~CHAPTER 38~
“I-I, really, I, really, really, is it, is it reall
okay?”
“It will be fine as long as you don’t tremble like that.”
I adjusted my parasol while glancing back at the shivering woman, Penny.
Right now, I was wearing the most expensive-looking clothes I had and draped myself in all the jewelry I had scavenged from Jahar’s room.
Jahar’s room had plenty of jewels. Mana stones were basically made into gemstones by default.
‘I’ll use them well and return them.’
Rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and even a large gemstone brooch.
Even if I had been wearing comfortable clothes, with this much jewelry I would at least look wealthy.
Yes. Right now, I was attempting a ‘noble cosplay.’
All I had going for me was a face that looked like it had been raised well.
‘In a small village like this, anyone trying so hard to flaunt their status as a lord—there’s no doubt about their rank.’
At best, a baron, if lucky a viscount.
High-ranking nobles would be difficult, but for low-ranking ones, my noble cosplay would work. I was confident.
‘After all, I’ve acted as a countess before.’
In the early rounds, before I had grown tired of being a transmigrator, I bought a title and created a fake family to pose as a countess.
As a beginner transmigrator, I attempted it dreaming of a sweet romance, but it ended poorly.
At that time, I was busy running a business, so I barely had time to check the demon realm.
Anyway, because of that experience, I was skilled at posing as a noble.
The chance of being exposed as a non-noble by a rookie lord who had just inherited a territory was low… no, close to zero.
“Miss Penny, from now on I am a naive countess passing through this territory. You are a kind-hearted subject guiding such a countess to the lord. Understand?”
“I-I… do I need to do anything else…?”
“No. Just stand quietly and politely by my side, and when I take Bella away, bring her home…”
My firm words faltered for a moment.
“Take her to my mansion. You can stay there too. Understood?”
Where had her bold knocking-on-the-door confidence gone?
Penny was trembling not just in her voice but in her entire body.
If she was this nervous, it might show. Should I just leave her?
‘No, the reason I’m visiting the lord is to somehow make it look credible and have someone take care of Bella while she’s weak.’
Penny would be more suitable than me for that.
She seemed to care for Bella far more than I did.
“Then let’s go.”
I adjusted my parasol and climbed into the hired carriage Penny had called.
It felt like heading to a battlefield, though I wasn’t nervous.
Worry only comes when you think you might lose.
What I should worry about was closer to:
‘Can I resist beating that shameless bastard the moment I see him?’
***
“L-Lord.”
“What? Has that girl Bella finally changed her mind?”
‘Girl?’ The servant felt disgusted that his master referred to that child as a ‘girl.’
But there was nothing he could do. This was the lord’s territory, and a commoner acting up against a noble could disappear without a trace.
The servant valued his own safety over a stranger.
He suppressed his nausea and nodded.
“N-no, it’s not that… Miss Pavrein came by.”
“Pavrein?”
The newly appointed lord furrowed his brows. His face and neck were flushed as if he had been drinking heavily since noon.
He roughly set the wineglass he was holding onto the table.
Whether it was an accident from his intoxication or deliberate force, the servant couldn’t tell.
“Yes… it seems she is a young lady from a passing noble family nearby…”
“Then why come to me? If it’s some obscure countryside family I’ve never heard of, they should just stay out of trouble.”
A passing noble being friends with a commoner?
“Apparently she used to serve that young lady before. After she left, there was no news, so she came to check.”
“Hah, really.”
The lord clicked his tongue.
‘What kind of insignificant family would have a commoner care this much? She must be too ignorant to understand class differences.’
He didn’t want to get involved in any troublesome business just by meeting the young lady from that inconsequential family.
“I hear she’s a countess’s daughter… Should we send her back?”
“Countess’s daughter?”
The lord’s half-open eyes widened.
‘A countess’s daughter… Even if from a small family, it wouldn’t hurt to have connections.’
‘If things go well, I might even arrange a marriage this time.’
He needed to judge if this countess’s daughter was suitable, at least by looks.
The lord chuckled and waved his hand.
“Bring her here. On the way, tell someone else to bring ‘that thing’ to me.”
“Y-Yes… understood, Lord.”
The servant bowed and went to the lobby.
‘Good thing I didn’t use it on that Bella girl. If I do now, it’ll be gone… I almost wasted the chance to have a countess as a bride.’
Alone, the lord smiled greedily and poured more wine.
Red wine sloshed in the glass like blood.
Meanwhile, in the lobby, the servant met the waiting countess (posing) Serena.
He also remembered to pass the lord’s orders to the other servant on the way.
“Thank you for waiting. The lord asks you to come upstairs.”
“Ah, finally? Please guide me quickly.”
The countess (posing) Serena snapped her parasol closed with a loud tap.
The servant took a sharp breath at her revealed face.
Shiny black hair, ruby-like eyes.
White skin without a trace of sunburn, delicate wrists heavier than the parasol—adorned with jewelry.
The clothes were simple, but her commanding presence completed the noble look.
‘She looks like a young lady from a wealthy family.’
The servant silently admired Serena’s appearance as he guided her to the lord.
‘Tsk tsk, such a young, pretty girl….’
For a commoner to feel sympathy for a noble—it had been a long time.
But imagining her in a few hours’ time, he couldn’t help but pity her.
It was because of ‘Somnir.’
The lord had accidentally obtained a weak sedative from the black market.
It looked like an ordinary lavender candle, but inhaling the smoke slowed the heartbeat and dulled focus within ten minutes.
After about thirty minutes, it left the person in a dreamlike state, unable to resist.
Alcohol consumed before the effect would render it ineffective, but that didn’t matter to the lord.
After all, few women would drink with him willingly.
“Lord, she has arrived.”
The servant knocked on the door while pitying the noble lady who would soon be in a terrible state.
“Bring her in.”
“Please come in, Your Ladyship. The companion will be served tea in the side room.”
The servant kindly spoke to Penny, who had accompanied Serena.
“Th-That’s…”
Penny’s eyes looked at Serena, mixed with concern for her alone and the thought that perhaps she would be better off absent.
Serena noticed Penny’s gaze and nodded.
“Do that. Just guiding me this far is enough. I’ll reward you after tea.”
“Ah, un-understood… I, I understand….”
Penny obediently followed the servant to the side room.
Left alone, Serena grasped the doorknob to the lord’s room.
She took a deep breath before opening it.
‘I mustn’t lose. I mustn’t lose…’
