isn¡¯t he a complete pushover?¡± In the ledger, an amount that far exceeded the budget of Marquis Labyrinth for one year was written on it. He spent this much money just to get my false whereabouts. It was excellent for a short-term achievement. I¡¯m going to use it more in the future. Pls read only at pinkmuffintl. Looking at me nodding my head, Leather opened his mouth. ¡°This is my personal opinion, but why don¡¯t you start a business with this money?¡± ¡°Do you have a business sense?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Neither do I.¡± I thought about starting a business with the money I had collected from the guild. However, it was only because of the small size that I was able to lead Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. If there was someone who could help, it was a little burdensome to lead a large-scale business. Is there anyone I can do business with? ¡®The notary¡¯s wife says she has a good business sense, though that¡¯s what the original story said.¡¯ Oh, by the way, the notary reminded me of something I had forgotten. ¡®Why doesn¡¯t the notary come?¡¯ Under the Imperial Law, a notary public who participated in the engagement ceremony was required to approve the divorce. This was a rule that even the royal family could not avoid, let alone the aristocracy. The notary public at Duval¡¯s engagement with me was Count Valentine of the East, famous for its gold mines. Although he has now passed away and his successor has succeeded, I had called the present Count of Valentine, since all I needed was an autograph from the ¡®Valentine¡¯s Count¡¯. ¡®It¡¯s been over a month since I called, so why didn¡¯t you come?¡¯ That night, I wrote a letter to the Count of Valentine. [When will you come? If you will be late, please let me know your schedule. I¡¯m waiting.] But he still didn¡¯t answer ¡°A new request has arrived. It is an affair.¡± A few days later, I could hear the news related from the request letter that Leather gave me. ~*~ After some time I heard the news that Count Valentine had come to the capital, and I went to see him. He was staying at a luxury hotel in the center of the capital, and he was greatly embarrassed as he did not know that I would come to him. ¡°I am sorry for not replying. It was difficult to give a definite answer because of a lot of busy work.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t talk much. Just sign it.¡± According to Leather, he was not busy, but rather enjoyed drinking and gambling. I didn¡¯t want to talk for a long time with the person who also committed an affair, so I put the divorce papers I brought with me on the desk. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry to change my word, but I don¡¯t think I can sign it.¡± The count sneakily avoided my eyes as he uttered those words. For a moment, I felt uncomfortable, and my voice became sharp. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Count Essit says that he had no intention of breaking the engagement, and if the young lady of Labyrinth asks for a notarization than to please refuse-¡± ¡°Is it because the Count is dating his sister?¡± Perhaps he didn¡¯t know that I had come this far, for he flinched. I took out the recording magic tool I brought. When I pressed the button, Duval¡¯s unlucky voice leaked out whenever I heard it. [I didn¡¯t come here because of this, but I¡¯m going to tell you now. I want you to divorce me. The alimony will be generously paid.] ¡°Even though there is evidence like this that he wants to break up the marriage, you won¡¯t give it a notarization?¡± ¡°The Count said he was insane at that time.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t take back words once it¡¯s spoken. Wouldn¡¯t it be the same if he were not out of his mind?¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry for what has happened.¡± So that¡¯s why there was no reply to my letter. When he replied that he wouldn¡¯t notarize, I felt uncomfortable. It¡¯s going to come out like this. ¡°Hah.¡± I raised one corner of my mouth and took the certificate. ¡°Anyway, all I need to do is get the autograph of the ¡®Valentine¡¯s Count¡¯, right? It won¡¯t matter if the Count doesn¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Confused by my strange words, the Count flinched. I smirked and ridiculed him. ¡°Then, have a pretty date.¡± It will all be over soon though. I left without saying a word. Then I recalled the request I had received from Leather. [Please help me divorce my husband who is having an affair. Client: Countess Valentine] You are dead now, Count. I¡¯ll show you the best execution speed ever since the guild was founded. With that in mind, I suggested for Reynos and I to go on a date at an art exhibition organized by Essit. ~*~ I waited for Reynos under the clock tower in front of the building where the art exhibition was held. As I waved my hand toward him, who was seen in the distance, I rushed to him. ¡°Sorry, did you wait long?¡± ¡°No. You can come slowly. There is still plenty of time left.¡± I was the one who left early for the appointment for a walk, so I said it was okay, but Reynos patted his sweat-drenched forehead with his sleeve and muttered to himself. ¡°¨CWe talked a lot. Only dialogue can lead to a healthy romantic relationship-¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Saying that, Reynos looked a lot hotter. The casual clothes worn by the imperial knights were long sleeves and long pants for summer. Although it was a thin material, it must have been hotter than the shorter one. I took out a white handkerchief and wiped the sweat dripping down his cheek. ¡°You must be sensitive to heat.¡± ¡°No, I¡­¡± He took the wet handkerchief from me. ¡°I¡¯ll wash this for you later.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°I want to do it.¡± In the end, I meekly gave up the handkerchief. Reynos carefully folded the handkerchief and put it in his arms as if he were handling a fragile thing. ¡°What did you do yesterday?¡± I took his hand and led him to the exhibition hall, saying hello. However, for some reason, the man¡¯s face turned red when the question was asked. ¡°Yesterday¡­¡± He mumbled for a while. Then I stopped and turned around, unable to understand, and he finally answered in a voice that could barely be heard. ¡°¡­I read.¡± ¡°Hm? I beg your pardon?¡± ¡°I read a book.¡± CH 15 ¡°Ah.¡± Since he is the Crown Prince, he must have read things about imperialism, economics, and military studies. But I don¡¯t know why his face is getting redder. Well, by the way, does he even read such books? ¡®It¡¯s not impossible¡­¡¯ ¡°What book did you read?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Reynos, who had been pondering for a long time, just glossed over that and said what I thought he was reading. I guess I¡¯m right. You don¡¯t have to be ashamed. I am a woman who fully understood your duties, so I replied pretending not to notice. ¡°It¡¯s always a pleasure to learn new knowledge.¡± ¡°Uh, um, yes.¡± Raynos nodded his head seriously. Then, the moment our eyes met, he was startled and averted my gaze. Now his face and the nape of his neck was red. Did you read something else to get that reaction? I was curious, but couldn¡¯t ask. ~*~ As always, the date with Reynos was fun. But the main purpose of the day was to meet none other than the Countess Valentine, so I tried to ask Reynos for a moment- ¡°I¡¯m sorry, young lady, I think I need to leave for a while.¡± At the same time, Reynos brought out the story first. As the Crown Prince, he was very busy, so he would often be absent this way during our dates. ¡°Maybe an hour? Or it could take longer. Would you like to go back? I will pick you up.¡± ¡°No, there¡¯s still a lot to see, so I¡¯ll wait here.¡± I readily accepted his absence. And as soon as I was alone, I quickly moved toward the destination. ¡®She said she would be in front of the cat dancing statue.¡¯ Before coming here, the Countess and I had been writing letters and deciding where to meet. The Count had attached guards to his wife which were to be taken care of by the Countess¡¯s maidservants. The statue exhibition room is over there, and the cat dancing statue is in the innermost part of them, so if I go a little further from here- ¡°¡­So, this statue is a tribute to an artist named Malek 182 years ago! Because of the last will he left, it is said that it is more valuable than anything else!¡± ¡°You really know everything, Miss Puritina.¡± ¡°I¡¯m flattered.¡± -Why can I hear Tyrael¡¯s voice? With an ominous foreboding, I hurried my steps. Correspondingly, the conversation between Tyrael and Countess Valentine became clearer. The conversation about the statue soon led to a personal story. ¡°¡­So, we are getting engaged soon!¡± ¡°Oh, congratulations. I don¡¯t know who he is, but you¡¯re in luck. I mean, you¡¯re in a relationship with such a smart person.¡± ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s all thanks to my friend.¡± ¡°Your friend?¡± ¡°Yes, who-¡± ¡°Hello, Tyrael.¡± I¡¯ve never had a friend like you. Before my name came out, I greeted her bluntly. ¡°Ciela!¡± Tyrael, who expressed her pleasure with her unique soprano voice, ran up and clasped her arms around mine. Then she proudly introduced me to the Countess. ¡°She¡¯s my friend whom I just told you about!