chapter 15

Let’s make a deal.

Mel-chan’s eyes widened at my words.

The guards, who were perplexed and frightened, reached for their weapons. I could see them from the corner of my eyes, but I didn’t feel panicked, not in the slightest. The guards weren’t foolish enough to attack without Mel-chan’s permission, especially for a threat of this level.

Rather, this conversation was more urgent, and I continued on without minding them.

“What I’m saying is that your interests might be in line with mine. I won’t ask for anything outrageous. If you want information, please give me information in return.”

“…Information?”

As Mel-chan moved closer, I took the initiative to thoroughly explain what I had meant.

“Yes. The way that this is going to work is that we answer each other’s questions, one at a time… a cycle of us taking turns asking and answering each other. Let’s not allow short replies, or else the conversation would never end because neither side would gain information from such answers. Of course, you do not have to answer if you can’t, but if you’re asked a question that you can’t answer, then honestly say that you don’t know, and another question shall be asked. If you have nothing else to ask, then it ends with a question from the other side. What do you think?”

Things like this should be kept simple, or else I would definitely lose in a game of strategy. Unlike Mel-chan, who possessed an intelligent mind, I was only good at putting up appearances. Naturally, I didn’t show my lack of confidence, and instead, I pretended to make a concession and offer equal conditions.

“…I’m fine with that, but is there something you really want to ask me?”

“Yes, of course, since there are many questions that will decide my course of action in the future.”

I replied honestly to his doubt-filled words.

“It’s okay if you can’t answer, but it’ll be troublesome if there are any lies, so let’s make a contract or something.”

“You would go that far?”

“If you cannot do that, then this conversation is over.”

“Ah~, wait, wait! I will! Hey, go prepare the papers.”

“That isn’t necessary.”

I stopped Mel-chan, who was calling one of his guards to prepare the written contract, and pulled out two sheets of paper, which a typical commoner wouldn’t have, from a linen tote bag. I glanced at Mel-chan, who accepted them in a flustered manner, and took out two more sheets of my own.

“Do you need a quill and ink?”

“No… I always carry those with me.”

“As expected of Melvin-sama.”

I took out my pen and then, using my hand as a flat surface, quickly wrote a crooked signature. Although I was now used to writing with a quill, I sometimes missed ballpoint pens and mechanical pencils. Even though this paper was considered good quality in this world, it couldn’t compare to the copy paper from my past world.

Mel-chan, who shouldn’t have known about the slight sorrow that I had hidden in my act, glared at me with a serious expression and atmosphere.

“… Wait a minute. Wasn’t this decided just now? Why are both of our names on the written oath that you took out just now?”

“My, a question already? We have yet to decide on who goes first to ask questions though…”

“Wait, wait…. This is a chance to ask an important question. Don’t answer that question from earlier.”

“You asked me to wait so many times that it feels like I’m being treated like a dog…”

“As if there could ever be such an ill-mannered dog.”

Mel-chan cautiously looked at me once more, then looked at the written oath from top to bottom before holding out his hand to one of his guards. Before I knew it, the guard had pulled out a feather pen that seemed ten thousand times better than mine, dipped it in ink, and quickly handed it to Mel-chan.

…Guard? He was a guard, right? Perhaps he was a secretary. On closer inspection, when compared to the others, he seemed to be more of a noble. Maybe people with a pedigree and a personality like Mel-chan always had such people with them.

Speaking of which, to summarize the contents of the written oath, it was a simple pledge for Mel-chan and I (and any third parties, including the guards that Mel-chan had brought with him during the discussion) to swear not to lie and keep everything we learned here a secret. The terms and conditions were agreed on upon signing. If someone broke any of these pledges, then they would be enslaved to the other party.

It was fine as long as the oath wasn’t broken, but if it were, then he could lose the umbrella of protection provided by his credibility, as well as the status given to him by his family name. Despite that, he still signed it without hesitation, huh.

“I signed it…. You even prepared ahead of time.”

“Yes, thank you very much. Ah, we even reached my home at a convenient time. Well then, let us continue our conversation inside. Shall we have Melvin-sama ask the special questions first?”

“I appreciate it.”

We gave each other copies of our exchanged oaths and entered.

As of now, this was the third noble who had come into my home.

I thought about preparing tea, but Mel-chan had pulled out a chair beside me. I sent him a look that said, “It’s fine to sit down,” and he obeyed.

Mel-chan, who closed his eyes and crossed his arms on the table for a few seconds, opened his mouth with a serious expression.

