Where Did You Learn to Smile Like That?
"Where on earth did you learn to smile like that?"
"Why don't you try putting on that act for me?"
Vivianna rested a finger upon my lips as she spoke. Her voice was endlessly cold, and no emotion showed in her eyes—but I, who had played the game countless times, knew better. Vivianna had a habit of killing her emotions whenever she was deeply shaken.
"Yes. If that is what Your Grace desires."
I left a soft kiss upon the finger that had settled lightly on my lips. Each time the tip of my tongue brushed the tip of her finger, I could feel Vivianna's finger tremble ever so slightly.
Carefully, I cupped her hand in both of mine. Slowly parting my firmly closed lips, I drew Vivianna's finger into my mouth.
Her slender finger slipped slowly past my lips. Through that finger, Vivianna would surely be able to feel my breath.
And in the moment I was about to close my lips around it, I released her finger carefully, a thin smile playing at the corners of my mouth.
"Just kidding. That kind of coquettish act is something I only offer to the masters who care for me with love."
"…"
"Instead, I'll give you some information that might be of use to Your Grace."
I rose and sat quietly across from Vivianna. She merely stared at me with darkened eyes, saying nothing.
I pulled a letter from inside my skirt and held it out to her, but her gaze remained fixed on my face, unmoving—not on the letter at all.
Honestly, it was a little frightening, but I offered her a bright smile. After a stretch of silence, Vivianna finally took the letter and opened it. She read through its contents slowly, then wore a hollow smile at the corner of her mouth and brushed her bangs back.
"Ha."
"Is the information helpful to Your Grace?"
"Miss Bland. This time it isn't a joke, so I'd like a proper answer."
Vivianna's eyes flashed for an instant, sharp as a beast's. Suffocating air wrapped around me, freezing my entire body for a moment. Amid that cold terror that seemed to pierce my lungs, Vivianna spoke with casual indifference.
"What are you, really?"
That gaze alone carried a killing intent that bored into my mind. Yes—that was the true face of Vivianna. A murderer who had bathed in countless bloodshed, known as the Butcher of the Battlefield. No one could dare predict where this monster's blade would point next.
"Was the information not to your liking?"
"No. It was information I needed. Suspiciously so."
Vivianna scanned the letter once more, then wore a subtle smile at the corner of her mouth that bordered on a sneer. It was an expression similar to Mardian's, yet on her it felt all the more noble.
"Knowing exactly the right information at exactly the right time… isn't that a little too suspicious for the daughter of a declining barony?"
"Duchess Vivianna. I am a pet, you see."
The killing intent in her eyes sent a chill through me, but I smiled brightly. A cold dread lingered as if my neck might be severed at any moment, yet my conviction that Vivianna would not harm me remained firm.
"And people, you know—they don't bother hiding their feelings in front of a pet."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Even young ladies who always wear thorough masks in front of others become quite honest when they're alone with me."
Whether she grasped my intent, Vivianna raised one eyebrow slightly. I spoke with my usual harmless smile.
"Everyone wants comfort and empathy when they're going through hard times. And when they do, they thankfully lean on me."
"Would you care to elaborate?"
"Things like their fiancé having an affair, or secretly gambling away their fortune—they don't hide even the most personal stories in front of me. Because they want my empathy."
"…"
"I always empathize with them. So that I can be even a small comfort to their sorrow or anxiety. That's my role as a pet, after all."
Whether they truly see me as a pet or not, they freely confide even the things they ought to keep hidden. The young ladies confess their burdensome hearts to me, and I pour all my strength into offering them comfort to lighten the weight on their minds.
Because that is a pet's role.
"Your Grace couldn't even begin to guess how many stories I hear in a single day."
"…Then that means you're holding the weaknesses of all those young ladies in your hands, doesn't it?"
"Oh, no, not at all. How could I use something like that against them? I have no desire to stab the masters who care for me in the back. And besides, there's no actual evidence anyway."
I beamed at Vivianna with smiling eyes. She stared at me for a long while with the deep eyes of a predator, then finally leaned back against the sofa.
"…You're terrifying, Miss Bland. I can't even imagine what the Bland family will become in just a few years."
