Chapter 83

“?”

What Kyle put on my finger was a ring that looked too expensive to be considered modest.

It wasn’t as extravagant as the ruby ring from before, but it still looked incredibly expensive.

Could it be…

“Did you buy something expensive again?”

I told him before.

That he shouldn’t casually buy expensive things for women.

Why won’t he listen to me properly?

“I told you. You shouldn’t just buy expensive things for women.”

“It’s fine. For Sofia, no matter how expensive or precious, it’s fine.”

“Haah…”

If he meets a bad woman later…

I’m worried.

I was concerned before when I was training him for his debutante, but now I’m really worried about what will happen if he falls for some weird woman.

He clearly said he understood.

“So, what do you think?”

“It’s pretty, but…”

The ring Kyle gave me was definitely beautiful.

A pretty silver-colored ring.

Was it made of silver?

Anyway, it was beautiful.

Appropriately simple yet noticeable when looking at it.

Ah, he must have put a lot of thought into buying it.

It was the kind of ring that showed Kyle’s intentions.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“It’s nothing…”

Kyle is the one who bought it, and I just received it, so I don’t know why he’s thanking me…

He’s always been such a kind person.

Is it because we’re temporary lovers?

I could feel that aspect of Kyle even more now.

I used to think that whoever becomes Kyle’s lover would be very fortunate, and I was right.

Being Kyle’s lover was quite nice.

His appearance that even I, a man in my past life, could acknowledge, his height that would be considered very tall even by my past life’s standards, and his muscular body that any woman would like.

But among all those, the most important thing wasn’t the external aspects but Kyle’s personality.

He was too kind, no matter who taught him.

No, it wasn’t about who taught him.

Kyle was simply naturally kind.Anyway, I spent time with Kyle like that.

Since neither Kyle nor I had anything to do, we spent time together.

“Young Master.”

“Yes?”

Tea time with Her Highness the Imperial Princess.

Sofia wasn’t working, so she wasn’t standing behind me.

She had always been behind me, so it felt a bit awkward, but it wasn’t bad.

I’ve just been feeling close to happiness these days.

Even though it’s temporary and just a trial, I became lovers with Sofia.

Despite it being essentially no different from role-playing, it felt good.

Because Sofia began to see me differently.

“You seem very happy these days?”

“Haha… Is that so?”

I didn’t look in the mirror much, so I didn’t know.

It must have been that obvious.

For Her Highness the Imperial Princess to say I looked happy.

“Are you that happy dating Sofia? Even though you’re not really dating?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm… Don’t you want more? If it were me, I’d want to change it to a real relationship.”

“Of course I do.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Because Sofia isn’t ready yet.”

Of course I wanted to date Sofia properly.

Not this strange “trial” relationship, but a formal one where I properly confessed to Sofia and she accepted, leading to us dating.

But that didn’t happen.

Because Sofia didn’t want it yet.

She just left a “maybe” in her mind.

She had no intention of becoming my real lover.

“Hmm… Why not just push her down and take her?”

“…”

I began to seriously worry about the future of the empire.

Why do both the Imperial Princess and my father like the idea of pushing someone down so much?

Isn’t that technically a crime?

Of course, occasionally ill-tempered nobles harass or take advantage of their servants, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a crime.

I don’t understand why she’s telling me to do that.

“By the way, what are you going to do about what I mentioned before?”

“Hmm…”

“As I said before, this ball is being directly hosted by the imperial family.”

“I’m still considering it.”

“Why?”

“If I were going alone that would be one thing, but taking Sofia is a bit…”

“A bit?”

“I don’t like it.”

Yes, I didn’t like it.

I didn’t want to take Sofia just anywhere.

“When she’s not even my real lover, if I take her and another man…”

“Sigh.”

Her Highness the Imperial Princess sighed.

I understood.

I must look pathetic.

“Don’t be like that. I know it too.”

“I’m glad you know. That you’re aware of how foolishly passive you’re being.”

“…”

“No matter how much you like Sofia, you need to be more proactive. Seeing you continually satisfied with the current situation is just…”

“Haha…”

Today, Her Highness’s words hit especially hard.

A ball…

I did want to go with Sofia.

Going to a ball with my lover was a wonderful image.

Sofia would surely look beautiful in a dress.

“I’ll ask her today.”