¡± ¡°Ah, you are Miss Labyrinth. Nice to meet you.¡± Countess Valentine, who seemed bewildered by my sudden appearance, lowered her head slightly. And the moment she lifts her head up again. ¡®Who sees this woman as a countess?¡¯ I doubted my eyes. Her auburn hair curled up roughly as if she had just woken up. Her skin was rough, and dark shadows were seen thickly beneath her piercing eyes. Her chapped lips have white burrs, and ¡ª Upon closer inspection, one cheek was swollen blue. There was a mark covering her wounds with make-up. ¡®Wow.¡¯ That¡¯s why there were guards put around her. There was also domestic violence in the referral report, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be this much. It was a time when I was thinking that it was brave for her to come out today, the ignorant Tyrael chirped like a youthful lark. ¡°Ciela, this is the Countess of Valentine. She said she originally lived in the East, but she came because she wanted to see this exhibition.¡± Once again, the Countess lowered her head. ¡°I¡¯m Arya Valentine.¡± Tyrael looked at the Countess with sympathetic eyes. Judging by her eyes, it seems that she wants to be friends. Maybe it¡¯s because she grew up in a slum and has just recently joined the aristocratic society. Tyrael would always look at noble wives with longing eyes. She became acquainted with her, and she fretted. When I recalled that, my strange grumpiness surged up, and I muttered out loud. ¡°I¡¯m Ciela Labyrinth, Tyrael¡¯s obstacle to love.¡± ¡°Obstacle¡­to love?¡± ¡°The man who will be engaged to Tyrael is my current fiance.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± Astonishment filled the eyes of the Countess, who was bewildered. The Countess looked at me and Tyrael in turn. Her pupil, shaking like an earthquake, seemed to ask what happened. I answered indifferently. ¡°My fiance said she was going to his new lover, so I decided to send her off well.¡± ¡°Oh, by the way, Ciela¡­¡± Tyrael, who had her arms crossed, pulled me closer. Frowning my brow at her unpleasant touch, I tried to brush her off, but I stopped at the whispered sentences. ¡°Young master Essit doesn¡¯t love you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I asked. He said it was just nonsense, and it wasn¡¯t the truth. Are you happy?¡± I don¡¯t know why I should be happy, but I nodded my head roughly. If she finds out that Duval put in a request saying he doesn¡¯t want to break up with me, she¡¯ll faint. But¡­ Will she? ¡°There¡¯s a story I¡¯m also thinking about.¡± I spoke as if whispering to Tyrael, but so that the Countess Valentine, frozen by the side, could hear it clearly. Pls read only at pinkmuffintl. ¡°Do you know of a place called Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. They say it¡¯s a guild that catches infidelity.¡± Tyrael blinked innocently. It¡¯s convenient because I don¡¯t have to explain. I darkened my complexion like a person contemplating whether or not to tell a difficult story. I lowered my gaze and bit my lower lip slightly. I remained there for a moment, then opened my mouth just before the bewildered Tyrael asked what happened. ¡°Actually¡­ Never mind.¡± ¡°¡­? Why? What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± And then, I sighed deeply, like someone in deep trouble. Tyrael, who was clinged to the action, made a loud noise. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Never mind.¡± ¡°¡­By any chance, is it something related to young master Essit?¡± ¡°No.¡± Contrary to what I said, I had a sad expression on my face. Then, as if noticing something, the smile slowly started to disappear from Tyrael¡¯s face. I glanced at her with a side squint, then let out a long sigh. And I whispered that I really didn¡¯t want to say it, but I felt compelled to say it for her. ¡°Someone has seen Duval go into that guild building. Of course, it could be an illusion, but¡­¡± Is it really an illusion? That word contained such a meaning. Trust, once cracked, cannot be restored no matter what. Tyrael, who remembered being hurt by Duval, immediately understood what I was trying to say. Why did Duval go to Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild? He probably didn¡¯t want to turn himself in, but he went to check on his fiance¡¯s affair.. ¡®It means that he still has a heart.¡¯ Tyrael¡¯s face turned white when she realized this. Her whole body trembled as if she had seen a ghost, and she asked in a voice that seemed to be about to cry. ¡°Maybe, maybe you¡­ Do you still like young master Essit?¡± Would you like me to? ¡°No.¡± Her face, which looked like she was about to cry, brightened up a little at my resolute words. She mentioned what she had heard earlier made her stomach twist as she wished it had gone away. ¡°Then why is he going alone? Didn¡¯t you come with Duval? I saw him earlier and he was in front of a huge statue of a cow.¡± ¡°Oh, I got lost¡­ Thank you.¡± As soon as I finished my words, Tyrael ran towards the giant cow statue. Having her tears stream down seemed to be more chaotic than what happened in the boutique. It was a pity I couldn¡¯t watch it. I glanced at the fading blonde with blurred eyes, then turned and stared at the Countess of Valentine. It was as if her eyes were shaking like she was thinking, ¡®What kind of relationship is this?¡¯ ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll go too.¡± The Countess, who made eye contact with me, hurriedly tried to avoid me. ¡°I came from Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild.¡± Then she jumped at my words. Right, she probably doesn¡¯t know that a good-looking kid like me could be a guild member. In fact, I thought about it until the very end. As always, I would have Leather do it, or I¡¯ll move there myself. After much deliberation, I came to a conclusion. ¡®There¡¯s nothing wrong with making friends with the Countess. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s a light-mouthed person.¡¯ Whether it¡¯s a breakup, or business-related things. It was a good situation in many ways once we got to know each other. In addition, Count Valentine, who offered to sign the divorce papers but changed his words, annoyed me, so I decided to proceed with this quest myself. ¡®Of course I won¡¯t reveal that I am the Master.¡¯ The Countess, in embarrassment, fumbled and opened her mouth. ¡°Ah, miss, what kind of relationship do you have with that guild¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a part-time job.¡± ¡°¡­! Have you ever received threats from the guild-¡± ¡°No, I do it because I like it.¡± ¡°Can I report it to the security guard? No, you better report it. It is a very dangerous place!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not okay!¡± The guild that catches affairs should not have a good image, and Leather offered to make that image, but this seemed a bit harsh. How the hell did we get such a bad image? ¡°I heard that the master there is so dangerous. They say they turn people into dolls and curse them!¡± Wow. CH 16 Chapter 2 Episode 16 ¡°It¡¯s not very dangerous as long as you don¡¯t do it wrong.¡± I then diverted the subject to another place. ¡°I¡¯ll ask for confirmation. You want a divorce, right?¡± ¡°¡­Yes that¡¯s right. I want to part ways.¡± Tears welled up in the corner of the countess¡¯ eyes and ran down her cheeks. ¡°But my husband won¡¯t let me go. Because the moment we become separate men and women legally, my husband¡¯s title returns to me¡­¡± Ah. Countess Valentine was a woman of love of the century. Born as a noble, she married a commoner man out of love. She even gave her husband the title she was supposed to receive, and she chose to remain as a countess herself. ¡®In other words, the present Count of Valentine is a commoner.¡¯ But Count Valentine did not appreciate the grace for a long time, and instead fell in love with alcohol, gambling, and playing with women. Of course, the gold mine passed down from generation to generation for Count Valentine was freely used, and even her family members were guaranteed not to stand there. He was an asshole like Duval. ¡°I know. So we have to force him to get a divorce.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll catch the affair.¡± The empire was in a situation where various systems were prepared to solve the overflowing infidelity. And I was going to help Countess Valentine by using one of those systems that ¡®can divorce or break up unilaterally without trial when a spouse or fiance has slept with another person¡¯. Unlike Duval, Count Valentine¡¯s life was rather scandalous. Realizing the meaning of what I said, the countess muttered with a dark complexion. ¡°So how do you¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s why there¡¯s a guild.¡± It was then that I heard someone coming. I stopped talking to her and looked towards the sound. And I frowned at the appearance of the familiar people. Likewise, the Countess, having identified those who were getting close, withdrew her body. She clearly looked terrified. ¡°There you are.¡± Count Valentine approached with a pretentious voice. His tone and expression were so soft, he seemed like a man who really loved his wife to those who didn¡¯t know what was going on. Beside him were Duval, who frowned, and Leila Essit, Duval¡¯s sister. Unfortunately, Tyrael was not there. She ran too far and seemed to not cross paths. It would have been worth a look if they had met. