The Heir I Dragged Into My “He’s My Fiancé!” Lie Is Somehow Playing Along!? - Chapter 1.8

Alice finished work on time and quickly left the office with a cheerful “See you tomorrow!”

Her goal was to secure a gift for tomorrow’s palace visit.

(I seem to have accumulated so many favors with Prince Yumikura even before I dragged him into my lies…! In that case, I absolutely must prepare an amazing offering. Where should I buy it? Oh, wasn’t there a Belgian confectionery in Akasaka that’s officially supplied to the royal family? But wait, His Highness didn’t eat any sweets yesterday. He said he’d bring alcohol, so maybe alcohol would be better? Shochu? Some nice champagne? I could get Dom Perignon at a reasonable price from a chain store. No, wait. That doesn’t seem like his style. The best approach would be to present him with affordable, delicious alcohol that could be used at affiliated stores. But that’s just work again.)

As her thoughts spun in circles, she concluded that she wouldn’t find an answer by thinking alone.

She stepped to the side of the road, took her smartphone from her bag, and selected “Yumikura Kai” from her contacts.

Facing the completely blank screen with no previous conversation history, she typed:

←This is Shirotsuki. Sorry to bother you while you’re busy. Since I’m not good with surprises, I’ll ask directly: what would be a good gift for tomorrow? Please reply when you have time.

She expected he wouldn’t notice immediately, but a reply came right away.

→Good work.

It was a message, not a stamp. The moment she saw it, Alice nearly banged her head against her phone.

(Of course! I’m a working adult, so I should start with “Good work.” Actually, I should start with a greeting regardless. I went straight to business in my message. My rudeness is the real surprise here.)

Feeling dejected as she typed “Good work,” short messages continued to arrive one after another.

→If you haven’t bought anything yet, nothing is fine.

→I was a bit out of it yesterday too, but let’s do tomorrow without alcohol. It’s during the day.

→Even if you’re running a bit late returning, I’ll drive you home.

→I’m worried about you walking at night.

Alice let out a deep sigh.

(His charm is incredible! He’s completely different from anyone I’ve ever had around me. If he weren’t my stepbrother, I’d fall for him. If only he hadn’t joked about being my boyfriend, he’d be perfect. Good thing we didn’t kiss yesterday. I would’ve definitely started feeling like we were dating…)

Still, if she simply accepted with “Well then, I’ll take you up on that offer,” it would just increase her debt to him. She wanted to prepare something.

If she had a bit more time for preparation, she could have something recommended delivered, but one day was clearly impossible.

What should I do? What should I say? As her thoughts spun again, she accidentally sent the message she’d been halfway through typing.

←Good work.

Completely mistimed. But Prince Yumikura seemed capable of catching any pass.

→Thank you. I have some overtime, but if you’re done with work, please be careful on your way home.

→Please take your time tomorrow. Contact me after you leave home.

→Since your nearest station is Yokohama, let me know when you arrive and I’ll come pick you up.

→Really, don’t worry about the gift. I’d be happier if you just came relaxed.

→See you tomorrow.

End of conversation.

Confirming the messages had stopped, Alice exhaled deeply and gripped her phone.

She’d actually wanted to send something clever, but nothing appropriate came to mind in the moment. Worried that mistimed, intermittent replies might bother Kai while he was working, she refrained from sending any further messages.

Starting to walk absentmindedly, she muttered “He’s really perfect,” and looked up at the sky.

(The Prince is really good at conversational give-and-take. He’d probably be strong in business negotiations too. Even yesterday, he secured our next meeting perfectly when we parted. Someone once said that even if you can’t close a deal immediately, quickly securing the next appointment is sales basics.)

Just like trying to firmly secure a contract with a difficult client, there were no gaps in Kai’s words and actions.

But Alice wasn’t a client – she was already employed by the company. It didn’t make sense for the genuinely capable Prince Yumikura (estimated annual salary in the four digits) to be deploying winning sales techniques to secure her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that his serious efforts were misplaced.

“I really drank too much and enjoyed myself yesterday. Our conversation went off track too much. No wonder we ended up deciding to do without alcohol next time. I need to talk more seriously.”

Muttering to herself as she walked toward the station, she felt someone’s gaze and looked around.

Beyond the bustling crowd, she spotted a familiar male figure.

(Akihisa…!)

He seemed to have spotted her first, and was approaching without looking away.

Just a few days ago, this was someone who would have cheerfully called out “Heading home now?” Yet now, her legs trembled with fear.

“Oh no… why…”

It was a crowded time, with people all around.

He probably wouldn’t suddenly attack like a random assailant.

In that case, it would be better not to show agitation. He was an employee of the same company, and Alice was the one who’d been bothered and scammed for money in private. The proper response here would be to stand firm and say “Will you return that money?”

She understood this rationally, but her body wouldn’t move.

(At least my phone. How does the recording function work? If I set it to video, will it pick up sound too? Probably, thinking ahead, it would be better to preserve the conversation.)

She had to somehow activate her phone.

But her hands trembled and wouldn’t obey. She managed to swipe the screen with her finger, but couldn’t confirm if the camera had started. Akihisa was too terrifying to look away from.

