"Adelina?"

Felyn wasn’t sure if his words had had the opposite effect.

Adelina had been called the “Light of the Claudes” since childhood. Everyone believed she was destined to become a rising political star in the Siveshus Empire.

But only she knew—she never cared about any of that.

Everything she did was in pursuit of her one true love. It was just that she did it so well, everyone assumed her excellence came from ambition.

In truth, Adelina didn’t really understand Felyn.

And in some ways, Felyn didn’t fully understand Adelina either.

“Hm? Oh, it’s nothing… nothing.”

Adelina forced herself to pull away from the fantasy, though her soul still felt like it was floating inside the future Felyn had just described.

To her, it wasn’t boring at all—it was peaceful, warm, and healing.

It was exactly the life she wanted.

Her mood had improved quite a bit, now that she knew what Felyn hoped for in the future.

Because deep down, it matched her own secret fantasy perfectly.

Felyn, I’m so glad I fell for you.

“It’s not what you were expecting, is it?” Felyn asked, noticing that instead of disappointment, Adelina seemed to be smiling.

She’s not laughing at me… is she?

“No, not quite what I expected.”

Adelina cupped her cheeks and stared at Felyn beside her, which made him feel a bit flustered under her gaze.

“Ahem. So, I guess you don’t know me that well after all, right?”

He gently reminded her not to get lost in her idealized version of him.

“I—I do know you,” Adelina said quickly. “Actually, I think I know you even better than you think.”

Felyn saw that she was still stubbornly confident.

Alright then, time to challenge this self-assured young lady.

“If you can name one of my private preferences—something besides food or books—then I’ll… I’ll agree to do one thing for you.”

“Really?” she asked, eyes lighting up.

“Really.”

There’s no way she could know something like that.

Felyn had never exposed any of his personal life in front of her. As a professional, it was a matter of pride—never let your client see behind the curtain.

Adelina’s ears turned pink as she nervously rubbed the rim of her plate.

“Maids.”

“Huh?”

“You… you like maids. Or maid outfits. The black-and-white kind with the little white headpiece, and… maybe with black or white stockings…”

I lost.

I lost so hard!

Thirty minutes later, in Adelina’s bedroom.

Felyn sat on the small couch, holding a book in front of his face to hide from Adelina, who sat calmly at her desk reading.

How did she know?!

His little fantasy—how could Adelina possibly know about that? It made no sense!

Did he talk in his sleep back when he stayed over?

Though Adelina had once hidden in his closet before, he was sure she hadn’t paid attention to the maid outfits inside. Right?

Maybe it was a slip. Or maybe… someone—a certain pink-haired stalker—had leaked his secret.

“It’s okay, really. I don’t think any less of you…” Adelina tried to comfort him, but couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence, “I don’t think you’re a pervert.”

Hearing her say that only made Felyn want to disappear from the world altogether.

It was like… his “little Felyn” had suffered an injury from an experimental kink, and now he was sitting in a hospital explaining the accident while a kind nurse tried to reassure him.

Utter humiliation.

“If—if you really wanted me to wear a maid outfit… I wouldn’t mind,” Adelina whispered, eyes shut tight, face completely red, steam practically rising from her cheeks.

“Huh? Adelina, what did you say?”

“N-Nothing!”

She quickly looked away and focused on her schoolwork, while Felyn, on the other hand, went back to reviewing how to win over Adelina.

Just like studying for school, if he didn’t regularly go over her preferences, he’d start forgetting—or worse, mixing things up.

But human relationships weren’t something you could master with just a walkthrough.

Felyn had found himself tangled in the social webs of Adelina, Viloti, Zervanie, and others. No matter how hard he tried to keep his private life hidden, the truth always seemed to leak out somehow.

He used to think his current clients were just like all the others—completely in the dark about who he really was.

But no one who lives in society can stay invisible forever.

The only difference is whether someone is willing to spend the time to understand you.

And like it or not, his current and former clients had the patience to do just that.

“Felyn, what are you reading?” Adelina stood up and peeked over curiously.

Felyn quickly snapped shut the book titled Adelina Behavior Analysis. If she saw that, it would be a disaster.

“I—I was just studying! Seeing how serious you looked made me feel motivated too. I won’t do personal stuff during contract hours anymore, I promise!”

“Studying?”

Studying?

Adelina suddenly had an idea.

Felyn just so happened to need a tutor to help him pass the Capital’s early entrance exams.

If she helped him study, they could spend even more time together. And most importantly, she’d get to see the real

him.

After all, during contract work, he could always pretend.

But studying? You can’t fake knowing something.

“If you’re not doing chores or confessions anymore,” Adelina began, “then… I thought of a new task for the contract. I wonder if you’d be willing…”

“Sure,” Felyn said easily. “Let’s hear it.”

…

Moments later, the curtains in Adelina’s room were tightly drawn, blocking out every sliver of light.

“Was I wrong?”

Felyn nervously licked his lips.

“I was wrong, Adelina.”

“What was wrong?”

“I shouldn’t have solved the problem this way… I should’ve…”

Felyn scribbled down the corrected solution in his notebook, quietly listening to her instructions.

Even though Adelina was being perfectly gentle, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was acting way too much like a teacher.

Suppressing me through sheer bloodline pressure…

Adelina had just given the perfect excuse: teaching others helps reinforce your own learning. And with that, she became Felyn’s tutor, officially in charge of his studies.

While explaining the problems, she noticed that the mask Felyn always wore seemed to slip a little.

Apparently, he couldn’t focus on two things at once—he could either maintain his disguise or concentrate on studying.

But not both.

Which meant the Felyn she saw while teaching was the real one. And to Adelina, that was an unexpected blessing.

Still… teaching was tough.

She watched him chew on his pen unconsciously, saw the small, genuine expressions he let slip…

Adelina wanted nothing more than to pull that Felyn into her arms.

She felt like some kind of creepy teacher seducing her favorite male student into her house just to ogle him while pretending to tutor.

But what could she do? That was the real Felyn.

“Adelina, your face is getting redder and redder. Are you okay?!”

(End of Chapter)