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Translator: Nonon
Proofreader: Silavin
“Hah, congratulations.”
“Hey, stop with that face.”
The morning after Lady Violets’ late night visit to my room, Gray congratulated me while making tea in the dining room.
I’m well aware of what he’s congratulating me on. The first night we spent together as a married couple. It goes without saying what might have happened. Not like anything happened on that front though.
“Unfortunately, nothing you’ve imagined has happened.”
“Eh, really?”
It’s as true as things can get.
After her words of gratitude, I only engaged her in a conversation for a little while.
… I was worried about what to do when Lady Violet, who was tired from her long trip, nodded off while sitting. When I called out to her, she laid down on the bed,
“…n, nuu… it’s been a long time since I’ve been in bed. Let me off for today, Amber…”
And started sleep-talking, so I panicked even more, but nothing happened. I did think that she was adorable, but that was it.
I don’t know who this Amber person is, but from the way Lady Violet spoke, she must have been someone close to her, so I figured she must’ve been really exhausted mentally to mention somebody who wasn’t even here in this situation. I felt bad waking her up when she was in such a state, so I slowly carried her to her room to not wake her up… It felt like if I left her the way she was, I’d be asked if I decided to sleep with her, after all.
“I see. It’s great that you treated her nicely.”
Gray was praising me with a smile that was different from before.
Gray often pokes fun at me, but he doesn’t tease me when I act for somebody else. He’s most likely genuinely congratulating me.
“You took advantage of her vulnerable state with kind words, didn’t you? I see, so that’s how you ensnare women. Next you should aim to become a couple of lovebirds!”
I take my previous words back. When this guy teases me, he goes all in.
“Ensnare? Do I look like somebody who would do that? Unfortunately, I have my hands full with just myself.”
“? Mr. Yellow told me that telling men they’ve ensnared women is a compliment for them.”
“Don’t take that person’s words seriously.”
Mr. Yellow is a cheerful grandpa who’s self-proclaimed older than 80 years, self-proclaimed friend of the previous King, and a self-proclaimed love hunter.
I told Gray that although some people used the term ‘ensnaring women’ to mean making them fall in love, it was closer to the meaning of forcing them.
“That being said, I’m impressed you did not stumble over your words. She must have been unstable, the situation being what it was, but if I were in your place, it would have taken me everything just to calm her down.”
After hearing the meaning and showing somewhat of an embarrassed expression, Gray changed the topic.
He’ll probably ask Mr. Hierro later. But is he really going to ask about it? I do know that he’s curious about it though.
“It was a coincidence. My thought just happened to match the exact words Lady Violet was earning for.”
There’s no way I can tell him that it was the result of me summoning up the memory of the otome game from my previous life.
To start with, I only remember roughly what Lady Violet did. Her actions might have been different from the actual story I know, and there are some parts that I probably remember based on my impressions.
However, what I know for sure is that she self-destructed.
And that she knew that her efforts were genuine. Otherwise, she would not have been able to remain as one of the top students in the academy, and she would not have learned to conduct herself the way she did.
She had her strengths and faults, and I just didn’t want her to be trapped in her past, unable to forget her faults.
“Is that how it is?”
Gray seemed a little puzzled by my words, but he seemed to have understood that there was no point in pursuing further and accepted my answer for the time being.
Well, I doubt he’d be convinced even if I told him about my previous life and the otome game.
“By the way, I have a question.”
As he said that, Gray clapped his hands, as if remembering something.
“It’s about Lady Violet, am I supposed to call her madam?”
“If you do that, I’d have to be called master, huh?”
Gray calling me master? I’m fine with things staying as they are right now, but it’s true that now that I’m married, my title will change too. In other words, our interactions until now…
‘Master! Monsters have appeared so let’s go have fun together!’
‘Master, I was handed flowers… eh? Its meaning is ‘I love you’ in the language of flowers? I got it from a man though?’
‘Would you like to take a bath together, master? I was taught how to wash you with my body like this.’
Huh? Suddenly not a single decent memory comes to my mind.
Also, it feels extremely weird. It wouldn’t be strange if he was in the position of a secretary or a butler, but Gray is both my secretary and family.
Gray’s full name is Gray Heartfield. Originally he had no last name and he was treated as the slave of the previous lord. For various reasons, he was abandoned, and by the time I became the feudal lord, he was in a weakened state in this mansion.
At first he was distrustful of people and would only emptily whisper ‘master… master’ while doing literally anything I asked for… in a sense it felt like an even more weakened version of how Lady Violet was on the day she arrived.
Anyway, he gradually opened up to me and we came to treat each other the way we do now. In the process, I gave him the surname “Heartfield”. I guess that makes him something like my adopted child. My parents are fussy so he’s treated like a secretary though.
“In other words, you would make a child call you Master… hm, truly perverted.”
“Stop.”
In terms of the years I’ve lived, it’s not surprising that I would have a child of Gray’s age (about 11 years old), and in fact, on paper, he is my child. But I am still more or less 19 in this world. Being called a master by a child at this age is — yeah, I don’t like it.
“Forgive me, I slept in until this late.”
As I was responding to Gray’s jokes, Lady Violet rushed into the dining room.
Although she was in a hurry, she was still well-groomed at least, which I think was very typical of her. Yeah, but…
“Good morning, Lady Violet. By the way, please excuse me for doing this the first thing as you’re up.”
“Good morning, Lord Clo. Is something wrong?”
“This is not the academy.”
“Huh… ah.”
Lady Violet was dressed in the academy’s designated school uniform.
Did she bring her uniform all the way here? Or did it just accidentally end up in her luggage? At any rate, she still seemed to be tired.
Her face was red, but she did not rush back to her room and tried to remain calm. She picked up the hem of her skirt, gave a brief bow, then went back to her room, changed her clothes in a few minutes and came back.
“Good morning, mother Violet.”
“Yes, good mor- what?!”
And Lady Violet, who had just returned, froze up at Gray’s words.
