The spoon scooping the yellow omelet tilted precariously. It was already the second time, so Rona clicked her tongue and slapped the dozing Eurene awake. Startled back to consciousness, Eurene barely prevented the omelet from falling onto the table.

“Hey! What on earth do you do at night that you’re always wilting like a sick chicken?”

“Huh? Wh-what?”

At the words “what do you do at night,” sleep fled completely. She stiffened her shoulders vigilantly and rolled her eyes around, but fortunately, Rona didn’t notice properly. She was distracted by eating a half-cooked egg yolk.

They were at a brunch café known for its good food in the area. Having made a reservation a few days ago, they were enjoying brunch leisurely without having to wait. A delicious-looking frittata topped with cheese, slightly burnt bacon and sausage, and even salmon salad—nothing looked unappetizing. Of course, Eurene ate all the menu items well and fairly. Count Eifel acknowledged that at least he never had to worry about his younger sister being a picky eater—she had a good appetite.

Though momentarily stung by Rona’s words, once she smelled the savory and delicious aroma, her mouth watered, and she happily picked up her fork to resume eating. It seemed she had expended too much energy the night before. Dozing off with such delicious food in front of her! Seeing her return to her usual food-loving self and start sweeping through the table, Rona seemed relieved and nodded contentedly.

“That’s more like Eurene Eifel. I was worried you might be on a diet too.”

Diet? What’s that? Is it something to eat? The trend of fasting among all noble women in the capital, who couldn’t even enjoy snacks freely for the sake of ant-waists, was like a story from another world to Eurene. What good would having a tiny waist do anyway? She had no interest in becoming pretty or being called beautiful by others, and after a fleeting moment of interest in wearing beautiful dresses faded, she viewed them the same as indoor clothes.

She didn’t have a fiancé or lover, and though there was Duke Carca, who was something close to the latter, even he liked Eurene’s moderately plump figure. In fact, objectively, Eurene wasn’t fat. It was just that recently, thin women had become the standard of beauty like a spreading trend, making her seem relatively plumper. Despite his official wife, the duchess, having a slender figure, he wasn’t interested in thin women. He claimed that voluptuous women with all body lines in soft curves felt better when embraced and were nicer to touch. Well, the conclusion is that he’s just a pervert.

Eurene held her fork upside down and glared slightly at a plum that resembled Van’s eye color. In the end, he had held onto her for a long time earlier and only finished when his butler knocked on the door. With his unnecessarily abundant stamina. Though she couldn’t understand his taste, Van, who enjoyed watching Eurene eat everything thoroughly as if licking the plates clean, seemed to want to have breakfast together too, but because she hastily put on her clothes and fled from the duke’s villa, his wish wasn’t fulfilled. What did he say again? Plump and cute. Eurene guessed it might be like the feeling of watching a pet empty its food bowl completely.

Van said he liked everything about Eurene—her round forehead and childlike face, her honest, simple, absent-minded, and foolish personality, and even her appetite that wasn’t befitting a noble daughter. He said she was obedient, listened well, and had no unpleasant aspects. Especially, though he didn’t explicitly say it, what he probably found most amazing was her plump figure and what was between her legs. Eurene murmured blankly. She didn’t feel particularly bad about it. After all, someone liked some part of her, whatever it was. Even though she didn’t think much about appearance, she had thought before that she liked Van’s sleek features, seductive smile, and taut thighs and upper body with fine muscles.

It’s good if we’re both satisfied, right? Eurene thought comfortably. The only concerns were if their relationship was accidentally discovered or that she continued deceiving Rona. Regarding their secret meetings, she blindly trusted that the experienced(?) Van would handle it, and when weighing her guilt toward her best friend against her desire and thrilling deviation, the scale easily tilted toward the latter.

It seemed selfish, but I like this relationship. It felt like her whole body’s blood surged and pulsed, making her pleasantly intoxicated. It’s too regrettable to give up this excitement. Even if it ends someday, let’s enjoy it while we can—that was Eurene’s current thinking. Of course, being weak-willed, she often felt the urge to give it all up and return to her former monotonous, lazy self despite her seemingly firm resolution. But she quickly succumbed to Van’s temptation and couldn’t maintain that for long either.

“Oh my. Isn’t that woman over there…? Eurene! Look over there!”

“?”

