Chapter 50
The morning after I suddenly grew closer to Velias.
As always, I woke to Mist's gaze.
When I turned toward where I felt her gaze, I stared blankly at her face, far closer than I had imagined.
Before, she had merely watched my face from beside my pillow, but now she was close enough that even the slightest movement toward her would make us touch.
"What... are you doing..."
My voice was low and rough from having just woken up.
Hearing it, Mist brushed back my hair and spoke in her usual calm voice.
Swish. Swish.
"I was waiting for Lord Abel to wake up."
That's not what I was asking?
I looked at her through half-open eyes, conveying that sentiment, but she offered no explanation and merely continued brushing back my hair.
A little while later.
After exchanging brief greetings with Ariel by typewriter,
and having a simple breakfast,
"..."
Though it had only been a short time, the change was unmistakable.
"Lord Abel, wait a moment."
An unreserved hand fussing with my collar.
Swish.
Yet while she was smoothing the wrinkles in my clothes, I felt her hand lightly brush the back of my neck.
The distance between us was unmistakably different from the day before.
Just like Velias yesterday, Mist now seemed to be narrowing the distance so suddenly that it was suspicious.
Grab.
"Lord Abel?"
I caught the hand stroking near my neck and pulled it toward me.
Though her voice sounded slightly flustered, it made no sense that she, a member of [Dark Shadow], could be pulled along by such a small amount of force.
I wrapped one hand around her slender waist while her other hand stretched behind her, leaving her pressed against me; then, with a leisurely motion, I whispered near her ear.
"Come."
Mist's body instinctively flinched when I whispered near her ear.
As I savored her reaction, her slightly low body temperature and a scent resembling lavender swept through my nostrils.
"You can tell me now, can't you?"
It was beginning to grow boring, simply assuming Mist would tell me on her own and letting the matter slide.
To be honest, about three hours had passed since I got up and ate breakfast, so if she wouldn't tell me, I would have to bring it up myself.
"Why are you doing this?"
Until now, she had kept physical contact with me to a minimum.
Whether that had been of her own volition or because she had been ordered to do so by the Duke, I hadn't cared all that much.
But changing the attitude she had maintained until now in a single day?
There had to be something behind it.
Swish.
Thinking that, I placed her hand against the area of my neck where her gaze often lingered whenever she looked at me strangely.
"Come."
I offered my neck to an assassin, showing her that I trusted her,
and told her to enjoy herself since she seemed particularly interested in my neck—a gesture bordering on goodwill.
"..."
"Pfft."
'She really likes my neck, huh?'
Feeling her gaze, it was impossible not to notice.
I didn't know whether it was merely a preference or whether there was some special reason, but I had long since noticed that she took a considerable interest in my neck.
Indeed, the moment I settled her hand near my neck, Mist began moving it unconsciously.
Continuing, I spoke in a voice tinged with amusement.
"I'll ask you one more time."
I decided not to suspect betrayal.
I had been betrayed in my previous life, and if I betrayed someone first, I would become like the trash who had betrayed me in my previous life.
Since my previous life, I had resolved that unless the other party betrayed me first, I would trust my subordinates wholeheartedly.
From that perspective, Mist was already one of my people, having sworn loyalty to me.
Once you've given someone your trust, shouldn't you trust them to the end?
"Tell me everything about why you're doing this."
Or should I give you an order?
At my whisper, she looked at me with slightly unfocused eyes, then slowly began to speak.
"It's because of the succession ceremony."
"Hmm...?"
The succession ceremony.
The occasion where I would be announced to the family's retainers as the true heir to the Nebula ducal family.
Now, here's the problem.
What sort of people were the family's retainers?
The Nebula ducal family wielded enough influence that it could be considered a sort of small kingdom.
Moreover, in this world, it was only natural for every noble to run at least one business.
Naturally, the family's retainers were all major figures running at least one business.
"I thought some people might harbor ulterior motives during this succession ceremony."
"Well, that's a reasonable thought."
Once I knew about the succession ceremony and what sort of people they were, it was something I had also been considering privately.
Having dealt with such powerful figures often in my previous life, I knew their personalities rather better than one might expect.