After all, no matter how much she told herself it would be okay, Akihisa was a scammer who for the past three months had dangled marriage while putting on a sweet face to swindle money from Alice.

He was a villain whose thoughts were unknowable, someone beyond an ordinary person like Alice could handle.

“Alice. I’m glad I found you, it was worth waiting. I didn’t want to carelessly leave any record of contacting you.”

Akihisa stood before the frozen Alice gripping her phone and spoke with a laugh.

“Do you need something…?”

“Yesterday’s story about you being Section Chief Yumikura’s woman – that’s a lie, right? It was quite a bold lie for revenge after I dumped you, but while others might be fooled, I’m not. I know you’re not the kind of woman who could date such a high-class man.”

Alice gritted her back teeth.

(Well, I am the kind of woman who dated such a low-class man. I know without being told that I’m not worthy of Prince Yumikura. A proper, well-mannered beauty who isn’t after a sugar daddy would suit the Prince. I want him to have a wonderful girlfriend too.)

She had many thoughts, but her mouth wouldn’t form the words and no voice came out.

She was afraid that if she retorted poorly, he might snap.

Besides, Akihisa’s current situation wasn’t good at all. He might think he’d handled things well, but the world isn’t that easy.

She didn’t know when Kai and upper management had grasped the situation and started moving, but simply transferring the involved party to a regional office wouldn’t be the end of it.

He might be desperate and reckless.

Alice knew from personal experience what kind of erratic actions people could take when they reached despair.

(I’m concerned about the department head too. The way he favors Akihisa feels wrong. Could he have also fallen for a honey trap? Ugh, honey traps are disgusting.)

Looking back, Alice wasn’t even sure if she’d truly been in love with Akihisa.

There was no doubt some vulnerability in her heart had been exploited. As if possessed.

“What was I thinking, handing over money so easily like it was mobile game microtransactions? It makes me hate myself.”

When she muttered this unintentionally, Akihisa twisted his lips into a smile.

“I’d prefer you not spread that story around. I’ll return the borrowed money eventually.”

“I can’t believe that. When I suggested making a promissory note, you brushed it off with ‘You’re joking, right? Between you and me?’ You never intended to return it from the beginning, did you?”

She retorted strongly, almost reflexively.

Akihisa said mockingly, “That doesn’t sound good if others hear.”

“I did intend to return the borrowed money. The 100,000 yen I borrowed saying I was going to Kyushu, the 150,000 yen for Hokkaido. And then, I keep proper records myself, so it’s fine. But I can’t do it immediately, so I want you to wait. If you spread rumors during that time, it would be troublesome. You’d just be looked at strangely anyway. Not that anyone at the company would believe what you say. Engaged to Section Chief Yumikura? Hilarious.”

The moment he laughed with a “heehee,” Alice forgot her fear and snapped back.

“Mr. Saito, you’re always so mean. Actually, you’re the one who created the situation where I’d be looked at strangely, right? I heard properly that you were spreading false rumors to other employees about me being a stalker to isolate me!? You might have planned to escape to the countryside and end it there, but I’m staying at headquarters. From now on, I’ll communicate more with everyone and clear up the misunderstandings!”

While she was talking, Akihisa had closed the distance between them.

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you to stop. Regardless of work, you never interact with other employees privately, so you’ve always been isolated, right? Quite a few people made fun of you at drinking parties. Hey, lend me that phone. I want to delete the screenshots you said you saved. It’s only been since yesterday, so you probably haven’t sent them to anyone for evidence preservation either.”

The moment he said it, Alice also realized that possibility. “I… I uploaded it to the cloud.”

“That’s a lie too. You’re not good with that stuff. Come on, hand it over if you don’t want things to get rough. I should’ve kept some compromising photos of you. The days I had promises with you, I was reporting to the department head, so that part was tricky.”

“Does that mean you wanted to use photos for blackmail?”

Akihisa grinned. With a quick movement, he reached out and tried to forcibly snatch Alice’s phone.

“Ah!”

Then someone twisted their body in front of her.

A tall stature she had to look up at, broad shoulders. A faint, familiar scent.

In front of the breathless Alice, Kai looked back over his shoulder and said in a low voice, narrowing his eyes:

“Alice. I’m here, so it’s okay.”

Blinking, Alice noticed a shutter sound.

Right beside them, a young man in a suit nearly as tall as Kai was rapidly taking continuous photos with his smartphone, like documenting a scene.

(From the secretarial department, someone attached to Section Chief Yumikura. That’s right, I think I heard Section Chief Yumikura doesn’t have female secretaries.)

The secretary, with a physique almost like a bodyguard, immediately restrained Akihisa as he tried to flee.

Glancing at that scene, Kai checked that Alice’s retrieved phone was still recording and spoke to her in a calm tone:

“I heard Mr. Saito showed up at general affairs earlier, and thought we might run into each other somewhere, so I rushed out of the company. Did he approach you after you messaged me? This seems to have recorded audio, so transfer it to me. You can never have too much evidence. You did well.”

His voice was so gentle that Alice nearly collapsed at the knees. Noticing this, Kai reached out steadily and firmly supported Alice’s body.

Making incoherent sounds, Alice felt her throat grow hot. Tears threatened to spill. Unable to put her overwhelming feelings into words, Alice rested her forehead against Kai’s chest.