Chapter 2

Leticia, upon arriving at the mansion, immediately rushed to her brother Johan’s room. He was lying on the bed reading a book, but when the door suddenly opened, he tilted his head to the side.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

“…Huh? Uh. I didn’t do anything wrong, right?”

“You didn’t. This’ll be quick, so sit down.”

As Leticia perched on the edge of the bed, Johan sat up. His usually silly and floppy younger sister looked unusually serious today. Did she catch him eating the pudding he bought last time?

“It’s nothing big. Um… At the social gathering, Enrique’s name  came up.”

“It’s not the first time. Did they mention me too? Can’t help this popularity.”

When Leticia didn’t respond and just looked at him coldly, Johan awkwardly cleared his throat and continued.

“What did they say?”

“They asked questions because everyone knows we’ve known each other since we were young.”

“What kind of questions?”

“About Enrique’s ideal type.”

Johan paused to think. Surely he wasn’t clueless about this. He felt nervous, his palms sweating. Of course, he couldn’t just ask Enrique himself, so he waited quietly.

“Now that you mention it, I don’t think he’s ever talked about his ideal type.”

“…Never?”

“Yeah. Whenever we meet, we only talk about the knight order or swords and such.”

Leticia knew this well, having heard those conversations herself. Even when they were alone, they never talked about women. She felt relieved, but also a bit disappointed.

“Oh, wait, I remember something. He did mention his preferences once.”

“What were they?”

“He said he liked someone mature, I think.”

At those words, Leticia punched the bed. The impact made the blanket near Johan flutter and then settle.

Seeing Johan look down at the crumpled blanket with a strange expression, Leticia gently smoothed it out with her hand.

“Ah. Well, that friend has more of a cute… side, rather than mature, you know? As a friend, I feel bad about it.”

“That friend must really like Enrique.”

“Well, yeah.”

If she were to judge herself, she was closer to cute than mature. Even though she had grown quite a bit before coming of age, she appeared more cute than adult-like. How great it would be if she were mature like her mother.

“Thanks for answering. I’m going to bed now.”

“Okay.”

“And keep it a secret that I asked you this, all right?”

“You think I’d tell? I’m going to make sure Enrique doesn’t get a girlfriend before I do.”

Leticia left Johan’s chuckling behind and stepped into the hallway. In the past, she would have clicked her tongue and called him childish, but now she was just grateful for his silly response. Maybe the reason Enrique hadn’t dated anyone until twenty-four was thanks to her brother.

She decided to make plans as soon as possible.

First, she thought it best to choose a day when her brother wouldn’t be home. When she hurried back to her room and checked the calendar, she saw that in a few days, her parents and Johan would be going on a trip.

That day. She’d do it that day. Leticia calmed her pounding heart as she looked out into the darkness.

* * *

She had chosen the date for her plan, but was deeply troubled about how to go about it. Since she’d known Enrique for so long, even if she stripped and jumped at him, he would never lay a hand on her. She could already picture him asking if she was sick and dressing her instead.

She had attended more social gatherings lately to gather information, and one piece of advice stuck in her mind: subtle exposure. If you start by catching his gaze with subtlety, he’ll be drawn in.

Fortunately, she had a dress from before that was a little revealing. It showed a bit too much cleavage, so she had planned to return it but forgot. She could wear a cape over it and take it off later.

“…He’s always weak to requests.”

Enrique had always done anything Leticia asked since they were young. Johan had said it would spoil her, but Enrique would just smile and say it was fine. Of course, she’d never abused that side of him. But this time, she had to…

After much deliberation, she came up with a scenario involving an imaginary lover.

‘I liked someone since childhood, and when I confessed, he accepted. But he had a terrible side and rejected me, saying he didn’t want a woman who was a v*rgin. Still, I liked him so much, asked Enrique to take my first. After sleeping with Enrique, that man refused me, asking if I had really slept with another man.’

The ending of this scenario would be to ask Enrique to take responsibility.

“Wow, what am I doing… I feel like such a terrible person…”

Leticia buried her face in her pillow and kicked her feet. She knew that once she carried out this plan, things would never be the same. She might even ruin not just her relationship with Enrique, but also Johan’s.

“But isn’t it Enrique’s fault for not noticing my feelings…?”

She tried blaming Enrique for a moment. If he weren’t such a good person, she would never have considered such a crazy plan.

With all these thoughts, Leticia even started resenting her own family. The Roberts Family had a tradition: every day, they said ‘I love you’ and ‘I like you’ to each other and hugged.

Having grown up seeing that, Leticia always hugged someone—her parents, her brother, relatives, servants, and even Enrique.

Enrique had been flustered at first but quickly got used to it. He, too, had spent his childhood with Johan and Leticia. So even now, when they met, he would hug Johan or Leticia and occasionally say ‘I like you.’

“Of course it wouldn’t work after ten years…”

When she came of age, she tried expressing her feelings differently, but it didn’t work at all.

Thinking about that day made her sigh.

Now that she had a rough plan, Leticia took out the dress and tried it on. The subtly low neckline revealed some cleavage, giving it a slightly risqué feel. With the cape over it, it looked like her usual style.

Thus began her project to win her brother’s friend. Honestly, she wasn’t bold at all, so her heart was already aching, and she pressed her chest to calm herself.

But she didn’t want to cry at Enrique’s wedding, watching his back without ever confessing.

“I can do—this.”

Leticia stared at the mirror, repeating the words to herself several times.

After waiting anxiously, the long-awaited day finally arrived. The day her parents and Johan left for the resort. Leticia was able to skip because of a social gathering, but she hadn’t expected this to be her chance.

She wore her usual style of dress and packed the one she would wear to meet Enrique in her basket. The social gathering would end just before Enrique finished his work with the knight order, so she could change and go straight to him.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”