The Heir I Dragged Into My “He’s My Fiancé!” Lie Is Somehow Playing Along!? - Chapter 1.14

Wrapped in something warm and sweet-smelling, Alice slept peacefully and dreamed.

She didn’t think the dream itself held any special meaning, but within the dream, Alice had an unusually sharp sense of awareness and found herself thinking about the moments just before she fell asleep.

It was something she’d heard from Kido.

(That former PR director who caused trouble and got ousted around the time I joined the company. Timing-wise, could it be that I was the one who created the opportunity to turn those problematic behaviors. That everyone had noticed but couldn’t do anything about into an internal incident…?)

Back then, when Alice blurted out, “That’s so damn tacky!”, the senior employees had been completely taken aback. Alice herself had sensed she might have violated a taboo and was inwardly nervous that something might happen to make her unable to stay at the company, but in the end, it all passed without a ripple.

There was surprisingly no “reprimand,” and she was able to work at headquarters perfectly normally.

At the time, she never imagined that a new employee like herself could have brought about change in the company, and she’d taken it as, “Huh, I guess it’s okay after all.”

There were no positive changes either. It was truly like no wind had blown and she wasn’t praised or given any special treatment.

She wasn’t even summoned to explain the details.

If you considered that Alice’s case had been “attempted” but not carried through, that would explain it. If the former director’s problematic behavior had been egregious enough, they probably gathered sufficient evidence from other involved parties without needing to question an employee from whom “nothing had happened.”

Alice must have been saved by that decision. No matter how much the other party was at fault, if it had become public knowledge that “a new employee delivered the final blow to an executive who was a relative of the company’s owner,” she doubted things would have ended peacefully for her.

After that incident, Kairi Yumikura, who had returned from overseas, began making remarkable achievements within the company, seized a promotion, and became department head.

(I don’t mean to claim credit or anything but maybe I was involved in Manager Yumikura’s rise without realizing it. If that’s the case, then from around the time the former director fell from grace, Manager Yumikura must have been aware of my existence?)

As far as Alice knew, she and Kairi had no connection.

Because of that, Alice had never, at any stage, made any request to Kairi like “change the company” or “work hard and become someone in a leadership position.”

But if Kairi had noticed the opportunity Alice created and used her own power to join the executive ranks to rebuild the parts that had become sloppy under the family-run management.

She could understand why Kairi had been keeping an eye on her.

Since it had ended without a ripple and years had passed, Alice herself had hardly thought about it, but those more deeply involved must have remembered the incident.

Section Chief Makino, who had been the ousted executive’s affair partner, might very well hold a grudge against Alice and be intently watching for a chance to bring her down.

As for Alice, having opposed mysterious company rules right after joining, she remained sensitive to office politics and interpersonal pressures afterward.

She was so wary of being swept along that she took care not to get involved in gossip or the like as much as possible.

With a strong resolve of, “Why should I care about anything outside of work?”

She was aware that this made her stand out from her surroundings, and in her tendency toward isolation, she had been set up by a colleague.

(Even if I had a momentary lapse in judgment, that was just… But it’s good we broke up at a good time. Thanks to Manager Yumikura, I didn’t suffer any damage at all.)

As she thought this, she tried to roll over, but it didn’t work. She seemed to be in a narrower space than she’d thought.

That’s weird! Where is this? she wondered, eyes still closed, thinking hard, when a terrifying possibility occurred to her, and her body stiffened.

One: The location is Kairi Yumikura’s home. Two: Kairi Yumikura had left the house once but had returned. Three: Alice was forbidden from using the guest room and decided to sleep on the sofa instead. Four: For some reason, Kairi had also declared, “I’m sleeping here too.” Five: Without seeing the outcome, Alice had fallen back asleep.

(What’s going on with this sequence? I don’t think there’s any reason for the manager to sleep on the sofa.)

No matter how she thought about it, there was a statement partway through that completely ignored the flow. Kairi’s.

No, but surely that can’t be, she thought, as Alice cautiously opened her eyes.

Kairi’s face was very close. And she was awake.

Moreover, she could sense it. Partly because her hair wasn’t styled, but this was the “playboy” version of Kairi.

