Since this was supposedly a modest home party, she had dressed rather simply instead of overdressing, but Andrea was someone whose natural loveliness showed more when she wore less ornamentation, making this the better choice. Either way, she would look beautiful in his eyes.

“Please come in.”

Andrea smiled warmly and invited him inside.

“Watch your staring. Are you advertising something?”

Jerome, following behind, said quietly. Gillian, who had been staring blankly at her, suddenly realized he was in his Priscilla state and quickly snapped to attention. He cleared his throat softly and went inside.

Though it was called a modest dinner, it was still a party hosted by the Ulrich family, so there were quite a few guests. There were some familiar faces, so he exchanged greetings.

***

When he entered the powder room, Andrea was looking in the mirror at the vanity. After confirming no one was following in the hallway, Gillian locked the door and went in, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and speaking in his male voice.

“You look so beautiful today.”

Andrea turned around, placing her hands on his shoulders and whispering.

“You look beautiful too.”

“That’s not really a compliment.”

“But it’s actually true.”

When Gillian buried his face below her ear, Andrea let out a soft laugh and gently pushed him away.

“Wait, you’ll smudge my lipstick.”

But Gillian showed no intention of backing down, placing his hands on either side of the vanity and trapping her in his arms.

“You can reapply lipstick.”

Andrea only looked shy but didn’t refuse.

Their lips met. Gillian drew her soft tongue toward him, teasing her until she moaned softly, then slowly lifted her skirt and gripped her bottom.

In the mirror behind them, her plump bottom wrapped in pink underwear, firmly held by his large ungloved male hands, was reflected. The image also showed Andrea’s hand reaching back to grab his hand and stop him.

“If we do more… everyone will know just by looking at my face.”

Of course, Gillian had no intention of going further here either, but reluctant to let go, he kept fidgeting with the edge of her panties when Andrea whispered shyly.

“I’ll come to your place tomorrow.”

Those words made him burn even hotter.

“I want to do it right now.”

“We can’t…”

Her trailing voice had no conviction at all. It sounded more like she was being coy to urge him on.

***

At that moment, Jerome, who couldn’t follow them to the powder room, was waiting in the hallway and idly looking out the window. Suddenly, from the dark window outside, a familiar silhouette flashed by.

‘Riemann Flogel?’

Jerome became puzzled.

He’d heard the man had been holed up at home lately, but that back of the head was definitely his. But he wasn’t dressed for attending a party—rather ordinary clothes. No, even shabbier than usual. Like he’d been at home and hurriedly thrown on an outer coat to come out.

‘Didn’t Theodore Ulrich go that way earlier?’

A bad feeling began to creep in. So Jerome immediately went to the powder room and knocked on the door.

Knock knock.

After a moment, Gillian came out looking dissatisfied.

“What?”

Jerome could roughly imagine what they’d been doing, but now wasn’t the time for teasing—he needed to get to the point quickly.

“I think I caught a glimpse of that b*stard earlier.”

“That b*stard? Riemann Flogel?”

“Yes. He seemed to be heading to the garden, and Theodore Ulrich went that way earlier too.”

Hearing this, Gillian looked toward the window with a slight frown.

***

Knock knock.

Riemann knocked on the door. A voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

When he opened the door and entered, Theodore was sitting at a desk softly lit by a lamp. But Theodore looked puzzled when he saw Riemann.

“Did something happen? You don’t look well.”

“May I sit down?”

He seemed to sense the serious atmosphere.

“Please do.”

As soon as Riemann sat down, he said:

“Priscilla Maia is a man.”

Though that b*stard had taken those damned photos, if he struck first and exposed that the person was a man, an enraged Theodore wouldn’t listen to any excuses. And rightfully so—what father would maintain his composure upon hearing that a cross-dressing pervert had been molesting his daughter?

Riemann got somewhat excited and continued:

“He’s pretending to be a woman. Especially your daughter seems to be having a very inappropriate relationship with that perverted… man.”

But Theodore said nothing.

“How did you come to know this fact?”

True to being a businessman, he wouldn’t easily get excited and rush in without seeing evidence. Riemann realized he’d thought this would be too easy, but there was plenty of evidence anyway.

“Priscilla Maia confessed to me.”

“To you?”

He seemed unable to understand why someone would confess a secret that could endanger even their life. But Riemann had prepared an answer for that.

“He approached me wanting to be friends, then opened up about his troubles with cross-dressing.”

Theodore stared at him thoughtfully, seemingly pondering how to process this information. A memory from earlier came to his mind.

***

Still in his Priscilla appearance, Gillian stood before the door, took a deep breath, and turned the handle decisively.

“Lady Priscilla.”

When the door opened, Theodore rose from his seat to greet him.

“Please come in.”

He guided him to sit on the sofa. At times like this, Theodore seemed like such a nice person. That’s probably how he could do business.

Sitting down, Gillian smiled elegantly.

“I had something to discuss, so I asked for your time. Thank you for accommodating my request so readily.”

Theodore, sitting across from him, had a gentle expression.

“I just hope it’s not about quitting the lessons. Oh, tea…”

“Tea is fine.”

Looking at Gillian with an expression that seemed to say ‘Is that so?’, he straightened his posture and faced him.

