episode_0085

“Do I really have to do this?”

“You should practice beforehand so it doesn’t seem awkward. If it’s not natural, people will get suspicious.”

After the secret agreement known only to the two of us was made, from the next day onwards, that guy Cal kept coming to me incessantly under the guise of practice, bothering me.

Whether wandering somewhere together, eating meals together, or even until right before sleep.

At some point, it seemed like he had no intention of backing out at all, so I once questioned him as if prying.

“It has to look natural whenever we meet. Nobles must be scheming to pry into things somehow, right?”

His words seemed quite reasonable, so I had no choice but to take a step back.

“…It seems like practice is just an excuse for him to satisfy his own desires.”

Due to constantly being interrupted while trying to relax, my dissatisfaction kept piling up, but I couldn’t do anything about it either.

Why?

Well, because we were evaluated on our act of pretending to be lovers in front of Drake, and the feedback wasn’t great at all.

What did they say? Something about treating the other party more kindly than this?

It was such an honest evaluation to say we were acting, so we had to keep practicing until the day of the ceremony.

…Why did I agree to this in the first place? I seriously regret it.

Anyway, back to the present.

There isn’t much time left until the ceremony, but unfortunately, there was hardly any improvement compared to the first day.

Could the slight ability to smile awkwardly when I cleared my throat be considered progress?

From my perspective, it was a significant improvement, but it seemed like nothing more than a speck of dust in Cal’s eyes.

He sighed as if greatly dissatisfied with the result and shook his head.

“What could be the problem?”

“I don’t really know either.”

“You have to understand to solve this issue. If we continue pretending to be lovers like this, we’ll just end up being treated like fools.”

“…”

I couldn’t say anything in response to his worried tone.

That made me feel so sorry. But I really couldn’t help it. There was a reason I had to act.

I cautiously recalled the memory of when he praised me excessively at the very beginning.

…Just once, I truly acted as Cal’s lover.

Overflowing with sweetness, like a newlywed couple who had recently gotten married.

But you know what?

After doing it once, for some reason, it felt like we had actually become lovers.

Like, huh? You know that feeling. Glancing at each other and strangely looking cool, lovely, and feeling your heart flutter.

Even though it was clearly acting, there was this strange, subtle feeling that made it seem like it wasn’t acting at all, right?

Had I been consistently acting since then?

It seemed like I had. Seeing that I didn’t feel any excitement after that moment.

“Phew.”

As I organized my thoughts and emotions for a moment, Cal asked me a slightly displeased question in his voice.

“Are you intentionally doing a lousy job or something? It feels like you’re half-heartedly doing it.”

“That’s ridiculous! If anyone hears that, they’ll think I’m a bad woman trying to take advantage!”

“Is that so? You’re just bad at acting, right? Hmm, but that’s a big problem… If you can’t act this well, you won’t get the wish token.”

“…Maybe it’ll be different on the actual day? You know, sometimes it’s like that. Stronger in real situations than in practice.”

“There’s a limit to that too; at this level, it’s impossible to improve. It’s as good as hopeless already.”

Cal let out a long sigh and quietly got up from his seat.

“Fine, let’s just forget about the agreement. If we go through with the ceremony like this, both of us will end up embarrassed.”

“…”

“Let’s just consider today a nuisance. It’s much better than embarrassing ourselves by doing something half-heartedly.”

A sinking voice filled with disappointment.

In that gloomy voice, a sense of guilt welled up from deep within the heart.

This isn’t what I wanted.

I was just trying to balance things out a bit and decided to work really hard for just one day.

It seems like I have no talent for playing hard to get.

Well, maybe it’s because I never had a talent for that in the first place. I ended up in the body of a witch with an extreme personality, so would it even be appropriate?

As expected, this isn’t my thing.

I –

I rise from my seat and follow closely behind the sword-wielding guy who grabs the doorknob in one breath.

Then, without waiting for his reaction.

Whack –

I embrace him from behind.

“Uh, uh…?”

The sword guy completely breaks down at the unexpected back hug.

I whisper into his ear with a melancholic voice as if driving a wedge into his heart.

“You can’t leave, can you…?”

“…”

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

As I hold him close and press against his back, the sound of his heart pounding fiercely reaches my ears.

However, regardless of that, the sword guy shows no reaction at all.

