After sending away the two daughters who weren’t actually his, Kane once again followed his original plan of pretending to sleep. He had already decided that if no one came tonight, he would have to find somewhere else to sleep tomorrow.
After all, he couldn’t spend his days sleeping and his nights pretending to wait for someone to fall into his trap. He had come to this world to live comfortably, not to suffer like this.
And so, in order to catch the mysterious woman, Kane began his second round of lying in wait. To keep himself from actually falling asleep, he kept his mind busy with constant thoughts.
The first half of the night passed peacefully, and nothing happened. However, Kane was determined to stay awake through the latter half of the night to avoid letting the intruder succeed again.
If the intruder had seen through his plan and chose to come during the first half of the night or not come at all, the former had already been disproven by Kane’s experience. As for the latter, he would simply go sleep elsewhere tomorrow. He didn’t believe that even if he left, the person would follow him outside to attack him.
Time quickly moved into the early hours of the morning. At around 2:00 AM, Kane, who was starting to feel truly drowsy, finally found that his efforts were not in vain.
He felt the door to the room being pushed open. The intruder’s skills were likely quite impressive; aside from the faint sound of the door opening, there wasn’t even a hint of a footstep.
To ensure the intruder didn’t have a chance to escape, Kane waited a bit longer after the door had been closed again. He waited until he estimated the person had approached the bed, as he couldn’t afford to wait any longer. After all, he couldn’t let them use sleep magic on him again and turn him into a woman’s toy once more.
“!”
“?!”
Kane suddenly snapped his eyes open and looked toward the door.
The ‘attacker’ who was silently approaching him clearly hadn’t expected this and froze on the spot in shock.
Kane had intentionally left the curtains partially open, so by the bright moonlight, he could clearly see the figure.
The person’s attire was as skimpy as he had expected. Beneath a translucent nightgown, she wore lake-blue lingerie with hollowed-out patterns. Through the nightgown, her toned, sexy abdomen and thighs were clearly visible.
Judging by her figure alone, Kane didn’t feel like he was losing out. If anything, he might even be coming out ahead.
However, although Kane had opened his eyes ready to act, he froze just like the other person. This was because the intruder was completely different from who he had expected. She wasn’t the attacker mimicking the Queen, nor was she the Queen herself.
It was the Queen’s right-hand woman and childhood friend, the one known as the impartial and indifferent Cold-Blooded Lady, Altina.
“…”
“…”
Neither side had expected this situation, so they remained in an awkward stalemate, staring at each other with wide eyes. Fortunately, someone reacted quickly.
This time it wasn’t Kane, but Altina, who felt she was in the wrong.
“…I apologize for disturbing your sleep, Your Majesty.”
Despite her suggestive attire, Altina performed a royal military salute as if she were wearing a formal uniform. Placing her right hand over her full chest, she bowed her head slightly and apologized in a voice so calm it was devoid of any personal emotion.
She was so composed that it was as if she hadn’t intended to do anything at all. However, as she bowed, the voluminous white curves of her chest were far too prominent to ignore.
“…Lady Altina, first of all, I am not ‘His Majesty,’ just a guest. Second, it is quite inappropriate for you to enter a man’s room at this hour dressed like that. Do you have some specific reason for doing this?”
Seeing how rational she was, Kane also quickly calmed down. Sitting up in bed, he questioned the cold beauty who usually strictly observed the rules. He wanted to see how she would explain this situation.
“…Given your reaction, it truly wasn’t you who summoned me. Actually, when I returned to my room to rest at 9:00 PM last night, I found a small note stating that I should come to your room at this time to see you.”
“…While I didn’t think it was left by you, I decided to come anyway. I intended to stay for a moment and then leave, but I didn’t expect to wake you. I am deeply sorry.”
Strangely enough, Altina provided a logically consistent excuse. She explained her presence at this time and place in an extremely calm tone.
Hearing her explanation, Kane’s expression turned serious. If this was a lie, then her composure was impeccable; he couldn’t see the slightest hint of nervousness or panic in her. But if it was true, then both he and Altina had been schemed against by that person.
The other person was using Altina to test him.
“…As you suspected, I did not leave you any note. If this isn’t a prank, then it’s a plot by someone with an agenda. But since you knew it wasn’t me, why did you come dressed like this?”
Kane actually found her words quite believable. First, he trusted her original character—the “Cold-Blooded Noble” from the original work who was as rational as steel. Second, she wasn’t wearing the same lip makeup as the Queen. A real attacker wouldn’t use magic to put him to sleep and then apply makeup right in front of him. Third, it was more logical that someone was using her than for her to be acting randomly.
Still, Kane didn’t understand one thing: why was Altina dressed so defencelessly? He was a man, after all. Sneaking into a man’s room like that was practically an invitation to be attacked.
“…?”
This time, Altina didn’t respond directly. Instead, she tilted her head slightly with a blank expression, seemingly unable to understand what Kane meant.
“…Ah, no, it’s nothing. Please forget what I just said.”
Prompted by her reaction, Kane reconsidered. He realized there wasn’t really a problem. The Cold-Blooded Lady had said she only intended to drop by and see what was happening before leaving. In that case, there was no need to specifically change into formal wear; coming in her pajamas was fine. While Altina’s outfit was quite revealing, it was indeed standard sleepwear, so there was nothing technically wrong with it.
Realizing he had asked a strange question, Kane rubbed his head and gave an awkward smile, telling her not to mind.
“…If that is Your Majesty’s command.”
Altina didn’t seem to care, but she continued to treat Kane with the same attitude she used for Corellia, which gave him a bit of a headache.
“…No, as I said, please don’t call me ‘Your Majesty.'”
Troubled, Kane looked at the Cold-Blooded Lady with helplessness. Then, realizing it was inappropriate to stare at her outfit, he quickly looked away.
Seeing this, Altina chose to respond with silence, clearly having no intention of changing her ways.
‘It seems I managed to fool him.’
As for what was actually going on behind Altina’s ultimate poker face, Kane naturally had no way of knowing. After all, Altina really had come for a night raid; it was just that today was her first time.
***
Still a lazy dog today, owe you one more chapter.