TSPGD 02

Chapter 2

My perfect savior had finally arrived.

Who would’ve thought debt collectors would become my saviors?

Normally, other people would have been terrified to see debt collectors show up at their house, but I nearly cheered and screamed for joy.

I rushed out barefoot to open the door for them. Then I pretended to be surprised as naturally as possible.

“Ah! Wh-who are you?”

The men standing outside looked intimidating.

Not only were they heavily built, but they were also covered in weapons.

Various scars covered their faces and arms, and their expressions were so furious that it looked as though they could chew up and swallow anything in their path.

“Where is Viscount Carbon?”

“F-Father? He should be in his bedroom by now…… Did you come to see him?”

“……Yes. May we come in?”

“Yes. Please, come in.”

You might think it strange that debt collectors were being so polite, but there was a peculiar rule in this world.

Commoners visiting a noble household aren’t allowed to enter without permission.

If they entered without permission, they could be executed for insulting a noble.

It really was a horrifying class system.

That must be why Viscount Carbon would never sell his title, no matter what.

Anyway, since I was a resident of this house and had opened the door for them, the debt collectors were able to enter without any trouble.

All right, debt collectors! Come on in and wreak havoc!

I welcomed them with an awkward smile, and the corners of their mouths curled up ominously.

“Heh heh. Showing off your silver hair like that. You must be a young lady who knows nothing about the world.”

I understood exactly what they were mocking me for, but I pretended not to and tilted my head in confusion.

“Pardon? Did I…… do something wrong?”

“Hahahaha! Not at all! Young Lady Carbon, you’ve done an excellent job!”

They chuckled as they walked past me and entered the mansion.

I hurried after them and asked,

“Shall I prepare some tea for you?”

At my final attempt to drive the point home, the debt collectors burst out laughing and stopped walking.

Then the man who seemed to be their leader placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

“Young Lady. There’s no need for tea. From now on, hide somewhere you won’t be able to hear the noise.”

“Pardon?”

“Now then. Where is Viscount Carbon’s bedroom?”

“Ah…… The second room on the second floor.”

“I wish you good fortune.”

After saying that, the debt collectors turned around and headed toward the second floor with long, purposeful strides.

I stared at their backs and pressed down on my pounding heart.

Ah…… I really want to see them beat Viscount Carbon senseless.

I desperately wanted to watch him get beaten until he was nothing but a lump of mashed flesh.

But I didn’t have time for that.

“Stay focused. Getting out safely is more important right now.”

So I abandoned any lingering attachment and hurried toward the kitchen.

There, I changed into the men’s clothes I had prepared beforehand and tucked my money pouch securely inside my clothes.

Finally, to hide my hair, I braided it into one long braid, coiled it into a bun, and fastened it securely so it wouldn’t move.

Then I put a hat over it and tightened the chin strap so it wouldn’t come off.

If I’d had more time to save money, I would’ve bought a wig.

There was hair dye too, but it was even more expensive than a wig, so I couldn’t even consider it.

“Since I’m disguising myself as a man anyway…… I have to hide my hair.”

Finally, I pulled a robe over myself.

I looked like a young boy.

“A world where it’s safer to be a boy than an adult woman.”

This world simply didn’t tolerate an adult woman traveling around alone.

Especially not a young noble lady.

Anyway, I was just about to carefully leave through the side door to escape when—

BANG! CRASH!

A huge commotion erupted upstairs.

“AAAH! J-Just once! Aagh!”

That was the sound of Viscount Carbon getting beaten up.

“Serves you right.”

I left without another thought.

It was awful here. Let’s never see each other again.

The place I planned to head after leaving Viscount Carbon behind was the Grand Duchy of Yurgen Brühlhardt.

Yurgen Brühlhardt was the male protagonist of Offering the Dragon’s Heart.

The reason I wanted to meet the original male lead was simple.

I need to become Yurgen’s mistress.

That’s right.

Because of the limitations placed on noble ladies, I needed the power of a male noble, and I had chosen the male protagonist as my target.

Even though I didn’t know what he actually looked like in person, I had to become his mistress.

Still, I’ve seen his illustration, so I have a rough idea of what he looks like.

My goal was to ask the black-haired, red-eyed male protagonist to take me as his mistress.

Clatter, clatter.

A carriage happened to be approaching, so I climbed aboard without hesitation and paid the fare with a clink of loose change.

The coachman stared at me and asked,

“Kid. Where are you going?”

“Nobisim! And I’m not a kid.”

“Yeah, yeah. Be careful.”

Without any suspicion, the coachman resumed driving.

He didn’t see through me.

Relieved, I continued thinking about my plan.

The Grand Duke will have no choice but to take me as his mistress.

Because I knew a secret about the Grand Duke that no one else in the world knew.

The Grand Duke’s secret was described in the main plot of Offering the Dragon’s Heart.

Just as I was thinking about Yurgen, a gentleman sitting beside me muttered while reading a newspaper.

