Chapter : 10
‘That is also true. But still, you could have at least listened to what I had to say before making a judgment, right?’
Emil’s eyes sharpened as he stared intently at Alosha, whose expression kept changing right before his eyes.
Although he had tried to brush it off by saying that he had thought she was a fraud, Emil had never dreamed that Alosha would actually head straight to the Oclaire Merchant Guild.
‘It would be better not to provoke her unnecessarily.’
Alosha let out a short sigh and lifted her teacup.
“So, you’re saying that after confirming the ring I have is real, you hurriedly came all the way here?”
“I won’t deny it.”
Emil had recognized from the very beginning that the ring was genuine, but he conveniently left that part out of his answer.
“Then shall we talk about the deal?”
“Could the Laos Merchant Guild really offer much better terms than the Oclaire Merchant Guild?”
“New dresses and jewelry from every season? I thought you were a much more calculating person, Young Lady.”
Seeing the expression on his face that seemed to say, Surely you’re not going to fall for something like that, are you? Alosha thought that he must be complimenting her.
“I happen to like dresses and jewelry very much. If someone says they’ll give them to me, why would I refuse?”
“…If you like them that much, I will send you even better jewelry and dresses, Young Lady. Separately from the deal.”
There was no reason to refuse something someone was offering to give her.
With a relaxed expression, Alosha studied Emil before getting to the main point.
“Wow. You’ll send me new jewelry and dresses every season, completely separate from the deal? You really are a much more calculating person, Merchant Guild Master.”
Emil had thought he had long since become completely accustomed to dealing with worn-out merchants and flattering nobles, but the Young Lady in front of him was somehow different, and he found himself feeling a little amused.
Emil stroked his chin thoughtfully. Then, as if he had come up with a good idea, he smiled leisurely.
“What do you think of me?”
“…Pardon?”
“Didn’t you say I was handsome? So I’m asking whether you would like to exchange the Phoenix Ring for me.”
“This is like a pumpkin rolling straight into my lap… No, that’s not the point! What on earth are you talking about? I may be someone who is easily tempted by a handsome face, but how can you tease me like this?”
When Alosha suddenly shouted, Emil gave a light kiss to the back of her hand and said,
“Tease you? I’m serious.”
“Listen here! Merchant Guild Master of the Laos Merchant Guild!”
“Calling me Merchant Guild Master of the Laos Merchant Guild sounds far too stiff. Please call me Emil instead, more casually.”
Having said that, Emil gave Alosha a subtle smile and winked at her.
‘Good grief! Where did he learn to act so ridiculously flirtatious?’
Of course, Emil’s face was exactly Alosha’s type, and watching a handsome man act cute was certainly pleasant.
Besides, although she was easily swayed, had almost no willpower, and could never stop gushing over handsome people, this was a time when she had to be serious. How dare he try to toy with her like that!
“I’m bragging a little, but I’m quite good to my woman.”
“……”
She had been so angry that she had nearly risen from her seat, but after hearing Emil’s one sentence, she sat back down.
What was he good at?
“What did you just say?”
Alosha wondered whether her desires had somehow manifested themselves outside her body and caused her to hear things that were not there, so she asked Emil again.
“I said I’m quite good at it.”
Emil wore a suggestive smile as he ran his index finger over his lips.
From his words and actions, Alosha realized that this was, in fact, reality. And, with only the two of them present, she suddenly felt like she wanted to hear exactly what Emil was good at.
‘Why am I getting so excited over those words? Get a grip! Haven’t you been fooled like this more than once or twice?’
It was like those scenes where the male and female leads are in a carriage and act as though they are about to kiss, only for the scene to suddenly cut to them putting on their seatbelts.
Those kinds of ambiguous expressions made people expect something, only for the scene to ultimately be edited because of censorship regulations.
She must not be fooled.
Unless it was the uncensored version, sentences that made readers look forward to what came next were nothing more than a technique Alosha herself had often used when writing.
They were the sort of lines readers knowingly allowed themselves to be fooled by, smiling fondly and thinking, Oh? Really? as they let their imaginations run wild.
“Young Lady?”
“…I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I’m confident that I can match whatever type you like, Young Lady. Choose me. You will never regret it.”
‘This novel is not rated 19+. And it’s a fantasy novel with absolutely no romance elements.’
Alosha closed her eyes and muttered that to herself before taking a deep breath and speaking.
“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t think that’s what I want. Of course, Mr. Emil, you are handsome, but I’m not sure whether you’re worth that much to me.”
“Is that so? For someone saying that, you haven’t let go of my hand since earlier.”
“W-Wait, when did this happen again?! Bad hand! Bad hand!”
Her mind and her actions were supposed to be separate to a reasonable degree, but she kept losing her reason like this.
At least she had not drooled. Still, feeling extremely embarrassed, Alosha began smacking the back of her own hand with loud slapping sounds.
“Young Lady, why are you suddenly hitting your own hand? You did the same thing with your cheek earlier… Ah, could it be that this is your preference?”