We then started taking turns answering questions, one by one.

“The case with Liliana-sama, what were you thinking when you didn’t object to Seth-sama when he cancelled the engagement?”

“That’s a pretty reasonable question.”

I nodded with a smile. Mel-chan’s first question must’ve been asked out of curiosity.

Putting aside the question of whether or not Liliana’s complaints were true, he chose to ask me the reason why I didn’t oppose.

Normally, it was not advantageous for me to say nothing. Even if Liliana’s statement was true, I should’ve lied or bluffed to oppose it—as a noble, for my family and for myself.

“There was no reason to oppose it.”

As written on the oath, I had no intention to lie.

“In other words, I wished to break my engagement with His Highness. That was the most convenient scenario for everyone, I believe.”

Although I wasn’t going to say much, if I said too little, then Mel-chan wouldn’t say much, either. This much was reasonable.

“……Honestly, this is too different from my expectations, and I am confused.”

“Oh my, is that so?”

Judging from my attitude, it wasn’t hard to imagine that I had actually wished for this. It wasn’t strange for him to think that I had wanted to break off my engagement with the Ore-sama Prince… Mmm, subjectivity and objectivity were quite different, after all.

“As reference, may I hear what you had expected? Ah, but if this counts as a question, then it’s fine if you don’t answer.”

“This much is fine since I’m different from you.”

Alright. I had wanted to ask him about how my actions looked like from an outsider’s perspective. I had gained another chance to ask!

However… I had a feeling that Mel-chan’s favorable impression of me had been dropping with every word I said. Putting my “Happy Commoner life” aside and the fact that I was moving according to my plans, as a “Lady Rose fan”, I really liked Mel-chan. How sad. It was scary to imagine how he would look at me after this conversation. I might stay in bed and cry in shame today.

“While I was investigating, I thought that you had broken the engagement on purpose as a form of strategic preparation, in order to do something about the country and the noble houses.”

How unexpected!!

Was that how my actions looked? Did they see me as someone intelligent enough to be able to induce such a dangerous insurrection?

I had tried to prevent such misunderstandings from occurring, but I had never thought that Mel-chan saw it in that way… but if that was what he said, then I would accept it.

Nika-sama might have come here in the beginning to investigate me because he had thought that I was someone they had to watch out for. I see, I see.

Then, this might have been the misunderstanding that Nika-sama mentioned previously.

Nika-sama realized that he had misunderstood, and he had thought that I was aware of the fact that he did not trust me…… which I had not been aware of. Yeah, that was just a misunderstanding. Overall, the timing of when he realized that he had misunderstood was complicated.

I don’t know. Let’s put that aside for now.

“My question is next. Do you believe that the current Liliana-sama can proceed to become queen?”

“…with the way things are now, right?”

“That’s correct.”

I could hear a flag being raised in my mind, so I wanted him to stop emphasising it by repeating what I had just said.

“She most likely can.”

Mel-chan readily replied.

My future was filled with radiance, and it was as if an angel had blown a trumpet behind me.

“It’s true that the interval between breaking off the engagement with you to getting engaged to Liliana-sama was a bit fast, leading to an unpleasant atmosphere, but Liliana-sama’s abilities aren’t bad at all. Based on her grades, she is excellent and quite a hard worker, placing fifth from the top. I can’t complain, even when taking the incomprehensible parts of your case into account.”

This was my first time seeing someone with a positive opinion about Lily-chan!

That was exactly correct! Lily-chan was amazing!

She was obviously cute on the outside, but she was skilled and worked hard. She was also very famous and had a good reputation in society. It seemed like she properly liked the Ore-sama Prince, so she was much more suited for the position of Queen than me! Well said!

…No, rather, she had glared at me every time our eyes met, and whenever I thought that we could talk, I was hated and had been forged into the position of a bully. How sad, was I the only one who was completely hated? Might as well hate that Ore-sama Prince, who was loved by Lily-chan to the point of her doing those things. Although, since I had been away from him, the hate had faded quite a bit recently.

Anyway, the conversation with Mel-chan had been going smoothly, without interruptions, up to this point.

Yes, that’s right. It was only until now. That was the sad news.

Unfortunately, an unremarkable person such as myself, who was only putting up a façade, was no match for Mel-chan, who was an anomaly possessing intelligence even greater than Nika-sama’s.

I realized with the next question that I had greatly underestimated Mel-chan’s extraordinary curiosity.