What’s wrong, he’s not dead, is he?

Why is he acting like this?

“Sword?”

Just to ease my unnecessary worries, I poke his side to check if he’s alive, and only then does the sword guy slowly turn his head.

Unlike a moment ago when only despair existed, a blooming smile now adorns his face.

I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had regained his original lively self, but unfortunately, it was too early to feel relieved.

“That just now, it wasn’t an act, was it?”

He asks me with a slightly embarrassed tone.

But knowing that stirring things up here would lead to chaos, instead of answering his question, I shrugged my shoulders and retorted to him.

“Well, could it have been an act after all?”

“…”

The sword guy, who moments ago seemed to be taken aback, simply shrugged off my arm, opened the door, and dashed out.

What’s going on?

Why is he like that?

—–

A time when nobody is training.

Hence, the endlessly cold training ground.

Venturing there at an untimely hour of the night, the chilly night air greeted me.

“Sigh… Ha…”

I try to cool down the heat building inside me by taking several deep breaths.

However, the heat left behind by the witch was so intense that it wouldn’t easily dissipate.

…What should I do? If I leave it like this, I feel like I might really lose control.

To resist the boiling desire, I repeatedly recite the knight’s duties written in the Imperial Swordsmanship Manual.

“The first duty of a knight is loyalty to the lord…”

[“You can’t leave… Can you…?”]

“…Damn.”

That violent word kept replaying in my mind, fueling the flames of desire even more.

Damn witch, pulling out such words without warning, what does she expect me to do?

Rather than firmly stating it wasn’t an act, if I had done that, this chaos wouldn’t have erupted.

But who is Viche? Isn’t she a witch like a fox, unknowingly enchanting others?

Her subsequent words were enough to momentarily make me lose my senses.

[“Well, could it have been an act after all?”]

I almost covered her exaggeratedly smiling face without hesitation.

If I had ignored the instinctive warning sent my way, I would have already crossed an irreversible river.

“Phew, why does she keep saying such demanding words.”

Letting out a long sigh, I quietly grasped the training greatsword.

“If I swing it for a while, will I feel a bit better?”

As my father used to say, the best way to suppress sexual urges is through exercise.

If I swing it like crazy as before, maybe my about-to-explode heart might calm down a bit.

With that in mind, I started swinging the greatsword with all my might, raising a lot of dust.

Swish – Swish –

The fierce sound of the wind with each swing of the sword calms my mind.

Every time I swing the sword, the pain in my muscles suppresses my libido.

With every swing of the sword, the beautiful image of Beatrice that comes to mind makes my pounding heart beat even harder…

“Damn it.”

Thud –

I slammed the training greatsword onto the ground.

It would have been a scolding matter if Father or the other brothers had seen me, but it was not important to me now.

What mattered was that no matter what I did, the impressive scene from just now kept coming back to me.

I sat on the bench and began to complain about feeling dizzy.

“I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

The whole world is Beatrice.

Damn it.

As I held my head and bit my tongue, it seemed like my desires were reaching their peak, as now even hallucinations started to creep in.

“A knife?”

It was definitely a hallucination, or perhaps a trick by the demons.

Of course, our witch who prefers to stay locked up in her room wouldn’t come into this sweaty space.

Yeah, it can’t be Beatrice. This must be a trick by the demons trying to play games with my confused mind –

Snap.

As my thoughts started to wander off, a cool yet gentle hand rested on my forehead.

“Your forehead feels quite warm… Are you okay? You should go inside and rest quickly.”

A concerned voice filled with worry could be faintly heard.

After shaking off the confusion, I asked the witch in front of me.

“…Why are you here?”

“I was worried, so I followed you! How could I not follow when you suddenly ran out without a word?”

Viche spoke in a gruff voice, then removed her hand from my forehead and calmly turned to walk away.

“I worried for nothing, your body seems fine, so I’ll go in first, okay?”

“Just a moment.”

“Why again?”

“I have something to ask.”

“…Hurry up, I’m tired and want to go in quickly because I’m tired.”

Seeing her cute figure fidgeting, I asked her the same question once again.

“Is that really smoke you’re blowing?”

“…”

At this, the witch’s face turned as red as a beetroot, and she fled without a word.

Ah, she’s always adorable no matter when you see her.

Unintentionally, the corners of my mouth curved upwards.