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The Apple of One’s Eye

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*****

「Hey, Eides?」

「What is it?」

Wellmy looked up at his face from her position seated on Eides's lap—a spot she had been placed in quite as a matter of course after they retired to the breakroom together.

「I worked really hard, so I want a reward.」

「Ho. And what is it you desire?」

「Will you tell me the true goal behind this incident?」

When she gave him a bright, knowing smile, Eides raised a single eyebrow in slight surprise.

「Whatever are you talking about?」

「What? Are you still going to play dumb?」

Wellmy knit her brows in a pout.

「I mean, this whole thing hasn't actually been resolved at all, has it?」

No matter how she looked at it, the situation was an absurd farce. First of all, there were several people involved who had absolutely no reason to make such a public confession in front of the entire nobility.

Once her sister's engagement had been finalized, Wellmy's role of "diverting eyes away from Iola" could be considered finished even before that evening party.

If the goal was simply to capture Tsurugis and Schizolda, they could have just had the guards seize them beforehand. Even if they needed to attempt a dispelling on Dalistia, that surely would have proceeded more smoothly by enlisting the help of her relative, Maleficent.

When she had been told that those options weren't viable, and was asked—as usual—「You'll do whatever I say, won't you?」, she hadn't pushed any further, but...

「You claim Tsurugis was the perpetrator and Schizolda was the mastermind? If that incense and the 'Sacred Art of Enchantment' were truly the source of the rumors about magic tools and drugs used to control people, everyone should have been making much more of a fuss doubting Teresalo, right?」

Because those who are enchanted become incapable of acting against the Saint—meaning they wouldn't even be able to utter rumors that disadvantaged her.

Rumors wouldn't have been able to spread in the first place.

「There's a much bigger scheme behind this, isn't there?」

「You are clever, Wellmy.」

He stroked her head as if praising a "good girl," but she felt nothing but the distinct sensation of being teased.

「If you won't tell me, I'm not letting you touch me anymore!」

And here she was, saying she wanted a reward.

As Wellmy tried to stand up, Eides's hand slid around her waist, blocking her path.

「Let go!」

「I believe I tell you quite often that you have no right of refusal. I shall tell you, so sit still and allow yourself to be doted upon.」

With that, he dropped a kiss onto her neck, making Wellmy shrug her shoulders. Eides let out a delighted chuckle, likely having seen her ears turn red.

「You really are adorable, Wellmy.」

「......」

As she puffed out her cheeks in a huff, he gave her head a soft, gentle pat.

「Don't sulk so. ...The neighboring country is involved in this matter. That is why acting in that manner was the best choice.」

「The Empire?」

She knew the drugs had originated from the Empire, but...

「...Wait. Does that mean this whole incident was a massive conspiracy aimed at inciting internal division?」

「Precisely.」

That is why, Eides explained, they settled the matter by framing it as a case of Tsurugis's romantic feelings running wild.

「Even if he obtained the raw herbs, there is no way Tsurugis—who possesses no specialized knowledge—could have successfully turned them into perfume or utilized them for mental suggestion. It was only natural to assume a hidden hand was at work.」

It seemed Eides and Special Task Minister Maleficent had been handling that side of the investigation.

「We have apprehended most of those involved. Most will be disposed of in secret, and on the surface, it will be as if nothing ever happened.」

「...I see.」

「Furthermore, there was a slightly personal reason why I had you move to buy us time.」

「What?」

Eides whispered as he shifted his hold to a cradle carry, stroking the cheek of Wellmy, who was now leaning her head against his shoulder.

「I thought I would have you expand your social circle a bit.」

「Eh?」

Wellmy blinked several times as he stated such an unexpected reason with a small smile.

「Um... for what reason?」

「Until now, you have looked at people only in terms of profit and loss, haven't you? Furthermore, for the sake of your goals, you associated only with those you could use, most of whom were of rather poor character.」

「That's true. And?」

「You don't have any friends you can truly trust, do you?」

When asked, Wellmy gave it some thought.

Now that he mentioned it, the only people she had dealt with whom she still associated with were Eides, Leo, and perhaps Carla.

Her sister and Master Crates were family, so they likely didn't count as the "friends" Eides was referring to. Eides was her lover... though saying that was a bit embarrassing... and Leo was her sister's partner, a rival she got along with like cats and dogs whom she had no desire to call a brother-in-law. Carla felt more like her sister's friend, and they weren't particularly close.

「Friends who can support one another and maintain a long-lasting relationship are a necessary existence. To find such people, expanding your circle is the best way.」

「...So that's why you went out of your way to have me dispel the young lords instead of asking a curse-breaker like my father?」

「That's the gist of it.」

What an incredibly roundabout way of doing things.

「Even without doing all that, I have people other than my family whom I want to help, and who can help me.」

「Oh?」

Wellmy tilted her head, wondering if he hadn't realized.

「---Like Eides, right?」

When she named the person she wanted to help right in front of her, his expression finally turned to one of genuine surprise, and he stared down at Wellmy intently.

「W-What?」

Just as she was wondering if she had said something strange, Eides's eyes suddenly narrowed with deep affection.

