~Chapter 39~
“What kind of crazy talk is that?”
The first feeling Aisha had when she saw Til grinning was dread.
And no wonder—every time Til wore that expression, nothing had ever gone right.
On top of that, praising her article out of nowhere?
He would never do that.
“Anyway, I actually knew from the very first moment I saw you.”
Of course, Til just kept babbling, no matter what Aisha thought.
“Ah, that woman is truly out of her mind.”
“……”
“Otherwise, how could she always pick the most insane things to do!”
“Um, I’m confused, so let me ask. Are you trying to insult me right now, or compliment me?”
“The latter, obviously,” Til said solemnly.
“Anyway, I was really impressed when I read this manuscript. So I pushed the release as fast as possible. Let’s see, it’s just past 5 a.m. now… within two hours the distribution will be done.”
“You were impressed by the manuscript saying Aisha Ashton is noble like a true aristocrat, gentle and warm, and even beautiful?”
“What?”
“You don’t… like me, do you?”
“……”
“Even you—don’t do that, Til. I don’t get involved like that with people I meet for business…”
“What kind of insane nonsense are you spouting, Aisha?”
This time Til threw the same question back at her, wearing the most dumbfounded face in the world.
‘What?’
Question marks popped up over Aisha’s head as she stared at Til. She couldn’t understand at all what was going on.
“I simply admired your courage for daring to attack the Imperial Family—no, the sole power holder, the Empress Dowager.”
“Uh, uh-huh?”
“No one but you could have done it. Because even the biggest fool would value their own life!”
Til snickered as he went on.
“But I like it. You know the Imperial Family and our Rune aren’t on good terms, right? From my perspective, it’s like we landed a clean hit. Just thinking about how twisted her face will be tomorrow makes me want to dance…”
“It wasn’t the Killian Winters Special No. 6?”
“Hm?”
“Then… then…”
No.
No way!
Aisha, white as a sheet, sprinted to the desk like a madwoman. She yanked open the drawers and soon grabbed an envelope with a manuscript inside.
…If the manuscript she had given Leoric earlier was the planned Killian Winters Special No. 6, then the one in her hands now would be the article on the Empress Dowager, Roselia.
On the other hand, if the manuscript she had given Leoric was the Roselia article, then the one in her hands now would be the Killian Winters Special No. 6.
“Please… please…!”
With trembling hands, Aisha opened the envelope.
“……”
Inside was the full manuscript of the Killian Winters Special No. 6.
“Ah… agh.”
Realizing the situation at last, Aisha collapsed into her seat with a short scream—but Til stopped her at once.
“What are you doing?” Til sighed, clamping a hand over her mouth.
“You said it yourself—Duke Killian Winters’ room is right next door.”
Ah, right.
…But in this moment, she almost wanted to get caught with Til in her room and lie that she had no choice but to write that article because he bribed her.
‘I’m ruined. Completely ruined!’
She was afraid of Roselia’s reaction.
No, worse than that…
She was afraid of Killian’s reaction.
‘Because of me, people might suspect Killian. I saw it yesterday—how desperately they want to crush him…!’
To be honest, it wasn’t that she wanted to help Killian. But she also didn’t want to cause him trouble.
“What? You didn’t do it on purpose?” Til muttered, realizing something was wrong, looking deflated for a moment. But soon he shrugged as if nothing was the matter and continued.
“Still, it’s fine. Whether you gave that manuscript by mistake or not, the next issue of Sunday’s Exposé will be out soon anyway.”
“T-Til!”
Aisha, still on the floor, grabbed Til’s ankle in a panic.
“C-can’t we stop it?”
“Hm? Stop what?”
“The distribution.”
This was her last hope.
Her pale face showed pure desperation.
“I’ll cover all the costs that went into this issue. If you took a loss, I’ll pay double. Okay?”
“Why should I?”
“What do you mean why! You still get money for doing nothing!”
“No.”
“Y-you…”
“You know, Aisha,” Til bent his knees a little, meeting her eyes, and lightly brushed her messy blond hair.
“I’m the kind of person who’ll do anything for something fun.”
“……”
“And at the same time, if I can put someone I dislike—or hate—into a tight spot, I’d sell even my soul.”
Til stood up, grinning.
“So no matter what you try, you can’t stop this issue of Sunday’s Exposé from being distributed.”
“……”
“Too bad. But what can I do? After reading such a masterpiece, doing nothing would be… unethical as a partner.”
“Liar!”
“I want to see the public’s reaction first. I’m already buzzing—it’s driving me crazy. Well then, I’m off!”
That was the end.
There wasn’t even time to grab him again. Til jumped right out the window, and Aisha was left alone in the empty bedroom.
Ahhh.
…Ahhhh!
Still sitting on the floor, she clawed at her hair and wailed endlessly, but the water was already spilled.
Aisha paced back and forth in the bedroom like a dog desperate to pee, completely frantic and unable to do anything.
Sien, who had come to wake her, finally couldn’t stand it and even said, “If it’s truly that hard, you may sleep ten more minutes.”
But there was no way she could sleep.
And an hour later—
Just as Til had said, the distribution of Sunday’s Exposé began.
Which meant, of course, that the new issue was delivered to the Winters ducal house as well.
Killian’s office.
No one had told her to stand, but Aisha stood up on her own. Like someone waiting to be scolded, she shrank in on herself and watched his face.
And in Killian’s hand, seated at the table…
Was the freshly released Sunday’s Exposé.
‘What do I do. I’d rather die. No, should I just die now?’
She couldn’t bear the silence and was about to decide to end her life when—
“When everyone grabs a sword, who are the ones grabbing the calculator?”
Killian began to read her article in a very low voice.
“Who are the ones shouting, ‘You worked, therefore it is mine’?”
