“I’ve heard that some nobles hide their identity because they want to do business but find rumors troublesome.”

I stared quietly at Lucian as he continued spouting nonsense while stroking his chin.

“But if you, a mere commoner without honor or status, need to hide your identity…”

Gulp.

I swallowed dryly, wondering what strange things would come out of his mouth next.

“Could it be that you’re a wanted criminal?”

“……”

…How did he know?

Taking my silence as confirmation, Lucian widened his eyes and pretended to be shocked.

“Oh my. What kind of magnificent crime did you commit?”

Hey. I haven’t answered yet? And it’s not a horrible crime, but what do you mean by “magnificent crime”?

“This is a serious matter.”

As I was sighing, Lucian suddenly put on a regretful expression. It was quite detestable.

“No matter how much you’re my friend, I am the Marquis of the Berto family, with a duty to protect the Empire.”

Then Lucian came closer, placed his hand on my shoulder, and pressed down firmly.

“I’m sorry, my friend, but I can’t just let this matter slide.”

I quietly glared at Lucian, who was exerting silent pressure.

“I have no choice but to call the guards again…”

“What do you want?”

Just get to the point.

When I asked irritably, Lucian answered with curved eyes.

“Continue operating the guild here.”

…What?

“I mean, put aside any thoughts of leaving.”

I made a face of disgust as unexpected and incomprehensible words came out of Lucian’s mouth.

“Why on earth…? How does that help you?”

“I told you. I like you.”

Lucian removed his hand from my shoulder and naturally walked past me into the open door.

“I’m also curious about how you make your toys.”

Toys…

Come to think of it, this person always talked about toys.

Damn. Those toys.

“Now. Come and sit down.”

Somehow the roles had reversed, and Lucian, now seated at the dining table, was inviting me to sit across from him.

“Come on. Aren’t you curious about what I bought for you?”

Looking at Lucian placing wrapped boxes on the table, I thought.

Let’s just go along with it for now. Maybe he’ll leave eventually? Surely he’s not planning to stay here?

“Haah…”

Sighing, I sat down across from him, and Lucian pushed a cake he had taken out of the box toward me and asked.

“Do you like strawberry cake?”

Suddenly disliking strawberries, I shook my head.

“I don’t like strawberries…”

Then Lucian offered another dessert.

“If you don’t like strawberries, how about blueberry pie?”

“I don’t like blueberries either…”

“My toy store owner is pickier than I thought? Then how about this…”

Persistent guy.

It seemed he wouldn’t stop questioning until I said I liked something.

It might be better to just eat quickly and get it over with.

“Just give me the one with peaches on it, please.”

Then Lucian handed me the peach tart and asked.

“Do you like peaches?”

“Well, yes.”

As I was casually answering and stabbing the peach on top of the tart with my fork—

“I’ll have to buy lots of peaches for you from now on.”

Why would you…?

“Don’t waste your money. I won’t be able to eat them all anyway.”

“It’s fine. I’m not buying them for you to eat them.”

If he’s not buying them for me to eat, what, are they for decoration?

Looking at him strangely, I was about to bring the peach to my mouth when—

“D-don’t eat that!”

Bang!

Someone darted out in front of me and instantly snatched my fork away.

Frozen in position with my fork held up, I blinked slowly.

W-what?

Looking around, I saw the table had become a mess in the blink of an eye.

And in the center was…

“Taro?”

There was Taro in his bird form, wearing the plate that had held the peach upside down on his head.

“Huff, huff. A-are you alright, human?”

“What? Oh, yes. I’m fine…”

You’re the one who doesn’t look alright.

I looked worriedly at Taro, who was panting and catching his breath.

And shortly after, Taro regained his composure and yelled at Lucian.

“Y-you contractor! I was wondering what suspicious thing you were doing, but why are you trying to kill that human!”

…Kill who?

While I was sitting there blankly, not understanding Taro’s words, Lucian’s voice reached me.

“Taro, are you close with the toy store owner?”

“Close? W-what…! I don’t know anything!”

Taro hurriedly changed the subject with an expression that clearly showed he had something to hide.

Judging by his reaction, fortunately, it seems Taro hadn’t told Lucian about my identity…

But more importantly, didn’t he just say Lucian tried to kill me?

I slowly lowered my gaze.

A piece of peach fell on the floor. Could it be…

“…Poison?”

As I muttered to myself and raised my head, Lucian smiled enigmatically.

Really…?

At that moment, Wit leaped up over the tomato basket.

“Get away from him, Master!”

Simultaneously, Wit used magic to throw a tomato at Lucian.

Lucian tilted his body slightly to dodge the flying tomato, but—

Splat!

He couldn’t avoid the second tomato.

“……”

Drip.

Wit, Taro, and I quietly stared at the tomato that had hit Lucian’s forehead and was now dripping down.

During that brief silence—

“It’s my first time eating tomatoes this way.”

Lucian licked around his mouth with his red tongue.

“It’s better than I expected.”

Maybe it’s because the red liquid soaking his face looked like blood.

His smiling face looked more demonic than a demon’s.

“How dare you try to harm my Master!”

“W-Wit! Calm down!”

Taro frantically stood in front of Lucian as if to protect him from Wit’s explosive energy.

After blankly observing the situation, I finally came to my senses and asked.

“You put poison in the food?”

Lucian’s purple eyes turned toward me as he was already wiping his face with a handkerchief.

I asked again with a face more furious than ever before.

“Why… why did you try to kill me?”

Why on earth?

What did I do? No matter how I thought about it, I had never done anything to make Lucian hold a grudge against me. No, rather, didn’t Lucian say he liked me?

To my question, Lucian smiled and feigned innocence.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I pointed seriously at the peach tart rolling on the floor.

“Then eat it.”

Eat it and prove whether there’s poison or not.

As I spoke while biting my lip, Lucian made a disgruntled sound.

“Are you asking me to eat this dirty thing?”

“I heard it’s fine if you eat it within 3 minutes.”

“Isn’t it 3 seconds?”

Whether it’s 3 seconds or 3 minutes, that’s not my concern.

If you want, I can wash it for you, but eat it. Eat it and prove your innocence.

I picked up the peach with the fork still stuck in it.

Then Lucian answered with a small laugh.

“Ahaha. This is troublesome. But if you’re feeding me…”

I shoved the peach into Lucian’s mouth before he could spout more nonsense.