Even though I knew it was just practice, the strangely intimate atmosphere was hard to resist.
Maybe it was because we were on a bed.
“Croa, Allozé,”
Dielo called my name again.
“Why are you still adding ‘Allozé’? It feels distant.”
I wasn’t Allozé anymore—I was now Argenta.
Trying to shake off the lingering, tingling sensation from where he’d touched my finger, I spoke again.
“Just call me Croa, Dielo.”
He used to say it so naturally. I didn’t know why it was suddenly so awkward for him now.
At my words, Dielo mouthed my name several times, then finally said it softly:
“…Croa.”
Whether it was the dim lighting, the warm flush from the wine, or the sweetness of the air,
his voice sounded exactly like how you’d imagine a newlywed husband whispering on the first night.
“Good. That passes.”
I pulled my hand away from his lips.
There was still a faint trace of that strange sensation on my fingertips.
I was afraid I’d start blushing for no reason, so I turned away and lay facing the ceiling.
“As we promised, I won’t try to seduce you. But we do have to spend the night together convincingly—like tonight. So it doesn’t look odd.”
And so we could practice too. I gently squeezed his hand.
“You’re right.”
Dielo answered softly and inched a little closer.
I could feel his breath tickle my neck—he was still facing me.
It was more stimulating than earlier.
…Eventually, I turned to face him again. And then it hit me.
“Ah.”
Even if this was a staged wedding night, there was still something we needed to do. Just in case.
I turned fully to Dielo.
“But I need to ask you for a favor.”
Also… for practice.
“What kind…?”
He tilted his head slightly. I leaned closer and whispered my little plan to him.
“…!”
Upon hearing it, Dielo’s eyes widened.
“Are you really okay with that, Croa?”
I nodded without hesitation. Still, he seemed torn.
But I had to carry out this “plan.”
So I whispered again, more earnestly this time.
“There’s a saying in Argenta, isn’t there, Dielo?”
I held up my hand.
“‘Do it, or don’t.’”
His eyes widened a little more. I even nodded to emphasize my point.
“So if you’re going to do it—do it properly.”
At those words, the hesitation left his face. Dielo let out a short breath and nodded.
Then he gently pushed my shoulders down and leaned over me.
Trapped between his arms, my vision was suddenly cloaked in shadows.
After the wedding night.
Pretending to be a blissful couple wasn’t difficult.
Dielo Argenta, by nature, was already a gentle person.
All I had to do was respond a bit more affectionately, and the act came naturally.
“I like how quiet and peaceful it is here.”
When I said that and leaned on him, he would blush and hold me like a shy groom.
And after our wedding night, it seemed like he had made a firm decision.
—Smooch.
Even kisses on my forehead became part of the routine.
He was getting more skilled at pretending.
And the more natural we looked, the more hopeful the people of Argenta became.
Once we spent three nights together and Dielo’s black lily disappeared, they would receive the awakened power too.
As Dielo and I appeared to grow closer quickly, and as I didn’t act like the rumored villainess, the wariness around me gradually disappeared.
That’s how our sweet honeymoon progressed into day three.
Today also happened to be the last day the maids from Allozé would stay with us.
From tomorrow onward, the so-called caretakers (really, they were spies) from Allozé would be leaving this estate.
Of course, I still had to act the part in front of Argenta’s people, since we never truly know what’s inside a person—but at least it’d be less suffocating than being monitored so directly.
—Trickle.
“We prepared a light laurel tea for you, madam. It will help relieve fatigue.”
I was standing in the garden, which was remarkably well-maintained for something built so recently.
Dielo had temporarily gone to the office to handle some Argenta affairs.
‘I’ll be right down. Just wait a little,’
he had said, wearing a sheepish, apologetic expression.
I smiled, remembering his face.
“Thank you. Could you bring a cup to Dielo too? He must be tired from work.”
“Of course, madam.”
Pielle now called me ‘madam.’
Since the wedding had been held, I was officially the lady of House Argenta.
Just as Pielle was instructing another maid—
“Waaaah! Mom!”
A child’s voice echoed from afar.
“…Crying?”
I turned toward the sound.
Between the neatly arranged flower beds, a small child was stumbling along, crying.
“Oh…!”
Perhaps even through the tears, the child had spotted me. The child ran toward me, face tear-streaked.
Pielle quickly stepped in to block the path.
“You can’t approach her carelessly. And you—”
From her reaction, it seemed this child wasn’t someone who lived in the estate.