She was grinning.

A beautiful, gentle voice whispered near her ear.

“Good morning.”

She wasn’t on the sofa; she was sleeping on the rug. And Kairi was giving her a full arm pillow. They were facing each other, and various parts of their bodies were touching.

“…I don’t understand the situation. Did I assault Manager Yumikura…?”

“I was sleeping below, and Shirotsuki-san just fell off the sofa. I wasn’t assaulted.”

“My sleeping posture! My terrible sleeping posture has caused you great inconvenience.”

“I was sleepy then too, and just thought, ‘Oh, she fell,’ and went back to sleep. I just woke up.”

As she spoke, Kairi sat up. Because of the arm pillow situation, Alice ended up sitting up too.

Close. She was practically in a position of being held against Kairi’s broad chest.

(Even though she’s just wearing a loose-fitting long T-shirt, the playboy vibe! The gap from usual! And she’s wearing earrings too. This Prince’s second form has come to completely kill me.)

Even though she’d been flustered by Kairi’s casual clothes last night, Alice hadn’t intended to reveal her tastes that much, but it seemed Kairi had thoroughly learned Alice’s preferences from minimal information.

Every single thing about her had become a dangerously handsome man with lethally high lethality.

She realized that males in the natural world have a different kind of intensity.

When they decide to go for the kill, they radiate that aura.

“…My heart can’t take this…”

Somehow, Alice managed to squeeze those words out from the depths of her throat.

Kairi chuckled softly, took Alice’s hand, and placed it on her own left chest.

“Finally, it’s the same speed as my heart.”

The sweetness in that voice completely overwhelmed Alice.

She felt like steam was coming out of her head. With that momentum, blood rushed to her face.

“Please stop! If a handsome man with a counter-level face like Manager Yumikura looks at me like this, I’ll turn to charcoal.”

“‘Kairi-san.'”

“…Do you absolutely have to?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m going to die!” Alice groaned, bowing her head and muttering, “Kairi-san.”

Even though it was at a volume that might not have been audible, Kairi, who had brought her ear almost zero distance from Alice’s lips, seemed to hear it clearly, chuckling and saying, “Yeah.”

Unable to sit still, Alice tried to stand up, crying, “Wahhh!” but pashi—Kairi grabbed her wrist, stopping her movement.

She was pulled close, held against Kairi’s chest, and her face was peered into.

“Can I kiss you?”

“N-no, you can’t.”

“When would be okay?”

“When…”

Maintaining firm eye contact, Kairi smiled and asked,

“You like me, right? Let me have you. I’ll make you happy.”

“A serious handsome person is scary.”

Why was she caught by such a terrifyingly handsome person?

From the grip on her wrist and the firm feel of the body touching hers through the fabric, she sensed the ease of an absolute superior, and Alice gave up resisting, surrendering herself.

Still held in Kairi’s arms, she cautiously asked,

“As far as I know, you and I never had any contact before. Was there some kind of trigger?”

At that question, Kairi showed a melting smile.

“Didn’t Kido tell you? Good. If it’s going to be said, I want to say it myself.”

“Um, I’ve actually gotten quite a few hints. Probably, I was involved in the downfall of ‘Manager Yumikura’s’ predecessor. Did I assist in your appointment as manager?”

“I won’t forgive Kido.”

“Don’t blame her! She was just doing her job!”

When Alice struggled, Kairi reluctantly said, “Okay.”

Then, as if collecting herself, she turned her gaze back to Alice.

“That understanding is mostly correct, but there’s a part that’s a little different. Back then, I’d been invited by the company, but I wasn’t an employee yet. I was just observing the company from the outside.”

“Even though you joined after me, such an amazing promotion.”

Her honest feelings slipped out. Kairi laughed refreshingly and said, “I worked hard on that part,” before continuing.

“In our company, when executives go to inspect branch offices, not only do they make the employees fuss over them more than the paying guests, but there was also a reality of forcing them into harsh entertaining. I’d heard rumors, but I didn’t really understand what that meant. So, I thought I should see it for myself, made a reservation as a regular guest at the same time as Yoshino-san, and stayed. Since my last name is different from the president’s, if I made the reservation without going through the company, no one would realize I was connected.”

