House Lansval was no longer merely being buried within high society; they were being fiercely condemned across the entire Empire and branded as public enemies.
Dona, who had ended up working a dishwashing job at a small restaurant, read those newspapers during her break.
With her body now damaged and no longer able to work at taverns like before, even a dishwashing job had been something she had barely managed to secure.
The work was hard and the pay was low, but even so, life lived freely after leaving the Lansval household felt far better.
She smiled as if it served them right and gently touched her now nonfunctional left ear.
“Hmph, you turned a person into a cripple and ruined her life, so you should pay for your sins too. Drop dead.”
It seemed the security department had stripped House Lansval completely bare, leaving nothing untouched, judging by how even charges she hadn’t reported were listed one after another.
The newspaper detailed the progress of the investigation and even the expected level of punishment they would receive.
“Hmm, for charges like circulating counterfeit currency, drug smuggling, and supplying substandard construction materials, it looks like they will avoid prison because they are nobles and settle it with massive fines instead… The problem is the charge of conspiracy to commit treason.”
Using purple velvet was among the lightest acts to which treason charges could be applied.
Because of that, they wouldn’t receive the death penalty by beheading, but since it was still a crime bearing the name of treason, in the case of nobles their titles were revoked.
“With what little property they have left, they won’t even be able to pay the fines, and more than that… Hah, they are commoners again now?”
Dona burst into cackling laughter, her mood lifted.
Imagining Gerald’s face twisting in humiliation, after he had looked down on commoners, including herself, while acting all high and mighty as a Baron, made the resentment in her chest ease just a little.
***
House Lansval’s crimes were exploding one after another, dominating newspaper headlines day after day.
From the safety of the Blake estate, I leisurely watched their fall. There was considerable satisfaction in watching the bombs I had carefully stacked up over time go off one by one exactly as planned.
Even more satisfying than burning away what little remained of House Lansval’s wealth in fines was, as expected, the revocation of their title.
I didn’t know whether I would ever meet Gerald again, but if I did, he would have to bow politely and call me “My Lady.”
In fact, even if I, a noble, were to beat him, a commoner, quite severely, I wouldn’t even be punished.
I recalled how Gerald had beaten me repeatedly in my previous life.
‘For the sake of causality, should I go and give him a proper beating once?’
I was smiling faintly at the thought when Sally burst into the room.
“My Lady! His Grace has just returned!”
Rastan had gone on a business trip to another region yesterday, saying he had official duties, and had stayed the night before returning. I rose from my seat to go greet him.
‘It has been a while since he slept far away from me. I wonder if he was all right.’
Last night, I had tried to intervene in his dreams, but for some reason it hadn’t gone well, so I had been worried about his condition.
As I was about to leave the room, I sensed movement outside the open door. I hurried out and saw Rastan standing there.
As expected, his face was darkly shadowed.
“My goodness, how did you come up so quickly?”
When I led him into the room in surprise, Sally read the situation and closed the door behind her before leaving. The moment the door shut, he urgently pulled me into a tight embrace.
“Uh, Rastan…?”
It was just like that night long ago when he had returned after fighting demons in the northern wilderness.
Held in his arms, I wrapped my arms around his broad, solid back and slowly stroked it.
“Was it that exhausting?”
“…”
Rastan nodded silently, then spoke while holding me.
“Yesterday, I was worried about sleeping apart from you, so I kept holding you right up until just before I left in the morning.”
That was right. Like a child or a puppy with separation anxiety, he had been unable to let go of me until the very end.
Judging by how he had suddenly switched to completely informal speech, it was clear that he was in a psychologically desperate and unstable state.
I held him around the back and listened silently as he continued.
“In the past, that would have been enough to produce a meaningful effect in my dreams that night. I could usually manage to sleep at least about half as well as an ordinary person. But last night, I had nightmares to the same degree as before I ever met you.”
“What?”
My eyes widened before I could stop myself.
If there had been contact yesterday morning, then my influence should have been present in last night’s dreams. What could have gone wrong?
“It was as if the nightmares said they would pay me back double for not being able to torment me for a while, and they came at me with full intent. On top of that, I myself had grown accustomed to weakened nightmares.”
“S-so what happened?”
“…Suffering in the dream goes without saying, and even after waking up, it felt as if thick spikes were embedded in every muscle in my body, throbbing all day long. Until just a moment ago.”
I inhaled sharply in shock.
“It was that bad?”
I had vaguely assumed he had just slept worse than usual, but his pain was far greater than I had imagined.
Rastan wrapped one hand around my head, pulling me into his chest, and let out a quiet sigh.
“But when I hold you like this, all of that tension and fear melts away as if snow were melting. The pain in my body also decreases noticeably in an instant.”
Perhaps he had calmed down somewhat, because before I knew it, both his gaze and his tone had returned to normal.
Wanting to see his face, I loosened the arms that were holding him. When I lifted my head, I immediately met his deep blue eyes, fixed solely on me.
“You said before that even just holding my hand had an effect. Then why was it like that last night?”
I briefly wondered if my ability had weakened, but that didn’t seem likely, considering that I could intervene in the dreams of the other servants more easily than before.
There was no doubt that my ability had grown stronger than it had been before entering this ducal manor.
Rastan seemed to have thought about the same thing, because his answer came without hesitation.
“It feels as if my body has grown accustomed to a medicine I have taken for a long time, and has developed a tolerance.”
“So my power no longer works on you…?”
When I asked in shock, he quietly shook his head.
“Rather than that, it feels like I am becoming addicted to your power. I am gradually coming to depend on you.”
“But lately, we hold hands every day, we hug, and the time we spend together has increased tremendously compared to before. Is even that not enough?”
“…It seems that now, deeper contact than before is necessary.”
As he said that, he stared fixedly at my slightly parted lips.
Realizing where his gaze was headed, I was startled and instinctively pressed my lips tightly together.
Rastan, too, looked as if he had just realized it and turned his gaze aside.
He hesitated for a moment, then spoke again.
“If you dislike touching me, I will not force anything. But if you are all right with it… just remember that I welcome anything, anytime.”
Rastan’s gaze naturally returned to my lips. It was an unmistakably lingering look, heavy with reluctance.
As his eyes seemed to deepen, I swallowed hard in tension, but that was all.
With an expression as if restraining himself, he lightly bit his lower lip and slowly pulled his body away.
Rastan seemed to be making an effort to behave as much like a gentleman as possible, but just like the engagement itself, I could instinctively tell that he would continue to subtly hope for physical contact going forward.
‘I understand, since he says the level of contact we have had so far no longer has any effect.’
It wasn’t as if I disliked touching him either, but the problem was the degree of that physical contact.
Up until now, our contact could somehow be brushed off under the pretext of being close friends.
‘But what Rastan is implying now…’
Even if it would be to help him, if we crossed that line, we would never again be able to remain just friends.
Feeling flustered and hesitant, I avoided answering for the moment.
“I-I will think about it. Let me think.”
Avoiding his eyes, I drew my body back.
In any case, it didn’t seem like he was trying to do anything immediately, so it felt all right to think it over for a day or two.
When night came and I lay down to sleep, rest didn’t come easily.
I became acutely aware that Rastan was right beyond the wall at the head of the bed where I was lying.
Thinking of him brought back what had just happened, and one thought followed close behind.
‘Can I kiss Rastan?’
