“You’re being way too optimistic.”

“At least it could be a way for you to avoid marrying Lady Krysiona,” Theobalt said.

Lacius frowned at Theobalt’s calm words. There was only one way to simultaneously stop Krysiona from treating him like a hunting trophy and end the noble ladies’ obsession.

He had to marry.

So far, he’d managed to protect himself by going to fight in various wars, but that wouldn’t work forever. The emperor no longer wished to go to war.

“Miss Shaye is in her bathroom.”

Lacius nodded with darkened eyes. He had no other choice.

* * *

After returning to my room after lunch, I stayed in bed until early evening and then went to the bathroom as soon as darkness fell. I still felt like I didn’t want to move at all, so when I got into the bathtub, I didn’t actually wash up.

“Come out!” I said the simple incantation as I waved a piece of paper around, and the scribbles I’d drawn last night came to life. They were bubble fairies, exactly what I needed.

“Would you help me wash up?” I asked.

The fairies had bubbles on their heads and tiny sponges in their hands. Fluttering their wings, they washed my hair and massaged my shoulders. It felt so good that I started humming.

“So relaxing...”

I flicked my toes as I recalled what had happened earlier that day.

So making money in this world isn’t that different from making money in the real world. Well, I guess it makes sense since this story was written by a real person.

There did seem to be an unusual job called an airship pilot, but I wasn’t interested and so ignored it.

Launching a luxury fashion brand...

To be honest, I’d always wanted to do that. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to make clothes, so I would need to find a designer. Well, I didn’t know anyone in this world, save for extras from the original novel.

I could still pull it off. Let’s keep brainstorming.

The only option left was owning an entertainment business, but I didn’t want to sell liquor.

What about other types of entertainment? There has to be something clean.

The definition of entertainment was to provide amusement and fun. Well, everyone likes fun, right?

Somewhat excited, I brushed a few strands of hair away from my chest to let the fairies do their work with more ease. As I, their creator, was in a good mood, they were also happy and moved around energetically.

I closed my eyes and felt the warm water, trying to focus only on exciting thoughts. I tried to forget the possibility that I may never go back home, that I may never see my family again.

Goodbye, mold! Goodbye, semi-basement home!

My body and soul both rejoiced to now be in a luxurious place beyond my wildest dreams. I didn’t want to go back to my old, dreary life of paying off my student loan even though it had been years since I had graduated.

I want to have my own business.

Most wealthy kids’ fathers were businessmen. They owned every kind of business out there. My friends had talked and joked about this company and that company all the time, but I never was able to take part in it. Of course, I was very proud of my firefighter father, but even while he had great honor, our family had little money. So my dream was to own a business. Even if I couldn’t afford it, at least I could still dream about it. But then...

“Shaye, is everything okay?” Lacius asked from outside.

My eyes snapped open and I looked at the clock I’d left near the bathtub. It had only felt like ten minutes, but an hour had actually passed. No wonder Lacius showed up, worried.

“Yes, everything is okay. I’ll be out soon.” I put a hand on my forehead to check how hot I was, before standing up. As the fairies had already washed the bubbles out of my hair, I just had to wash my body.

But then, it happened.

I heard the sound of the door lock being undone. The bubble fairies were pulling a prank on me.

The door opened wide, to reveal Lacius still standing there.

“Oh, um...” Our eyes met and all I could do was let out an awkward laugh.

A naked girl standing in the steamy bathroom, and a man stood right outside. It was the perfect opportunity for a misunderstanding. I had never meant for something like this to happen.

What am I supposed to do? Do I walk over and close the door?

I couldn’t blame the fairies at this point as it would just sound like a lousy excuse. Usually in these situations, the man is the one to apologize, but this time I was the one who should say sorry.

“Aah! I didn’t mean for you to see… I’m sorry!”

I’m sorry... Sorry... Sorry... My apology rang through the room as an echo.

“I didn’t see anything.”

After what felt like an eternal silence, I opened my mouth to say something else, but Lacius had beat me to it.

“Return to your bath. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“Huh?”

He was so understanding.

If I were being stalked and a man I’d hired came out of the bathroom naked, I’d want to punch him so hard...

But right now, the person who ought to be punched was me, so I just didn’t say a word.

Lacius’s neck and ears were red, probably from rage.

“You...” I grumbled under my breath, thinking of those pesky fairies.

After Lacius walked away briskly, I turned to glare inside the bathroom, but I found it empty. The magic had already worn off and the fairies had gone back to being just a sketch on the paper.

Ugh. Who am I supposed to be mad at now?

I’d never imagined such an embarrassing thing would happen when I included some playfulness while drawing the fairies. I quickly washed the remaining foam off of my body, promising myself that from now on, I would draw only serious fairies.

* * *

Lacius had always been indifferent about people. It made sense, since he was sick of always getting so much attention. From a young age, he had known the intoxicating influence he had on others, but he still made the same wish every New Year’s Eve. He wanted to become like dust. He didn’t care about others and he wished others would stop caring about him.

Nevertheless, even for someone who had spent his whole life disregarding others, he couldn’t help paying attention to the woman now staying at his manor. If everything went according to his plan, she would become his wife, after all. He found himself starting to care for her.

I thought so the first time I saw her, but she is far too thin.

