The Heir I Dragged Into My “He’s My Fiancé!” Lie Is Somehow Playing Along!? - Chapter 1.2

“Sorry, I’m incredibly busy. Lunch is impossible. Let’s do dinner!”

Just before the clock struck noon.

Kai Yumikura, who had come running into the department, met eyes with Alice who was doing paperwork, uttered only those words, and then ran off like the wind without even waiting for a reply.

Whether it was convenient or inconvenient, there was absolutely no opportunity for Alice to state her own circumstances.

(Since I’m the one who dragged him into this, I can’t possibly refuse. I should be grateful he’s even making time to discuss things. After all, we’re talking about that “Director Yumikura of Public Relations” who’s famously busy without exaggeration.)

Since Kai was the type who emitted a special aura just by being present, Alice had occasionally sensed his presence around the office before. But he was always busy moving around, and with no work-related connections to Alice, they’d never actually spoken.

Despite being in that kind of “just breathing the same office air” relationship, she’d ended up dragging him into her lie about being engaged – even if it was in a desperate moment after being hit with the triple combo of cheating, fraud, and rumors from Akihisa, who she’d thought was her fiancé.

Thinking back on it now, Alice deeply realized what a terrifying thing she’d done.

She knew there wasn’t even a one-in-a-million chance that truth would emerge from this lie.

The only thing that slightly bothered her was that Kai seemed to recognize her full name.

(I was so surprised when he called me Alice. Since he even called Akihisa ‘Mr. Saito,’ he must be the type who remembers all the employees’ faces and names, not just mine. But Prince Yumikura, isn’t that a waste of memory capacity?! Must be a storage bug. Maybe it’s a feat of youth?)

Although Alice was about three years younger than Kai, who was barely in his twenties approaching thirty, she couldn’t imagine being able to do the same. In that case, it must be some kind of unique special skill of Kai’s that couldn’t be explained by youth alone.

She steeled herself, determined not to mistakenly think “that Yumikura recognized me” and get carried away.

Beside the determined Alice, her female colleague Ishizuka, who had been at her desk, quietly spoke up.

“Shirotsuki-san, so you really were dating that Prince after all.”

“Excuse me!?”

She almost retorted “No way!” on impulse, but swallowed it back at the last moment.

Alice was the one who had created this situation, and Ishizuka, who had asked out of curiosity, wasn’t at fault at all.

If anything, by bringing up the topic without hesitation, she had reconfirmed that “something nobody would have imagined until yesterday was actually happening.”

Even if it was a blatant lie.

“Dating… Yes, well, I got carried away and made a scene, I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize. I was purely, simply entertained.”

She was being treated as entertainment.

Alice forced a smile for now. Seizing the opportunity now that conversation had started, Ishizuka continued with no ill intent.

“Just between us, there have been strange rumors about you for quite a while, Shirotsuki-san. That you’re man-crazy, having affairs with married men from other departments.”

“Me?”

“I thought, with no sex appeal to speak of, how could that be possible?”

“…! Right?!”

She nearly snapped the ballpoint pen in her hand.

Showing no concern at all, Ishizuka continued with a gentle smile.

“You’re beautiful, but you’re not the mysterious type, and you don’t seem like you’d bother with the hassle of secretly dating married men. Thinking about it that way, that rumor about you stalking Saito-kun felt somewhat off too.”

“Thank you for telling me. If I had been more careful about my office conduct, these rumors would have reached my ears properly. This is definitely something I could have noticed earlier if I’d been more mindful.”

That was what she regretted most.

Until now, Alice had lived trying to avoid involvement in anything unrelated to work as much as possible, but if that resulted in being driven into crisis as information-weak within the company, she probably needed to reconsider her approach to relationships and small talk.

(The people I usually get along with aren’t rumor-lovers either. I thought relationships like that were good because they weren’t bothersome, but the adult world isn’t just that, is it? I’ll try to pay attention to things I’ve been avoiding until now.)

Now that she’d fallen, she couldn’t just get up for free.

She had to become aware of her shortcomings and change.

Otherwise, she’d just collapse when facing even more difficult situations in the future.

In that sense, since her life had been spared this time, it wasn’t the time to mope around.

However, the money she’d lost was a painful blow.

(I want it back~! But the situation where I was being spread around as a stalking victim is just perfectly awful. If I, without even a promissory note, confront Akihisa about it, everyone will see it as “she’s stalking him again,” right? Ugh~, even as Kai Yumikura’s fake girlfriend, there’s no way I’d do something like that!)

She screamed internally, but a lie was a lie. Alice wasn’t his real girlfriend, nor was she his fiancée.

That being the case, she was still curious about why Kai had so readily played along with her lie back then.

“Speaking of which, now that we’re on the subject, actually Akihisa’s farewell party is scheduled for today.”

Unexpectedly, Ishizuka dropped a bombshell.

“…I haven’t heard anything about it.”

“Right? A memo circulated saying there was some trouble with you, Shirotsuki-san, so they imposed a gag order.”

“That’s just pure bullying, isn’t it! This is where someone should say ‘What is this? Aren’t we adults? Isn’t this totally lame?’ I mean, I would definitely say it if it were me.”

“You would, wouldn’t you? Now I understand. That’s the kind of person you are, Shirotsuki-san. Is that why? You caught that Yumikura’s eye.”

I didn’t catch his eye. Absolutely not. That was fiction.

Without voicing the crucial part, Alice responded with a quick smile.

(Ahh~! Even as I say it, I’m being totally lame~! But until I meet with the Prince, I can’t carelessly reveal the truth!)

It was already after the fact. After she’d dragged him into it.

Since Kai intended to make time to discuss this matter, Alice thought it better to keep quiet and not say anything unnecessary.

Because Kai had been so enthusiastic about it back then. Even if Alice didn’t know why, it might be better to assume he had some benefit or objective of his own.

(I wonder what it is. In typical story developments, it would be a fake lover? I never had much personal interest in him before, so I only know he’s from the founding family – is he the heir? Does he have arranged marriage prospects coming his way that commoners wouldn’t understand? Even without that, he seems too popular for his own good.)

She decided to put that question on hold until she could ask him about it.

After solidifying her approach, Alice suddenly realized something.

Because she had too much to think about, she had momentarily forgotten about the betrayal by Akihisa, whom she had thought was her fiancé until this morning.

This lack of emotional depth.

She almost muttered to herself, but held back strongly.

Taking a memo from the corner of her desk, she lightly wrote down the welling feelings with her ballpoint pen.

“I guess I didn’t really love him after all”

She immediately tore off that sheet and crumpled it into a ball.