Chapter 13
“Yeah, take your time writing. By the way, what’s that? Did you make it?”
“Yeah. It’s an experiment I just started, so I’m a bit busy right now.”
Narsia spoke gently. He was used to being alone, and when someone talked to him from beside him, it became hard to focus on anything. That was exactly why he always spent his time in the annex instead of the main building.
“Oh, then I won’t bother you.”
“Thanks.”
At her words promising not to interrupt, Narsia let out a small, relieved sigh. However, unlike what he expected—Violette returning to the main building—she dragged over a chair from somewhere and quietly sat right next to him.
“What are you doing?”
“You said you’re busy. If I talk to you, I’ll probably interrupt you, so I’ll just stay quiet. You don’t have to thank me.”
At Violette’s tone, as if she were doing him a huge favor, he tightly shut his eyes.
How much time had passed? Narsia still felt like he was going to die from how conscious he was of her.
She did stay quiet, just like she promised — she simply didn’t talk.
Her legs kept fidgeting nonstop, she fiddled with the items on his experiment table, and from time to time she let out small sounds of admiration after seeing something.
“But you don’t usually wear glasses, right? Do you only wear them when you work?”
“Haah…”
In the end, unable to hold it in anymore, Narsia ran one hand down his face. He set down the flask he was holding, quickly filled out the documents Violette had brought, and handed them to her.
“I only wear glasses when I’m working. And I filled out all the documents you asked for. So… could you go back now?”
“Why? I stayed still like I promised!”
“You’re distracting. Instead of doing this here, why don’t you go play in the main building?”
“The main building is boring. There’s no one I know there and nothing to do. You’re always cooped up in the annex…”
When Violette muttered with a sulky face, he felt a strange twinge of guilt. As she said, Violette didn’t know anyone in the Navian territory, and since he had completely blocked all her strange hobbies, she probably didn’t have much to play with either.
On top of that, while he had asked her to help with the territory’s work, it wasn’t a busy season, and even that work was being handled by a proxy, so he couldn’t really blame her for being bored.
After thinking for a moment, Narsia tried to gently soothe her with a careful voice.
“I’m sorry to say this, but when I have someone next to me, I usually—”
“Hey, wait. What? You’re two years younger than me? You hid this all this time?”
As she skimmed through the marriage registration papers, Violette suddenly cut him off. Narsia buried his face in both hands and muttered to himself in despair.
“I really feel like crying…”
“Why? Did something happen?”
“No, Violette. But what I’m doing today is a little dangerous, so I really wish you’d go back to the main building. If you’re bored, how about going into town? It doesn’t even take 30 minutes by carriage.”
“Oh, should I? I didn’t think of that.”
“Yeah… please. I’m begging you.”
At what was practically a plea from him, she nodded readily. A trip into town — her first outing in the territory in days — seemed to lift her mood instantly.
“And this is my first time going out in Navian territory too. Maybe I’ll find something new!”
“Fine, then big sister is off! See you later!”
“Ah…”
Violette waved cheerfully and trotted out of the room.
Only after her figure had completely disappeared did Narsia finally sweep his hand through his hair, feeling like he’d aged ten years in just a short while.
* * *
Wearing neat everyday clothes and a cloak, Violette walked into town, her cheeks slightly flushed as she looked around.
Unlike in the capital, where every gaze used to gather on her, here no one recognized her — and she found that fact quite pleasing.
Moreover, she had barely managed to persuade the servants who wanted to accompany her and leave them all behind.
Thinking that she could finally taste true freedom, her body almost bounced on its own.
‘They haven’t even officially announced it yet. If I go around showing that I’m the young duke’s wife, how uncomfortable would people feel?’
Even in the capital, she had often wandered around town with her attendant, Hurrain, but this was her first time going out completely alone while hiding her status.
Since she had always loved sweets and desserts, Violette immediately grabbed a waffle stuffed with vanilla ice cream and started munching on it.
“Mmm! This is really good!”
Her eyes widened at the sweet taste spreading through her mouth.
At the same time, she thought of the apple pie she had left behind in the annex.