No, even without dragging out my previous life's experiences, let's look at the current Nebula ducal family objectively.
The fact that the Duke had been poisoned was top secret, so there might be people who didn't know.
But it was only natural that concealing the fact that all the direct descendants had died would be difficult.
In such a situation, suddenly introducing a new face—someone completely different from the direct descendants they had known until now—as the heir?
It was obviously the perfect time for anyone to make some sort of move.
'Well, hearing it put that way, it sounds as though they're plotting a rebellion.'
I didn't think it would go that far.
Their own lives were precious to them, after all.
I had seen hundreds of times how people running businesses sometimes made truly stupid choices, but that didn't mean they were fools.
No, if they had been that foolish to begin with, the Nebula ducal family would have made the first move against them long ago.
'At worst, they'll form a faction or secretly approach me and build a personal relationship?'
I expected nothing more than that.
But Mist's thoughts seemed to differ slightly from mine.
"I've thought about it carefully."
Mist had considered what the most dangerous threat to Abel, her master, might be.
Force?
He had more than enough of that.
Power?
The current Duke of Nebula was already firmly determined to hand the headship over to Abel, so would anyone really worry about that?
The retainers would probably reach a similar answer, and if so, what would be the easiest way to attempt close contact with Abel?
"A honey trap."
No sooner had she finished speaking than her expression and aura began to change in an instant.
Her appearance radiated a fatal charm like that of a femme fatale, flustering me for a moment.
Whether she knew how I felt or not, she began to move slowly with a seductive expression.
Swish.
With one hand, she stroked my neck, and with the other, she ran her hand up my chest.
She wasn't blatantly caressing my chest.
Quite the opposite.
It was an exquisite touch—almost, but not quite, making contact, merely grazing me, yet clearly enough for me to feel it.
Her hand, having risen that way, began to caress my Adam's apple.
Slowly and seductively, as carefully as if she were stroking an intimate part of my body.
"This is training."
A sultry voice brimming with emotion, completely unlike her normally emotionless voice, began to tease my ear.
"Training to keep you from falling for a cheap honey trap."
Training?
Her calmly uttering such an obvious lie nearly made me laugh hollowly in disbelief.
Training?
Who would personally conduct honey-trap training for the master to whom they had sworn loyalty?
Slide.
'Haha.'
Now that I noticed, even her maid uniform was slightly different from usual.
She had always insisted on wearing a traditional maid uniform that reached her ankles.
But in this position, with me encircling her waist, she lifted one leg to tease my thigh, revealing it.
Only then did I realize that her long maid's skirt had been modified to split open at the middle.
"Training, huh."
But I decided to play along with her words as she calmly spouted lies.
"So you're seducing me?"
"Yes. I suppose that's how it would be."
"Until when?"
"Until the day the succession ceremony begins."
There were about two weeks left until the succession ceremony.
After calculating when the succession ceremony would begin in my head, I muttered as I breathed in Mist's scent.
"Should I call that tight, or should I call it plenty of time?"
"If it's time spent seducing a single man, it's more than enough."
Mist stroked my cheek with a seductive touch and whispered near my ear.
"For your information, I already obtained permission from the Duke last night."
"Huh?"
"After hearing my proposal, he laughed and gave me permission to do as I pleased."
"Ha..."
I could picture it without even seeing it.
The moment she mentioned this matter, I could easily imagine the Duke laughing as though it sounded amusing and giving her permission.
After quietly watching me laugh in disbelief, Mist smiled faintly and opened her mouth.
"What do you think? Can you withstand my seduction?"
"Ha... all right. I'll accept."
How cunning.
I felt like letting out a hollow laugh at the sight of her cunningly hiding her feelings and declaring that she would seduce me instead.
But I accepted her proposal.
After my heir's lessons, I had far more free time than I could have imagined.
Though I did spend that boring time handling mana, how could anyone live dealing only with mana or abilities every day?
In that situation, this kind of event was something worth welcoming.
"Why don't you try seducing me?"
At my words, Mist smiled faintly, brought her lips close to my collarbone, and whispered.
"Yes, my master."
.
.
.
And so, about two weeks passed.