The Heir I Dragged Into My “He’s My Fiancé!” Lie Is Somehow Playing Along!? - Chapter 1.13

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The utterly cliché thought floated through my mind—his eyelashes are so long.

When his eyes were open, the clarity and beauty of his gaze was what left the strongest impression, but with his eyelids closed, the refined elegance of his features seemed to stand out even more.

(…Well, since he’s not the flashy type, it’s really a good thing I managed to resist the urge to secretly take a photo. If any of Prince Yumikura’s fans saw this scene, they’d probably faint on the spot.)

The heavy curtains were only open on one side, and the soft light of early morning filtered in through the lace curtains.

Bathed in that light, Kai still in his vest after taking off his jacket was sitting on the floor, knees hugged to his chest, eyes closed, fast asleep.

He was leaning his back against the sofa where Alice was lying down.

Judging from the situation, he must have come home exhausted and fallen asleep without even changing.

His face was so close that Alice held her breath, afraid that even the slightest movement might wake him.

(From the impression I got of how tidy his place is, it doesn’t seem like Prince usually does something this sloppy. At the very least, I’d expect him to change into loungewear, hang up his suit, and lie down on the bed or sofa. Why is he sleeping on the floor? Maybe he thought he’d sit down for a bit, but I was already on the sofa, and he just gave up? Poor thing he must be really tired.)

On such a tiring day, of all things, to come home to a stray cat sleeping in his own sanctuary. Alice felt deeply sympathetic toward Kai.

And yet, she had no idea how to move from here, so she just froze.

(Haaah~. If our body types were reversed, I could just scoop him up in a princess carry, gently say, “You should sleep in bed,” and carry him to his room. But carrying a guy over 180 cm like he’s nothing is impossible… Maybe the kindest thing is not to wake him? But his clothes are going to get wrinkled, and that position looks uncomfortable. I want to do something for him.)

Maybe I should try carrying him after all? But he said he locked his room, so even if by some miracle I could lift him, what if the door wouldn’t open and I ended up dropping him in the hallway?

Or should I just pretend I didn’t notice and go back to sleep? A little later, we could both wake up at the same time and laugh it off with, “Guess we fell asleep like this, huh?”

Umm, umm… As she agonized, Alice closed her eyes.

Emotionally, she did want to just fall asleep like that. But she didn’t.

“Shirotsuki-san?”

Her name was called from extremely close by. Her breath caught for a moment.

(Kai-san’s awake…! Okay, I’ll wake up naturally now! And then, “Good morning.”)

That was the plan, but when she heard Kai’s murmur, she found she couldn’t open her eyes.

“So cute. Coming home to find Shirotsuki-san here… it’s like a dream. I wish this happy dream would never end.”

It felt like he was telling her to sleep forever.

(That’s death! I never thought Prince would wish for my death. But would he be disappointed if I woke up now? Should I keep sleeping a little longer? Until when? When Prince gets up to change, I’ll pretend to wake up naturally and move.)

The very fact that she was scheming to “wake up naturally” made it unnatural by definition. But having missed her chance, Alice had no choice left.

“…Haaah. Kido didn’t tell me to chat that long unnecessarily. What’s the deal with getting so engrossed in conversation for a whole hour while waiting for me? ‘I deepened my friendship with Shirotsuki-san and had a meaningful discussion,’ my foot. An hour is long. Way too long. What kind of ‘deepening’ was that? I didn’t even talk that much with her yesterday.”

He let out a frustrated groan.

(I’m being toyed with. I don’t remember talking with Kido-san that much. I think Prince is probably being teased by him.)

She almost blurted out, “You don’t need to worry so much, I didn’t hear any embarrassing failure stories or secret episodes you’d want to keep hidden.”

If anything, the only tidbit she picked up was that the rowdy vice president called him “Kai-kun.” That was about it. Nothing major. Or so she thought.

“I wish it had been me instead. Ugh, I’m done, I just want to go home.”

Prince is confused…!

(He must be incredibly exhausted…! But you are home! Ugh, I shouldn’t have wasted time wondering whether I could do it or not—I should’ve just gently carried him to bed while he was asleep. As thanks for a night’s lodging and a meal, I’d manage a princess carry for a 180 cm guy through sheer willpower!)

Just as Alice was lamenting her own uselessness, she heard the rustle of fabric. Before she could wonder what it was, her body floated lightly upward.

“This is no time for this. I have to carry you to your room.”

I wanted to be the one being princess-carried! Not the one doing it!

Realizing she absolutely couldn’t trouble Prince any further with her fake sleeping, Alice snapped her eyes open.

“Huh?” Kai looked down at her with a surprised expression.

Even though they were making direct eye contact, he stayed silent. In a panic, Alice blurted out, meaning to convey, “You’re home now!”

“Welcome back!”

Somehow, it seemed to deal emotional damage to Kai, who sank down onto the sofa, still holding Alice.

Flustered and panicking, Alice tried to climb down from him, but his arms were too strong, and she was held firmly in place.

“Um… Yumikura-san. Your suit will get wrinkled, so please let me go.”

“If the reason is me, then I won’t let go. I absolutely won’t.”

