Chapter 61
Her expression began to contort the more she read the document. She knew this paper all too well.
It was the loan contract the original owner of this body had been using to borrow money.
“Why do you have this?” she asked.
“Because I bought it all.”
“What?”
Del stepped forward in place of the succinct Kainel.
“All the debts owed to the Draw barony have, as of today, been transferred to our Archduke Persha.”
“…Why would you do that?”
Ceres stared at Kainel with a look of disbelief.
How am I supposed to make sense of this? Why would you pay off my debts for me?
“Huh. I wonder why.”
Kainel let a faint curl of a smile lift the corner of his mouth as he looked at the stunned Ceres.
“So what, then?” she snapped.
“Pay the money back.”
“…….”
Irritation flared and Ceres roughly wiped her face with her hand.
Has this guy lost his mind? What’s all this sudden nonsense?
“Why? You don’t have the money?”
Whoosh!
In an instant Ceres grabbed Kainel by the collar.
It was a movement without any wasted motion.
“…….”
“…….”
The two of them held each other’s gazes so steadily that the chill in the air made everyone nearby swallow nervously, expecting a fight to break out at any moment.
Kainel, however, remained calm as if he had anticipated her reaction.
If anything, the faint smile at his mouth deepened.
“Miss Ceres, what is the meaning of—!”
Del, his face hardened, began to protest, but Kainel raised a hand to stop him.
As if daring him to try, Kainel tilted his chin back toward Del. Ceres dropped even the awkward, forced politeness she’d been trying to maintain.
“What are you trying to do?”
It would be naive to brush this off as simply a change of creditor when the other party was Kainel Persha.
Ceres, who knew Grace Ellesia as well as Kainel did, also knew Kainel well enough to understand he was not someone who would lose out by choice.
Kainel was, after all, an aristocrat.
He had to put his family’s interests first.
A breeze that felt pleasant to some could become a typhoon to others.
Grace and Kainel’s friendship had ended when one of them died.
Ceres did not forget that she and the current Kainel were complete strangers — nothing more than two utterly unrelated people.
“What scheme of yours ties an inconsequential barony like Draw to the Persha archducal family? Are you about to go to war? Need a human shield?”
“That’s harsh.”
“You might end up a puppet and get your siblings beheaded. Compared to that, this is tame.”
“You could’ve done it out of nothing but goodwill.”
“You? Really?”
Even Del, who had stiffened at Ceres’s reaction, unconsciously nodded.
True enough…
Whether those around them fidgeted or not, whether the baroness’s daughter Ceres spoke informally to him or not, Kainel maintained his cool demeanor.
“I’m not trying to harass you or use you as a shield. Just pay me back.”
“Is that even a sentence…? I’m not in the mood for jokes right now.”
“I’m not joking.”
“…….”
…Hey, don’t smile. Why do you keep smiling when this doesn’t suit you?
“If you can’t pay with money, repay me with your body.”
“What?”
“Work.”
“What the—”
“Here. Read this and sign it. It won’t be a bad deal for Miss Ceres.”
Seizing the moment, Del slid something to Ceres — another document.
The heading that stood out the most read:
<Employment Contract>
“…An employment contract?”
“I told you. Pay me back with your body.”
Ceres’s face registered pure incredulity in an instant.
