“……So that’s what happened.”

Aelfrie lowered her head at the sight of Kyle rubbing his reddened forehead.

The door she had missed just moments before had hit him right in the face.

When Aelfrie opened the door again in surprise, Kyle was there, holding his forehead and slumping his shoulders.

It wasn’t just his forehead. Noticing that his nose was also slightly swollen, Aelfrie hurriedly pulled him into the room, seated him on the sofa, and examined his face.

Fortunately, he was only a bit red, not severely injured. Still, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the red mark that marred his handsome face.

After calming down Aelfrie, who kept apologizing and looked as though she was about to cry any moment, he finally explained his earlier, abrupt proposal.

“So you were planning to negotiate slowly with the Earl of Hebrides, but a sudden rival has appeared, forcing you to act quickly? However, the Earl thinks that one should at least be engaged to be considered an adult, so he wants at least one person as an engagement candidate for conversations.”

“Yes. I considered pretending that we’re already married, but… that could create problems later. So, I thought it would be better to pretend we’ve been engaged for a while. That way, even if we break up later, it won’t be a problem.”

“Who is this rival?”

“A man named Piel Gunter. You may have seen him on the way to the trade fair; he owns Gunter’s Trading, which is around the corner. ”

Aelfrie did remember him.

Even though Ash Trading was big, it wasn’t the only company around.

Old trading companies that had protected the harbor of Denertum were still present, and new emerging companies aiming for niche markets had also sprouted.

Gunter was the owner of one such emerging company.

“I’m not sure how he found out, but he seems to have noticed that we’re keen on acquiring that land. So he immediately sent a visitation request to the Earl of Hebrides. We couldn’t fall behind, so we sent a request too… The Earl invited both of us on the same day.”

“Which means…”

“He called both parties to make a judgment and will likely hand it over to the one he prefers.”

With that, he also explained the reason why Ino had been driven out of that place before.
“We hastily arranged a plan, but there was no one to go in my place. At first, I thought Nisha and Ino could pretend to be betrothed, but… as you can see, that’s difficult. They would obviously look like mother and son. Moreover, both of them have somewhat recognizable faces and names; if anyone from the Hebrides earldom tried to investigate, they would be exposed quickly. So it fell upon me, who has no official responsibilities, to go.”

“Isn’t there someone else who could play the fiancée role better than me?”

Aelfrie questioned with a worried tone. I had no confidence that I could pull this off.

This was nonsense from the start.

Aelfrie had rarely lied in her life.

The few lies she had told were solely to avoid upsetting her adoptive parents.

Whether lying or telling the truth, she would get scolded either way, so she didn’t even know if she was good at lying.

But now, she was being asked to pretend to be Kyle’s fiancée the entire time they were together.

Her voice would surely tremble terribly. If he even tried to hold her hand, she might pull away in alarm.

He would immediately see through the falsehood in her actions. She should refuse…

“Do you really think so?”

Just as she was about to say she couldn’t do it, he spoke in a low voice.

“Aelfrie, you meet all the requirements to pose as my fiancée.”

“What…”

“You are well-versed in the ancient laws of Denertum from your time at the Ash Commerce House, and you’re proficient in the necessary ancient language.”

At Kyle’s subsequent words, Aelfrie quickly extricated herself from the quicksand of her comfortable senses.

Yes, Kyle needs my skills. Stop thinking nonsense. Don’t just take his words as they are.

She mentally whipped herself back into focus.

Yes, this is a job. This place is a commerce house, so one must move swiftly and surely in profitable matters. An employee’s skills are a valuable asset for the commerce house. It would be strange not to use them.

Even though she understood this well, why did a corner of her heart feel so cold each time she reaffirmed it?

About to answer his pleading gaze with an “Okay, I’ll try,” Aelfrie blurted out a different question instead.

“Are you… experienced with this sort of thing?”

“What exactly do you mean by ‘this sort of thing’?”

“Like… lying to someone… or pretending to be engaged to them…”

At Aelfrie’s question, the corners of his mouth smoothly curled.

So he’s done this many times.

Even before hearing his answer, Aelfrie felt she knew what it would be and bit her lip.
He had offered the proposal too easily to me, and I realized he was a man accustomed to such lies.

“Do you see me as someone who would do such a thing?”

“Aren’t you?”