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you for a while.¡± Count Valentine, who showed a friendly smile, reached out. The Countess only backed away from her faltering, but she couldn¡¯t resist. Taking a deep breath, I naturally cut between the two of them. ¡°I see you again, Count.¡± ¡°¡­Miss Labyrinth.¡± The Count looked at me and hardened his face slightly. I grabbed the Countess¡¯ wrist, which was trembling behind me. I was thinking of leaving this place since the disruptors appeared. ¡°Well, we¡¯re busy.¡± The countess flinched as if surprised, but she didn¡¯t raise let go of hand. However, before I could even take a single step, the Count blocked my way. When I asked with my eyes what was going on, the Count opened his mouth coldly. ¡°I have something to tell my wife.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t finished the conversation with her.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you do it here?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s a lady¡¯s secret.¡± The count¡¯s face contorted when I showed I had no intention of backing down. After exchanging a few more words, he decided that it was difficult to deal with me, so he changed his goals and spoke to the Countess. ¡°Tell me. Who has more priority, me or Miss Labyrinth?¡± The Countess¡¯ eyelids trembled in terror. I took a step forward and completely cut off her from the Count. Then I gave strength to my eyes and said sarcastically. ¡°What are you doing now? You want her to take sides?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Miss, but it¡¯s an urgent conversation¡ª¡± ¡°I am also in a hurry. If the Count hadn¡¯t intervened, the conversation would have been over sooner, but I wonder what this is doing?¡± WhenI responded so coldly that I thought it was rude, the Count hesitated. It seemed that he was taken aback by my attitude, which was rumored to be meek. In the meantime, I took the countess¡¯s hand and moved. The hesitant Countess closed her eyes and followed, stiffening her body. It was time to pass by Duval in that state. ¡°Wait a minute, madam. Can you spare me a moment?¡± Duval, who came out with a disapproving face and watched the disturbance of Count Valentine, intervened. I stopped the countess before she got involved with him. ¡°Madam, did you say you didn¡¯t know who the Count¡¯s affair was with?¡± ¡°¡­?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Leila Essit. Duval even introduced me to her.¡± ¡°¡­!¡± The countess¡¯ hands trembled. In fact, it was a fraudulent play by the Essit brother and sister who aimed for the Valentine money, but there was no need to tell her that. I pulled the Countess in, saying let¡¯s go quickly. ¡°Ciela!¡± Pls read only at pinkmuffintl. It must have been unpleasant that things went wrong because of me. Awkwardly, Duval, who had gnawed his teeth, called me with an angry voice. Either way, I went my way. Then Duval screamed behind us. ¡°The only time you¡¯re running wild is now. Would you come back if you knew what I was doing? There¡¯s no point in regretting it. Be prepared, because when you get down on your knees and beg, I won¡¯t accept it!¡± Those confident words reminded me of Leather. Every time he handed him a fake report, he told me that Duval was very pleased. ¡°Okay? I will never accept you no matter what!¡± His voice echoed through the hall. Yes. Keep barking. I diligently moved my steps and shook my head gently. ¡®I¡¯m going to have to ask Leather to raise the price.¡¯ Considering that you believe in fake reports so strongly, it would be okay to raise the price even more. At this point, I¡¯ll have to dry up Duval¡¯s money chain. ~*~ (3rd person pov) ¡°What is this, Count? You said there would be no problem!¡± The place where Ciela and the Countess Valentine left, Leila, Duval¡¯s younger sister and Count Valentine¡¯s mistress, exclaimed. Originally, they had tried to get the Countess Valentine, who had a great business sense, to help with the new business envisioned on the sheet. Then, unexpectedly, Ciela appeared and took her. She even introduced Leila to the Countess. They didn¡¯t know how she found out, but it seemed the Countess, who had learned the truth, would be far from helping Essit. Not knowing that Leila was after his money, the Count, who fell in love with her and lost his mind, broke into a cold sweat. ¡°I, that¡¯s not it.¡± ¡°And you, my brother, what are you doing when you can¡¯t even keep your fiance?!¡± ¡°How is that my fault?¡± Duval, who was still annoyed by Ciela, raised his voice. Leila, who was angry at him, shot at him. ¡°Anyway, I heard that you fell in love with her best friend or whatever, what the hell are you going to do? What will you do if there is even talk of breaking up the marriage?¡± ¡°I have no intention of breaking up. There are other things to do, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Duval thought of Leather, the master of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. Although it was an expensive payment that made his eyes pop out, it was well worth it. Right at that moment. ¡°Young master Essit-!¡± A shrill voice ripped the air. Duval, startled by the familiar voice, turned around in confusion. ¡°You are here! Talk to me for a minute! Is it true that you still love Ciela?!¡± Tyrael, covered in tears and runny nose, was running towards him like an angry rhinoceros. His body shuddered at how fierce her momentum was. Duval unknowingly took a step backwards from her. Then he turned around and walked quickly as if he had thought of an urgent matter for an instant, then turned around the corner and started running away in earnest. ¡°Wait! Wait a minute! Young master Essit! It¡¯s me, it¡¯s Tyrael!¡± Tap, tap, tap. Instead of Duval¡¯s inaudible voice, only the sound of hasty footsteps filled the exhibition room. Tyrael exclaimed sadly. ¡°Young master Essit-!¡± A cry of loss rang out in a mournful way. Tyrael, who mistook Duval for not seeing her and just left, pursued him eagerly. After a single storm, silence came. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Leila and Count Valentine, bewildered, looked at where those two had disappeared. Then, Leila, who first came to her senses, opened her mouth. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°Your wife. Isn¡¯t she supposed to help the business?¡± ¡°¡­Do we really need my wife?¡± ¡°How many times do I have to explain?¡± At the really stupid question, Leila got angry. Arya Valentine¡¯s business sense was unparalleled. Among the families that closely interacted with, she helped Essit run a cafe. It opened in an excellent location, but the business did not go as well as expected, so while trying to close, she heard Arya¡¯s advice which has made it now one of the famous cafes in the capital. Leila groaned fiercely. ¡°I only trusted the Count and pushed ahead with it, but if something goes wrong, it¡¯s the Count¡¯s responsibility. You know?¡± ¡°Hey, what would you like me to do?¡± The Count asked urgently as if there was going to be talk about breaking up. Leila crossed her arms and snorted in exasperation. ¡°You have to make your wife help the business.¡± ¡°How¡­¡± ¡°Do I even have to tell you that? Hmm¡­ Does your wife have a man? If she does, I think we can do something about it.¡± At Leila¡¯s words, Count Valentine looked back at the guard¡¯s report that had been attached to his wife. It said: She was just stuck in her room with no motivation¡­ She was in no situation to meet anyone because she drank and wielded violence when in panic, which made her stop going out for fear of getting caught up in gossip. ¡®If I had known it would be like this, I would have released her a little bit.¡¯ He regretted his choice. Then he suddenly remembered a sentence he heard while gambling. There is no such thing as ¡®nothing¡¯ in the world. If not, you can create ¡®something¡¯. ¡°There is. No, it can be done.¡± Count Valentine¡¯s eyes shone brightly, having decided something. In those eyes, Leila knew that the Count had thought of something bad. However, she didn¡¯t open her mouth and block him because she thought it wouldn¡¯t do any harm to her. Reminder: pls do not repost ANYWHERE smh CH 17 (Ciela¡¯s pov) That day, after my date with Reynos, I proposed to the Countess Valentine to stay with us for a while. ¡°Me? In the Labyrinth Mansion?¡± ¡°The stay won¡¯t be long. Two weeks, that¡¯s all. I think there will be enough evidence by then.¡± I didn¡¯t mean to go this far. Stepping out into the light, Countess Valentine¡¯s face looked even more serious. Since she found out that he was having an affair with Leila, he was likely to do worse in the future. So I suggested that she stay at my home. ¡°You say you can collect it in just two weeks?¡± Thinking it was a short period of time, the startled Countess Valentine¡¯s eyes widened. I shrugged my shoulders with my nonchalant face. Actually, I didn¡¯t expect it to end so quickly. ¡°Yes. He had no intention of hiding it at all. It might be uncomfortable for you because the place has changed, but I think it will be more comfortable since there is no one watching.¡± ¡°But then, the young lady would be very uncomfortable.¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing this because I have everything I need, so don¡¯t worry about me.¡± Let¡¯s do business together. Of course, I¡¯m not going to take things for free like Essit did. Tears of emotion welled up in the dark brown eyes of the countess, who had a blank expression on her face. Then she hurriedly brushed her tears away, pulled out her handkerchief, and wiped it away. So I brought the Countess into the Labyrinth mansion. If the Marquis and his wife were there, I would have been scolded about the sudden arrival of a guest, but since they had both traveled south, there was nothing they could do. I gave the Countess one of the best rooms as a guest. The maid who accompanied her was also treated with great hospitality. Countess Valentine was grateful and she was at loss. ¡°How am I supposed to repay this favor?¡± ¡°Please just sign the divorce papers. It would be better if you could help me with my business later.¡± ¡°Business¡­ Huh?¡± The lady looked at me with her bewildered eyes. It was a reaction that came out of her own ignorance of how excellent her business sense was. To her, I simply said, ¡®I have a business I want to do with you.¡¯ It will not be too late to give detailed explanations when starting a business. She said, ¡®Can I do that?¡¯ She was worried, but she said she¡¯d be happy to help if I needed her. It was a really good answer. ~*~ The countess who came to our house was doing well. At first, when someone spoke in the hallway, her nerves were sharp like a meerkat, but after a week or so, it was clear that she was mentally relieved. The dark circles have also faded, and the swelling of the swollen cheeks has disappeared. As she ate and rested well, the color of her lips gradually returned. The countess was unaware of the change in herself, but her maid, who served closest to her, was overjoyed. But I had an uninvited guest who wanted to break the small peace. ¡°I¡¯m here to see the countess.¡± It was Count Valentine. Count Valentine came to visit from day to day and chanted for me to give up his wife. Each time, I cut him short. ¡°You can¡¯t because we¡¯re busy. Butler, see off the guest.¡± ¡°So I can¡¯t see my wife? No matter how the young lady may be from a family who made special contributions, this is an act of overstepping your boundary! Arya! Arya, come out now!¡± ¡°Count.¡± The sound of him yelling was so loud that I slapped him in the chest with a fan to tell him to shut up. The count, who felt contemptible, hardened his face. I also erased the expression from his face. ¡°If you were the Countess, would you miss the Count? Take care of yourself.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re saying that, but I think you¡¯re misunderstanding something-¡° ¡°Count.¡± I cut off the man who was about to say bullshit. For the sound of dogs, just having Duval was enough. There doesn¡¯t need to be more people. ¡°There are three things I don¡¯t like.¡± I took a step forward looking at him, who had very little hair at a young age. He flinched and took a step back in line with my stride. ¡°The first is lying.¡± Step. ¡°Second is lying.¡± Step. ¡°And the third is also lying.¡± As I said, all three are the same. But neither I nor the Count pointed that out. When things didn¡¯t go the way he wanted, he clenched his teeth in anger. ¡°I didn¡¯t know the young lady was like this.¡± ¡°Yes, well, I didn¡¯t know either. So I hope you leave before anything else happens.¡± I pointed to the door and gave an order. It might seem strange for a young lady without the Marquis title to push a Count so much, but I, Ciela Labyrinth, was not ordinary. Labyrinth was one of the descendants of the five warriors who defeated the evil dragon, and among them, I was the one who inherited Labyrinth¡¯s special abilities. It meant that I could use my powers. Knowing this, even the Count could not resist much, but he was only brimming with excitement. Though he left with a warning in a voice filled with rage. ¡°You will regret giving me a hard time.¡± Are you working with Duval? Why are your repertoires the same? ¡®Is he also trying to commission from Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild?¡¯ He wasn¡¯t. Fortunately, Count Valentine did not visit Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. After all, his wife didn¡¯t even have a lover, so there shouldn¡¯t have been anything to ask for. But I did not loosen the ties of vigilance. It was because the count¡¯s eyes, which gave a meaningful warning, were serious. People with eyes like that could create an accident in any direction. Pls read only at pinkmuffintl. A few days later. I understand why the Count said I would regret it. ~*~ Late at night when everyone was asleep. There was not a single twinkling star in the dark sky. Only the crescent moon, half covered by dark clouds, was alone guarding the night sky. Step, step, creak- Two men entered the mansion. They were dressed in black from head to toe. The two exchanged glances as if they had a clear goal and moved without hesitation. The destination was the bedroom. Before long, they arrived at a bed large enough for two to roll around. The shape in the center of the Countess looked like she was sleeping. The two men exchanged glances. One hand signaled, pointing to the blanket, and the other nodded. They carefully rolled up the blanket so as not to wake up the sleeping person. But¡­ ¡°¡­!¡± There was no person in the blanket. It was a pillow decorated to look like a human. The two men froze in embarrassment. Sitting at a nearby desk, crossing my legs and watching the scene, I showed my presence. ¡°What are you doing guys?¡± Even in the dark, I could clearly see the two men¡¯s astonishment on their faces. They silently drew their daggers and looked around as if trying to confirm my location. However, I was assimilated into the darkness by the power of Labyrinth, so they couldn¡¯t notice. ¡°Looking at the little pigs, it doesn¡¯t look like they came here to steal money.¡± The dark clouds that covered the moon were lifted. A faint moonlight streamed through the bedroom window. My shadow created by the moonlight swayed arbitrarily. As if it had its own will. I looked down at my neatly trimmed nails and muttered dryly. ¡°Have you come to a place to die?¡± At that moment, the two men exchanged glances. They rushed towards the window with swift speed, trying to run away. However, that attempt was in vain. The black energy that started from my shadow hit the window in an instant. The window filled with energy turned black as if it had been covered with black vinyl. The men threw their whole bodies as if they were trying to break it, but to no avail. The windows did not move as if they had been iron doors. In the meantime, I blocked all the entrances and turned the room into a closed room. Bang! Driven by this momentum, I concentrated my mind on my shadow wriggling at will. The power of Labyrinth contained within was scattered throughout the room. Then, in an instant, the room engulfed in the shadows began to turn into a bizarre labyrinth. A gloomy wall that soared so high that there was no end in sight. A loose chain descended from the invisible ceiling. The stone floor is littered with life-threatening traps such as boiling lava and arrows pouring down like rain. Even the eyes of evil spirits staring at the two men who had been dragged into the labyrinth from all sides, let out bizarre cries. One of the two trembling men sank down. The other barely stood still, but he didn¡¯t look like he was going to fall if he were hit. I thought they were prepared because they came without fear, but they looked very pathetic now. I opened my mouth indifferently. ¡°Play in moderation, boys.¡± CH 18 A few minutes have passed since the room was transformed into a labyrinth. Still sitting at my desk, I looked at the crystal ball the size of a fist in the palm of my hand. ¡°Uh-huh!¡± ¡°Ahh!¡± The crystal ball was a kind of image sphere that showed the inside of the labyrinth. The two men in the crystal ball were being pursued by the demons who sharpened their teeth. Thanks to my instructions, even if they were caught, they wouldn¡¯t be bitten, but it seemed really difficult for them to run without knowing that. I looked away from the crystal ball as one of them swore at me who wasn¡¯t here. ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Even an animal that can¡¯t speak won¡¯t do this. Count Valentine has done something he shouldn¡¯t have done. The plan was to push the men into the room while his wife was asleep, pretend she had an affair, and then wake up to people gossiping. The recent trend of the guild doing this kind of dirty work was unusual, and Leather was paying close attention. ¡®I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d really do it.¡¯ It was good to tell the knights guarding the mansion to let them go even if they felt an impure presence. It was also a good choice to change the room where the countess and the maid stayed. With this, I intended to push Count Valentine on the precipice of more than divorce. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m tired.