Chapter 146

“Are you enjoying being among the young ladies?”

As soon as I heard that, I was speechless.

No, how could I enjoy this?

I purposely chose this time slot to avoid being noticed by the nobles’ eyes. After carefully examining the building’s layout and structure from the perfect clear reward, I entered this place and didn’t do anything eye-catching.

That means I tried my best to avoid being seen by the people here. Being suddenly surrounded by nobles wouldn’t make me feel good.

This feeling is something I felt as a player, so I can’t say it out loud, but it’s not like I can’t deny it for another reason.

So, I feel wronged.

Why am I getting so angry when those girls chased after me unilaterally?

I wanted to immediately refute it.

But…

“…Somehow, it feels like I’ll get hit if I say that.”

Maybe because I’ve gained experience, a strange sensation mixed with cold sweat appeared on my back.

Let’s try to clear up the misunderstanding first.

“I… I was just passing through this way…”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Oh… This is bad.

It seems my fiancée is even more displeased than before.

Just saying I was passing through isn’t enough to explain, is it?

“Eh-hem… Those people over there weren’t called by me.”

“Yes, but?”

“They suddenly rushed over from that side. I’m not lying, right?”

Then, Harnier asked with an even sharper voice.

“And you were held back there for quite some time, weren’t you?”

“If I had been held back, news would surely reach the Duke’s House, wouldn’t it?”

“So, you just stood there even though the young ladies’ attention was already on you?”

She leaned her face close to mine.

I naturally took a step back.

“Just refuse! Why didn’t you say anything and just stand there quietly!”

“If I heard something bad, I couldn’t help it… Uwaah!”

As she approached, I instinctively took another step back.

“Just say no! If you don’t want to cause an accident, just politely decline, right?”

“No, I want to, but it’s difficult…”

She took another step closer.

I swallowed hard and took another step back.

“You could say you have a schedule and need to leave, or you could say you’re tired and want to rest! You could say you came to look at your room at the Duke’s House or that you need to go somewhere because of an appointment. Even if you’re tired, you could say you’re hungry or busy preparing. The worst case is you could say you’re sick! What’s so hard about that?”

Every time I suggested an alternative to get out of the young ladies, Harnier stepped closer.

As I stepped back with each of her steps, I found myself cornered against the wall.

“You didn’t say a word! I didn’t ask you to solve it with violence. Just a few words, why didn’t you say them? Do you know how many things you could have said in that situation?”

I felt the hard wall against my back.

Now I was cornered with nowhere to retreat.

“Also, there’s the best method, why didn’t you use it? If you had used it, you could have left immediately!”

“…The best method?”

Was there such a thing?

As I tilted my head, Harnier closed the distance.

Now, there was no place to retreat.

“Is it really that hard to say you have a fiancée? Even if you have someone you want to meet, you can easily draw a line and refuse any advances!”

Ugh.

I scratched the back of my head and finally opened my mouth.

“Th… That…”

“What is it!”

Even though my voice was getting sharper and making me break out in cold sweat, I had to say it.

“It’s too close, isn’t it?”

“…What?”

Harnier looked bewildered at my sudden comment.

*Cough, cough.*

I pointed to the space between us with my index finger.

“You said you dislike physical contact. If you keep coming closer, we’ll touch.”

“…”

Whew. Finally, I can relax a bit.

Only then did Harnier step away from the cornered me.

She turned her back to me, shook her head, and glanced at me.

“That… That wasn’t intentional.”

“…Of course not. I didn’t intend for the young ladies to come near me either.”

Feeling relieved, I adjusted my voice slightly and added.

“Then, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well, I was disoriented upon arrival, and I was thinking about how to get away.”

“You were thinking about how to get away?”

“Yes. If I had gotten away wrongly, it might have distorted and reached my family’s ears.”

“Ahh…”

She sighed briefly, seemingly understanding.

But it seemed insufficient, as her expression quickly became sharp again.

“Still, one sentence about having a fiancée would have been enough. But you couldn’t say anything.”

“Hmm. I did think about it, but…”

“Is there a reason why you couldn’t use it?”

“Yes.”

