Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Resting Blue Maiden (3)
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"Dian, this is your final warning! If you don't get out right now, we'll break the door down!"
The people pounding on the door sounded furious... but righteously so.
"Diana, don't tell me it's the rent?"
"It's been three months since I last paid...!!"
Three months of leniency was already generous.
"What do we do? We're just about to start production...! If they could just give me a little more time..."
But convincing a landlord who'd already been pushed to the limit didn't seem easy.
And then.
"If they come in now...!"
Diana glanced around her workshop, cluttered beyond belief.
She'd been living and eating here too, judging by her clothes and belongings strewn everywhere.
Among them were items like the ones I'd found earlier—things that screamed Diana, not Dian.
Cross-dressing woman, cross-dressing man.
Unlike the latter, whose popularity fluctuated wildly by era, the former had been a perennial favorite from ancient times to the present.
But if she had no choice due to circumstances—and absolutely couldn't be found out—then this mess of incriminating junk was a disaster waiting to happen.
"Does someone with a secret to hide act this carelessly?"
"I had no choice! I haven't slept a wink in three days!"
Her dark circles were proof enough.
"Sigh..."
No helping it.
I hated getting involved like this.
"Stay inside for a moment."
"Huh? Wha—"
"Dian!! Damn it, break the door—"
As I opened the door from inside, the shouting outside fell silent.
Their faces screamed, What the hell is this guy? I bowed appropriately first—neither too stiff nor too servile.
"I'm from the Levius household. I apologize for the worry caused by Young Master Dian's delayed payments."
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Among the special glass alchemists could easily make was a one-way type: visible from inside, invisible from out.
In front of such a pane in Dian's workshop, three faces pressed close in a triangle—Tiona and Diana at the bottom, similar heights, and tall Lea above.
Watching Arthur handle the landlord's group, Tiona buzzed with excitement.
"Arthur looks just like a proper butler...!"
"...Wasn't he your butler?"
"He says he's a home tutor."
Whatever Tiona called him aside, Arthur now looked every inch the seasoned butler of a noble house.
His voice, gestures, posture... Even from behind, the dignity of his master's family shone through.
The landlords fidgeted nervously.
Soon, Arthur politely sent them off and returned.
"Dian—no, Diana. Hard to keep straight. Anyway, they agreed to wait one more week."
"R-Really...? That's a relief..."
"Why the sudden change?"
"N-No reason..."
She ought to be thrilled—we'd bought a week's grace, thanks to Arthur.
But.
Can she start making money within a week?
How long until payments started rolling in?
"Judging by your face, even a week's extension doesn't ease your worries."
"How'd you—!?"
"I can read expressions."
And Arthur made a proposal.
"How about we do this?"
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Back from the field trip, Tiona always washed up first.
Especially today, after an alchemist's workshop—extra thorough.
While the maids forcibly cleaned her, she sorted her thoughts in the parlor.
In the end, today's visit didn't achieve what I wanted.
She'd hoped to verify Diana's skill as a mage, but got no answers.
Only more weird questions piled up.
Cynthia approached me on the sofa alone.
"Have a good trip?"
"...Cynthia."
She sat beside me and set down a teacup.
Lately, it felt like Cynthia was opening up more.
She used to keep distance, but now sat right next to me.
"...Um."
"Y-Yes!?"
"Aren't you a bit close?"
Cynthia sat so near our thighs and hips pressed together.
Too intimate to chalk up to mere openness.
"A-Am I bothering you...?"
"No, not exactly."
Though it was a little uncomfortable.
Does she want something from me?
If so, better that way. Cynthia wouldn't ask anything outrageous.
"What's that?"
"An IOU. Just a blank form, in case."
That reminded me of a sudden curiosity.
Could Cynthia see through Dian's disguise?
The next day.
"What!? She's a cross-dressing girl!?"
I finally understood why the original story never questioned Diana's gender.
"Her face was too pretty for a guy, skin too soft, finger joints too smooth, shoulders too rounded, spine's C-curve off, hips too wide... But she said she was a guy, so I figured that was just it..."
"...Cynthia, a touch of prejudice might do you good."
The original was mostly Cynthia's POV.
What she couldn't notice wasn't in the story—so I didn't know either.
And Tiona trembled behind me again today, like yesterday.
"Still wearing boy's clothes... Scary... I'll end up genderless..."
Diana, looking sullen, asked me.
Her dark circles had mostly faded after sleeping all yesterday.
"That girl over there knows everything, huh."
It wasn't nonsense.
Tiona really did know it all.
She'd learned through romance novels.
Many packed spicy content—blunt enough to raise eyebrows.
But sex ed via pop culture had one universal flaw, any era, any world.
"Miss, why does cross-dressing make you genderless?"
"Because girls in boys' clothes seal their girl parts, right? Doesn't Arthur know that?"
"...Wearing boys' clothes doesn't do that. Is this from Pentagram Series Book 3?"
"How'd you know!?"
She absorbed real knowledge, in-story lore, and author errors alike.
"The whole series is about the leads breaking a demon's curse."
Book 3 specifically: a curse hitting a couple who swapped clothes for laughs.
"Normal clothes don't make you genderless."
"N-No way...! My world's crumbling!"
"Your world's so shoddily built, you could sue."
"If I went to court, I'd be suspect number one?"
"Hear that, Cynthia? Watch out."
"Huh...? Y-Yeah...?"
"So Arthur won't go genderless in girl clothes?"
"No."
"Try it on!"
"What kind of horror is that? It wouldn't suit me at all."
"I wanna see you look ridiculous!"
"You little..."
Diana asked Cynthia aside.
"Are they always like this?"
"Yes..."
Cynthia stepped back from Diana.
"B-But why the disguise?"
"There's a reason—"
As Diana closed in again.
"Eek...! Stay back! Pervert!"
"..."
"Now, now."
I clapped, recalling why we'd come.
"Before Tiona's alchemy practice, let's clean up quick."
Other magic could be practiced at home, but alchemy needed a workshop.
That was part of why I'd brought her yesterday.
Better to bond face-to-face with a future ally than nothing.
Things delayed it to today.
As we rolled up sleeves to start.
Knock knock. Gentler than yesterday's landlords.
"Dian, you there? Here for the overdue rent."
A woman's voice. Soft, but firm.
Diana bolted out at the sound, smiling at me as I reached for the latch.
"I-I'll handle it. No big deal, don't worry! And don't come out."
Unlike her words, her hands shook uncontrollably.