¡± I rubbed my eyes and my clenched shoulders. However, my hand strength was weak. Leather was good at this¡­ When I tilted my neck from side to side with regret, there was a thud. ¡®How long has it been since I opened the labyrinth?¡¯ I didn¡¯t have a watch, so I couldn¡¯t tell the time. It seems like 30 minutes have passed. Shall we hold on for another 10 minutes and then close it? Thinking about that, I covered my mouth and yawned. It had been a long time since I had opened a labyrinth, and it felt like my mental power was being uprooted. ¡®I¡¯m going to have a hard time for a few days.¡¯ That¡¯s why I hate this ability. The descendant of the warrior who defeated the evil dragon, Labyrinth¡¯s special ability was to use the mental power to open a labyrinth where evil spirits live. The beings in my labyrinth could go out without my permission. Hundreds of demons living in the labyrinth were each powerful enough to destroy a small estate, and they all obeyed my words. If you look up to this point, it seems that I am the strongest in this world. ¡®The ability penalty is too severe to be called the strongest in the world.¡¯ The labyrinth could only be opened where there was a shadow, and while I was opening the labyrinth, I could not move in place. In addition, if mental power is exhausted while the labyrinth is open, I could be eaten by evil spirits, so the original Ciela, whose mental strength was weak, never used it. ¡®It is also because of this ability that Ciela¡¯s body was weak.¡¯ Ciela¡¯s body was like a door between the labyrinth and reality. Even when the labyrinth was not opened, the evil spirits of the labyrinth tried to get out of there. It was a situation in which the body was blocking the riots of the evil spirits trying to escape, so naturally, the body had no choice but to weaken. ¡®I don¡¯t need this kind of ability, but I just want it to be strong.¡¯ With that in mind, I cleared my voice and called the three-headed dog, the chief of the demons. ¡°Cerberus.¡± ¨C Yes! Contrary to his cute tone, a dog with a terrible appearance appeared. A ferocious monster with a body that looks three times my size, with blood dripping from its three mouths, lying flat under me and waving its tail softly. Every time I see him, he tells me to change my look, but I don¡¯t listen. I can change the appearance at will, so why insist on that look? I sighed lightly and pointed to the two men in the crystal ball. ¡°Bring them.¡± ¨C What? Already? It¡¯s only been an hour. It¡¯s been an hour. It felt like my head was going to explode somehow. I pressed my tingling temples. ¡°Bring them right now.¡± ¨C Heh. ¡°If you don¡¯t bring them back within 5 seconds, you won¡¯t be able to see the light again.¡± Evil spirits trapped in the labyrinth long for the light of the outside world. It was the same with Cerberus. Pls read only at pinkmuffintl. At the same time as the seconds were counted, Cerberus disappeared. And two men who had been imprisoned in the labyrinth appeared, drooping like salted cabbages. They breathed out of breath continuously. It was very spectacular to see where the hood they were wearing to hide their identity went, and their face was glistened with saliva from their eyes, nose and mouth. I removed the shadows, restored the room that had been transformed into a labyrinth, and opened my mouth. ¡°Who sent you?¡± There was no reply other than a heavy breathing. I counted three seconds to myself and then threatened again. ¡°A late talker will go to the labyrinth one more time¡ª¡± ¡°Count Valentine!¡± ¡°Valentine!¡± Oh, they said it at the same time. Anyway, the labyrinth cannot be opened any more today. If I open it with my current mental power, I will lose my body to Cerberus. But they didn¡¯t know that, so I pretended to be fine, adjusted my posture and folded my arms. ¡°Did the Count act alone?¡± ¡°Yes, from what I heard.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know since I¡¯m in the lowest position!¡± Once they began to open their mouths, they answered with great sincerity, since they were afraid of being dragged into the labyrinth again. Later, they even told me things that I didn¡¯t ask. That morning. I went to the guild with two men. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. It¡¯s a piece of cake. I decided to give back what Count Valentine had done. It means I decided to push the men into his bedroom. ~*~ (3rd person pov) Count Valentine drank his wine today too. It was not a high-end bar for the aristocrats, but a place selling cheap wheat beer for commoners. ¡°Hey, noblemen. If you drink like that every day, what does your wife say?¡± For about two weeks, the bartender had memorized his face and gave him a hard time. He said it out of concern for the health of his regular, but the Count of Valentine, who thought he was ignoring him, stared at him with bloodshot eyes. ¡®How dare a commoner teach an aristocrat?¡¯ The bartender, startled by the fierce gaze, turned to the customer sitting next to him. Then he grumbled to himself. ¡°You don¡¯t have money, so you¡¯re drinking here¡­¡± ¡°You bastard, do you know who I am?¡± The enraged Count kicked the table and got up. At that vibration, the wheat beer from the customers sitting next to him overflowed. Forgetting the dignity of nobility that his wife had emphasized so much, the Count pointed his finger at the bartender and shouted. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m Count Valentine, famous for my gold mines, hah! If you say a word to me, you could go out on the streets right now!¡± The bartender had never heard of Count Valentine. However, he was well aware of how greatly the lives of commoners like him are swayed by a single word from a nobleman. He suppressed the rising of a thousand fires inside and endured the abusive language. After shouting satisfactorily, the count spit and left the bar. His staggering steps were that of a drunken man. A man who had been secretly watching him from the corner followed him. ¡°Hah, damn it.¡± Walking alone through the dark night streets, Count Valentine continued to swear. Leila says she wouldn¡¯t see him until he gets his wife back, and his wife doesn¡¯t leave from the Labyrinths. With his frustrated heart, he drank only alcohol until dawn for several days. What came out was his stomach (tl/n: like being bloated) and the growing of sighs, and there was nowhere to lean on. He has a lover and a wife, so why was he in such a miserable situation? ¡®Still, a lot will change tomorrow.¡¯ The Count looked up at the crescent moon in the night sky. He commissioned a guild to create an affair. And today was the day the guild said that it was going to happen. Tomorrow, even in Labyrinth, his wife who committed the affair will be forced to return. When his wife returns, he will meet Leila. Then everything will be resolved. He just has to survive today. Only today. The angry feeling suddenly improved. He went back to the hotel as it was, but he turned away, thinking that he shouldn¡¯t go in until he gets one more drink. He couldn¡¯t go to that bar a while ago because the bartender was upset, and he thought that he should go to a new bar at this time. The moment he was just crossing a dark alleyway. ¡°Hey, there. A nobleman who pretends to be noble.¡± Someone called him from behind. ¡°What?¡± Angry at the rude calling, the Count turned his back. And- ¡°Ouch!¡± He received a heavy blow to his stomach and slumped. He didn¡¯t even check the face of the person who called him. He grabbed his aching stomach as he was getting hit in the back. The Count lost his center and fell to the ground. Soon after, muddy feet kicked him from all directions. Judging by the laughs, there seemed to be at least three people. The Count, who reflexively crouched down to protect himself, shouted. ¡°Are you doing this knowing who I am?!¡± There was no reply returned. Instead, the kicks only got stronger. ¡°I am Count Valentine of the East. I mean, I¡¯m not someone you guys should be careless about!¡± After a while. ¡°Well, what do you want? Money? I¡¯ll give you anything. I¡¯ll give you whatever you want, so please stop now¡­¡± Again, after a while. ¡°Ugh, please stop¡­¡± Threats, conciliation, or plead were of no use. Their kicks did not stop. Then it wasn¡¯t until the Count lost half of his mind that they spat and disappeared into the darkness. ¡°I came here for a drink and saw all the dirty things.¡± ¡°You even had the guts to come here without an escort?¡± They were regulars of the bartender who had been yelled at by the count a while ago. It was also uncomfortable to sit at a bar where they went to get peace of mind, where a nobleman dressed in slick clothes was making a ruckus. After the Count left, the shocked bartender declared a closure. The regulars who were there were angry. No one with money would go to a bar like that. Besides, an escort was nowhere to be seen. The regulars thought of the Count as a ¡®little aristocrat pretending to have money¡¯, and they stepped on him until they were relieved. The aristocrats at the bottom were like ¡°sacred commoners¡± so there was nothing for them to be bothered about. ¡°I hope the closure will be lifted soon.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t that guy come back for revenge?¡± ¡°Tell him to find me then. It won¡¯t end with just this.