At the sudden ambush question.

-Gulp.

Casey inadvertently spat out the tea she was about to drink before the meal while Marias gently reprimanded her.

"My. How unrefined. I see this part of you hasn't changed at all."

"Cough. Cough. That's because you suddenly asked such a question...!"

"I don't think I asked anything particularly inappropriate? Or is there something that makes you feel guilty?"

She had an innocent expression suggesting she had no idea why such an extreme reaction was warranted.

Rudger realized.

'She planned this.'

From Rudger's perspective, Marias had deliberately thrown out such a question to tease Casey.

And she did it exactly when Casey was taking a sip of tea.

The fact that she mentioned a wedding despite being told they were engaged suggests she might be somewhat suspicious of their relationship.

'Since I agreed to play along, I can't falter here.'

Rudger naturally pulled out the handkerchief from his pocket and brought it to Casey's face.

"Here, wipe it."

"Uh, yes?"

"No. I should wipe it for you."

Before Casey could say anything, Rudger wiped the tea from around her mouth with the handkerchief.

His touch was as delicate and gentle as if he were treating a lover.

Casey unconsciously found it pleasant.

When she belatedly realized this fact, her face turned red.

'What, what are you doing!'

Casey asked quietly so only Rudger could hear.

'What do you mean?'

'This, this! Wiping my mouth with a handkerchief! It's like we're really engaged!'

'Weren't we supposed to act like this? And you should try to control your reactions a bit. Your sister will look at us suspiciously.'

Casey seemed to realize her mistake and cleared her throat with a 'ahem' before accepting Rudger's gesture.

Marias watched this scene and covered her mouth with her hand, chuckling.

"My, my. You two get along so well. I'm getting embarrassed just watching."

"Em, barrassing."

Casey snapped at Marias with her bright red face.

She lightly gestured to vaporize all the spilled tea on the floor.

Marias maintained her smiling face and just stirred her tea cup with a small spoon.

"So how long have you two known each other?"

Marias quietly grabbed sugar cubes and put them in her tea.

However, she didn't just add one, but added so many that the tea was about to overflow with sugar cubes.

Even Rudger, who was watching, got chills down his spine at this amount of sugar.

As if to show it wasn't just for show, she actually drank it.

She's going to drink that as is?

It was enough sugar to cause acute diabetes.

Even Rudger, who could remain fine after consuming any poison, couldn't help but be internally shocked at Marias' eccentric behavior.

Perhaps sensing Rudger's gaze, Marias said:

"Since I use my brain a lot, I frequently need sugar replenishment. Please understand."

"...Ah, yes."

Rudger nodded reluctantly.

He could now somewhat understand why Casey had called her sister crazy.

"So I'm curious about something - where did you two meet? You know, that monumental first meeting."

"Early this year. I went to Leathervelk and met him. Since he's a teacher at Theon, we happened to run into each other."

Sensing something from Rudger's observation, Casey's choice of words when referring to Rudger changed somewhat strangely.

Since the other side was playing along like this, Rudger also felt more comfortable and nodded in agreement.

"Oh, really? But Casey, you've been so busy lately. Didn't you not have time to meet anyone?"

"Hmph. What do you mean no time? Wherever I go, people follow me around and I meet them until I'm sick of it."

"Lie."

Marias cut off Casey's answer definitively.

At that firm voice, Casey unconsciously flinched.

She couldn't shake off that anxiety that her sister was monitoring her every move.

"It's true."

It was Rudger who stepped in to help from the side.

"I actually met her at the Kunst auction house. When we got caught up in an incident there, receiving her help became the start of our relationship."

The Kunst auction house incident.

Rudger deliberately brought that up.

"..."

Marias stared intently at Rudger as if trying to determine whether this was a lie or not.

Of course, since her eyes were narrowed to slits, her pupils couldn't be seen properly, but that intent could be felt in her gaze.

'Of course she would know. Both that such an incident occurred then, and that Casey and I were there.'

But she wouldn't have had time to confirm exactly what happened between the two of us there.

Since everyone's attention was focused on the Beast of Gevaudan at that time.

Naturally, if we say that we built on that incident to develop our relationship to where we are now.

Even if Marias is suspicious, she can't completely deny that statement because it wasn't a lie.

'Casey Selmore and I were at the Kunst auction house then. A bad incident occurred at the Kunst auction house, and many people died or were injured. Just saying that is enough for a starting point.'

Since we actually did encounter each other there, it wasn't entirely false.

Since there was nothing wrong between Rudger's words and the information Marias had access to, she had no choice but to set aside her suspicions for now.

"Rudger seems to be quite good with words."

Those words carried quite a heavy implication but Rudger decided to take it at face value as a compliment.

"I am a teacher after all. It's a minimum requirement to teach students well."

"My goodness. The students must really love your classes."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Don't worry. Rudger will receive the highest score in the teacher evaluation."

"How do you know that? It shouldn't be time for the evaluation results yet."

"I heard rumors."

"Rumors, you say."

What a joke. How could there be rumors about teacher evaluations that are handled quietly internally?

This was both a show of power and a threat.

Right now Marias was subtly asking 'I know everything, so you're not lying, are you?'

'Like sister, like sister indeed.'

With both sisters being far from ordinary, even Rudger felt somewhat reluctant to deal with them.

But how long had it been since he had a conversation with someone while wearing masks like this?

Suddenly reminded of old times, he did feel somewhat excited.

Rudger took a light sip of tea.

Though the prepared food was getting cold, the situation wasn't comfortable enough to eat it.