"I'd be happy enough just paying off the family's debts."
In truth, my goal is a simple life. Living peaceful days with Mother in comfortable finances, doing nothing at all. Eating when I want to eat, sleeping when I want to sleep—a free life.
Hehe, just thinking about it makes me happy.
I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth and looked up at Vivianna again with a bright smile.
"If Your Grace ever has any difficult worries, please feel free to confide in me anytime."
"You just spoke as if you hold the young ladies' weaknesses, and now you're saying that to me?"
"Oh, come on… There's no way I'd do anything to harm Your Grace."
"Well, having seen the hidden side of Miss Bland, I find it hard to trust you so easily."
Apparently, having my actions toward Rose discovered by Vivianna was a fatal mistake. But if it was already out in the open, there was no avoiding it. I decided to think positively—that thanks to it, I'd managed to catch Vivianna's interest.
"Then we're secret friends."
"…Secret friends?"
Vivianna raised one eyebrow slightly with a puzzled expression. I slowly rose from my seat and approached her side. After carefully gauging her mood, I gently linked my arm with hers.
"I know that Your Grace plays the piano, and Your Grace knows my secret—so we're secret friends."
"The weight of those secrets seems rather different, doesn't it?"
"Still, a secret is a secret. An intimate, thrilling relationship that exists only between Your Grace and me in all the world."
When I faced Vivianna with a bright smile, she looked down at me with endlessly serious violet eyes.
"Miss Bland, I've been curious for a while—that smile. Where on earth did you learn to smile like that?"
"Pardon?"
"I'd like to know where that coquettish, tail-wagging smile of yours even came from."
"…"
Ordinarily, I would have been flustered, thinking What is she talking about?—but I merely blinked blankly at Vivianna's sharp observation.
Originally, I didn't smile much. There was a reason my Thinking type scored ninety-five percent. The only times I managed a smile were when I was alone in my room playing games.
But in social life, a smile was essential. Especially for someone with a gloomy personality like mine—I had to smile somehow to blend in among people.
The smile currently on my face was one I'd created after practicing hundreds of times alone in my studio apartment bathroom, thinking of my childhood friend.
Perhaps as a result of that effort, I eventually became able to smile naturally, and from then on people gradually began to take a liking to me, allowing me to blend smoothly into society.
But why was Vivianna suddenly bringing up my smile?
"Is my smile not to your liking, by any chance?"
"…It's just a little strange."
Strange.
The unexpected words threw me into confusion.
This can't be…?
My smile needs to look natural to appear as harmless as possible—has it become awkward after the body swap? Until now other young ladies liked my smile, but if Vivianna finds it strange, all that effort was meaningless.
Since the person I most need to persuade right now is Vivianna, it seems I'll have to practice my expressions in front of a mirror again for a while.
"…I'm sorry."
When I lowered the corners of my eyes dejectedly and spoke in a weak voice, Vivianna reacted instantly with trembling eyes.
"No, that's not it—it's that my feelings are strange—, ha, never mind…"
Stepping out of her usual cold composure, Vivianna muttered as if to herself, then let out a short sigh, tilted her head back, and looked at me.
"So? What will you do now, Miss Bland?"
"What do you mean by that…"
"I don't attend most banquets. Meaning I can't protect you forever."
"Hmm…"
That made sense. Even this time, if it hadn't been a direct invitation from the Imperial Palace, I never would have come face to face with Vivianna. She probably wouldn't come to the next banquet, and then there was a high chance I'd suffer the same treatment from Mardian again.
"Actually, I have another favor to ask of Your Grace."
Before that, I would win Vivianna's favor. I needed to somehow persuade her so that a protective instinct arose—so that she herself wanted to shield me from Mardian.
"Would it be possible for you to invite me to Your Grace's estate?"
"…What?"
Her amethyst eyes wavered for an instant. I flushed my face slightly as if shy, and glanced at Vivianna in a small voice.
"I so want to hear Your Grace play the piano. Honestly, I've been thinking of Duchess Vivianna all day today…"
"…"
"Would that be alright…?"
Vivianna's estate.
If only I can go there.
I will be able to raise Vivianna's goodwill.