「Wellmy. You always say such delightful things to me... but I am not your friend.」

「Yes, I know that.」

Friends didn't do things like this, nor did they share a bedroom. But she understood that wasn't what Eides was trying to say.

「What I can give you is only love. I cannot provide the things one gains through interaction with friends.」

「...I don't really get it. I mean, you said I needed someone I could support and be supported by.」

「I said you need friends you can support and stay with for a long time, Wellmy.」

The tip of Eides's right finger traced Wellmy's lips.

「Perhaps I or Iola could provide a simulation of that. However, when you are in trouble, it is better to have many people you can trust and consult with.」

「...Yeah.」

Feeling a bit embarrassed by her own lack of understanding, Wellmy decided to ask him instead.

「Do you have people like that, Eides?」

「Of course, Wellmy. Crates, Leo, and Maleficent, whom we saw earlier. To me, they are irreplaceable friends. They are people to whom I could safely entrust a 'pearl of great price' like you.」

「......」

Wellmy's gaze wandered. When he said things like that so unexpectedly, she didn't know what to do with herself.

She was happy, and embarrassed.

---But that's not the point, Wellmy!

She was being asked if she had anyone she trusted enough to entrust Eides to. ...She thought Eides was so incredible there was no need to entrust him to anyone, but that felt wrong, too.

When she thought about someone worthy of being entrusted with her sister Iola, it felt like there was no one. Though there was Carla, Leo, or perhaps Oleia even though she was a maid, and then Goldray.

「...I really don't have any friends, do I...」

「That is because you were forced to live that way. But that is no longer the case, is it? It is not too late to start now.」

If Eides said that making friends was important, then it probably was.

「Until now, you likely avoided those you actually liked. From now on, do the opposite and get involved with them. That will become a strength for you to live by. Your eye for people is quite accurate, after all.」

---Not as pawns, but as friends...

「...That sounds kind of difficult...」

「You can take it easy. Someone you felt like talking to, or someone whose future you're curious about. Among those you dealt with this time, were there no such people?」

「...Lady Dalistia, Teresalo... and Seifahrt, I suppose...?」

Lady Dalistia was someone she was curious about; she wanted to try talking to her. Teresalo was someone she somehow couldn't leave alone. She had reconnected with Sir Sophoyl, but would she be alright? And Seifahrt had a similar way of thinking. Certainly, from an outside perspective, one might think such a way of living was wrong.

「Well then, once this matter has settled down, you should go see them. I am sure there will be things for you to gain.」

Wellmy stared up at Eides's face.

---Why is this man so kind to me?

For her entire life, Wellmy had always felt out of place. Even when her mother was kind to her, it felt as though she was stealing her sister's place and the things she should have received within the Ernest mansion.

But being by Eides's side felt right. This man had given Wellmy... a place that belonged only to her.

「What is it?」

As she reached out and stroked his cheek, just as he was doing to her now, it felt cool and slightly firm. But as she did so, the depths of her chest felt warm, and a smile naturally spread across her face.

「I love you, Eides.」

When she told him that, for some reason, his smile deepened... and a somewhat sadistic glint appeared in the depths of his eyes, snapping Wellmy back to her senses.

When she tried to pull her hand away from his cheek, he gripped it firmly.

「Um, Eides?」

「Come to think of it, you said you wanted a reward, didn't you?」

「Eh, ah, but I already heard the story just now...」

She protested while her cheek twitched involuntarily, but Eides, still grinning mischievously, leaned his face in close.

「I shall give it to you. ---An adult's kiss.」

With that, he stole her lips... and his tongue slid smoothly into her mouth.

「---!!」

The sensation, a first for her, sent her face up in flames instantly.

「Mmm~! Nn, ya, Eide, nnn...!!」

Just like that, her mouth was thoroughly and repeatedly Ravished, and Wellmy gradually began to feel a sweet, melting sensation alongside a lack of breath. Shame and those feelings mixed together, and just as her consciousness was becoming hazy, she was finally released.

「Haa...」

「If you tempt me like that, I have no reason to hold back, do I?」

「Stupid... I hate you...!」

She turned her face away from Eides, who was looking down at her with satisfaction, pointedly licking his lips with his tongue.

「That's not right, is it? Wellmy. That's where you say 'I love you'.」

「No... I hate you...!」

「Wellmy? Lying is not good, you know?」

---Shall I teach you once more?

He whispered that into her ear, making her throat hitch.

---If he does that to me one more time, I really won't be able to stand up...!

Even now, all the strength had left her body and she was weak as a kitten. Wellmy gave in and whispered a small 「I love you」, but Eides wasn't satisfied.

「Look at my face and say it properly, can't you?」

「Mean...!」

Wellmy covered her face with both hands.

Even though he said mean things, Eides waited for her properly. So Wellmy looked at him through the gaps in her fingers and did her best to tell him once more.

「I... love you. ---Eides.」

Even though she said it properly.

In the end, he did it to her one more time, and Wellmy couldn't move for quite a while.

*****

Case closed but not really. On to the B-side.

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