'Still, rather than completely suspecting me, she seems more focused on being wary of what kind of guy has latched onto her younger sister.'

Could her worry about her younger sister be genuine despite everything?

Seeing how she receives reports about her sister's every move, that love might be quite heavy.

'Even First Princess Eileen wasn't this extreme.'

While First Princess Eileen seems to act unilaterally but gives autonomy but this one seems to give autonomous judgment on the surface while trying to bind.

The purpose is the same, but the methods are completely opposite.

If there's one commonality to point out, it might be that they're both much darker inside than they appear on the surface.

'Though I'm not sure if that's an insult or compliment to either of them.'

Then Marias asked with a bright smile.

"But I'm curious, how did you two end up getting engaged? Ah, of course you look good together on the outside. But what's important is personality compatibility, right?"

"I told you already? We had a connection at the Kunst auction house. After that, we maintained our relationship through several encounters."

"Who confessed first?"

At the casually thrown question, both answered simultaneously.

"Obviously this man did."

"She did."

They turned to look at each other at the same time.

"You did it."

"Didn't you do it first?"

"Huh?"

Casey's eyes blazed.

Rudger also met that gaze without backing down.

At the reaction suggesting that while they would play the role of fiancés, neither would yield on this particular point.

Even Marias, who had asked lightly without much thought, was taken aback.

"Um, so who was it first?"

"This man."

"She did it first."

"...Hah. Are you really doing this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Who was the one who approached obsessively first?"

"When did I...?"

Casey was about to burst out shouting, but then she recalled that she really did do something similar.

Casey immediately counterattacked.

"You were the one who threw suggestive looks at me first, weren't you? You approached me subtly with suspicious intentions."

Casey was pointing out what happened in the Kingdom of Delica.

"Weren't you the one who approached me first and asked subtle questions?"

"No. I just asked because I was purely curious."

"Ah. So that's how you want to play it?"

Rudger shrugged his shoulders while turning to Marias.

"That's what your sister says. It seems she doesn't want to admit it due to her shyness."

"Look who's talking."

Their attitude could pose a great risk to this fake relationship.

But ironically, in their sincere fighting with each other, Marias saw traces of the familiar quarrels that couples typically have.

"You two really get along well, don't you?"

When her sister first said she was bringing her fiancé, Marias scoffed.

Fiancé? You?

I'd sooner believe an elf dating a dwarf.

Marias knows Casey well.

Her sister was the epitome of arrogance, brimming with confidence as if she were the most accomplished person in the world.

Being praised as a great detective and building her reputation, no one daring to criticize her played a big part.

Her actually having exceptional talent also contributed to creating such an environment.

Casey had always been successful.

Having never tasted the bitterness of life, she couldn't help but retain childish aspects.

Though she had matured quite a bit through the incident in the Kingdom of Delica a few years ago, to Marias, Casey was still a kid.

A kid ignorant of the ways of the world who proudly declared she'd rather die single than deal with men.

Such a sister suddenly brought a fiancé?

And right after she sent a letter?

'Anyone would think she brought an actor pretending to be her fiancé.'

So she kept probing Rudger.

But he was also extraordinary, smoothly deflecting her questions and rudeness.

She really brought him with preparation.

That's definitely what she thought, but.

'Looking at them now, it doesn't seem that way~'

As her sister, she could tell, though Casey's attitude toward Rudger might seem like fighting out of dislike to strangers, Casey actually doesn't speak that way with people unless they're really close.

'I'm not sure if they're really engaged or dating, but at least it's clear my sister has some strange feelings.'

Should she congratulate her sister who's found her match despite running wild with no refinement like a chimpanzee?

Or should she give sincere advice to this man Rudger Chelici to find a better woman?

There was something else she was curious about.

What exactly was this man Rudger Chelici’s position?

That's fine for Casey, but if those feelings are one-sided, the outcome won't be very good.

As Casey's sister, Marias needed to confirm Rudger's thoughts as well.

'Especially that handkerchief wiping of the mouth was quite suggestive. Clearly not the skill of someone who's only done it once or twice.'

Is he a genius at handling women?

Marias stared at Rudger with an even more serious mindset.

-Shiver.

Rudger trembled without realizing it.

'What's this? Suddenly getting chills.'

Looking at the source of the chills, it was Marias.

'Is she still suspicious after all?'

Perhaps they had been too argumentative.

Rudger lightly hit Casey's forearm under the table.

Casey also noticed Marias's gaze and stopped what she was about to say, composing herself.

"..."

"..."

"..."

In the strange atmosphere with lingering silence, Casey said with an awkward smile.

"Shall we eat?"

And so began a meal where they couldn't tell if the food was going into their mouths or noses.

* * *

After the meal, Marias assigned them rooms, saying they must be tired from coming and should rest well.

Rudger and Casey, who needed time to think about things, gladly accepted.

However, there was one problem.

"Why are you here?"

"What do you mean? This is my room."

"But this is the room I was assigned."

"What?"

Casey frowned between her eyebrows.

Rudger was equally perplexed.

Frederick had just assigned him this room to stay in moments ago.

There was certainly no time for confusion.

Yet Casey came in, which means.

"...Hah. Damn sister."

Casey also realized it was Marias' doing and shook her head.

"So what will you do? Since this is your house too, can't you just go to your old room?"

"That's what I was thinking."

Casey opened the door to go outside.

Then Marias Selmore, who had been standing in front of the door, revealed herself.

"How do you like the room?"