Chapter 2

Good heavens, so he really was the sort who preferred it with clothes on. He seemed to be an even more cultivated pervert than she had expected.

Faced with the prospect of spending her first night with a man with bizarre tastes, Louise felt a little like crying. No, perhaps this might actually be better. If she matched his slightly strange s*xual tastes well enough, she might be able to sway him with pillow talk. Then, then…….

“I-I meant that you should pay the money.”

“……Money?”

“Yes.”

“Why should I?”

“Did you not say it yourself? That refusal is by two silver coins.”

“…….”

That was true.

Not even to the smallest degree had that man imagined that Louise would actually go through with the first night.

It was embarrassing that she had misunderstood him as shameless and perverted without even realizing it. Cooling her heated cheeks with the back of her hand, Louise approached him. Cesare, who had been sitting in his seat, subtly leaned his body back.

“I don’t have any money.”

“……That is unfortunate.”

“So I will pay with the first night instead.”

Cesare’s pupils widened greatly. It was like the reaction of a feline predator that had discovered a strange phenomenon. Staring blankly at Louise, Cesare let his words stumble out.

“I-I bow to you.”

“Why?!”

“Why…… you ask. Who would want to do such a thing? To spend a first night with someone you do not even love.”

“But you are the Lord, My Lord. You must follow the law.”

“Could it be that the one spending the first night with me is not you, but your enemy?”

For a moment, Louise imagined Reim being caught by that man and mewling beneath him. The image of Reim suffering brought a smile to her face on its own. Perhaps her sly smile showed, because Cesare flinched and leaned back even farther.

“No, I am indeed the one who will spend the first night.”

“Then why……?”

“Because that was the promise!”

“It has been quite some time since I became Lord, but no one has ever come asking me to exercise the right of the first night. And there have been so many marriages.”

“That is because…… those people do not know the law.”

“And you do know the law.”

“Yes.”

Letting out a low groan, Cesare looked at her.

“I will pretend not to know, so how about you also live as though you do not know the law?”

“That is not possible. There is a saying that knowledge is power. I absolutely intend to keep that law.”

At her firm attitude, Cesare’s expression turned gloomy. He would likely not look sadder even if he lost his country. Could it be that he was a man who preferred other men? Was that why he looked so miserable?

Louise barely managed to hold onto her weakening resolve. Whatever the case, she absolutely had to go through with it with Cesare. She had to seduce him and flee to a place beyond Reim’s reach. Cesare, who had been pressing at his temple as if he had a headache, opened his mouth.

“I will send someone to the Imperial Palace to find out whether that law is still in use. If the reply comes back that it is, then let us speak again at that time. So you should return now. It is late.”

At Cesare’s attempt to send her away, Louise grew impatient. She could not go back like this. She hurriedly called out to him.

“My Lord……!”

At that moment, a knocking sound came from outside the door. Their gazes turned toward the door at the same time.

“My Lord, are you he…….”

The white-haired man wearing a monocle saw Louise and stopped in place in surprise. There were hardly any people in this rural village wealthy enough to wear glasses, so he was probably the butler. As soon as the butler appeared, Cesare’s complexion brightened as though a savior had arrived.

“So you had a guest. My apologies.”

“It is no trouble, so come in. She will be leaving soon. What is it?”

“It is with deepest regret, but Draven escaped under cover of night.”

“……Why?”

“He said that with the work being difficult and the amount so heavy, and with even overtime having been forbidden, he simply could not work at all. He left behind a note like that on the bed.”

The butler said this while fluttering a note held between his index and middle fingers. At the butler’s words, Cesare let out a low sigh.

“Shall I have him brought back?”

“No need. If he dislikes working enough to flee in weather like this, then even if we catch him, will he work properly? It would be better to find someone new.”

At Cesare’s words, Louise shot her hand into the air and cried out.

“I will work instead!”

The butler and Cesare looked at her as though dumbfounded. And reasonably so, since Louise did not even know what kind of work the runaway had been doing. Sure enough, that very point was raised.

“Do you know what kind of work Draven had been doing?”

“No, but I am confident in any sort of work. As for me, I graduated top of my class from the Imperial common school, and I possess exceptional talent in geometry and languages. My motto is ‘there is no such thing as running away in my dictionary.’ If you give me work, I will perform any task without complaint and labor until my bones are ground to dust!”

At the sudden self-introduction, both Cesare and the butler stared blankly at her. Cesare was the first to recover.

“If you possess exceptional talent in languages, then can you speak foreign tongues as well?”

“Yes, I can read and write both the sacred tongue of Lutania and the language of Hertz Empire at a native level!”

“……Isn’t our country Hertz Empire?”

“Yes! And as you can see, I also speak it fluently and without the slightest difficulty!”

“…….”

Perhaps rendered speechless by her outstanding abilities, Cesare shut his mouth.

“Well, foreign language ability is not strictly necessary for this work. What matters is mathematical ability.”

“I was born with the four basic operations wrapped around me instead of an umbilical cord.”

“……I find that hard to believe.”

“You may test me.”

“……What is twenty-three times nine?”

“It is 207!”

“And 439 times 9 divided by 3?”

“It is 1,317!”

At her unhesitating answers, not only Cesare but even the butler looked surprised. Fortunately, mathematics was the field Louise was best at. Multiplication especially. The butler moved close to Cesare and whispered.

“You should hire her. The reporting date is the day after tomorrow. We are in a situation where we ought to borrow even a cat’s paw.”

“Even so, keeping someone of unknown status inside the castle is a bit…….”

Louise had heard all of it, but as a civilized person, she kindly pretended not to. The butler lifted his head and asked her,

“Do you happen to have an identity tag?”

“Yes, of course.”

Louise handed him the identity tag she had hidden on her person. After wiping down the tag, stained all over with mud, with a handkerchief, the butler’s face brightened.

“She is certainly one of our people, My Lord. You may hire her at once.”

“But…….”

Cesare looked at Louise with a clearly unconvinced expression. It seemed the way she had gone on earlier about the right of the first night was still bothering him. But Louise had no intention whatsoever of kicking away good fortune that had rolled to her on its own.

“Thank you! I will work hard!”

At her words, Cesare looked utterly absurded. The butler and Louise were both gazing at Cesare with earnest appeal. In a two-against-one situation, the one who raised the white flag was Cesare.

“It will be temporary employment for one week. Once the work is finished, you must leave.”

“Yes, thank you! Since I have no home, would room and board perhaps be possible?”

“It is possible. Alon, give her a room.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Thank you! Then if possible, may I have one with a place to wash? As you can see, I am in quite a state…….”

Cesare, who had been staring at Louise silently, twisted his face unpleasantly as though he had swallowed bitter medicine.

“……One with an attached bath.”