Of course.
Why would there be children here? Only those serving Dielo and me should be present.
“Please help me, miss!”
Despite Pielle’s interference, the child tried to run to me, whining persistently.
Pielle’s sharp eyes scanned the child quickly—likely to check for any hidden weapons.
As expected of Argenta’s “Cleaner,” she was also likely judging whether this was an assassin hiding killing intent.
Apparently, the child passed her inspection, because Pielle looked up at me.
“What would you like to do?”
Seemed like the kid had slipped in with one of the staff.
I gestured to the child.
First, I needed to calm the tears.
“Come here. What’s wrong? Why are you crying, hmm?”
As soon as Pielle stepped aside, the child ran straight into my arms.
I knelt down to match the child’s eye level.
The puffy face told me the kid had been crying for quite a while.
“Mom… I can’t find Mom…”
“Your mom?”
“She came with me… hic!”
I tilted my head at the child’s words.
“Were there any servants who brought a child?”
“None in Argenta, that’s for sure,”
Fielle replied quickly.
Meanwhile, the child began to cry even louder.
“Mom…!”
Clinging tightly to me, the child refused to let go.
“Aaaah!”
“I think it’s anxiety…”
I gently stroked the child’s head and turned to Pielle.
“This won’t do.”
Standing up, I cupped the child’s cheeks to soothe them.
“I’ll walk this child to the main road. It’ll be easier to find their mother there.”
“Madam, there’s a safety concern—”
“It’s fine.”
I met Pielle’s hesitation with a firm voice.
“I trust both Allozé and Argenta.”
I looked her straight in the eye when I said I trusted Argenta.
Allozé wouldn’t hurt me since they needed me, and Argenta certainly wouldn’t, since I was publicly known as their heir, Ferro.
In other words, the knights stationed throughout the estate were all there to protect me.
“Still, others might worry, so don’t tell anyone.”
I winked at Pielle.
“I trust you, Pielle.”
Pielle’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Besides, what could a child do?”
“Hic…”
Eventually, Pielle nodded.
“All right. You two—go help the madam—”
She was about to call the other maids to follow me when—
“Waaaah!”
The child started crying again.
As if unfamiliar people were scary, the child buried their face in my dress and trembled.
“I’ll go just to the road and return quickly.”
Reluctantly, Pielle dismissed the other maids.
Finally, the child’s sobs began to calm down.
“Shall we go?”
I patted the child’s head and began to walk.
I didn’t know the paths around the villa well, but I could find the main road and hand the child off to an Allozé maid or knight.
—Step, step.
We moved farther away from Pielle and the others. The child stopped crying.
Right about then, I let go of the child’s hand, which I’d been holding.
That’s when the child began tugging at my dress.
Until now, I’d been leading—but now the behavior had changed.
“Hm? Is there something over there?”
I feigned ignorance, but the child kept tugging insistently.
That confirmed it.
This child had been sent to me intentionally.
- Despite the tight security, the child came straight to me.
- The soles of their shoes had mud on them, even though there wasn’t any mud nearby.
- Most telling of all—when we got far enough from Pielle, I glimpsed the Allozé crest beneath the child’s collar.
That was more than enough reason to be suspicious.
This child might very well be a threat.
Even though Pielle had checked, not all weapons are visible.
And there are people who can manipulate wind, water, or fire—who’s to say there isn’t a spell to change one’s appearance?
This might not be a child at all.
But I wasn’t worried about my safety.
Pielle, Argenta’s “Cleaner,” would be following me in secret.
If something happened, her sword would strike in an instant.
—Rustle.
The child naturally led me to a deserted spot.
Then suddenly turned to face me.
All traces of childishness were gone.
“Croa Allozé.”
The cold voice rang out.
Unsurprisingly, the tearful tone had vanished and was gradually replaced by a grown woman’s voice.
So it really was a disguised watcher.
Around her wrist, the Allozé crest shimmered.
I could sense potent Allozé magic radiating from it—it meant the Duke himself had branded her.
While I processed that, the woman asked:
“Did you spend the night with the Duke of Argenta?”
…They really sent someone to verify that?
I stared, a bit dumbfounded.
“Of course.”
There was no way I could admit, “We just held hands,”
so I answered without pause.
They didn’t watch us all night, and only Dielo and I knew the truth.
But the woman, shockingly, held out her hand.
“In that case, proof.”
She demanded proof of our first night together.
I stared at her, eyes wide.
