The Heir I Dragged Into My “He’s My Fiancé!” Lie Is Somehow Playing Along!? - Chapter 1.4

That Yumikura Kai is riding a train.

“Is this rush hour? Are you okay? Not getting crushed?” “No, I’m used to it, and I’m sturdy.”

Alice nearly said “Prince Yumikura, you should be careful about gropers!” multiple times but held back. It might count as sexual harassment.

Unbelievably, she could feel him subtly shielding her during the moments when people were getting on and off, and when the train shook.

Alice’s inner thoughts were, “Shouldn’t I be the one acting as the bodyguard here?” In any case, she felt unsettled.

(On top of that, Prince Yumikura has this elegant, wonderful scent about him, and his sparkling aura is so intense that people around us turn to look, some even staring outright. Plus, I’m worried his expensive-looking suit will get wrinkled, so I wish he wouldn’t casually ride packed trains like this. He totally seems like the type to have a chauffeur-driven private car.)

When the topic of heading to the target izakaya came up, he’d said, “It’s our nearest station,” and gotten on the train, but was that really okay? Alice couldn’t stop worrying about it.

When they finally managed to get off at their destination station, she felt relieved.

However, once they passed under the noren curtain of his regular izakaya, were shown to a small table for two, and sat facing each other, she realized that Kai was clearly struggling with where to put his long legs.

She felt strongly that she’d chosen the wrong place.

“Ooh, it’s true. They have mentaiko tempura. Everything else looks delicious too. I want to eat it all. I was thinking of asking for recommendations, but my stomach’s so empty I can’t wait. Can I order everything? I’m going to order.”

Meanwhile, Kai himself was looking at the menu with sparkling eyes, promptly calling over a passing staff member and ordering this and that.

(W…wow, is Prince Yumikura the type who goes to a shop, points at the racks, and says, “From here to there, everything”? Well, this is a reasonably priced izakaya, so even if he ate everything, it probably wouldn’t cost as much as one brand-name shirt.)

Now, how should she broach the topic from here? Alice pondered various approaches. Meanwhile, their first drinks arrived promptly.

Both had highballs. Kai had said, “Let’s start with this,” and Alice, her mind numb, had ordered “the same.”

“Well then, cheers for your hard work! Let’s eat a lot today!”

Kai, without any airs, lightly clinked his glass with a clink and started drinking with evident enjoyment.

Alice found herself watching him dazedly, but then snapped back to reality, thinking this wasn’t the time for that.

First, she took a sip of her own drink, straightened her posture, and began.

“I’m very sorry for dragging you into such an outrageous lie today.” “Don’t worry about it. It was interesting.”

From apology to acceptance in zero time. Conversation over.

The otoshi appetizers—fried chicken skin and cabbage salad—arrived, and Kai cheerfully snapped apart his disposable chopsticks and started eating.

“Delicious. Hits the spot. The pre-seasoning is really good. Their karaage must be delicious too. Let’s order some. Excuse me!”

He proceeded to rapidly add orders for karaage, potato salad, and a grilled chicken skewer assortment.

“You eat a lot, don’t you?” “About average. Even when I’m busy, I don’t like just having jelly or something. It’s not that I dislike jelly, mind you. I think it’s excellent for energy replenishment but I want to eat proper meals as meals. That’s me.” “What do you usually have…? Course meals at restaurants with beautiful night views?” “On days with client entertainment, I do use places like that. Ah, ahh, I see. Shirotsuki-san, is that what you would have preferred? Should we have been tilting wine glasses while talking about our engagement against a million-dollar night view? Sorry, today I was desperately working to free up time, and since leaving the office, I’ve been so hungry I could only think about the mentaiko tempura. Since it’s fried food, it’ll probably take a little time, right?”

With fluid movements, Kai transferred the delivered seared bonito tataki to his plate and munched away baku baku between bits of conversation.

His eating style was impressively skillful.

(Even though he’s eating so voraciously, it doesn’t look vulgar at all—that’s the dignity of a prince for you. Is it his chopstick grip? Even with disposable chopsticks, every movement seems to follow the three-step etiquette. He probably practices tea ceremony or something.)

“Haa, delicious,” Kai said, finishing his first highball and placing an additional order.

Watching him enjoy his food so much made Alice think it might be better not to bring up troublesome topics until his stomach had settled, so she decided to focus on the food too.

“This otoshi is really delicious, isn’t it~? It changes daily, so I’ve tried various things here, but everything I’ve eaten has been good.” “You come here often?” “It’s right after getting off the train, just outside the station.” “Have you been here with Saito-san too?”