To him, she looked to be barely breathing, whether she realized it or not. She’d have to gain at least 20 pounds to look like a human being again. Lacius didn’t know much about ideal weight, but he thought the average weight for women was around 160 pounds. Most of the female knights he knew weighed about that much.

And her wounds...

She must have gotten them when she was held by the human traffickers. Lacius winced at the thought. There weren’t any maids at his manor, so Shaye had to bathe and tend to her own wounds. She gave the impression of coming from a good background, so it had been his mistake to not consider whether she would require any maids.

How careless of me.

He sighed. He wasn’t used to having a woman in the house, but it was only courtesy to have considered her needs. Feeling somewhat guilty, he called for his servant.

“Maynard.”

“Yes, master.”

“Give the healing balm I take with me for battle to our guest. Also, make sure to include a lot of bread and pastries in our meals, with lots of syrups and jams. She needs to gain weight.”

“Oh… I understand,” Maynard said, blinking in surprise. He knew Lacius didn’t really like bread.

“Oh, and prepare more meat, cheese, and ham than usual.”

“Yes, master.”

Lacius said no more and dismissed Maynard.

She’s a valuable witness. I need her to testify about the slave auction, so I can’t have her faint again.

Lacius went into a small tearoom linked to the dining hall where he reluctantly took a look at the newspaper on the table. However, he couldn’t read beyond the first line. The scene he’d just witnessed kept replaying in his mind. He cleared his throat, despite being alone, before standing in front of the windows, hands clasped behind his back, his gaze far away.

The healthiest way to gain weight is...

He didn’t know much about gaining weight, only that it required eating lots of meat, bread, and sweets. For now, things were okay as she didn’t have to go anywhere, but later she may have to visit the court several times. She would need her strength.

Yes, that’s why I’m caring for her.

“Ha...”

He eventually rubbed his face with his hands. In actuality, he had ladies fighting for him everywhere, all the time. They did strange things, like undoing the sash on their dress on purpose to ask him to redo it for them, or wearing low-cut dresses and leaning against him. Some even invited him to wait in the same room while they got changed. But despite all this, Lacius had never actually seen a woman’s body properly before. And to have encountered it so unexpectedly…

I must conduct further study to find out why it didn’t feel unpleasant.

Everything about Shaye was weirdly not unpleasant. He guessed the reason had to be that she had no ulterior motive. He still didn’t know how it had happened but judging from her shocked expression, she hadn’t opened the door herself. He cleared his throat a couple more times.

Maybe it will be okay this time, if it’s her.

What had happened was his fault, but Shaye had apologized to him, not the other way around. She did so because she knew he must have been shocked. It had been too long since anyone had been genuinely considerate toward him, so it felt somewhat strange, but it warmed his heart all the same.

I saw her naked like that, but she reacted in such an innocent way.

Perhaps the power of the sun god’s descendant didn’t work on women from other kingdoms, or perhaps there was just something unique about Shaye. To be honest, Lacius had expected her to leap at the chance to jump on him. His expectations were that low.

To cool the burning heat of the sun within you, you must have a woman with the strong power of the moon at your side.

That was the solution his ancestors, who’d suffered from the same problem, had discovered. The best way was to get married and make love. But honestly, that wasn’t necessary, even just living in the same house could over time neutralize the sun’s heat. The source of the problem was his excessive sun power.

Unfortunately, there was another problem. Such a marriage required a woman who would never fall in love with him, someone who was capable of having their marriage based on a contract rather than love. Even if they started a relationship based on mutual feelings, in time the woman’s love would inevitably grow out of control. Lacius had learned how miserably things could end after witnessing his parents.

In that sense, Lady Krysiona, who’d been mentioned a few times as his potential wife, was not a bad choice, but still, Lacius felt reluctant about her. He leaned on the windowsill and gazed at the sunset. He could almost see her red hair, seemingly born from flames.

Perhaps this time...

He felt a flicker of hope.

* * *

I swear, I felt like a student who accidentally texted “f*ck you” to their homeroom teacher. In fact, I’d actually done that before in the first semester of my senior year. It was an accident, of course. I had just been thinking about my teacher and I accidentally sent the message to him instead of my friend... The next morning, I’d felt like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse.

I felt the exact same way now as I stood in front of the dining room door.

“I can do this!”

I clenched my fists and took in some deep breaths. But it didn’t help much and I still felt nervous. Without any further thought, I charged into the dining hall. I rushed in like a rhino, expecting to see Lacius’ cold eyes, but instead, I almost ran directly into Maynard’s rear. I managed to stop a centimeter away from disaster before shuffling sideways to slowly get away.

“Oh, miss?”

“Hello, Maynard,” I said, pretending to act chic as I sat down in my chair.

Soon the servant put down an enormous pile of bread on the table and turned away. “Wait a moment. I’ll bring the rest soon.”

“Yes, thank you.”

So Lacius is not here yet.

I let out a sigh of relief and scanned what was on the table.

What kind of delicacies will I get to taste today?

“It’s a... mountain of bread.”

What the? So this is why the entire manor had smelled so delicious.

I was a bit taken aback as I looked down at all the different kinds of bread and pastries.

Wow.

“Welcome to Breadland, a place of hopes and dreams...”