Chapter 6
“Are you alright, my lady?”
Theor asked with a concerned expression.
I answered while pretending to feel dizzy.
“My head is spinning…”
“Let’s go to my carriage first.”
“Eek?!”
Before I could react, Theor scooped me up in a princess carry.
A strange squeal slipped out of my mouth.
“Ah… I’m dizzy…”
I was about to say I was fine, but the situation was way too embarrassing, so I just leaned my face against his chest and kept pretending.
But wait… I used dark magic in front of a darkness-attribute user… How am I supposed to explain this?
And I even used healing.
There was no way he wouldn’t try to investigate what I had just done.
Should I just tell him the truth?
After all, I was planning to reveal a “darkness attribute” at my debutante anyway—by faking it.
To pull that off, I had to figure out how Theor’s darkness power could supposedly be extracted and stored in some kind of object.
Of course, the whole plan was a lie.
That “object” didn’t exist.
After the debutante, I planned to claim it was too dangerous and have it “destroyed” and banned.
The only thing that mattered was this:
Not becoming a laughingstock at my debutante like in the original story.
So honestly… this situation wasn’t bad.
I didn’t intend to hide this power forever anyway—especially since I planned to use it to help Pere (Perioze) in the future.
So—
Explain things to Theor, drag him slightly into my scam, and in return tell him my secret…
Just as I reached that conclusion, I suddenly opened my eyes—
—and saw black hair filling my vision.
“Gasp!”
“Ah. Are you alright, my lady?”
That scared me!
At some point, Theor had already brought me into his carriage and laid me down against a soft cushion.
But I didn’t realize he was this close, staring at me.
My heart dropped.
“…What were you looking at?”
At my suspicious gaze, he answered calmly.
“Your hand.”
“My hand?”
“Yes. The one you used to heal with darkness.”
“…Ah.”
So he did notice.
He had even leaned in close to examine my fingers while I was pretending to be unconscious.
Damn it… I got caught.
“Well… um, you see…”
I fumbled for an explanation—
then suddenly an idea struck me.
“It’s an experimental device!”
One of Theor’s eyebrows twitched.
“It’s… um… a relic being developed by scholars lately. It recreates something that looks like the darkness attribute… Anyway, it’s classified. My father has a lot of money, so… I mean, it’s confidential, so you can’t tell anyone. But it’s not illegal!”
My explanation made absolutely no sense.
As soon as I finished, I looked at Theor—
and his expression had gone from confused to completely dumbfounded.
Ah… I’m doomed.
Forcing a smile, I added,
“It’s… confidential. Classified.”
“Classified, you say.”
Nod nod.
I nodded vigorously.
Looking at me, Theor slowly smiled, narrowing his eyes.
“…Interesting.”
“Ah… haha. Right? It’s interesting. Anyway, please keep it a secret. It would be bad if strange rumors spread.”
I practically begged.
Theor’s red eyes gleamed like a snake’s.
“…Fascinating.”
That wasn’t an agreement.
That was a very unsettling response.
Fascinating my foot. Just promise to keep it a secret!
“Anyway… once it’s more complete, I plan to use it at my debutante.”
Theor frowned slightly.
“Is that really necessary?”
“Of course it is! I may have money, but I don’t have an attribute!”
At that, he silently looked at me.
“If I don’t use something like this, I’ll become a laughingstock. I’m just a commoner without abilities…”
“So you want to show that you can use one, even if it’s like that.”
“Exactly. It’s the only way for someone in my position to avoid humiliation at the debutante.”
Like—
Look, I can even buy abilities with money.
At that, Theor let out a small, incredulous laugh.
It stung a little, but I ignored it.
“And besides, this ability just happens to resemble the Empire’s only darkness attribute, right? Imagine a nobody like me suddenly using it—wouldn’t the whole Empire go crazy?”
“They would say the oracle was wrong.”
“Exactly!”
I clapped my hands.
Theor looked slightly surprised.
“So I can’t just reveal this power outright.”
Originally, I had planned to use this power later to save Pere, then claim it was a divine revelation.
“But as you said, that ‘classified experimental device’—whether real or fake—is dangerous.”
Theor said calmly.
I could tell from his tone that he didn’t believe me at all.
Still, I pretended not to notice.
“Even if it’s dangerous, it’s confidential. No one will know, right?”
“That’s the problem. If you claim such a device exists, how will you deal with the consequences?”
So he definitely knew I was lying.
I answered anyway.
“Wouldn’t it be fine to just say it’s too dangerous and destroy it afterward?”
“That’s easy to say. If people believe such an item exists, they will do anything to obtain it.”
I shrugged.
“But it doesn’t actually exist.”
“That’s not important. Once the idea exists, people will try to find it—or even create it themselves.”
“…Whoa.”
“Let’s think of another approach.”
“…Hmm.”
I frowned.
Could there even be another way?
After a moment of silence, Theor spoke again.
“If you use that ability at your debutante, the Grand Temple will definitely react.”
“Then I’ll say it’s not my power—it’s something I received from you.”
I suggested we figure out a way to “borrow” his darkness attribute temporarily.
But he just looked puzzled.
Why go that far?
Alright… time to use the original story.
“…Actually, I can see the future in dreams.”
“A prophetic dream…?”
“Yes. They’re incredibly accurate. In my dream, I saw what happens at my debutante. And I refuse to become a laughingstock like that. So—”
“No.”
Theor cut me off firmly.
“The lie about storing attributes in a necklace is unacceptable. The mere idea would throw the Empire into chaos.”
Even prophetic dreams don’t work?!
“Why? Even if commoners can’t, nobles all have attributes.”
“Because nobles are exactly the ones who would desire abilities they don’t possess.”
“…Ah.”
I hadn’t thought of that.
Each person has one attribute.
Some are suited for offense, others for defense.
Of course people would want what they lack.
And many would want both.
“…That would cause chaos…”
I frowned.
“Still, think of another way.”
“…Hmm.”
I racked my brain, but nothing came up.
Then Theor slowly shook his head.
“No matter how I think about it, using that ability at the debutante will cause upheaval.”
“Then I’ll just say it’s an experimental device with darkness stored inside it.”
He looked at me like I was hopeless.
His expression clearly said:
Is she stupid… or just bold?
And honestly—
he wasn’t wrong.
Theor had already seen through me.
The forced confidence, the anxiety underneath it—
that unstable mix annoyed him for some reason.
And yet…
he couldn’t look away.
“Either way, that method won’t work.”
He continued calmly.
“So instead—just come with me.”
“Yes.”
I answered reflexively—
then froze.
“…What?”