“Why are you being so stubborn!? Do you have any idea how much that suit costs!?”

“Around 300,000-yen total. Any more than that, and it doesn’t go over well with clients. Usually, ‘He’s wearing something nice’ is enough.”

She hadn’t meant to actually get him to answer, but now she wished she hadn’t asked.

Alice didn’t have the nerve to struggle around on a 300,000-yen suit.

She froze completely, watching for Kai’s next move. She felt like a cat that had wandered into the wrong house.

“Umm… it’s still early morning, right? How about we sleep for now? You must be tired!”

She almost said, “But you just complained that even though you came home, you still want to go home!” but of course she held back. If he found out she’d been listening, it would be awkward for both of them.

“Yeah. I’m tired. Really tired. I hate affairs. Just being dragged into one is this draining, I really don’t get why anyone would willingly get involved. I wish they’d all just break up already and go their separate ways. Ugh, I’m so done. Dragging things out for years like that is such a waste.”

Kai seemed to have forgotten that what he was holding wasn’t a pillow or something, but Alice herself, and he hugged her tightly.

(Is this him being needy…!? This might be my chance to repay his kindness, but I have zero experience. I don’t know what the right move is. For starters, I can’t move.)

What do I do, what do I do? she wondered, then decided to steer the conversation in a positive direction.

“The roast beef was really delicious!”

“Ah, yeah. Really? I’m glad. Since there was some left, I thought maybe it didn’t suit your taste.”

An unexpected endorsement to finish it all off.

“So, it was good that I ate it! I was hungry and could’ve eaten more, but I thought I should save some for you when you came home tired.”

“Kai-san.”

“Yumi-san?”

“It’s similar, but not the same.”

She’d genuinely misheard, but it seemed to disappoint him to a shocking degree.

There was no mistaking it. Kai looked utterly crushed.

“You really do seem exhausted, so you should get some proper sleep. I’ll go back to my room and sleep too. Sorry for hogging the sofa.”

“Ah… yeah. Okay. I’ll hear about Kido later, in detail.”

Why Kido-san’s story? If anything, I’d rather hear about Prince vs. The Resistance! Alice thought, but she reminded herself that now wasn’t the time to prolong the conversation and gave a polite, “Yes.”

“Speaking of Kido-san, I ended up talking longer on the phone than I expected, but he’s such a nice person!”

“Yeah… so you did talk a long time.”

“Well, ‘long’ is relative—for a first conversation, I mean. It wasn’t actually that long. But in that short time, we had a really deep talk, and somehow it gave me energy. It made me feel refreshed, like I want to work hard too, to become like Kido-san.”

“What did Kido do?”

She’d meant to praise him as a very capable subordinate, but Kai seemed annoyed.

Not wanting to cause trouble for Kido, Alice quickly followed up.

“Actually, yesterday, when I was shown to the guest room, I heard that Kido-san had used the bed, and it bothered me a little. If it were a hotel or some lodging facility, I wouldn’t think twice, but the idea of sharing the same bed with a male employee from the same company felt a bit uncomfortable. Sorry. But after talking with Kido-san, I don’t mind those little things anymore. Now it’s like, ‘Oh, this is the bed that Kido-san used too, nice!’”

“I’m banning the use of the guest room. You can’t use it. Absolutely not.”

“Why? Then where am I supposed to sleep?”

“You can use my bed. I’ll use the guest room.”

“But you said not to go into your room because of your computer stuff! Besides, I said I ‘don’t mind it anymore,’ not that I ‘still mind it’. You don’t need to worry about it!”

“It’s not weird. Shirotsuki-san sleeping in the same bed as Kido is not allowed.”

She felt like he’d said something seriously misleading.

(Exhausted Prince is throwing a huge tantrum! That summons from the vice president yesterday must’ve really stressed him out. Poor thing.)

“Fine, I don’t get it, but I understand. In that case, I’ll just go back to sleep here on the sofa. Good night.”

“Okay. Then I’ll sleep here too.”

She wanted to ask, “Why?” but it seemed Kai had finally realized he was holding Alice, and he set her down on the sofa.

Then he started to lie down on the floor himself, still in his suit, so Alice cried out, “Ah—!” and sat up in a panic.

“Please go change! I don’t have a suit fetish, so even Executive-spec Yumikura-san doesn’t stir any special feelings in me. No risk of me being tempted to secretly take photos but I am worried about the suit’s well-being!”

“Fine. I’ll go change before this ache in my chest cycles all the way around and turns into pleasure.”

Kai stood up, picked up his jacket that seemed to have been lying nearby, and shuffled off.

(Listless executive. If I did have a suit fetish, this would be an unbearably tempting sight. My apologies for someone like me witnessing a scene that would make connoisseurs drool.)

Even Alice, who wasn’t particularly into it, watched Kai’s retreating back—dangerously attractive—and sighed in relief before closing her eyes.

Soon after, she faintly heard the sound of a shower running in the distance.

Comforted by the warm presence of another person, Alice drifted back to sleep.

※ I genuinely typed it wrong, but I’ll take it!

Yumi-san!!