Thinking she might be able to get out of this, she rolled her eyes around, when the wind-up doll in her pocket gestured at her.
Glancing sideways at it, it seemed to be telling her to move closer, so she did.
The wind-up doll, which had been nodding like crazy, then moved its blunt mouth and pressed its tiny palms tightly together.
It seemed to be telling her to kiss him on the lips.
‘This is insane.’
It seemed Aisha was more clingy than she had thought.
No matter what, to tell her to kiss Lisellon.
But what choice did she have?
If she wanted to deceive him perfectly, she would have no choice but to sacrifice her lips.
In the end, Edith shut her eyes tightly in her mind and said,
“Why the cheek?”
“….”
“I’m disappointed.”
“Right, this is how my Aisha should be. You were so strange today I almost started imagining something ridiculous.”
Only then did Lisellon grin, and just as he was about to kiss her—
“You there!”
It was Luzbel.
“Where is Edith?”
At the same time, Lisellon let out a quiet sigh.
“Oh dear. It seems a nuisance has arrived.”
He didn’t care if rumors spread among others, but being seen like this by Luzbel, who was already suspicious, wouldn’t be good.
“I should go.”
With his voice sounding as if it were right in front of her, Lisellon swiftly left the spot. After confirming that he had disappeared into a mere dot, Edith finally let out a breath and sank down.
“Haa….”
“Are you alright?”
Luzbel, who had been hiding behind the tree, approached.
Uncharacteristically, his face was flushed red, seemingly from anger.
“You saved me.”
“….”
Thanks to Luzbel shouting at just the right moment, she had avoided the kiss on the lips.
But Luzbel’s somewhat sullen expression didn’t ease at all.
“What is it?”
“….”
There was no answer.
It was probably because, although she had avoided a kiss on the lips, she hadn’t avoided the kiss on the cheek.
“Luzbel.”
“…”
“I think my cheek has rotted. Take a look just once. See if it is alright.”
“It is perfectly fine.”
“No. I think it has rotted. That bastard’s lips touched it, so it is filthy. I could not even bring myself to touch it… Could you wipe it for me instead?”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Luzbel pulled at his sleeve and scrubbed Edith’s cheek hard.
“Ouch.”
“A-Are you hurt?”
When she cried out in pain, his rubbing finally became a little more careful.
Anyone could see that Luzbel was jealous right now.
“It is fine. More importantly, Luzbel.”
“Yes?”
Smack.
Edith rose on her tiptoes and kissed Luzbel on the cheek.
Luzbel looked at her, slightly startled.
“…Do not sulk. What happened today was truly unexpected.”
“Who is sulking….?”
“You are. Your lips are sticking out like this, and your eyes are full of tension.”
“….”
With a sigh, Luzbel covered his face with both hands.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“I think I did something foolish.”
“Pardon?”
“…Earlier, when he kissed your cheek…”
Grit.
Luzbel ground his teeth mid-sentence.
“…I could not hold back and ended up striking the tree. It is fortunate you handled it well. Otherwise….”
She had truly been startled earlier. Still, she understood.
If Aisha had done that to Luzbel, she wouldn’t have been any different.
“I would have been upset if you had not reacted at all. And if we had been exposed because of that, we could have just made another plan.”
“…Even so.”
“It is fine. In the end, we handled it well.”
When she said that and kissed him once more, Luzbel’s expression finally softened.
“If that man calls for you again, do not go.”
“Alright. I also want to avoid situations that make my heart pound like today.”
“…More importantly, your cheek.”
“Yes?”
“Your cheek, Edith. It does seem to be in slightly poor condition.”
“Pardon?”
‘My cheek?’
Startled, Edith widened her eyes and tried to raise her hand, but Luzbel was faster.
He lowered his head slightly and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“…It seems a little better now.”
“Ahaha.”
When Edith burst into loud laughter, Luzbel peppered her cheek with several more small kisses.
— ….
All while completely forgetting the wind-up doll at their feet.
***
Fergus had clearly said that the sorcery would work perfectly.
“Why!!”
When she returned to the estate, why was Aisha still walking around as if nothing had happened?
Could it be that Fergus had deceived her?
Unable to understand at all, she hurried back to the shadow den.