“Then may I hear what you have to say?”

“I have a good business opportunity.”

Gillian spoke directly without beating around the bush.

“It’s close to gambling, actually, but if it succeeds, Ulrich will rise high.”

Theodore Ulrich had said everything was commodity to him. Then he himself could become a commodity too. Something he could ‘sell’ to him.

But suddenly Theodore’s eyes changed. They became extremely cold and calculating, like a dagger piercing to the heart.

“It seems rather inappropriate to discuss such matters with a lady.”

However, when Gillian pulled off his gloves without a word and began unbuttoning his collar, Theodore was startled and tried to stand up awkwardly.

“What are you doing…!”

He seemed to think this was some kind of honey trap.

At that moment, Gillian pulled out the sponge he’d used as a chest substitute from inside his dress. Even Theodore hadn’t expected this, staring in bewilderment at the chest that had collapsed on one side like a tomato a naughty child had poked and run away from. In that moment, Gillian spoke.

“My name is Gillianios Dratva.”

When a male voice suddenly emerged, Theodore’s forehead twitched.

“Dratva…”

Soon he looked up from the sponge placed on the table. The chill in those eyes was enough to make one’s spine shiver.

“That’s not a name to be used carelessly.”

Like Andrea, he seemed to immediately grasp what this name meant. It was a name only direct descendants of the Dratva family, who ruled the great territory of Landriga in southern Kingdom of Kirak, could use.

Gillian swallowed a sigh.

“What do you think is the reason I’m in this state?”

“Where’s the proof that you’re not just a plausible-looking con artist?”

He seemed to be barely suppressing his anger about Gillian hiding his identity, being near his daughter in that state, or deceiving him. Just to get through the immediate conversation. He definitely wasn’t someone who got swept away by emotions.

Gillian held up the document file he’d brought and placed it on the table next to the rolling sponge.

“This contains a trust account confirmation under my name. If you suspect even this is fake, you can take it directly to the trust officer at the bank. Besides this, there are other ways to verify my identity…”

Though he’d prepared diligently, Theodore didn’t even think to check it and abruptly stood up.

“It’s an honor to meet a young master from a great family. But I have a policy of not gambling. I’ll separately compensate you for teaching my daughter.”

“Even if she marries into the Flogel family.”

Gillian suddenly brought up what seemed like an unrelated topic.

“Andrea won’t be happy.”

Theodore hesitated. At that moment, Gillian was certain his guess was right. Theodore had also somewhat noticed Riemann’s questionable aspects and hadn’t rushed the marriage.

From observing Theodore, he’d realized the man quite loved his daughter. Perhaps everything related to marriage was genuinely for Andrea’s sake. He wanted his daughter to become someone no one could look down on.

Gillian continued:

“It would be the same no matter what family she marries into. ‘Merchant Ulrich’s daughter’ will forever be a merchant’s daughter.”

“But you’re saying it would be different there?”

“Yes.”

Theodore didn’t sneer, but his eyes were terribly skeptical.

“Kirak is a more conservative society than ours. To think that what doesn’t work in Selon would work in Kirak…”

Gillian interrupted him.

“But I love Andrea.”

Theodore’s eyelids twitched.

“You want me to believe in something like love?”

Despite the harsh mockery, Gillian remained calm.

“Don’t you love your daughter?”

Theodore grimaced like he wanted to reject those words. But Gillian didn’t waver.

“I understand your desire to protect Andrea so nothing can touch her because you love your daughter, and your wish to elevate her as high as possible. But Andrea isn’t someone who covets noble titles or gets excited about money.”

Rather, she was someone who rejoiced over a single Schwarz bread, and when she thought she liked Priscilla, she was honest with her feelings alone, not calculating the social condemnation she might face.

Standing up, Gillian looked directly at Theodore.

“I will make Andrea happy. Don’t you want your daughter to be happy?”

“…”

After remaining silent for a while, Theodore looked up.

“What if you fail?”

“Nothing in this world has a hundred percent chance of success. I just have the confidence to make it a hundred percent success.”

Theodore looked exasperated, seemingly finding himself pathetic for even listening seriously for a moment.

“You want me to believe such groundless boasting…”

“As you well know, Fire Blue isn’t circulating well internationally right now.”

Gillian interrupted him again. When Theodore’s forehead twitched with displeasure, he raised his hand and said:

“I apologize for interrupting. But Fire Blue has been Landriga’s biggest export item for over a decade and is easily convertible to cash. The fact that even Fire Blue isn’t circulating well is proof that the internal system is severely broken.”

“I heard it’s just poor harvests.”

Gillian shook his head.

“Outsiders don’t know well, but Ruzan Valley where Fire Blue blooms has an almost constant climate. Ruzan didn’t become Fire Blue’s largest production area for nothing. The climate of Ruzan Valley is more suitable than even Fire Blue’s original homeland. In other words, Fire Blue is a ‘marker.’ That my uncle has lost control over the family and territory.”

His eyes looking at Theodore shone seriously, and in some ways playfully.

“This is the timing I’ve been waiting for.”

Then he pointed to the document envelope he’d placed on the table.

“And even without me, you’ve made a seriously bad choice with Riemann Flogel.”