Chapter 26.1

<WARNING> ‘Innocent Man’ Valérez Toledo began to doubt the intentions of ‘Trick Girl’ Edith Abina.

<WARNING> He shows strong resistance to sex without love. Innocent Man + Trick Girl Route increases its chances of failing.

Did I move too hastily? I licked my lips at the glaring warning message.

No matter how innocent he was, Valérez was an adult male. Eventually, after realizing my intentions, he nervously turned his head.

“Are you doing this on purpose?”

His low-pitched voice, which was soft like cake, deepened as his doubts rose. I tilted my head innocently as if I knew nothing.

“Yes? What?”

“What was that noise?”

“Ah, I must have groaned in pain without realizing it. It’s hard for me to hang on like this for too long.”

I groaned again – differently this time – to clear Ares’ misunderstanding.

“…haa.”

Ares, who was deceived again by my excuse, started to move again as his neck blushed in embarrassment.

“Have you ever worked out before?”

Valérez came from the Toledo family in the south that was famous for producing as many knights as the Caballero in the north. Naturally, he would’ve picked up a sword before. However, I went on pretending I knew nothing of his origins.

“Because your shoulders are really tight.”

Unlike before, I pat Valérez on the shoulder with a lighter and much fresher touch, to which he replied awkwardly.

“No, I didn’t do anything in particular.”

His voice sounded more relaxed than before. I moved my hand without hesitation, judging that he had withdrawn his suspicions of me.

“Then how can your body be so hard? Your shoulders are stiff, and your back as well.”

There, too. Huh?

Let’s see if I can rub it…

Valérez was troubled by me as I pretended to have no clue as my upper body slid down, but he couldn’t stop me in the end. He could only clear his throat a little when we approached the front door of the mansion.

“My lady, if you touch a person anywhere like that… people will misunderstand,” he admonished, “The lady doesn’t mean anything, though.”

“Oh, I’m sorry if you were offended,” I immediately apologized and raised my hands in the air.

“No, it’s not like that–”

It wasn’t me that cut off Valérez, who was trying to carefully add an explanation in response to my apology.

“Edith.”

The sound of that voice gave me goosebumps just by listening to it. It was clear and as cold as the winter sky. The voice was certainly Curtis.

* * *

Curtis Caballero never expected Edith Abina to be faithful. To be honest, he didn’t even look. Curtis judged that he and Edith didn’t have that kind of relationship.

The duty of a knight was to protect and support the lady.

The lady’s duty was to respect the knight who protected her.

That was all they owe each other.

Although it was a distorted relationship in which only one side was responsible for everything on the other side, the long tradition wasn’t always reasonable.

Curtis Caballero was a conservative man, so he lived without much antagonism to the obligations that were given to him.

Born as the eldest son of the Grand Duke family, he was raised as an heir. He owed the Marquis of Abina, so he had to repay him. He’ll live as Edith Abina’s knight having made a promise, and had to give in to all her unreasonable demands.

And finally, Curtis was legally released from one of the most demanding obligations in his life.

‘…but why?’

Curtis looked down at his empty palm, which held nothing, and rolled his fist. He held it so hard that his nails dug into his skin and drew blood. But he didn’t dare to be aware of it.

All his attention was on the woman smiling brightly in front of him.

Why was she laughing like that? Curtis couldn’t understand Edith. He had stood by her side for more than a decade, but he’d never seen her wear that expression before.

Not even once.

He couldn’t say that he accepted all her demands with pleasure, but there was a strange man facing her, a smile on his face as he looked at her without any cost. He didn’t even know her value.

‘Should I just kill him?’

Curtis was a man who always carried a sword to suit his character, befitting more of the title “Sir” than “His Highness”. His throat was dry with an uncharacteristic rage boiling inside him. He fiddled with the scabbard of his sword on his left side.

But he didn’t know who he really wanted to kill.