“Despite the Baron’s behavior being quite promiscuous all this time, they say there was never a single time he ended up having a child.”
“Then he only said something after getting engaged?”
At the long-awaited question, Viscountess Criden deliberately mixed a sigh into her reply.
“That is exactly the problem. He did not say it beforehand, and only after it was discovered by chance did he have no choice but to admit it.”
“My goodness, such immorality…!”
On the surface, they were condemning the moral issue of hiding a health condition and getting engaged, but clearly the word “cucumber” was what had truly piqued their interest.
Now that the seed of the rumor had been planted, it wouldn’t take long for it to spread and grow as it moved from place to place.
A noblewoman who had been listening from behind suddenly added something, as if she had recalled a thought.
“Come to think of it, I saw something when I attended House Lansval’s engagement party. There was an accident where Baron Lansval’s wig came off, and Lady Krone looked absolutely shocked when she saw that he was bald.”
“Then does that mean the Baron even hid his hair loss from his fiancee?”
“Yes. Lady Krone said she only found out then as well, and she was on the verge of tears.”
At this point, among the noblewomen, Gerald had already become a thoroughly despicable human being. They had been careful with their words before, since he was still a Baron, but now they cursed him without any restraint.
“…Who knows what else he hid and lied about to get engaged!”
“Truly a vile human being. A disgrace to the nobility!”
“Honestly… can he even be called a noble?”
There had already been an atmosphere among them of looking down on House Lansval, saying they were commoners who bought their way into nobility with money.
The high-ranking nobles didn’t know much about House Lansval anyway, so this was mostly a topic among low-ranking families.
But now, rather than being merely a somewhat ridiculous figure, they had become people with no shame and no qualifications to be nobles at all.
Since it was a family that had already been subtly disliked to begin with, no one stepped forward to try to defend House Lansval.
Thanks to that, the rumors spread uncontrollably in an instant.
Two days later, Gerald and Helga returned home.
They had gone all the way to the distant Arden territory to attend Melanie’s wedding and had taken the opportunity to travel as well, so it was almost a week since they had last been home.
However, the butler who greeted them had a deathly pale face.
“You must be exhausted after the journey. Um, but in the meantime, a bit of a problem has arisen…”
The butler relayed to the two of them the rumors about House Lansval that had been exaggerated and were circulating among the lower-ranking nobles of the Capital.
The reason a commoner like him knew these rumors was because Ris had come in person and explained everything in great detail.
“…These kinds of rumors are going around. When the masters of the House return, make sure to tell them everything.”
Just as Ris had instructed, the butler recounted the rumors one by one without paying any attention to the masters’ moods.
After all, he was scheduled to retire from this household before long, so it didn’t matter to him whether they got angry or not.
As expected, Gerald and Helga were utterly shocked and turned deathly white.
“What? In just those few days we were away, we’ve become the most despicable family under heaven?”
“T-This…! In truth, the engagement was broken off because of that wench!”
Wearing a contorted expression, Gerald suddenly looked as if he had found a way out.
“That’s right. We need to ask the families that do business with our trading company. Tell them to spread the truth!”
Saying he would write letters immediately, he hurried into the office.
The butler deliberately lowered his head with a troubled expression, hiding his face.
If he kept looking at Gerald and Helga like this, it felt as though he might burst out laughing.
***
Rastan and I sat side by side on the sofa in the office and listened to Raven’s report.
“…So Baron Lansval tried to spread the claim that the broken engagement was due to Lady Krone’s illness.”
He continued after swallowing a chuckle.
“…But public opinion worsened even further, saying, ‘He got engaged based entirely on lies, and when that came to light, he made up yet another lie and pinned the blame on his former fiancee.'”
The nobles, who had already seen Gerald’s character firsthand at previous parties, didn’t believe him and instead cursed him as despicable.
“At this point, the image of House Lansval has reached a stage where it cannot be restored no matter what.”
At the same time, a soft snort of air escaped from both of us.
Once Raven finished his report and left, Rastan slightly narrowed his eyes, turned to me, and asked,
“What do you think? Is this satisfying enough?”
“Hmm, the start isn’t bad.”
I answered coolly, but my face was probably wearing an expression that looked like I might start humming at any moment.
“That is a relief. What’s next?”
“I have already set something up, and it will probably blow up on its own in a few days. According to my information network.”
“You have informants as well? I thought you didn’t.”
“My informants are… not the kind you would normally think of.”
‘Unlike you, I didn’t send people. I lived through it myself.’
“An incident will be reported soon, so let us wait and see how things unfold.”
“You are a truly fascinating woman.”
Rastan wrapped an arm around my waist as he sat beside me, and with his other hand, he lifted mine and kissed each joint of my fingers.
Each kiss was light, but the way he pressed his lips to every joint was careful and attentive.
As he kissed them, he spoke.
“Do you know that sometimes you act as if you already know the future?”
For a very brief moment, my body stiffened. I quickly pulled the corners of my lips up as if nothing was wrong.
“You must know this too, since you have informants, but if you know high-level information before others do, isn’t that basically knowing the future?”
Fortunately, Rastan nodded lightly, as if in agreement.
“That is true as well. Someday, you will have to tell me where you obtain such high-level information.”
“Oh my? A businessman asking me to share my trade secrets?”
I covered my mouth and pretended to be playfully shocked. I meant to brush it off lightly like a joke, but Rastan wasn’t so easygoing.
“Not right away… but did I not say that if we got engaged, I would answer anything you asked?”
“That is something you are doing because you want to.”
At my slightly cheeky reply, Rastan finally burst into laughter. It was his way of conceding.
“Haha, that is true. I am the one who wants this more, so how could I dare demand anything from you?”
He looked into my eyes and kissed the remaining fingers one by one.
“But you are free to ask anything of me. Because the only thing I want is you.”
To hide the way my heart was about to melt, I shrugged my shoulders and deliberately caught at his words in a prim tone.
“What do you mean, just me? A fake fiancee with a special ability and who can prevent unwanted marriage proposals? I’m useful in so many ways, so isn’t saying you want ‘just me’ seriously undervaluing my worth?”
Even though I said it lightly, half-joking, Rastan froze as if he had been struck on the back of the head and muttered blankly.
“You are right. What you mean to me is this significant, yet I was being arrogant. Then, perhaps.”
“…?”
The fact that he agreed so readily felt ominous. What on earth was he about to say?
“Would you consider taking me as your lover?”
“W-what… sorry…?”
Stunned, I asked with a huge question mark hanging over my head.
“I think I must have misheard you. Could you say that again…?”
“If you don’t want to be bound to me, I was asking whether you would take me as your lover. You said you do not want to marry, but you could at least keep a lover by your side.”
As he emphasized the word ‘lover,’ his cool, handsome eyes curved subtly.
“…Are you being serious right now?”
In truth, more than the words themselves, what shocked me was that Rastan, the very image of honesty and integrity, was saying something like this.
He had always been critical of nobles who kept lovers.
When I asked again in a daze, he finally let out a soft chuckle.
“I knew it was unrealistic when I said it, so half of it was a joke. But I also said it hoping you would pretend not to notice, so half of it was serious.”
Now it was my turn to look like I had been struck on the back of the head.
“I am saying that I want to stay by your side, even if I have to resort to such a low method.”
‘What kind of joke is this, sounding like a confession?!’
I turned my head away to hide my reddened face and lightly smacked his hand away.
“D-Do not say such ridiculous things.”
“If the idea of a lover bothers you, then an engagement is fine. And even more than that would be fine with me.”