“She is walking around just fine?”
“Yes!”
“And what is the problem with that?”
But Fergus shamelessly asked in return.
“The sorcery certainly succeeded. Madam Rosena, was not the purpose of the sorcery cast to bring complete misfortune upon the target?”
“What?”
“You said misfortune, not the other party’s death. Misfortune is a different scope from death.”
Now that she thought about it, that was true.
“…Let us observe a little longer. She will likely become miserable.”
“…Is that so?”
Her momentum slightly weakened, Rosena returned to the estate once more.
What kind of misfortune would it be?
If one were to think of the greatest misfortune for Aisha, it would be being abandoned by Lisellon.
Rosena suppressed her pounding heart and grinned.
Even seeing that Aisha was walking around right now didn’t bother her.
When she had felt the pain while casting the sorcery, it had been utterly dreadful, but now she thought it had been worth enduring.
“Madam?”
“What?”
“…No, shall I prepare your bedding?”
“…Yes.”
But perhaps because of the shock of her first murder earlier, even though Rosena went to bed as usual, she couldn’t easily fall asleep.
Whenever she closed her eyes, that woman’s eyes vividly appeared before her.
“Hngh.”
In the end, unable even to keep her eyes closed, Rosena suddenly sat upright, showing signs of anxiety as she bit hard at her nails.
Swish.
“Gasp!”
Even though no one was there, even the sound of the blanket rustling made her feel as if someone was beside her.
Curling her body tightly, Rosena buried her head under the blanket and shook it from side to side.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
The words she muttered at random vanished into the empty air.
And so that night, Rosena didn’t sleep a single wink and ended up staying up until dawn.
***
A rumor spread.
It said that Lisellon had abandoned Aisha and switched to Edith.
Above all, that Edith was seeing Luzbel at the same time.
“…This is ridiculous.”
Upon hearing the rumor, Edith could only let out a hollow laugh.
Just as she had feared, someone must have been watching at the meeting place that day.
To that person, it must have looked as though Edith was holding two men in the palm of her hand and toying with them.
“Heh.”
In the end, just as Lisellon had said, it had rather become a favorable situation.
Thanks to it, Edith’s reputation hadn’t only hit rock bottom but was crawling beneath it.
More than anything, rumors about Luzbel had already surfaced several times before.
She had even denied them, but now a witness to a secret meeting had appeared.
“I feel awful.”
Edith grumbled.
“Cheer up. It is not even real. It is just a rumor.”
“They are saying which one is the second between you and Lisellon.”
“They are saying that?”
“Are you not upset, Luzbel?”
“I do not like it, but in the end, you are by my side, Edith.”
But if there was something good about it, it was that Lisellon’s image had also fallen to the ground.
He had never had a particularly good image because of Aisha, but among men it had been brushed aside as something understandable.
But the daughter of House Capanteni?
No matter how one thought about it, Lisellon had crossed a serious line.
A wife, a mistress, and now a new romantic interest.
Being promiscuous might be overlooked, but the problem was the status of those women.
“House Capanteni cannot remain silent here.”
“Of course not. She is their precious daughter.”
It was already a family known for being particularly sensitive.
When Edith had been mistreated by noblewomen before, they had paid them back just as harshly, so it was expected they wouldn’t let this pass either.
Thus, the nobles seemed to be slowly gauging when to cut ties with Lisellon.
It would probably depend on how House Capanteni responded.
“A letter has arrived!”
Verina came running in, shouting.
“Lisellon! Lisellon!”
As expected.
It seemed he had heard the rumor and contacted her immediately.
Curious what nonsense he had written, Edith let out a small laugh and took the letter.
[To my beloved.]
‘What kind of nonsense is that opening line?’
Luzbel must have felt the same, because the paper crumpled in his grip.
“At least read it all before you crumple it.”
“…Yes.”
Anyway, the contents said she should handle House Capanteni well and calm them down, and it also asked what on earth was going on with Luzbel.
Thinking about it, she had told him then that Luzbel seemed suspicious…
“How am I supposed to clean this up now?”
More than anything, calm down House Capanteni?
‘Why should I?’
If she were Aisha, she might have. But she was not Aisha.