¡± As the regulars who laughed and giggled at the Count disappeared, silence came to the dark alleyway. But the silence did not last long. Someone¡¯s footsteps were heard. It was the man who followed the Count from the bar. CH 19 ¡°Ugh¡­¡± The count, who had come to his senses, groaned. The man who approached the Count with hasty steps lifted him up. When the Count was frightened that he was going to hit him again, the man said to be at peace. ¡°I was impressed with the words of the Count a while ago and followed youthem. If it¡¯s okay with you, I¡¯d like to have a drink, but I¡¯ll buy it.¡± Has he ever seen such a healthy young man? The count¡¯s eyes widened when he said that he was impressed. The Count was weak at compliments, especially when it came to a mysterious man exalting him like this. Forgetting even the pain from when he was beaten, he left the alley shoulder to shoulder with the man, and drank until dawn. Then he lay down in the inn room that the man had bought him. ¡°Get a good rest.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s someone like you in this day and age.¡± The count, moved by the man he didn¡¯t even know his name, burst into tears. Then he could not overcome the rushing drunkenness and fell into a deep sleep. After a long slumber, he heard someone coming in. He wanted to lie down next to them, and he also felt a tap. The drunken Count mistakenly thought that this was Valentine¡¯s mansion in the east, and that the person lying next to him was the woman who had been secretly brought. So he unconsciously hugged the person tightly. ¡°X¡­ Why are you touching my ass? Beggar.¡± The person in his arms spat out swear words. The thick, low voice was undoubtedly a man. Just when he was about to open his eyes in embarrassment, a strong blow went to his stomach. The Count fainted. And in front of him who woke up in the morning, ¡°How can I get married now¡­¡± ¡°I will arrest you as a criminal.¡± A man with only his briefs on and crying about his loss of innocence and a guard with a contemptuous expression stood there. ~*~ (Ciela¡¯s pov) I was at the guild office of the two men who broke into the Labyrinth mansion right now. ¡°So the Count is said to be in prison.¡± ¡°Right.¡± As I shook my head as if I knew, the guild master of the two men handed me a report telling me to take a look. There, it said he gave Count Valentine a drink to make him drunk and brought him to the inn mentioned earlier, where he was put to sleep. It was written in detail about the Count who had crawled into the man¡¯s bed wearing only underwear, and the Count touching the guild member¡¯s buttocks. ¡®Losing the innocence.¡¯ Unfortunately, the world is cold. I checked the report with dry eyes and returned it. Then the guild master, who was staring at me with bright eyes that did not suit his rugged size, opened his mouth. ¡°Is this a result he would be happy with?¡± The ¡®he¡¯ here was the guild master of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild, that is, I. Surprisingly, this guild master was a fan of ¡®Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild¡¯. When I first visited, they came out uncooperatively, but when I revealed that I had some kind of connection with Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild, I was treated as a VIP with an awe-filled face. Of course, I did not reveal that I was the guild master. ¡°Well, yes.¡± When the guild master of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild said dryly that she was satisfied with this kind of thing, the other party nodded and agreed. (tl/n: she was referring to herself) ¡°Actually, he is someone who turns people into dolls just because they misbehave.¡± But my inner cry did not reach him. The man, who suddenly became one-eyed, admired the cruelty of the master ofCiel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild, and poured praises out of his mouth until his saliva dried up. He said that he was the 12th fan, and even said that it would be difficult to find anyone who was not a fan of Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild among the shadow guilds in this area. Meanwhile, in the past, I wanted the Master to visit our guild at least once, and that was my lifelong wish, with tears in my eyes. ¡°Oh, yes. I hope it will come true.¡± I was trembling when I found out that I had suddenly had countless fans, even in a bad way. Leather said he wanted to raise a guild and wandered around, so I thought there would be side effects like this. ¡®I can¡¯t really reveal that I am the Master.¡¯ I returned to the Labyrinth mansion with a complicated heart. And taking the Countess, who had been waiting for me with an anxious expression, I headed to the prison where Count Valentine was imprisoned. Now it was time to finish things up. ~*~ Count Valentine was locked up in solitary confinement. Originally, he should be in the same prison with several other prisoners, but since he was caught raping a man, he was put in a solitary cell. When Arya requested a visit as the count¡¯s wife, the guard sent a sympathetic look. And he willingly accepted the request without asking or questioning. ¡°Madam!¡± Countess-No, the Count, who saw Arya Valentine, rushed to his feet. But he was blocked by the cold iron bars, and all he could do was reach out his hand. Arya, startled, bent her body back so that the Count¡¯s hand could not reach her. The count, not paying attention to him, swung his hand through the iron bars and shouted hastily. ¡°They said I can go out if you pay bail. Did you bring some money?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I said I would give it back to him, but he didn¡¯t let me go. Ha, what kind of situation is this?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Madam.¡± Read only at pm tl. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Wife?¡± It was then that the Count, who sensed her ominousness, called for Arya again. Arya was not looking at him. She was only staring down at the stone floor of the cold prison, with a bloodless face, her mouth shut. ¡°As expected, I shouldn¡¯t have brought her.¡± Arya¡¯s pale white face was expressionless when it was announced that ¡®the Count has shoved a man into his wife¡¯s bedroom.¡¯ I said, ¡®Using the same technique, I returned the favor. He¡¯s in jail now¡¯. She seemed to have lost her emotions. She said she was going to come alone, but she wanted to see him one last time, and I came along just in case. But seeing her face getting darker and darker, I wondered if I had made a mistake. Right then, ¡°We¡­¡± Arya, who had licked her lips silently, finally spit something out of her. She gripped the hem of her skirt so tightly that veins sprouted from the back of her pale hand, lifted her head and looked at the Count with her sharp eyes. It was as if there was water in those eyes at first glance, I thought. Arya took a deep breath, and said the words she had buried deep in her chest. ¡°We are getting a divorce.¡± ¡°¡­!¡± The startled Count froze. Then, with trembling lips, he asked. ¡°Why¡­why¡­?¡± Arya said confidently. ¡°I don¡¯t want to live with you anymore.¡± The Count, with his mouth open like a fool, looked at Arya as if he were looking at a stranger. Then, as if he remembered something, holding the iron fence with both his hands, he shouted in dismay. ¡°It is a misunderstanding! I¡¯m not a cheater! I only have my wife!¡± ¡°I know you are dating Miss Leila.¡± The Count¡¯s mouth, who had been making excuses without hesitation, closed. She rolled her eyes to avoid his gaze and spoke up without even breathing her breath. ¡°Under Imperial law, I can divorce unilaterally without trial if there is evidence that my spouse has slept with another person.. I am going to send someone to the government office today.¡± ¡°Arya.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave your luggage with you. I¡¯m going to move, so it¡¯s no use going back.¡± ¡°Arya!¡± ¡°¡­I don¡¯t want to see you again. Take care.¡± I ran out of the room before Arya, who had finished speaking quickly, noticed. ¡°Arya! Arya!¡± The Count cried like a madman. But Arya never returned, and only the desperate cry of a man who had lost everything echoed in the prison cell. I waited for the echo to subside, then pulled out the thin wad of papers I had already brought. And I called him. ¡°Hey.¡± The Count-no, a common man who would now be called Nyx turned his head as he stared at the door where Arya had disappeared with bloodshot eyes. He had a face that he wanted to kill someone right away. ¡°I have good news.¡± I waved the pile of papers I was holding. ¡°Arya will hand over Valentine¡¯s fortune to you.¡± For an instant, a look of doubt appeared in Nyx¡¯s eyes. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well. Wouldn¡¯t it be like her last gift to her husband, whom she once loved?¡± I took a quill out of my bag and held it in his hand and said indifferently. ¡°Oh, of course, the rest will be returned. So, the estate and mansion attached to the title belong to Arya.