When Rona suddenly lowered her voice and made a fuss, Eurene snapped out of her thoughts and instinctively turned her head. Then she was startled. Talk of the devil, as they say—a familiar-faced lady was having tea with her companions. It was just two tables away from Eurene’s.

“What’s Duchess Carca doing here? And her companion isn’t the duke.”

“I guess she has an appointment.”

That duke is busy because he’s a duke. Eurene said, recalling Van who had chuckled while mentioning being an “idle duke.” But contrary to her words, curiosity arose, so she glanced sideways while blowing on the whipped cream atop her hot cocoa.

Duchess Carca sat with her back perfectly straight like a crane, her striking golden high bun elegantly styled. She possessed a lofty dignity worlds apart from Eurene, who habitually lowered her head slightly and sprawled comfortably according to her ingrained relaxed attitude. Wow, my goodness. She’s truly beautiful, Eurene thought. This naturally brought to mind Van’s bland expression on the rare occasions he mentioned his wife.

—She is… an excellent noble woman.

It was a monotonous appreciation, like reading the first line of a textbook without enthusiasm. Though rumors in society portrayed them as a famous loving couple, the reality was this: entirely for wealth, political connections, and practical family benefits. Eurene suddenly felt a mischievous curiosity and secretly waited for Van to complain about his wife like typical adulterous husbands—saying she was utterly boring in bed, stiff as a board, and so on—the common complaints men share with their mistresses. But Van made no further comments about his wife. As if he had so little interest that he couldn’t even feel dissatisfaction. Rather, he seemed only interested in continuing their lovemaking, kneading Eurene like dough when she became slightly distracted. Even Eurene, practically blind to the realities of high nobility, could clearly understand in that moment. That the only meaning Duke Carca attached to his legal wife was purely her family’s enormous wealth.

Eurene was staring blankly when she accidentally met the duchess’s eyes. Even someone as slow and insensitive as a tortoise, she was inwardly flustered and conspicuously turned her head away.

Her sparse conscience seemed to prick her, and she felt awkward. Ah, of all things, to run into the wife of the man she had been rolling around with just an hour ago. She glared fiercely at the plum on top of the cake and grumbled. But then Rona vigorously shook her arm and whispered.

“Huh? Huh? Hey! The duchess is suddenly coming this way!”

“Wh-what?!”

No, why?! Was it too obvious? But she wouldn’t know! Did I unknowingly expose a kiss mark Van left on my neck? Does Van’s perfume smell linger on me? Where did I give myself away?!

Eurene trembled, almost forgetting that even if there were obvious traces, the probability of immediately identifying Duke Carca as her partner was low.

Eventually, the elegant clicking of heels stopped right next to her. Aaack! Eurene wanted to cover her face and run away immediately.

“Lady Eifel?”

“Y-yes?”

With trembling hands, she awkwardly raised her head and directly met a pair of eyes as blue as sapphires. For a moment, Eurene forgot the complex deceptive relationship between them and was entranced.

Duchess Carca was an incredibly beautiful woman. Not only her sculptural appearance, but her downcast eyelashes like lily stamens seemed as if they would shed pollen if touched, and her smooth nape and elegant hairstyle were flawless. Even the deep green dress she wore was sophisticated and accentuated her slender figure. Eyes too blue to be from a human carefully examined the dumbfounded, open-mouthed Eurene before smiling gently.

Wow! She’s even prettier when she smiles! Van must be either crazy or a complete pervert. Why would he want to sleep with me when he has such a beautiful wife? He’s truly a strange man.

“This is our first meeting. I’ve wanted to greet you whenever we met.”

“M-me?”

Me, why me? Did she figure out I’m the woman fooling around with her husband? Fear surged. At times like this, she wondered why she committed such sins, but being someone with little thought and weak moral sense, there was nothing to say in her defense.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Countess Eifel, Eurene. Ah, may I call you by name?”

“Of course, Duchess.”

She shook her head with an attitude too friendly and kind for addressing her husband’s mistress. No, call me Sonya. Eurene kept fidgeting—though she stopped because it hurt from being overused the night before—and thought: Right, if she knew, she wouldn’t have that expression. That’s not even possible. Having reached this conclusion, she genuinely felt relieved.

Rona had been looking slightly sulky, but when the duchess naturally and amicably pulled out the adjacent chair and sat down, she hiccupped.