Hearing the name dropped so casually, Alice unintentionally shot him a look that pleaded, “You’re bringing that up now?” This was undoubtedly the main topic of this dinner, so it wasn’t really a situation to blame Kai.

“Whoops. I feel like I just got a look saying ‘Please don’t mention names that ruin the meal.’ Shirotsuki-san, what you’re thinking shows pretty clearly on your face; it’s amusing. Or rather, to be written off by your ex-fiancé so decisively on the very day it happened, does that mean you didn’t like him that much?”

“You’re digging deep now!? Well… yes. I spent the day thinking about various things in my own way, but then I focused on work, telling myself, ‘That aside, let’s get work done,’ and I was surprised to find I’d forgotten about it. Is this a form of escapism?”

While posing the question, Alice took a big gulp of her highball. Kai, as if concerned about her drink, handed her the menu for an additional order and said calmly,

“Who knows? It might hit you later when you’re alone, but if it does, feel free to tell me without holding back. After all, we’re fiancés now.”

Gefu—Alice choked. It was too sudden.

“Thaaat, I am truly sorry about. But what about you, Prince Yumikura? Don’t you have a girlfriend or fiancée who would object? Will I be sued for compensation?”

“Wait a second. Did you just say ‘Prince Yumikura’? What’s that? Am I called that among the employees?”

Told with a smile that was on the verge of bursting into laughter, Alice averted her gaze and admitted, “Well, um. Yes.” She’d heard other employees say it a few times, so it wasn’t a lie.

As expected, Kai let out a refreshingly loud laugh.

“Aren’t our company employees just too funny? Do they call the president ‘King’ or ‘Queen’? Is there a ‘Knight Commander’ somewhere? This is bad! Our company is hilarious.”

Maybe it was the alcohol, but once he started laughing, he couldn’t stop. He kept laughing continuously.

“If you laugh that much, won’t your food get cold? I don’t mind eating it.” “That’s harsh. The treatment of the prince is too harsh. …No, ‘prince.’ In Japan, that would be the imperial family, right? I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for the Imperial Household Agency.” “No, even if you feel apologetic towards them. I’d say it’s rather too audacious; even the Imperial Household Agency would probably be at a loss how to respond. They might overlook it as an internal company nickname, but if someone came to them for official confirmation, that would be a problem.”

Kai continued laughing hee-hee for a while longer, but by the time Alice noticed, several plates of food were already empty.

(Huh, Prince Yumikura, when did you…? His movements were too fast to see.)

Had that much time even passed? As Alice stared blankly, Kai was ordering even more food and drinks. He might genuinely be planning to work his way from one end of the menu to the other.

“Um, Prince—” “Hey now. Don’t double down and keep using that nickname. Even if it’s pretend, we’re fiancés, so this is a date. Let’s try using names here. Do you know my name? It’s Yumikura Kai. Okay, repeat after me: ‘Kai-san’.”

For some reason, he said it with perfect pronunciation, like an English teacher, and Alice immediately retorted with a smile,

“Pardon?”

Buhah—Kai burst out laughing.

It’s a word you learn in hospitality English conversation for politely asking a customer to repeat themselves.

Although, whether it’s actually an expression used in daily life overseas is a mystery.

(That’s right, the prince has overseas experience. I shouldn’t provoke him carelessly. But “Kai-san”…)

On second thought, Alice decided she couldn’t afford to pick a fight with Kai now, so she switched gears and rephrased.

“‘Kai-san’ is a high hurdle. How about ‘Your Highness’ instead?” “Whoa, hey… please don’t make me laugh so much. I might start getting into it.” “You would?” “I’m a man who lives up to expectations. Even today, I thought I was perfectly playing the part of the fiancé.”

Hearing it stated so casually, Alice consciously decided this was the moment to bite, and asked again properly.

“About that matter, really, why? Does Yumikura-buchou have some benefit from it too?” “Benefit?”

Tilting his head, Alice leaned forward, seizing the moment, and pressed on, “Yes.”

“Are you still wanting to stay single, but relatives keep proposing arranged marriages, so you need a fake fiancée? Or are you too popular and troubled, so you wanted to declare you’re dating someone to keep women away? Or, um, your grandmother or grandfather received a terminal diagnosis, and you want to introduce a fiancée to set their minds at ease?!”

As Alice listed every possibility she could think of, Kai narrowed his eyes sharply, suu.