CH 2

As you sigh softly and brush it away, your eyebrows furrow slightly in the same colour.

It’s hard, but put it out of your head.

Because, as I said before, the problem with possessing an extra hit Marienne Didi hard.

“The third assistant’s room is basically a bathroom… Is this normal?”

The Chancellor’s office was so big. The banquet hall I glanced at on my way was enormous, and the hallway was too long to reach the end no matter how much I walked.

“This is my room, right?”

In disbelief, Marienne double-checked by the door, her suspicions confirmed by the name and affiliation printed clearly on the deep turquoise blue wallpaper.

A single bed, a desk, and a wardrobe were all that was visible, and the only saving grace was that the room had a large window.

“I wonder how they heat this place.”

With no heating and a big window, I would freeze to death in the winter. There was no magic in the world of <The Marriage Alliance.> There were no magic pagodas and no communications.

“I washed my eyes and looked around, but there’s no heating.”

She wished there was some sort of radiator, but it was just a plump dream. Marienne found a dusty water bag in the corner of the room. Carefully, she dusted it off, revealing the jagged letters that read, ‘Hello, Didi.’

It was just the right size to fit in a person’s arms and had a stopper, suggesting that this was the third aide’s only source of heat.

“I have to see the ending… before winter comes.”

This was no time to be lazy; there was suddenly a time limit. Marienne quickly ransacked her desk drawers. There was very little information about Marienne Didi, which was the fatal problem with possessing an extra.

I know nothing.

The heroine of <The Alliance Marriage> was Odette Rose, the Fourth Princess.

With pale silver hair and crimson eyes, the delicate-built Odette is not the empress’s daughter. Her real mother is dead, her identity a secret.

Rumours abounded about her. Why would a dancer keep her identity a secret if she were to bear the emperor’s child? Perhaps the birth mother was a nun.

There are secrets here that only the imperial family knows. It’s a secret that not everyone in the imperial family knows, but only a few share. It also has to do with why Odette is trying to ascend to the throne.

Anyway, while her other half-siblings grew up healthy in the palace, the sickly Odette lived alone in a villa outside the palace.

The person who became a confidant to Odette at that time was none other than the current Chancellor, Vileon. A childhood friend of a bookish girl. A wistful smile, and the feelings that accumulate little by little inside someone.

“Now, look at this. I can ramble on and on about other people, even down to the trivial information that Odette pretends to like cookies with apricot jam but actually prefers strawberry jam.”

Because it’s in the text. Odette is the heroine, so her stakes in the story are high.

By the same token, we know a lot about Cain Blackwood, the iron-blooded duke. I know all the dialogue of the affectionate servant Vileon Byers by heart.

But what do I know about Marienne Didi?

“Hair colour.”

And another?

“Occupation.”

It was both self-explanatory and ridiculous. Come to think of it, she should probably check her own face. Marienne went out of the room and searched for a mirror. There wasn’t a single hand mirror in the room, and then she came to a corridor with an entire wall covered in gold frames and mirrors.

“This is what Marienne looks like…”

In the large mirror, she was small. She was barely five feet tall. Her neatly swept pink bangs and contrasting eye colour were striking.

“Cloudy light blue eyes. She’s pretty, but I’m the only pastel-coloured person in the room.”

It was an unrealistic colour combination. Marienne thought about the original artist, who hadn’t bothered to sculpt the extras.

“This is like rose quartz and serenity…”

Thinking back to the time of the <The Marriage Alliance> serialisation, it seems that they really just went with what they could see. Luckily for me, Marienne Didi is actually quite cute.

To be fair, she’s not just “kind of” cute.

She looked as innocent and cute as a bunny grazing on grass. She had a cute little upturned nose, full lips, flawless skin, and luscious pink hair that fell to the middle of her back in a single twist and tie.

The grey jacket with balloon sleeves looked even more adorable on Marienne. Even though it was a three-piece uniform that could have felt a bit stiff due to its colour.

“I’ll sell all my matches in ten minutes and go home, even if I have to wear a piece of rag.”

