The Duke’s Fake First Love - Chapter 10

Chapter 5.2

Pretending to be my sister hadn’t been easy from the very beginning, and I couldn’t help but worry.

“Are you feeling any better now?”

As soon as I returned to my seat, Louis asked without hesitation. I gave a vague reply, saying I felt better thanks to his consideration.

‘He’s sharp as ever.’

No matter how hard I tried to act like nothing was wrong, it clearly didn’t work on him.

‘Now that I think about it…’

My eyes fell on Louis’s gloved hand. After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to speak.

“Is there a reason you always wear those gloves? Even when it’s this warm, you never take them off.”

I wasn’t really asking out of curiosity. I just remembered it was part of his character in the original story.

“It’s nothing like that.”

He replied without hesitation.

“I just don’t really like physical contact with others.”

“…I see.”

I could guess the rest of what he left unsaid.

Louis didn’t see others as equals. To him, other people were like insects. So, for him, physical contact with others was no different from touching a bug.

In the original story, he even severed the wrist of a man who grabbed his cloak without permission, so I wasn’t exaggerating. At the time, it felt satisfying because that man was a side character who tried to harm Alice, but now, it was nothing to be glad about.

If I ever crossed him, the same thing could happen to me.

Thinking about how ruthless he could be, I decided to set some boundaries while I had the chance.

“There won’t be any physical contact without Your Grace’s permission. If you’d like, we can add that to the contract as well.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

He rested his chin on his hand elegantly and gave a gentle smile.

“Lady Leonia, you’re going to be my wife.”

“The closer the relationship, the more careful you have to be.”

We weren’t even truly close, so if I trusted his words blindly and let my guard down, I would be the one to get hurt. So when I insisted on adding it, he nodded as if to say I could do as I pleased.

“Then, I’ll include what I just mentioned at the end of the contract—”

Just then, a shadow fell across the table.

Thinking maybe Louis had called for an attendant, I glanced up in confusion.

“Leonia?”

“…Sister?”

There stood the real Alice… the one Louis had actually been looking for.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

“…Sister, what are you doing here?”

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over my head, and I snapped to my senses. I was sure Louis had reserved the entire third floor, but was I wrong?

I quickly glanced at Louis’s expression.

He didn’t recognize Alice, did he?

Luckily, when I greeted Alice as if I knew her, he only looked at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the contract with his usual indifferent expression.

‘…It looks like he didn’t recognize her, thank goodness.’

In the meantime, I listened to Alice explain what happened.

“I heard from the owner that you were here, so I was wandering around the second floor… then I saw your back and followed—”

Alice trailed off with an awkward smile. She probably realized she had rushed in and acted a bit too familiar without really thinking.

Regardless of her demeanor, there was still an unanswered question lingering in my mind. A regular like Alice wouldn’t be barred from the second floor, but the stairs to the third floor should’ve been guarded by Louis’s knights, so how did she manage to get past them?

“I don’t recall giving permission to let you in. How strange.”

Louis, seemingly having the same thought, casually muttered as he looked over the contract.

“I’m not really sure either…”

“Sir Rowen. Bring in the knights who were guarding the stairs.”

Seeing Alice’s troubled expression, Louis called the knights over to find out what had happened.

“…Our apologies. The two of you have similar hair color, so it seems there was some confusion.”

A strange feeling washed over me.

I never expected to be mistaken like this again, just like the day I first met Louis.

I glanced over at Alice, who was quietly lost in thought next to me. Her pink hair, tied up in a single ponytail, and her blue eyes, which shone like the sea, made it clear that she was the heroine of this world. As if to prove it, there wasn’t a single person in the room who could take their eyes off her.

Except for one person, Louis.

“A misunderstanding… well, it happens.”

Louis said this, raising his teacup with practiced grace.

“I won’t punish you right this moment, so you may leave.”

“Th-thank you, my lord!”

The knight visibly relaxed, but he had overlooked one critical detail. Louis had said he wouldn’t hold them accountable right now. He never said he wouldn’t hold them accountable at all.

‘He’ll probably be expelled from the knight order soon.’

Because Louis considered incompetence a sin.

“I acted thoughtlessly, Your Grace! I saw my sister and lost my composure, which led me to behave rudely…”

Noticing the tense atmosphere, Alice quickly stepped in.

“I sincerely apologize. I ask that you show mercy.”

As she hurriedly apologized, Louis finally lifted his head.

“I know it’s a bit late, but let me introduce myself properly. I’m Alice Bellasi, from the House of Bellasi.”