Leoprick said this play was due to the letter he received in the morning.
He said that in the letter quietly delivered by Lord Daeon in the morning, there was information about an illegal auction house held in Waynes.
I had roughly guessed, but pretending not to know, I listened attentively to Leoprick’s story.
The play, he said, was Arnold’s clever idea to stay in the imperial palace in place of him, who was going to be away for a few weeks on his honeymoon.
He said that at the end of the letter, it was written that this would be less likely to draw attention than him searching for the auction house alone.
Showing me the postscript, he looked apologetic throughout.
Even though I should be the one feeling sorry for him telling me everything so openly.
“Will it be alright, Amelia?”
Thinking that Leoprick’s side’s intelligence was not bad either, I silently agreed to his plan.
And burying the contents of the morning letter deep inside, I smiled awkwardly.
“You said you wanted to travel quietly on your honeymoon.”
Recalling the situation that had unintentionally become noisy in the end, such words came out naturally.
I didn’t really want to blame him, but it ended up sounding like I was, which made me a bit flustered.
That wasn’t my intention.
Not noticing such a sign, Leoprick, sitting across from me and observing my reaction, lowered his gaze slightly at my words.
His faintly smiling face was full of apology.
“I’m sorry. I was born this way.”
It was a purely apologetic expression, neither sarcastic nor meant to embarrass me.
Rather, I was the one who felt sorry for that face.
I shook my head and hurriedly opened my mouth.
“I’m not blaming Your Highness. It’s just that if I had known it would be like this, I think we should have gone to Hameln and returned to the imperial palace sooner.”
“It’s because we came to Waynes instead of Hameln that we can do this, Mela. If we were in Hameln, probably all I could do was give orders.”
Saying that, he gently waved the auction entry ticket obtained from the jeweler in the afternoon.
“Anyway, since we came to Waynes, shouldn’t we enjoy this rare sight? Although I regret not being able to spend more time with you.”
Leoprick smiled playfully.
A rare sight, he said.
I looked at the ticket in his hand and let out a small sigh.
He and I were now on our way to the illegal auction house, holding the ticket that the jeweler had boldly handed over.
The jeweler, dressed in a slightly lower quality suit, had said while twitching his slyly curled mustache.
As befitting Waynes, the largest trading port in the empire, all sorts of rare items that don’t even make it to the capital appear here, he said.
And then he boasted enormously that I would surely find something suitable for me there.
At the sight of him being overly proud of what was ultimately just an illegal auction house, I almost slapped his cheek right then and there.
If Leoprick hadn’t quickly stepped in front of me, I might have been arrested for assault before even getting the ticket.
Anyway, the expensive ticket obtained after such twists and turns was to be used at tonight’s auction.
We had also requested help from the police in Waynes under the name of the imperial knight Lord Daeon, just in case we needed backup.
I and Leoprick decided to quietly infiltrate wearing masks and observe the situation.
Thus, he made a plan to finish the job without leaving the name of Crown Prince Leoprick anywhere, as he had initially hoped.
“Once this is over, I’ll be able to spend time with you again, so I’ll try to finish it as quickly as possible.”
Asking if there was anything I wanted to do when it’s over, he seemed quite excited.
Whether he was excited about the thought of raiding the auction house, or about finishing this job.
Seeing his flushed face, even I, who was about to tell him to be careful not to get hurt, couldn’t help but laugh.
“There’s nothing in particular I want to do, so just be careful.”
“Isn’t that a given? If I get hurt, I won’t be able to spend time with you.”
“We can spend time even after returning to the capital. The most important thing is that Your Highness doesn’t get hurt…”
“Even after returning to the capital, will you give me time to sit face to face and talk like this?”
His expression, which had briefly deflated at my saying there was nothing I wanted to do, immediately brightened at the mention of spending time in the capital.
Who would have imagined that Leoprick Reinhart would be someone who cries and laughs at such small words?
“Won’t we have more to discuss than you think once we start the official schedule? Because of our contract, I think it would be better to talk face to face directly rather than sending someone else.”
I nodded, answering nonchalantly.
He’s someone I’ll have to face two or three times a week even if I don’t want to.
The dictionary definition of ‘spending time together’ might not be this, but unfortunately, I was going to be even busier when we get to the capital.
So it can’t be helped.
Although my answer might not have been to his liking, he still had a smile on his face.
Then he picked up the mask that was placed beside him and put it over my face.