[Brühlhardt Grand Duke: The Lecherous and Ruthless Womanizer of the North and His Scandalous Private Life.]

“Tsk. His Grace has replaced another woman. Damn it. I’ve never even been married once. What a filthy world!”

As the man grumbled, another man sitting nearby snickered.

“My friend, you need to compare yourself to someone on your level. How could you possibly compare yourself to His Grace?”

“Hey! That’s going too far! What’s so different about me and His Grace?”

“Good grief. That’s why you can’t get married.”

“What? You can’t get married either!”

“I—! It’s not that I can’t. I simply choose not to!”

The two men began bickering.

I picked up the newspaper they had dropped during their argument and read it.

[Grand Duke Yurgen Brühlhardt. As Expected, He Has Replaced Yet Another Lover After Only One Month.

A Scandalous Romance With Young Lady Cantabella This Time?]

Seeing Yurgen’s news splashed across the page in huge letters, I quietly curled up the corners of my lips.

Yurgen…… He has no choice but to be a womanizer.

According to the original story, he was cursed.

The only thing I had read was a short synopsis, but this detail was important enough to be mentioned there.

He has a curse that causes his blood to harden if he doesn’t get close to a woman, right?

If the curse was left untreated, he would develop an overwhelming thirst for blood in order to dilute the hardened blood.

Eventually, he would become a mad tyrant and turn into a bloodthirsty killer.

If that had been the only condition, there would have been no problem with simply taking a Grand Duchess.

But of course, the author made sure the problem couldn’t be solved that easily.

If he absorbed life force from only one woman, that woman would become insane within a month and eventually take her own life in his place.

That was why he unwillingly changed mistresses every month.

Anyway, this setting was used to create the heroine’s salvation arc, in which she healed him and eventually fell in love with him.

All I have to do is serve as his mistress for a little while and prepare myself to live independently.

Then, once the heroine appears, I’ll run away.

Of course, I had no idea when the heroine would appear, but if I could last a month or two, I should be able to save quite a bit of money.

Hehe. I could live comfortably with that.

My heart was filled with excitement as I dreamed of my plan succeeding.

But after changing carriages twice, I became depressed.

I didn’t know I would get motion sickness…….

The nausea overwhelmed me, and I was practically reduced to a wreck.

Still, I couldn’t stop, so I forced myself onward.

By the time I finally reached Nobisim, I was practically half-dead.

“Ugh…… It’s ridiculously far.”

After emptying my stomach one more time, I looked around.

Nobisim was a town located roughly halfway between the capital and the Grand Duke of Brühlhardt’s territory.

It had a thriving commercial district, so there were many people coming and going.

A lively town was the worst possible situation for me right now.

I’m going to get swept away by the crowd…….

It was already pitch-black outside, and my condition was so terrible I could hardly call it a condition at all.

I need to get inside somewhere and lie down immediately…….

Otherwise, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to move at all tomorrow.

If my schedule was delayed, my expenses would increase, making it much more likely that my plan would fail.

So I was desperate.

An inn. I need to find an inn.

After wandering the streets like a zombie, I finally spotted an inn sign.

“Th-there’s an inn.”

I dragged my stumbling body inside.

Jingle.

Until now, I had only ever seen inn signs from the outside. I had never actually entered one.

So I had imagined the typical inn from a fantasy world, but……

I was too exhausted to take anything in.

I passed through the crowded first floor, which doubled as a restaurant and tavern, and headed toward the counter.

“A room…… please.”

I reached toward the innkeeper, practically hanging over the counter.

The innkeeper was a plump, warm-looking middle-aged woman.

Seeing me, she looked sympathetic.

“Young child, you must have had a rough journey. Tsk. Fortunately, there’s exactly one room left…….”

Just as I felt a spark of hope at hearing that there was one room available—

Jingle.

The bell attached to the inn door rang behind me.

As though possessed, I turned around.

A very large man was entering the inn.

He wore a pitch-black robe pulled deeply over his head and had a massive longsword strapped to his waist.

He looked dangerous.

For a moment, the entire inn fell silent.

“…….”

It seemed everyone here could sense that there was something extraordinary about him.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The man, however, seemed completely unconcerned.

He strode toward the counter.

Thud.

He placed his hand on the counter.

A bloodstain was clearly visible on his black half-glove.

Hmph. I’ve seen things like this plenty of times.

I pretended to be unfazed, but seeing it in person made me nervous.

Even so, my attention was drawn to his long, pale fingers.

He looks terrifying, but his hands are beautiful…….

As though mesmerized by some strange aura, I stared at the man.

Black hair peeked out from beneath his robe.

His jawline and the bridge of his nose were elegantly sculpted.

And then there were his red lips.

Those lips, red enough to be called seductive, parted as a languid voice rang out.

“Is there a room?”

The man looked somewhat exhausted, and even his voice carried a decadent, sensual quality.

The innkeeper also seemed captivated by him and immediately answered.

“A room! Of course! We have one left. Just one!”

“Hm?”

Something was going wrong.