“Yes, please answer quickly. As I said before, I’ll be leaving soon.”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Just as I said. There’s a ball coming up soon, would you like to go together?”

I was so surprised that I accidentally used formal speech like I did recently.

A ball, me?

“With Kyle… and me together?”

“Yes. I want to go with you, Sofia.”

“Um…”

A ball…

I thought it might be fun to go.

I’d never been to one before.

Of course I would think that.

But at the same time, I wondered if it would be okay for me to go.

It was a reasonable concern.

Unlike Kyle, I’m completely common-born.

Would it be okay for a commoner like me to attend a ball meant for nobles?

“…”

I didn’t think it would be okay at all.

First of all, Kyle would certainly become a laughingstock.

Because he’d be bringing a mere commoner as his partner.

And he’s a duke.

This time, Kyle was definitely not asking me to come as a servant like before.

He surely wanted to bring me as his lover, his partner.

“That would be a bit difficult.”

“… Is that so?”

“Yes.”

I felt sorry for Kyle, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Is it because you dislike me?”

“No.”

That wasn’t my intention at all.

There’s no reason for me to dislike Kyle.

“Then why?”

“Because I’m a commoner. If you bring me as your partner, won’t it just make things difficult for you?”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

I already knew well about noble behavior from boarding school.

In fact, I’ve met more nobles than Kyle has.

Kyle, who has only lived in Eristirol and exchanged greetings with just a few nobles at his debutante, might not know.

“You might not know, but nobles will definitely spread strange rumors about you.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“Well… For example… ‘The heir to the duchy is hanging out with a commoner,’ ‘He goes crazy for busty commoners,’ ‘He basically keeps a busty commoner as a sex slave and sleeps with her every night’… Things like that?”

“…”

“Or ‘The commoner he brought isn’t actually a commoner but a low-ranking noble, and he deliberately calls her a commoner to humiliate her’…”

“Let’s stop there for now.”

“Okay.”

Kyle’s expression wasn’t good.

Did he finally understand the damage that could come to him if he went with me?

“Anyway, that’s why instead of going with me, if you want to go, you should find someone else…”

As I spoke, I felt uncomfortable.

After all, I’m the one dating Kyle, even if temporarily.

Is it right for a lover to tell him to go with someone else?

“No, let’s just not go at all.”

“Hmm…”

Kyle’s expression improved compared to a few seconds ago.

Was he happy at the thought of going with another lady?

I don’t like that.

It’s not a strange thought, but logically, it’s weird to smile at such thoughts when you already have a lover, right?

“Sofia.”

“Yes?”

“You’re worried about strange rumors spreading about me, right?”

“Yes. You’re a duke, so it wouldn’t be good if such rumors spread, right?”

“Then what if instead of rumors, it became the truth…”

As Kyle said this, he came completely close to me.

Just like when he kissed me before, very close.

“W… What?!”

Instead of rumors, the truth.

What did I say when I was talking about rumors?

‘The heir to the duchy is hanging out with a commoner,’ ‘He goes crazy for busty commoners,’ ‘He basically keeps a busty commoner as a sex slave and sleeps with her every night’…

“Wait! Kyle, isn’t it too early for us to do that kind of thing?!”

“Sofia.”

“Hueh?!”

Kyle suddenly started hugging me.

He was holding me with his extremely warm body.

Maybe that’s why that strange thought from before suddenly came to my mind.

How hot would it be if we hugged each other naked…

“W-wait… This is too early for us…”

It was way too early.

We weren’t even really dating yet, so doing that with our bodies was far too soon.

We should take things slowly, holding hands, hugging, kissing…

“Then shall we kiss?”

“What?!”

“We did it before. Doing it once more shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Ugh… No, waaait…”

Being embraced by Kyle’s warm body made my heart race.

I’d felt my heart race before, but this time it was even more intense.

I wonder why.

Last time, I was taken by surprise when Kyle kissed me, but this time I wasn’t?

“Sofia.”

“Y-yes…”

Kyle spoke while holding me.

As always, his voice sounded better when heard from up close like this.

“Do you dislike kissing too?”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

Chu…

And then the sensation on my lips.

No, not just my lips.

Chu… Churup…

Last time it was just a light touch of lips against lips.

But this time it was a completely different kiss.

Kyle’s hot tongue entered my mouth and my mouth…

I…I mean…

“Phwah… Aha… Ha…”

I was given a deep kiss…