Cheers to a world where there are extras with roughly assigned hair and eye colours, but no ugly extras! Returning to her room, satisfied, Marienne looked at the clutter on her desk and was troubled again.

“This is more unusual than I thought.”

What if she’s allergic to certain foods? I thought it was just my favourite original soup making project, but then I realised I had to take care of my own survival first.

Marienne went through her belongings. IDs checked. Meeting logs checked. After checking everything she could in the room, she turned to the blank page of her notebook. She dipped the tip of her quill into the ink and began to scribble.

◇ ◆ ◇

“Lord Byers.”

Vileon knocked on the door and was greeted by a servant. It was Jen, the bookkeeper. I thought she was going to give her usual report, but her mood was strange.

I felt like he should ask her what was going on. I knew I had to ask her what was going on.

“What’s going on? Make yourself comfortable.”

“Yes, Lord Byers, it’s…”

Jen lowered her voice, looking uncomfortable. She wondered what she was about to say.

“Aide Didi.”

I nodded my head slightly to indicate she should continue.

“Has she fallen on hard times lately? I wonder if Lord Byers is aware.”

“Aide Didi’s… situation?”

“You don’t seem to know.”

Jen rolled her eyes silently. When she spoke again, she had made up her mind.

“Actually, Aide Didi has been acting a little strange the last few days. I overheard her talking to Aide Phil, and she asked to borrow some money, and then she came to me later that day and asked if she could get paid.”

“So?”

“I told her the rules – up to half – and she took half of the next month’s salary on the spot.”

Vileon thought for a moment about how to take this. The paycheck was no big deal. It was one thing if it was done under duress, but Aide Didi had been paid within the rules.

But taking money from a co-worker privately was asking for trouble.

“It didn’t stop there. As I was leaving my room, she asked me, ‘What’s the limit of your expenses?’

Expenses, again, money.

“I thought I’d never get round to explaining it, so I showed her the manual, and then yesterday she handed me a bundle of receipts. Lord Byers, I mean… aide Didi hasn’t asked about her work since she came in three months ago, not once, not once has she shown any interest in it in the first place.”

“I see.”

“To be honest, I was surprised that Didi’s aide used the term ‘security processing’ openly.”

That might have been a little too condescending, but Vileon held his tongue; Jen, who had a reputation for doing a good job at the Ministry of Finance, would not have been pleased with Marienne Didi’s behaviour.

“I’ve been going through the receipts from the aides, and they’re all from the last few days, but the one that’s been bothering me a bit is…”

Jen suddenly clamped her mouth shut. Deciding to show him for himself, she pulled out a large piece of paper tucked between the papers. She turned to Vileon and slid it across the desk.

“You see she’s found a gynaecologist.”

Vileon’s eyes lit up at the words on the paper.

“As you can see, it was to check for pregnancy.”

His head snapped up. Vileon Byers had one of the brightest minds in the Empire, but it took him a while to process the information in front of him. He wasn’t sure how to react.

Should I caution Jen for leaking her colleague’s personal information?

But Aide Didi herself had said she’d handed it over for expense purposes, and as long as she’d provided receipts and confirmation, it was something Bileon would know if he wanted to know.

No, but if it’s a pregnancy test and she needs the money.

“Do you know what I mean?”

Jen asked in a small voice. When she looked up again, there was a hint of concern on her face.

I don’t like Didi’s passivity, but this is different. I’m worried about her as a person, as a member of the team. Jen spoke up.

“The results aren’t here?”

“The original confirmation only goes as far as her medical history.”

“Well, yeah.”

I felt like an idiot. Vileon wondered how to handle this. After all, Marienne Didi was in the Ministry of Finance.

Knock knock.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

“Lord Byers, I need to speak with you in private.”

The first thing I noticed about her was her fluffy pink hair. Anyone would.

“Oh, I see you’re here, too, Administrator Jen.”

Marienne grinned. Jen returned the awkward smile. Vileon and Jen’s eyes naturally shifted to Marienne’s stomach, perhaps because of the conversation they’d just had.

No.

