Chapter 15: Fake Engagement

Aria is crying, her mother is comforting her, and her father is trying to finalize an extremely complicated marriage proposal. Seeing the group staring at her, Leefe’s heart was immediately made up.

However, just to be sure, she quietly confirmed, “Um, Lord Oliver, did you come to welcome someone special? Is it alright for you to propose to me in a place like this?”

“It’s fine. You’ll soon understand who my special person is.”

“So, this is a temporary engagement, right? Lord Oliver is cooperating to get through this situation, and this is a fake engagement.”

“Hmm?”

Although Oliver’s voice expressed clear doubt, Leefe didn’t mind.

Once understood, the matter was straightforward. Leefe added her left hand to the one Oliver held in his right, smiling and answering loud enough for everyone to hear, “I accept your proposal.”

“Ah, yes.”

It seemed like Oliver’s cheeks were slightly flushed, but it was probably just her imagination. Leefe nodded and continued, “Let’s leave this room as soon as possible.”

“Well… for now, that’s fine.”

To Oliver’s deep, sweet voice, there arose a chorus of whispers from the young ladies gathered at the entrance, watching from a distance. Under different circumstances, Leefe might have been flustered.

However, now she has used black magic to make her sister confess to a lie, has somehow treated her, and has just accepted the story of a fake engagement that she has no recollection of. There is no room for feeling superior.

As they started toward the exit, Easton shouted, “Wait! Are you not only tearing apart Aria and me but also two-timing with him?”

(…What’s this?)

Leefe walked determinedly toward Easton. Then, a bursting sound echoed through the venue—or not. Despite being labeled as a notorious villainess in her past life, accused of hitting without actually hitting, Leefe was not accustomed to physically hitting people.

Quickly stopping Oliver, who tried to intervene, Leefe had indeed slapped Easton’s cheek, but the actual sound produced was a dull, unresonant noise. Nevertheless, her palm hurt.

“Th-that’s impossible, right!?”

Ignoring Easton’s stunned expression as he held his slapped cheek, Leefe continued loudly, “There’s no way I could cure your amnesia. After all, I don’t want you to remember me. Let’s go, Lord Oliver!”

“You’ll regret hurting her hand like this one day.”

Oliver cast a cold glance at Easton, but Leefe’s hand was hurting due to her own actions.

However, for the time being, Oliver gently held the hand with a lingering burn. After a comforting stroke of the thumb, he pulled her hand away.

(Somehow… it feels familiar, or rather, it’s like escorting someone truly important.)

Despite knowing it couldn’t be true, there was an inexplicable itchiness.

Under the flawless escort of Crown Prince Oliver, Leefe left the room.

Amidst the people in the room, with Easton holding his swollen cheek and everyone wearing bewildered expressions, only Aria’s crying echoed.

In front of the grand staircase of the royal castle, Leefe performed a ladylike bow in the same place where they had met just a while ago.

“Lord Oliver… No, Prince Oliver. Thank you very much for helping me today. I was able to retaliate much more satisfactorily than I had expected.”

“That’s good. I also have a favor to ask… Please, come to my Shinwood Empire.”

“Huh?”

Wasn’t the claim of her being Oliver’s fiancée a grateful lie to get through that situation? To Leefe, who blinked her eyes in surprise, Oliver gently smiled.

“I’ve taken a strong liking to you.”

“Liking?”

“If possible, I’d like you to come and get to know you better by my side.”

“By your side, get to know me better!?”

What on earth did he mean? Certainly, she was aware that she had expressed a desire for friends or a lover. However, Oliver’s concept of “friends or lovers” seemed somehow different from what Leefe had imagined.

To put it bluntly, it was on a level that was too high. For someone who, in her past life, was a loner and, according to her spirit partner, the spirit Rene, a “klutzy, notorious villainess,” Leefe definitely didn’t match up.

(I just want to be a normal person…! Is this some kind of scam or something!?)

As she struggled to find words, she caught sight of Easton in the corner of her vision. It seemed like he had followed them.

“Leefe! Please listen to me.”

At Easton’s clinging voice, the heat in Leefe’s head, which had been building up, suddenly cooled.

(Oh, I see. Oliver must have noticed Easton’s presence. He’s cooperating with me until he can perfectly outmaneuver me. That’s right. It’s impossible for someone like me, who has been lonely all along, to suddenly have such a wonderful lover!)

What a good person he was! She couldn’t help but feel grateful.

She had nowhere else to go anyway. If, even in pretense, he would protect her as a fiancée, there was nothing more to discuss.

Leefe, nodding in agreement, posed one final question.

“May I ask something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Crown Prince Oliver, have you met your special someone?”

In response to Leefe’s question, Oliver’s cheeks softened.

“Of course. If you nod, I can return to the country in the happiest state imaginable.”

“Understood. If it’s acceptable to you, please let me accompany you.”

“Thank you.”

(Wha… what…!?)

While it should have been Leefe expressing gratitude, Oliver displayed a genuinely relieved smile. It was so disarmingly sincere that she couldn’t help but feel a flutter.

As Oliver turned his palm downward, a teleportation magic circle appeared, leading to the Shinwood Empire. It was the kind of magic that only a considerably renowned mage could master, but Leefe was not surprised.

(Well, that makes sense. Even in this short time, it was evident that he possesses extraordinary power.)

“Leefe…!”

And thus, they teleported. The voice of Easton, who had chased after them, vanished in an instant.