The careful touch that came before I could stop him also gently brushed back the hair that had poked out through the gaps in the mask.
A warm sensation remained wherever his hand touched.
“Let’s think about it after we finish today’s work well. The most important thing is for both of us to return safely.”
The laughter added behind his seductive voice is disconcerting.
While I was blinking, unable to say anything.
“We’ve arrived.”
Lord Daeon’s low whisper was heard from beyond the carriage door.
I and he, quietly exchanging glances, tidied our clothes and prepared to get off.
“You must stay close by my side, my lady. You understand, right?”
Because we can’t have you getting hurt.
As Leoprick muttered softly, the door opened.
At this tense moment, the play began again.
* * *
Beatrice Moldina, commonly known as Betty, was quite a capable maid.
With her smart mind, keen perception, and excellent sense, she became the personal maid of Amelia Vermerian, a marchioness’s daughter and the flower of social circles.
At the same time, she was also a capable assistant to Amelia, the head of the Jenit Guild.
Of course, she was the second assistant after Hayley, the current deputy head managing the guild, but Betty was quite satisfied with her current position.
She enjoyed helping with the guild’s work, or more precisely, Amelia’s work, as much as washing, dressing, and adorning the beautiful young lady.
She always used to tell her friends that she wanted to serve only one young lady for her entire life and die doing so.
That’s how much pride she took in her work.
She was confident she could live satisfied every day if only her mistress, Amelia, didn’t keep asking her to do unreasonable things.
How nice it would be if life went according to our wishes.
As such, Amelia Vermerian, whom Betty served, was greedy and unsatisfied unless everything was perfect.
She was like this even though none of those who raised or cared for her had ever demanded perfection from her.
The cause of that nature, always pursuing perfection, was also what Betty was most curious about.
“This is more like an illness, an illness indeed.”
Betty muttered softly as she pulled the hood of her robe down further.
Amelia’s perfectionism was nothing new, but she never dreamed she would be asked to do something like this.
Even when delivering Hayley’s letter in the morning, she hadn’t anticipated this.
She thought she might move without telling His Highness the Crown Prince, but she never imagined it would be her alone, not her mistress alone.
Betty shook her head, recalling her mistress’s rarely seen dumbfounded face earlier.
‘When was it that I first ordered you to look into Isolde’s Tears?’
She had quietly asked Betty before leaving the hotel with Leoprick.
Betty had nodded, saying of course, and Amelia had left the hotel with a serious face.
It was a bit strange that her young lady, who never forgot what she ordered, asked about the content of her instructions again.
But even that clever young lady had a history of living crazily for an impossible man until not too long ago.
Betty thought that this time too, it must be related to that man, and didn’t think much of it.
But the problem came after that.
Amelia instructed her to go to the Waynes branch of the Jenit Guild and seek cooperation.
And also to secretly follow the knights of Waynes Castle and find out the whereabouts of ‘Isolde’s Tears’.
When she had clearly only said to look into it before.
Betty pouted her lips.
Although she didn’t know what sudden change of heart this was, Betty, who had served Amelia closest and longest, could understand that sudden whim.
‘No matter what happens, she must want to wear Isolde’s Tears on her head at the coronation ceremony.’
Although the Emperor and Empress were still relatively young, the Empress was not in good health.
It was said that the Emperor also wanted to abdicate to his son and rest soon.
So she must have thought that the day when she would stand by the Crown Prince’s side as Empress was not far off.
Betty wanted to applaud that thorough preparedness.
Such meticulousness to look so far ahead and prepare.
Really, no one else would even think of following suit.
Clicking her tongue softly, she hurriedly moved her steps into the darkness where she could barely see ahead.
Although all she could see were the dark shapes of objects right in front of her, she navigated the darkness without much difficulty.
Walking through what seemed like a very dark night street or a deep underground, Betty eventually stopped at a certain point.
“I think it was around here…”
After waving her hands, shaking her feet, and tapping around, she soon exclaimed “Ah!” and grasped something.
And then she pulled it.
As she pulled slowly, a small rumbling sound came from somewhere.
The sound that seemed to reverberate through the space gradually brightened the surroundings, and Betty threw herself into the light that had formed.
As Betty, who had been pulling, disappeared, the surroundings rumbled again, and the faint light that had been leaking out vanished once more.
In the darkened scenery once again, only an eerie wind was softly crying, searching for the disappeared light.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
