Chapter 3
In the end, I took the check and quietly slipped it into my inner pocket. Then I held out the piece of paper I had brought, the one with someone’s name written on it.
“Ah, and would you mind throwing in some information on this woman as a bonus?”
At my words, the Master was silent for a moment, then let out a chuckle as if he couldn’t help it.
“This is a one-time exception, just for you.”
“As expected of the Master!”
Soon, the Master handed me the information on the woman.
That took care of everything.
Feeling refreshed now that I’d achieved my goal, I was about to head for the door—when—
“……Ah, but may I say one more thing?”
“Yes.”
Worried he might have changed his mind at the last minute, I pressed the check firmly against my chest and nodded.
“Recently, a VIP of a level I cannot mention purchased information about you, madam. So I thought I should warn you in advance—something that I, as your creditor, am most concerned about may happen.”
“You mean I might die? Because a VIP got my information?”
At those words, a chill already ran down my spine.
In this novel, the people the Master refers to as “VIPs of a level I cannot mention” are very few.
And among them is Duke Rakhan……
“I’ll be careful.”
For me, who is fated to die at the hands of Duke Rakhan—who also happens to be one of Linea’s love interests—this was invaluable information.
I began racking my brain, wondering what the Duke was up to at this point in the timeline.
In any case, I needed to finish the rest of my schedule for today and get home, so I opened the door and stepped out.
“Phew.”
As I walked along, I soon heard footsteps behind me—someone was gradually catching up.
“……Huh?”
Instantly, the Master’s earlier words came to mind.
‘Could Duke Rakhan really already be after me?’
But that didn’t make sense.
As far as I knew, the woman I’d possessed—Asha Delmore—had no significant connection to Duke Rakhan.
‘Did I maybe sell some information that twisted the plot somehow?’
But I hadn’t sold anything that would change the flow! I should have prepared some self-defense item earlier.
I hadn’t even reached the start of the main story yet, so I suppose I’d been too complacent.
I began walking a little faster.
But the footsteps behind me caught up much sooner than I’d expected.
“……Madam.”
“Kyaaah!”
It was a deep, languid voice.
Just from the voice alone, I felt an inexplicable sense of menace, so I started running faster.
But the man pursuing me caught up even on the open main street, and suddenly blocked my path.
In an instant, my view was cut off by a wall of a man—tall and powerfully built.
“I’d like a word with you.”
“Wh-Who are you!?”
Startled, I looked up at him with a face that seemed about to faint.
The stranger had looks I’d never seen before in my life.
Even just his sensual, cold, narrow eyes looking down at me made me feel pressured.
“Surely you know who I am, madam. Please spare me a moment.”
“Do I know you?”
He truly had the face of a crime lord.
‘Is he someone who had a connection in the original story?’
The backgrounds of villainous supporting characters weren’t really mentioned, so honestly, I had no idea who he was.
But one thing was certain—in front of this man, I felt like I couldn’t even breathe freely.
And I thought I had pretty good nerves.
“Wh-What business do you have? You can say it here.”
If he didn’t speak here, where there were plenty of witnesses, I was sure I’d be dragged off somewhere and killed.
‘With that terrifying face, burying a body is probably just another day for him.’
At that, the man pressed a gloved fingertip to his temple.
With a face that plainly showed weariness and fatigue, he shook his head.
“This isn’t the sort of thing to discuss in a place like this.”
“Th-Then……”
“I have my carriage. Please ride with me for a moment.”
At those words, a dizzying dread washed over me, and I shut my eyes.
Then, at a single gesture from the man, a black carriage pulled up to the curb. The coachman, taking the hint, climbed down and quickly opened the door.
As if nothing could now stand in his way, the man smiled with amusement.
“It’s very comfortable, so don’t worry—just get in.”
Very comfortable. Those words only made me more anxious.
‘This feels like getting into a coffin.’
As I hesitated, he tilted his head with genuine curiosity and asked:
“Could it be that you don’t know how to board a carriage?”
He extended a hand clad in black leather gloves—the kind that wouldn’t show a single bloodstain—and asked.
I had intended not to get in, but in the end, under his elegant pressure, I boarded the carriage.
Still, determined to avoid total isolation, I spoke up.
“Leave the door open while we talk……”
“It won’t take long.”
“Y-Yes.”
Just as a vague sense of what’s done is done flickered through my mind, the man also ducked his massive frame and stepped inside.
Click.
The door, cruelly, closed behind him.
‘Just who is this man, and why is he after me……’
As I thought that and cautiously glanced at him, the man sitting across from me spoke.
“I brought you in here because I wished to apologize for having previously rejected your confession, madam.”
“Excuse me?!”
With looks that striking, surely I would have remembered him.
He paid no mind to my reaction and continued.
“After all, I couldn’t very well discuss a lady’s private affairs out in the street.”
What on earth was he talking about?
I blinked rapidly, sorting through the thoughts swirling in my head.
“So you’re saying I confessed to you—and you turned me down?”
“If you’d rather pretend not to remember out of embarrassment, I’ll take it that way.”
He said this with a face that seemed to say “I know everything,” and let out a small laugh.
That smile was so fierce that I honestly couldn’t tell whether it was a threat or a courtesy.
“By the way, I have a bad memory, so let me ask—your name is……?”
For a moment, a question mark seemed to hover over his face, but he answered promptly.
“I am Marquis Rivandel.”
Who?
Honestly, he wasn’t a character I remembered from the original story, so I rolled my eyes but pretended to recognize him.
“Ah, yes, I think it’s starting to come back to me……?”
“I believe it’s only been about two months.”
“Well, you see, in the meantime I got married and then widowed, so I’ve been rather distracted.”
At my words, he gave a formal apology with that frightening face.
“……I failed to consider that. My apologies.”
Contrary to his intimidating appearance, Marquis Rivandel’s tone was unexpectedly gentle.
So I gathered my courage and asked.
“But if you turned me down, that should be the end of it—why did you chase me down and put me in your carriage just to apologize?”
If he said no, that was that.
I suppose before I possessed her, the original owner of this body—Asha Delmore—must have had a secret crush on Marquis Rivandel……
But that was no longer my concern.
However, Marquis Rivandel’s thinking, as it happened, seemed to be different.
He leaned slightly toward me and curved his eyes into a smile.
That sly, dangerously alluring smile made me feel like I was looking at a poisonous flower.
He hadn’t even appeared in the original story, so I had no idea what kind of person he was, nor could I read his true intentions.
But he continued speaking to me lightly.
“At the time, you were already engaged to another gentleman, so I declined firmly.”
“Yeees.”
So the gist was: Asha Delmore didn’t like her fiancé, so before the wedding, she impulsively confessed to Marquis Rivandel, the man she’d been pining for.
The deduction came together in a snap.
But surely this man had no interest in me.
With that conviction, I put on a bored expression—and then Marquis Rivandel said cheerfully:
“However, as it turns out, I also came to think that I would like to get to know you, madam.”
“……Excuse me? Me?”
“Of course, at the time, I wasn’t particularly interested in you—but you were the first person ever to confess to me.”
“What the—”
I muttered in disbelief without realizing it, but he didn’t seem to hear.
“So I’ve been thinking I ought to apologize, but you never appeared at any social events, so I had no way to convey my words.”
“Then you weren’t, by any chance, following me?”
“Of course not. I was out on personal business as well, and happened to catch sight of your back. I thought—perhaps this is fate.”
“Fate……?”
Why would such a handsome man—and a marquis, no less—say something like fate to me?
‘I have a feeling. This is……!