“No, where could such a reason be?”

Harnier looked at me with an exasperated expression.

“It’s just a contract. Between you and me.”

“But I thought you might dislike it.”

“…What?”

“The contract engagement. Considering how you suffered from all sorts of teasing and advances from men, I thought it would be inappropriate for me to say that.”

Harnier had told me during the contract.

She said she had refused anyone who tried to casually become her fiancé.

Someone had even tried to manipulate situations to spend time alone with her.

I hadn’t experienced such a situation, but it wouldn’t be strange for her to feel frustrated after experiencing it countless times.

The very purpose of proposing the contract engagement was to avoid such situations.

She used the Oath Gem and suggested acting like lovers to prevent such incidents.

Harnier made such a judgment to protect herself.

But, what if I used this against her?

That’s why I didn’t say it.

“Well… It might be an exaggeration, but someday you might meet a nice man and get married, right?”

“…”

“Even if you allow it, I would use it then…”

Harnier stared at me silently, then flinched and turned her head sharply.

“You don’t need to ask for permission every time! We agreed to cooperate, didn’t we… Ah, from now on, you can openly say you have a fiancée!”

“Uh… Yeah…”

This answer also seemed odd. Feeling awkward, I scratched my cheek.

A quiet silence fell.

This conversation seemed to end there, and Harnier had nothing more to say.

Since it was just the two of us, I decided to ask one more thing.

“Harnier. You said you wanted to set a schedule, but why didn’t you reply to my letter?”

“Oh… About that.”

It seemed there was indeed a reason, as Harnier sighed.

“You need to dance with me.”

“…What?”

Miss Fiancée?

What does that mean?

***

“Haa…”

Carsein, holding his face with one hand, let out a deep sigh.

How deep was that sigh? It felt like it could pierce through the table and reach the ground.

Withdrawing his hand from his face, he scratched his head in difficulty and asked again.

“So, this is what happened? Before our contract, due to challenges from the social circle, you had to lie about having a fiancée. And that lie involved dancing at tonight’s party. Lastly, you couldn’t reply to my letter because of surveillance from the Marquis House.”

“…”

At her word-for-word response, Harnier nodded silently without a word.

There was nothing to say.

This was clearly his own mistake.

“…Just to make sure, when does the ball start?”

“Ah… It’s roughly an hour from now… Right?”

“No. Does that mean the young ladies of the social circle need to perform a flawless dance within that hour? And you and I?”

The question was obvious; it wasn’t something that could happen easily.

Cold sweat was streaming down Harnier’s nape.

“…Isn’t there any other way?”

“No… There isn’t.”

“Who knows? Think about it carefully.”

“But…”

He had already firmly stated that they would dance, so what else could he do?

In the end, he still had to go on stage.

Carsein let out another deep sigh.

“By the way, I can’t dance. I’ve never danced before.”

“Th… That’s fine! If we practice now, we might manage somehow!”

“How can it work if I’ve never danced before? Huh?”

“Who knows? Maybe you have a talent for dancing!”

“Ha, really? You practiced with a mannequin yourself, didn’t you?”

“Ah, seriously. Let’s just stand up! I know how to dance, so let’s just practice whatever we can.”

Reluctantly standing up, Carsein.

Harnier slowly examined Carsein’s body.

“Huh? He’s quite tall…”

She noticed late, but she was looking up at Carsein.

It wasn’t just a feeling. The gap was real.

Carsein had grown noticeably taller.

Originally, he was only slightly taller than her, so it shouldn’t have been necessary to look up this much.

Moreover, his body had changed.

His build had widened, and his arms spread wide could almost cover her entire body. The firmness felt through the slight gap in his clothes was a stark contrast to his skinny build back then.

And…

“Why are you staring? Is there something wrong with my body?”

The other side had also changed.

It had definitely changed.

To the extent that the young ladies would love it.

“Harnier?”

“Oh, yes?”

“Isn’t this urgent? We should start practicing right away.”

“Yes, we should. First, lightly hold my hand with your other hand, and─”

She began to teach Carsein, but it didn’t seem like she was focusing properly.

By some chance.