Technically, it wasn’t ‘naturally’, because Marienne herself had her hand on her stomach.

“Can I talk to you?”

Marienne rubbed her stomach meaningfully. Without taking his eyes off her, Vileon handed the medical certificate back to Jen. Jen quickly understood her boss’s meaning and slipped it between her papers.

“Yeah, uh, I guess I’ll leave you to it.”

“Sure.”

As Jen walked to the door, she turned around. Vileon was calling out to Marienne.

As Jen walked to the door, she suddenly turned around. Vileon turned to Marien.

“By any chance…would it be more comfortable for Administrator Jen to stay in the room?”

Marienne blinked innocently.

“I guess, it’s the same, She’s also a woman.”

Marienne blinked a few more times, then shook her head coolly.

I wondered if I should just leave it at that. It was clear she hadn’t realised what I meant.

“It’s okay, I’m sure it’s easier for Lord Byers if we talk between us.”

“…I think so.”

It was an odd nuance. Jen waited for her boss to look at her, then turned away. Glancing inside before closing the door, Jen’s gaze was somehow fixed on her superior, not Marienne.

Vileon Byers, age twenty-six. The Empire’s youngest Chancellor, he was proven to be a very capable man, but at this moment he was unsure of how to speak.

“You’re not going to eat that?”

Marienne asked. I followed her gaze to the refreshment tray. She looked at me so blindly that I couldn’t resist offering it to her.

“Do you want some? They say it’s a pastry with lemon curd.”

“Lemon curd! I like sour things.”

Marienne quickly took the plate from me. She took a bite, looked shocked, and before she could finish what was in her mouth, she took another bite.

“Butter! Sugar! So good.”

The little pastry disappeared in a flash.

“It doesn’t even compare to the rye bread we get at our meals, not that they aren’t tasty. By the way, I’m sure Lord Byers eats differently than we do.”

“Please eat slowly.”

“It’s strange, the portions are huge, but when I turn away, I’m full, and when I turn back, I’m hungry again… Isn’t that the nature of group meals?”

She’s attracted to sour things and keep getting hungry even after eating. Gynaecological check-up. Rubbing her stomach meaningfully.

Vileon held out a cup of herbal tea to the aide who was nibbling on a second pastry.

“Wow, thank you.”

Eventually, Marienne cleared the table of the Chancellor’s afternoon snack. Her cheeks flushed as she smiled with satiety.

Her body temperature rose.

Vileon calmly added one more piece of evidence.

“I, Lord Byers.”

Finally, to the point. Marienne was twenty-two years old. As far as Vileon knew, she hadn’t been in a relationship, except for one unfortunate one-night stand…

“Because I’ve been really, really thinking about it.”

I must have worried. Of course.

“Have you thought about dyeing your hair?”

“Dye my hair… yes?”

Vileon, who had been prepared to respond calmly to whatever was brought up, was stunned into silence by the beginning and end of the conversation.

“I guess so. If it’s the colour of your hair that’s the problem, maybe you should dye it.”

“…”

“I have some hair dye in my room, and I was thinking about a wig, but I think it would be a bit weak. If you use the dye, I’ll give the receipt to Jen and you’ll cover the expense.”

“…”

“What do you think, black hair? I want the blackest colour.”

Where to begin? Vileon’s brow furrowed slightly.

“I know you don’t like black hair, and neither do I. It’s a shame you have to change your beautiful brown hair, that almond glow in the sun, to a dull colour.”

Marienne’s eyes narrowed in distress, then opened.

“But hey, you gotta sacrifice for the greater good once in a while.”

“Excuse me while I speak, Aide Didi.”

I don’t know how far this conversation could go if I let it. Vileon held up a hand to calm himself down.

“What’s with the sudden need for me to dye my hair black?”

Marienne gave him a look as if he really didn’t know.

“Because it’s the only way to end Lord Byers’ long-standing crush.”

She added quickly.

“I know you have a crush on the Fourth Princess, soon to be betrothed to the Duke Cain Blackwood.”

The surprise attack by the fluffy pink bunny-like aide instantly stunned Lord Vileon Byers.