¡± The fortune was blown away by Nyx¡¯s drinking and gambling, so the fortune was nothing but the gold mines that Nyx was so proud of. Except for the estate and the mansion. Knowing that, Nyx¡¯s eyes also became sharp. But he also knew that it wouldn¡¯t be strange to be kicked out of the house, so instead of arguing, he meekly signed where I was pointing. Everything about Valentine except for the title, estate, and mansion would be passed on to him. After signing, I carefully packed the documents and put them in my bag. Then I took out a blank sheet and handed it to Nyx. ¡°If there is something to give, there must be something to receive.¡± Reminder: pls do not repost ANYWHERE smh CH 20 ¡°¡­?¡± ¡°Write down the names of women who were your partners. Write ¡®I admit to having committed adultery with these women¡¯ and sign it.¡¯ ¡°What¡­!¡± ¡°By the way, Arya hasn¡¯t signed that property document yet.¡± When I threatened that if he didn¡¯t do what he was told, there would be no gold mine or anything, so Nyx followed my instructions even as he gritted his teeth. In the midst of all this, he was cheekily omitting a few people, so I frowned and asked for corrections. ¡°Why are you leaving out Leila? You were recently dating her.¡± ¡°Lady Leila is innocent-¡± ¡°It¡¯s not up to you. I¡¯m sure I told you to write down all the women you were partners with.¡± After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Nyx wrote Leila¡¯s name when I mentioned the property papers again. He also signed under it. Love made with money was so shallow. By the time this divorce is filed, Nyx probably won¡¯t be the Count. Will his autograph be in effect? However, just in case, I decided to get an autograph of his other name. ¡®Arya and Nyx will both submit two copies.¡¯ So I got everything I needed. Nyx, trembling with displeasure and shame, signed all the papers without hesitation. After all, the power of the gold mine is so great. ¡®Unfortunately, the mine will soon become an abandoned mine.¡¯ It has been a while since I came here when he finished signing the last documents. The guard, who was watching me just in time, signaled that he wanted me to go away, so I prepared to go back. ¡°Good work. I¡¯ll give you one in return.¡± The eyes of Nyx, who were signing documents, were very dead. Arya should have seen this¡­ It was a little disappointing, but I wondered what I would do if I continued to see people who did not have good feelings. ¡®Later, when Arya thinks of her divorce, it¡¯ll be a time to laugh about it.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯ve got quite a lot of debt.¡± As he knew, Nyx¡¯s face rotted. But after a while he smiled meanly. ¡°I¡¯ll stand in the name of Count Valentine. Arya will pay it back.¡± ¡°No, you signed for it.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Nyx narrowed his brows. ¡°The property papers. You said you¡¯d take everything from Valentine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only the property-¡± ¡°The wealth of a family includes not only positives but also negatives. You signed on to take everything except the title, the estate, and the mansion. With that hand.¡± I blinked at Nyx¡¯s two hands that were holding the iron bars. Perhaps not understanding what was going on, Nyx blinked blankly. Then, when it was time for the guard to call me to come out again, he understood the situation and rushed to me, to be exact, the briefcase I was carrying. ¡°Give it up!¡± Bang! The iron spear that collided with him made a loud noise. Nyx swung his arms around like a madman. ¡°Give it to me right now!¡± Read only at pm tl. ¡°Oh, and the gold mine you were so proud of, I heard there¡¯s not much left. That¡¯s also for tomorrow.¡± The movement to steal my briefcase grew stronger. My eyes were bloodshot because when I opened the labyrinth, the evil spirits seemed to stick to him, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s be friends.¡± I was just a step away. Nyx, who wanted the briefcase he couldn¡¯t catch, screamed. ¡°Aaaaah! You crazy, ah!¡± The guards ran into the prisoner¡¯s riot. They were accustomed to subdue the Nyx. I waited for Nyx to grow louder, then gave the order to one of the guards, panting harshly. ¡°That man, he¡¯s a terrible sinner. I don¡¯t want to see him again in the capital.¡± And I blinked towards my shadow, wriggling at will, the jailer who saw it bowed his head deeply. ¡°Yes, Miss Labyrinth.¡± Great. Having power is so exciting. I learned a lot from talking with the Count. With those realizations deeply engraved in my heart, I left the prison. Now was the time to recover the money Count Valentine had wasted and make Arya rich. ~*~ (3rd person pov) ¡°Hey, what is this?!¡± The Countess¡¯s eldest daughter, Leila, was almost stunned by the correspondence from her office in the early morning. [Dear Miss Essit, Documents have been filed against you and the former Count of Valentine. This is in violation of Articles 37 and 53 of the Imperial Law, and in addition, according to Article 171¡­ ¡­I am sending you a copy of the submitted evidence¡­ However, since the accuser does not want your punishment¡­ We order the accuser who suffered enormous damage to be paid 10 billion gold as alimony. Failure to do so may result in enforcement.] 10 billion gold¡­ 10 billion gold? In order to catch the overflowing infidelity in the empire, she knew there was a system that would claim alimony if there was submitted evidence, but she didn¡¯t know the Countess of Valentine would win it. Leila hurriedly looked at the things that came to be evidence. The majority of the eyewitness documents saw her wandering around with the Count of Valentine were documented, and the Count¡¯s handwriting said that he had cheated on his wife with Leila, and- ¡°Damn!¡± Leila, who was looking at it, was astonished to see an elongated stone rolling around in the envelope. As soon as she put it in the palm of her hand, a conversation between her and the Count of Valentine flowed out. ¡°Count, who do you like better, me or your wife?¡± ¡°Of course, isn¡¯t it the young lady? Whoa, I¡¯m tired of having one wife. Had it not been for the title, I would have been divorced right now!¡± Startled, Leila never noticed the recording being done. The stone was dropped on the floor and rolled under the bed. Who is doing this, and at what point? Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t have time to think about who did it. This was because the conversation she had with the Count continued to be broadcast in the room. ¡°I only have Miss Essit. I love you, young lady.¡± ¡°Me too, Count. How about having our vacation over there in the southern resort?¡± Leila lay flat on the floor and reached under the bed. The stone rolled so deep that she could barely reach it with her fingertips. She gently rolled the stone with her fingertips to get it out, but the stone only savagely rolled further under her bed. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come to me?!¡± She hurriedly looked around her room, looking for something useful like a stick. If anyone ever saw this, it would be such a disgrace! Knock- ¡°Miss, about breakfast-¡± ¡°It was great last night, Count.¡± In an instant, her handmaiden¡¯s knocking sound stopped. She must¡¯ve heard the conversation flowing from the recording stone. The sound was not low, so even people outside the room could hear it without difficulty. Embarrassed, Leila froze in her position. As she looked at the closed door in that state, she could feel the familiarity she felt outside her room disappearing rapidly. ¡°Damn!¡± Leila bit her lips. Damn it, why now, damn it! She continued to say vulgar words from her mouth that noble girls should not use. And it wasn¡¯t until a while later that she managed to pull the dusty recording stone from under the bed and stop the audio transmission. Leila sprinted straight to Duval¡¯s room. ¡°Brother!¡± Bang! Duval, who was smoothing his cravat while looking in the mirror, frowned as she slammed open the door without class. Looking at it, he seemed to want to go out somewhere. Leila grabbed the hem of his overcoat with her urgent hand. ¡°I need money.¡± ¡°What money.¡± ¡°Can you lend me 10 billion gold?¡± ¡°What?¡± The hand gestures that were arranging the cravat stopped at the ridiculous amount. Duval glanced at Leila in the mirror and then turned his back. ¡°10 billion?¡± ¡°Can I borrow it?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why? I heard that the business you started a while ago was a hit!¡± It was just as Leila said. Essit had an excellent sense of art, such as painting and sculpture, enough to hold an exhibition separately. Duval, who resembles his father and is gifted there, also opened an accessory store targeting women a while ago and made a fortune. In just a few months, the return on investment was 500%. But now, 80% of the money went to Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. He didn¡¯t even have 3 billion on hand, let alone 10 billion. It hurts his self-esteem to talk about that part as it is, so he decided to just talk around it. ¡°I had something done personally.¡± ¡°Oh, then you can¡¯t¡­ Where can I borrow money? ¡­No, you have to deal with this!¡± Leila, who had bit her nails with a nervous look, rushed in. ¡°You told me to stick to Count Valentine!¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I got a call from the government office. I¡¯m responsible for the divorce, so I have to pay alimony to Arya Valentine!¡± ¡°What?¡± Duval¡¯s terrified voice rose. CH 21 Leila grabbed his hand and led him to her room. She pointed to the evidence she had thrown on the desk. ¡°What are we going to do with this!