“And then, perhaps, my ‘damn tacky’ remark reached your ears.”

“Yeah. If Shirotsuki-san had let that matter slide, I wouldn’t have noticed at that timing. But when I went to check the employee break room, I noticed a strange commotion among the staff and learned the source was a new female employee. After that, I confronted Yoshino-san, but she was in a bad mood because Shirotsuki-san hadn’t come to her room, and she ordered, ‘Bring her here.’ Me.”

She almost made a lighthearted comment like, “Sounds like a villain from a drama!” but she couldn’t. Even though it was an event from years ago, it gave her chills.

“Kairi-san, you…”

“I had no obligation to obey such an order. But I thought if something happened, it would be terrible, so I prepared to be treated as a suspicious person and kept watch all night in front of the night duty break room.”

“I had no idea at all.”

“I did it on my own, so…” Kairi laughed and continued.

“Back then, I had long hair, wore a bunch of earrings, and dressed in aloha shirts—pretty different from now. Nothing happened that day, and in the morning, when Shirotsuki-san came out of her room, I pretended to be a regular guest and said, ‘Good morning,’ then left.”

Now that she mentioned it, Alice felt like she had a faint memory of it, but she couldn’t be sure.

“What did I say to you back then?”

“You said, ‘Good morning!’ with a huge smile. Ah, I really felt then, a company that gets such a good employee, we can’t have someone like that as an executive. After that, I returned to Tokyo, directly negotiated with the president and vice president, and joined the company on the condition that Yoshino-san be demoted. That said, I wasn’t promised the manager position as her replacement at that point, so from there it was pure stubbornness. I thought since it was the worst part, I had to be the one to do it.”

Staring intently at Kairi, who was speaking seriously, Alice inadvertently let slip,

“That’s incredibly cool.”

Kairi’s face broke into a genuinely relieved smile.

“Thank you. I’ve known about Shirotsuki-san since that time, but I couldn’t make contact myself. There were various reasons. Like, I was the one who pursued a superior for sexual harassment and got them demoted, so I couldn’t possibly make a move on an employee of my own company, and so on.”

“And besides, I was the new employee who created the opportunity for Yoshino-san’s downfall. If I’d been close to Yumikura-san, I think I would have stood out unnecessarily. For example, even if we said we had no contact during the incident, since Yumikura-san was promoted afterward, some people might suspect that you and I conspired.”

“Right. So, I absolutely couldn’t make a move from my side. Well, I was thinking it was about time to act, though. I was at my limit.”

Muttering almost to herself, Kairi whispered,

“Then… perhaps, my engagement announcement was….”

Even though she hadn’t known, she finally understood she had stepped on a tiger’s tail.

Kairi’s gaze became slightly distant as she laughed and answered.

“Honestly, I was incredibly happy. I sometimes felt like our eyes met, and I was overjoyed thinking it wasn’t a misunderstanding, that even though we were apart, our hearts connected. Seriously. Around the time we were talking at the izakaya, I started to feel something was off, but…”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not angry. Thinking a girl is interested just because she made eye contact is a common male misconception, so I’m not bothered at all. I understood this is where I need to make her fall for me, and I’m a man who doesn’t spare any effort for that. I’ll use everything I can.”

Kairi grinned, tilting her head slightly, and her earring glittered.

Alice glared at Kairi with all the boldness she could muster.

“Even so, equipping accessories even when sleeping? The level of your determination is scary. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I thought was, ‘There’s a male of the natural world!'”

“You know, I’ve been wondering since yesterday—are you provoking me? Does that mean it’s okay for me to become a male? You want to see Kairi-san turned beast?”

“Scary.”

Her eyes pleaded, “Please don’t get serious all of a sudden,” but Kairi remained smiling and pressed for an answer.

“Some time has passed. Are you ready for a kiss?”

Lifted onto the lap of Kairi, whose body was a full size larger, Alice was completely restrained.

With that smile that showed no intention of yielding at all, there was no way she could escape.

Resigned, Alice closed her eyes.

“……………………Yes.”

Kairi’s laughter echoed near her ear. Lips met lips.