Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Let Me Go Home
“…Will I be paid?”
That one line must have been the most pleasing thing I said all day,
because a satisfied smile spread across Lady Freesia’s lips.
“I shall pay you generously enough that you won’t even dare refuse.”
Ah, then that settles it.
Deal accepted.
I’ll invest in this ‘fake lover’ opportunity.
For a noble with pride that high to say it herself, there was no way the reward would be disappointing.
Life really is unpredictable.
I came here just to earn a small wage while doing rehab, and now I was about to land a big payout as a noble lady’s fake lover.
“Thank you very much, my employer. …Or should I say, dear? My love? Or perhaps… honey? What would you like me to call you?”
At that moment, Lady Freesia’s shoulders jolted upward.
“W-What nonsense are you suddenly spouting?!”
She quickly raised her fan to cover her face, but her ears and the back of her neck, which remained visible, were bright red.
“Well, even if it’s just for two days, if we’re supposed to be lovers, we need at least one nickname so people don’t get suspicious, right?”
She trembled and shouted sharply,
“J-Just call me young lady or my lady!!”
“Yes, yes, understood. Then I’ll come back tomorrow—no, I mean, I’ll return to the mansion. For today, I have family waiting anxiously for me, so I should head home.”
Just as I brushed myself off and turned toward the entrance—
“Wait. You said family?”
Lady Freesia frowned.
“Don’t tell me you have a wife or children?”
“…Pardon?”
I paused blankly.
A wife? Children?
Two faces crossed my mind.
Camellia, wearing her worn apron, who might spend the whole night by the door with lifeless eyes if I came home late.
Not my wife, but like a wife.
And Erica, who was probably whining in front of her food, waiting for me to come back.
Not my daughter, but like a childish daughter.
They both felt like family…
But they weren’t actually my wife or child.
Yeah. They weren’t.
“…No. I’m not married, and I don’t have children of my own. But—”
“Then that settles it!”
Before I could finish, Lady Freesia snapped her fan open and declared,
“If you have no wife or children, then there is no problem! Until the guests arrive the day after tomorrow, you will not leave this mansion even a single step. Quietly take a bath, change into the clothes I provide, and wait!”
…What?
Stay here until the day after tomorrow?
No, are you insane?! Even if I’m working, at least let me go home!
Cold sweat ran down my back.
“W-Wait, my lady! They may not be my wife or children, but I do have people at home who are basically family waiting for me! At least let me go explain the situation—!”
The moment I took a desperate step toward her—
A strange distortion warped my vision.
“…What?!”
A sharp ringing filled my ears.
The noise around me faded as if time had stopped, and the space before my eyes rippled like waves.
This feeling…
My ability to glimpse someone’s future.
Vision.
Why now, of all times?!
The arrogant noble lady who had been looking down on me just moments ago—
was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, an utterly shocking, shameless, and disturbingly vivid scene unfolded before my eyes.
On a bed with sheets in complete disarray—
A woman was rolling around, no longer wearing her elaborate frilled dress, but a thin silk slip that revealed the full curves of her body.
Around her slender neck, instead of a noble’s necklace—
was a thick leather collar, the kind used for walking large dogs.
“Haa… hn… bark! Bark, bark…!”
Clink—
The sound of a chain attached to the collar rang out as she panted heavily.
Even though the atmosphere had completely changed—
there was no doubt.
It was Lady Freesia.
“But… that… I-I understand…”
The Freesia in my vision lay sprawled on the bed, her face flushed red, exposing her bare stomach.
“I-Is this what I should do?”
Like a dog obediently showing affection to its master, she clasped her hands together and twisted her body.
“Pant… pant… bark! Freesia is… bark! Freesia is a good, obedient dog…”
Her eyes were half unfocused, filled with tears.
Her expression was a chaotic mix of shame, immorality—
and an inexplicable pleasure.
Her body trembled as if begging someone to stroke her exposed stomach.
“M-Master… please, my stomach… ah, ah! P-please stroke it! If you don’t, I feel like I’ll suffer and die…! Bark! Bark!!”
Smack!
At the sound of a whip striking somewhere nearby, she quickly flipped over and got onto all fours like a dog.
“Hiiik! I-I’m sorry! For someone like me to dare make a request to Master… I deserve punishment! Please, punish me!”
Her voice trembled pitifully.
Yet despite the humiliation, she couldn’t hide the faint smile forming on her face.
“Y-You want my introduction? Th-That… ah… I understand!”
Her trembling lips struggled to speak.
“I-I am… the eldest daughter of my family—”
Smack!
Before she could finish, the whip cracked again.
She flinched and raised her hips higher.
“Ah! I’m sorry! Bark! I am merely Master’s—!”
…
The arrogant noble lady I knew—
was nowhere to be found.
Only that degrading, incomprehensible figure remained.
Crackle!
With a sensation like sparks exploding in my vision, the disturbing scene shattered and vanished.
“……”
When I came back to my senses, I was once again in the reception room beneath the chandelier.
In front of me stood Lady Freesia, looking down at me arrogantly, her fan covering her mouth.
“Why are you standing there with your mouth open like a fool? If you’ve once again lost yourself to my beauty, I shall overlook it this once. Now hurry and agree to remain here—”
Her sharp voice reached my ears—
but none of it registered.
That shocking image I had just seen.
That dog-like figure with a collar, exposing her stomach and wagging as she panted—
was that really the future of the proud noble lady standing before me?
…What the hell is this?
Ever since coming to this world, my Vision ability had shown me many different futures.
But never something like this.
Was that…
seriously real?
Did her family collapse in the future, and she got taken by some cruel creditor and trained like that?
But then—
that faint smile mixed with pleasure, even in her shame…
Or maybe she ends up happily engaging in some kind of extreme roleplay with her future husband…?
Regardless of my will, I felt like I had just witnessed something deeply private and destructive.
…Well, whatever.
Maybe it’s something mutual between partners.
Maybe it’s love.
Yeah. There’s no way someone like me could understand the refined tastes of nobles.
I didn’t want to think about it any further.
Because right now—
there was something far more important.
The people waiting for me at home.
“…My lady. I understand everything. The fake lover role, fine. But even if I don’t have a wife or children, I do have people at home depending on me…”
Shaking off the lingering echo of barking in my ears, I continued.
“…If I suddenly stay out for two days without any notice, it’ll cause chaos at home. You can even assign someone to watch me, but please, just let me go home briefly. I beg you.”
As I pleaded as humbly as possible, Lady Freesia frowned, clearly displeased—
but eventually nodded.
“Hmm… very well.”
“T-Thank you… I’ll be back quickly—”
Gulp.
In front of me, the proud noble lady stood elegantly fanning herself—
but in my mind, a completely different image kept replaying on its own.