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Duval, who was thoroughly examining the evidence, was drowned in front of the document signed by Count Valentine. He could make people misunderstand the testimonies of eyewitnesses who witnessed the scene. And he could turn the conversation with the Count as if he was giving some dating advice with his friends. However, if the person who committed the affair like this personally signs and leaves a document- ¡®It¡¯s solid evidence delivered from the government office. That¡¯s why she asked him to pay alimony by asking him to take responsibility for the divorce.¡¯ ¡°Do you really have no money? Really?¡± Leila asked desperately. If you don¡¯t pay alimony, the evidence will be revealed to the public under the Imperial Law, and Leila¡¯s marriage will also be blocked off. The fact that his sister¡¯s marriage was blocked meant that the association with other families would also disappear. There¡¯s nowhere for the money to come out. Duval shook his head. Plus, since it was such a large sum, there was no place that could easily come to mind. He groaned for about ten minutes, and then, in response to Leila¡¯s scream. ¡°I have to tell father.¡± ¡°Oh no!¡± Leila panicked even more. Who was their father? He was the one who would rise from the grave for money. In fact, the reason she tried to lure Count Valentine this time was because of her desire to earn money and be recognized by her father. By the way, tell him everything and ask him to pay back 10 billion won? ¡°I might be kicked out!¡± ¡°I have to tell him that you will make up for it.¡± ¡°How?! I mean, I spent all my money believing that he would give me a percentage if the business went well!¡± Afterwards, Duval let out an annoyed sigh and ruffled his hair violently. From Tyrael saying she loved him, and that if he broke up with Ciela, she would stop whining. But now, even his sister was on the verge of going crazy. ¡°I¡¯ll help you, so stop whining. But how did they gather the evidence?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Could it be from the Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be.¡± Duval just cut it off and denied it. Arya Valentine shouldn¡¯t have enough money to commission the Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. ¡®Wait. Is there a prepayment for the alimony?¡¯ It was a very probable part, so he had to check it out. To do that, he had to go to the Labyrinth Mansion. Like a gatekeeper, he had to break through Ciela, who was guarding Arya. ¡°I¡¯ll find out, so you can tell father.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to tell him that brother made me.¡± ¡°¡­Do whatever you feel like.¡± Their father would be terrified to know that they wasted 10 billion won, but he wasn¡¯t afraid. To be honest, he had no intention of caring about it. Rather, it was more important to settle the dispute with Ciela as soon as possible. The person who had been staring at him for ten years and clinging to him suddenly acted like someone else, and she came up with the story of breaking up the marriage to mean that if he acted like this, she would leave. It¡¯s like she has been waiting to have a new lover ¡®You can never break the engagement.¡¯ Ciela must be stopped at any cost. Duval clenched his teeth. ~*~ The next day, Duval visited the Labyrinth mansion early in the morning. He went for Leila¡¯s business, but it was more to settle the divorce dispute. He was thinking of threatening to follow his advice if she wanted to go around the social world with the information he got from Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild. But he could not even enter the front door, let alone meet Ciela. It was because of Ciela¡¯s exclusive maid, May. ¡°She is not feeling well. So she¡¯s not going to meet anyone.¡± The maid with a determined face blocked Duval with her whole body. An employee is blocking the path of the nobility. In a situation unimaginable in Essit, Duval grinded his teeth inwardly. He would have dealt with the cheeky maid himself somehow had he not had to restore his relationship with Ciela. ¡°Shut up. I will see for myself how sick she is.¡± ¡°No. She said she didn¡¯t want to see anyone.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not going to meet her fiance too?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why she¡¯s not seeing anymore.¡± Duval, furious at the repeated words, raised his hand. But he couldn¡¯t even slap her on the cheek. She was Ciela¡¯s favorite maid. He didn¡¯t know how Ciela would come out if the maid had been tampered with. Hearing this, he turned around without hesitation. While getting on the carriage without any success, he looked up at the curtained window of Ciela¡¯s room. He didn¡¯t believe in excuses like being sick. It was like this last time, and she brought a certain man and said he was her lover. What else is she up to this time? ~*~ (Ciela¡¯s pov) After handing over the evidence and the autographed documents to the government office to pay Arya her alimony, I haven¡¯t been able to get out of my room for days. ¡°Cough. Cough.¡± It was because of the summer cold that even dogs don¡¯t catch. To be precise, I¡¯d say it was a body ache from overwork that started with a cold. For the past few days, I have been walking around non-stop with my weak body, and even opening the labyrinth more than once, so it was a natural result. My throat was swollen and I felt like I was boiling with heat, so it felt like I was not really living. ¡°Miss, have some honey water here.¡± She closed the curtains in the dark room. I laid on the bed and struggled to get my heavy body up. As I sat at an angle with a large pillow on my back, May handed me hot honey water. My throat was swollen and it was difficult to swallow, but I drank until the end, blowing at the drink so as not to burn my tongue. After giving her an empty bowl and worrying about laying back down, she said it was not good for me to lay down right away. So I decided to sit in a position looking at the ceiling with a cold towel on my forehead for a while. Read only at pm tl. I was bored sitting still in that state, so I spoke to May. I didn¡¯t speak in the first place, except when I needed her considering I have a sore throat. ¡°Did Duval try to come in?¡± ¡°You knew?¡± ¡°He made a fuss and I couldn¡¯t help but notice it. I could hear his voice up here.¡± For reference, my room is on the 3rd floor. I hoarsely praised May¡¯s work. ¡°Great job. Were you hit somewhere?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Really, don¡¯t hide it and tell me. I will take revenge.¡± ¡°Really, miss, I didn¡¯t get hit.¡± May, who suddenly held my hands, pushed her face closer, and she murmured in a low voice. ¡°How did it go when you commissioned Ciel¡¯s Love Manipulation Guild? Is there any progress?¡± ¡°Uh yeah. We¡¯re almost done- Cough!¡± Occasionally, I coughed. When I coughed so violently that the towel on my forehead fell, May, startled, told me to lie down and helped, then changed the towel to a new one. ¡°We will talk about that after the young lady is healed.¡± May, with an empty glass of honey water and a lukewarm towel, left the room. ¡®I thought about going to the guild again when I¡¯m all better.¡¯ But I don¡¯t have to. Now that Arya is the Count of Valentine, all I need to do is send it to the government office after she gets the notary signed for my engagement papers. She reminded me of a notary, but I don¡¯t know if Arya took good care of her alimony. As soon as I handed over her papers to the office, I collapsed, and I had never heard of her backstory. ¡®Let¡¯s get well soon.¡¯ Since it¡¯s from the government office, they wouldn¡¯t dare to pay her alimony. I closed my eyes, promising to ask Arya as soon as I got up. And fell into a deep sleep. ~*~ -Wooo¡­ Wooo¡­ As I was slowly getting awake, I heard a small howl from something presumed to be a small animal. I then heard the sound of a hem rubbing as if someone was putting on clothes, and the sound of the curtain flapping lightly. ¡°Cold¡­¡± It must have been a muggy summer breeze, but I was not feeling well, so even that felt cold. I curled up like a shrimp and wrapped myself in a blanket. Did May leave the window open¡­ No, she never opened it. ¡®Am I dreaming?¡¯ But I could feel the cold breeze. It was in the midst of what I thought was a dream, suddenly, the sound of the window closing was heard. Then I opened my eyes and looked at the window. It looked like it was night because it was dark outside. The curtains swaying in the wind were silent, and in front of that was a certain silhouette in the form of a man. If I had been sane, I would have made a fuss for a thief, but now I felt so fuzzy that I cannot even tell if this was a dream or reality. So I slowly blinked my eyes. As my blurry vision became clearer, I could see what the intruder was doing. The other person was looking at me with a very slumped posture, like someone caught trying to close the window. His hair was black, and his eyes were red. But the moment I blinked, they both turned to gold. Did I have hallucinations because I was not feeling well? Anyway, he was someone I knew very well. ¡°Your Highness?¡±