“Absolutely not! Do you have any idea how steadfast my tastes are? I really don’t have that kind of preference!”
Even among the works she paid to read on the platform, the tags were things like #ObsessiveMaleLead #Possessiveness/Exclusivity #DevotedMaleLead #GentleOnlyTowardTheFemaleLead #HappyEnding #RomanticComedy #CapableMaleLead—not that kind of thing.
“…What kind of preference is ‘that kind of preference’?”
“……”
When she had read stories about sly men teasing innocent women who were easily toyed with by such men, she had laughed.
But now that she was the one being teased, she found him so irritating that she could have died.
‘Who would have thought that I, of all people, would be this flustered and manipulated by a single line from a character in my own novel?’
She had no idea what her friend had been thinking when she created such a shamelessly flirtatious character in a novel that was not even a romance-fantasy story.
Having experienced a profound sense of defeat in their verbal sparring, Alosha glared at Emil, who was quietly laughing.
“Stop laughing.”
No.
Laugh more.
She wished he would laugh as hard as he could, laugh until he ran out of breath, high-five his ancestors, and disappear from in front of her.
Perhaps Emil noticed the dangerous thoughts she was having, because he cleared his throat and suppressed his laughter.
“Ahem! I understand. Contrary to the rumors, you have quite a cute side to you, Young Lady.”
“…You don’t have to go out of your way to dress up the fact that you think I look stupid.”
She had firmly believed that if she ever became possessed by a character in a book, she would become an incredibly cool character who effortlessly solved every incident and showered everyone with satisfying victories.
But to think she was actually this clumsy and scatterbrained!
Seeing her face turn red and then pale, Emil looked at Alosha with a deep, meaningful gaze.
“So, what do you think of my proposal?”
“I’m sorry, but I have admired someone for a long time, so I’m afraid I can’t.”
“You admire someone? I was informed that you don’t have a fiancé yet, so it can’t be him… Who is he? That lucky man?”
For Emil, who was asking despite not seeming particularly curious, Alosha deliberately took her time before answering.
“The person I admire is none other than Duke Whistler!”
When Emil heard the name Whistler come from Alosha’s mouth, he initially thought he had misheard her.
Then his expression changed from surprise to complete shock.
“You mean that Whistler Demesis Alten, the Duke? You admire that murderous maniac who is rumored to leave a trail of blood wherever he goes and be exceptionally skilled at chopping off the heads of anyone who crosses his path?”
Alosha was a little flustered because the setting seemed more extreme than she had expected, but if he was supposed to be the final boss, such a long string of terrifying titles was practically the equivalent of a hero’s medal of honor.
“R-Rumors are just rumors!”
She had said it was only a rumor because she did not want to lose, but she could not hide the tremor in her voice.
“Haaah, Young Lady. I’m not talking about something as simple as a rumor. Unless you have a death wish, you would be wise to stay as far away from Duke Whistler as possible. He really is a monster.”
Alosha knew that very well too.
Putting aside the original story and the fact that she was going to die, she also wanted to live a happy life somewhere in a quiet resort town, spending her money freely, dating, getting married, and simply enjoying her life.
But if she changed the original story just for her own comfort and allowed everything to proceed according to the plot, then, beginning with the deaths of her brother and herself, half of the Empire would eventually be swept into a war and die.
How could she simply turn a blind eye to that?
“Those words won’t be enough to make me give up my feelings for Duke Whistler!”
After confirming Alosha’s burning determination to somehow seduce that man and survive, Emil let out a long sigh with an expression that showed he simply could not understand her.
“When you came here carrying the Phoenix Ring, which I had spent a long time and considerable effort searching for, I thought you wanted to marry me.”
So that was why he had been so rude.
Alosha shook her head from side to side.
“I don’t want anything else. Just help me make things work between Duke Whistler and me!”
“…How?”
“Pardon?”
“I have no particular connection with Duke Whistler, nor do I know how to make a monster feel human emotions. So how exactly am I supposed to help make things work between you and Duke Whistler?”
“I already have a plan, so all you have to do, Mr. Emil, is support it.”
Emil looked Alosha up and down with a suspicious gaze before shaking his head.
“Wouldn’t that be a little difficult? I fully understand your charms, Young Lady, but not a single beauty has ever managed to capture Duke Whistler’s heart.”
“So you’re saying that my looks are seriously lacking when it comes to seducing Duke Whistler?”
“I didn’t go that far.”
He had not said it.
But he certainly seemed to think it.
“If he is really that ascetic, then at least he won’t be distracted by other women.”
“Stop being stubborn for no reason. You might as well tell me that you’re going to wage war to start a rebellion against the Empire and ask me to help you with that instead.”
Alosha was deeply shocked by Emil’s words.
War was easier than seducing Duke Whistler?
How could he say something so hurtful?
And besides, war?!
She was going through all this trouble precisely to stop that from happening!
