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This situation completely went against my expectations.

“…What do you mean?”

“Well…? Why don’t you take a guess?”

Bella, who had made such a riddle-like remark, giggled and smiled.

Then, she beamed as she looked at Wendy standing next to me.

“Ah, right. Congratulations on your university admission, Miss Wendy. I heard you’re the student representative? Just getting into this school is a huge deal, but becoming the representative is truly impressive.”

“Ah, no, no…! I-I’m not that impressive…”

“Huhu… I don’t dislike that humility of yours, Miss Wendy. But on a day like today, I think it’s okay to hold your head high.”

Bella gently patted Wendy’s head.

With a smile as benevolent as a goddess.

I wanted to escape this awkward situation quickly, but Bella didn’t let me go.

“Miss Wendy, shall we take a commemorative photo?”

“Huh?”

“Since it’s a special occasion, it would be nice to have a memory. Have you ever taken a photo before?”

“Ah, no…”

Wendy shook her head.

It didn’t require any special skills, but magic-infused photo paper was quite expensive.

After all, from the moment a photo is taken on magic photo paper, time flows within the photo.

A baby becomes a child, then an adult… and eventually, an old man, until the moment of death—all captured and recorded in a single photo.

It truly is a magical item.

In this world, it’s possible to encapsulate a human life in a single photo.

“Then it’s even better. Since it’s Miss Wendy’s first photo, we must take it. I’ll cover the cost.”

“B-but… I…”

Wendy hesitated and glanced at me.

Her big eyes seemed to be telling me something.

Could she have thought I wouldn’t allow it?

“Go ahead and take it.”

“Huh? N-no, it’s not that…”

Wendy tried to say something, but Bella quickly cut in.

“Huhu… What are you talking about? Of course, the Count should join us in the photo.”

Bella subtly linked her arm with mine and urged me on.

“Come on, don’t just stand there, let’s take it together. Or… do you dislike taking photos with me?”

Bella looked up at me with her fair, pretty face, and the impact was no joke.

But thanks to ‘Patience,’ I could calmly think about the situation.

‘Something feels off…’

Bella isn’t the type to make such expressions in front of Tristan.

In the original story, she becomes Tristan’s fiancée and lives like a caged bird until the protagonist appears.

Naturally, she harbors deep resentment toward Tristan.

Tristan is the villain who hinders Bella’s growth.

That’s why I thought breaking off the engagement would free her from Tristan’s shackles.

But why does she keep approaching Tristan?

I couldn’t tell if this was a good or bad sign.

So, I decided to go with the flow for now.

“No… It’s fine.”

“You’re lucky, Count. You get to take a photo with a beautiful woman like me.”

“……”

I needed to get this over with before I got even more exhausted.

We approached a photographer who was enthusiastically soliciting customers.

“Come on, 100,000 Kael per photo! A memory for 100,000 Kael! Take one and go!”

“Hello.”

“Y-yes! Huh? Oh, welcome…?”

When Bella greeted him, the photographer’s eyes widened.

Her stunning beauty was impossible to miss.

From the moment we met Bella, I could feel the gazes of people around us.

“We’d like to take a photo.”

“I-it’s an honor to take a photo of someone as beautiful as you…”

The photographer spoke with a hint of awe.

It wasn’t flattery—it was genuine.

But Bella seemed used to such reactions and casually replied.

“Huhu… Thank you. But is it 100,000 Kael per photo?”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

“Oh my… That’s more expensive than I thought.”

“…Huh!?”

“Well… I really wanted to take one…”

Bella’s expression darkened.

Just a slight turn of her head, and she looked like a tragic heroine from a movie.

Her acting skills were truly impressive.

Of course, to me, it was clearly an act… but it seemed to work on the photographer.

“T-then I’ll give you a discount! How about 80,000 Kael?”

“80,000 Kael… That does seem like a reasonable price.”

Bella nodded as if satisfied.

But that was my mistake.

“But… it’s hard to call that a special price.”

“S-special price, you say…?”

“Yes. On a special day like today, I was looking for someone to take a photo at a special price… What a shame.”

This girl… She’s practically a robber without a knife.

What surprised me the most was that her bluff actually worked.

“70,000 Kael, then…”

“Oh my…! Really? I’m so happy.”

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

The photographer nodded with a face that looked like he’d eaten mustard.

He tried his best to resist, but it was no use against the world’s most beautiful woman.

“Blanshe, do you want to join us?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

Bella even dragged Blanshe, who had been indifferent to the photo, into it.

In the end, the photo was taken with four of us.

The photographer lay on the ground, pulling out a pen from a piece of paper.

“Please wait a moment while the magic formula prepares. In the meantime, think about how you want to pose.”

“Okay~.”

As soon as the photographer finished speaking, Bella clung tightly to my arm.

“…Isn’t that too close?”

“I have no choice. You’re so big that if I don’t cling like this, I won’t be in the photo.”

I see… Well, if that’s the case, then fine.

As I stood still, Bella chuckled.

“Don’t we look just like a married couple?”

“Ah, miss?!”

“Huh?!”

Blanshe was startled, and even Wendy looked at us in surprise.

But Bella seemed more amused by my expression than their reactions.

“Kukuku… Just kidding, Count. So, relax your expression. If you keep that face, even I might feel a little sad.”

“…Stop talking nonsense.”

“Okay. You’re so cute. Huhu…”

Somehow, I felt like I was being teased by Bella, and it was exhausting.

I needed to take the photo and go home quickly.

Just as I was thinking that, someone grabbed my right hand.

“…?”

I glanced over and saw Wendy holding my hand.

Her expression was hidden, but her hand was trembling.

Was she nervous?

I tightly held Wendy’s small hand.

“…!”

I felt Wendy flinch.

But it didn’t matter.

As if refusing to tolerate her unease, I tightened my grip.

At that moment, the photographer, who had finished drawing the magic formula, shouted at us.

“The formula will activate in about 5 seconds! Please stay still!”

Only then did Blanshe, who was next to me, subtly grab the hem of my sleeve.

I have no idea what she’s trying to do.

“Taking the photo!”

With the photographer’s shout, our moment was captured in a single photo.

*

A few days later, I heard that the workshop being built within the Ruelberta Mansion grounds had been completed.

It was a space created solely for the craftsman, Albert Groble’s research.

And since it was an important place for me as well, I invested generously to have it built in secret.

But…

“…Why do you keep following me?”

“Ahaha. Did you notice?”

A long-whiskered cat walking on two legs was sneaking up behind me.

It was Sage Myohail.

“Something smells like magic here, and I just can’t resist. Hohoho.”

“Aren’t you… supposed to be back at the library?”

Myohail’s original job was as the curator of the Meikhael University Library, the Wall of Truth.

Using the alias Myoil, he commanded numerous cat librarians.

“Hohoho. The library will run fine without me. There’s a hierarchy, so they’ll manage on their own if something happens.”

Myohail stroked his whiskers as he spoke.

“Besides… this old man has found something more interesting than books lately.”

“I see…”

I walked on silently, whether Myohail followed or not.

He seemed to have no intention of hiding anymore, walking side by side with me.

To anyone watching, it would look like a bipedal cat walking with a suspicious person.

We walked in silence.

After walking for a while, we reached a lake within the estate, and Myohail quietly spoke.

What he said was enough to make me frown.

“Count… do you happen to know about the Demon Lord?”

 

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