“Surely Narsia didn’t eat it all, right?”
Unlike before, she had come to like Narsia quite a bit. Not in a romantic sense, but more like a friend.
After observing him for several days, she realized he was truly her complete opposite.
Narsia basically liked being alone and quiet, was relaxed in everything, and had a laid-back personality. On top of that, he wasn’t very talkative, so whenever they talked, Violette easily took up more than 70% of the conversation.
If they had met for the first time in high society, she probably would’ve said, “That’s the most boring man I’ve ever seen,” and not given him a second glance.
“No, wait… but he’s that handsome. I probably would’ve at least taken a second look.”
She recalled the image of Narsia a little while ago, wearing glasses low on his nose, eyes lowered as he focused on his work.
Since Narsia hated social activities and liked shutting himself up in the mansion, that made sense, but if not, she was sure countless noble ladies would have cried while chasing after him.
Violette, who was also quite proud of her own beauty, found even herself dazed by Narsia’s looks.
When she finished her waffle and started looking around for the next dessert…
A big man stealthily approached her from behind.
A dark shadow fell over her, and she sharply frowned.
“Hey. You look like you’ve got a lot of money, miss…”
“What’s your problem? Do you know me?”
He was at least two heads taller than Violette, but she didn’t flinch at all. Instead, she raised her chin and stared him down.
Caught completely off guard by her reaction, the man gave an awkward smile.
“Hey, if you’re going to call to someone, you should talk properly. Are you picking a fight with me?”
“N-No, that’s not it.”
“Then what? Is suddenly bringing up money to a stranger not picking a fight?”
“Well, I just wanted to ask if you like games…”
“Games?”
The moment the word “games” came out of his mouth, Violette’s face relaxed.
Meanwhile, the man, who had been half-intimidated, pointed behind her with a trembling hand.
“Yes, I… I work at that game hall over there. Today, a really fun prize is coming out. You looked like you might be financially comfortable, so I wanted to ask if you’d be interested…”
“Hmmm.”
The place he pointed to was a narrow staircase going underground.
After rubbing her chin in thought for a moment, Violette asked in a low voice:
“That’s not a casino, right? The name doesn’t even have the word ‘casino’ in it?”
“Yes, of course. It’s just a private game hall.”
“Then… I’ll just take a quick look.”
Ever since long ago, Violette had wanted to step into a gambling hall or game house run by commoners at least once.
And now such a perfect opportunity had come to her!
With her identity as Rascal or Kegreiner, she could never have come to a place like this.
The contract she signed with Narsia did bother her a bit, but it wasn’t a casino, so wasn’t that fine?
Violette nodded and boldly walked toward the entrance.
“…It’s cleaner than I thought?”
Since it was an unlicensed place, she expected it to be dark and damp, but the underground space was decorated rather brightly.
Seeing that many people held mugs of ale rather than cards, it also seemed to function as a restaurant or tavern.
Pulling up the hood of her cloak, Violette stepped inside properly.
A quick glance showed that it was much closer to a “game hall” than a casino.
Dice, darts, and roulette-style games were the main attractions, and from what she could tell, you paid money to play, collected points, and exchanged them for prizes.
She felt slightly disappointed that there were no cards or chips, but for Violette, who had been thirsty for刺激 for a long time, even this was more than enough.
“Then… should I warm up a bit?”
With a confident smile, Violette loosened her wrist lightly and moved toward the game in front of her.
And exactly 30 minutes later—
“Wow! I got it right again!”
“T-This is crazy! How many times is that now?!”
“At this rate, she’s going to get first place!”
Odd or even — odd or even. Darts — darts. Roulette — roulette.
She dominated every single game.
She had correctly guessed the shell game results ten times in a row.
Before long, a huge crowd of spectators gathered around her, cheering and following her every move.
“…Correct.”
When she saw the employee’s face turn pale, a strange, predatory smile spread across Violette’s face.
There was no special secret behind why Violette swept money in casinos and had such an insanely high win rate.
It was simple.
Violette Rascal was just ridiculously lucky.
