Chapter 22 The Fiancée’s Sleeping Face
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The morning sun, filtering through the gaps in the curtains, painted thin white streaks of light across the floor. The chirping of small birds welcomed the new day.
(…Is it morning?)
I slowly opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw was a beautiful girl sleeping peacefully beside me. Her crimson hair, which I’d seen in the dark, now spread across the sheets in the soft morning light, like it was melting into the sea of white cloth.
Bathed in the sunrise, every single strand seemed to glow as if alive. Her eyes, which usually held such strong will, were tightly shut, and her long eyelashes cast delicate shadows against her smooth cheeks.
A calm, gentle breath escaped her slightly parted lips.
Her defenseless face, completely without tension, looked surprisingly young—and so lovely that it stirred a deep, instinctive protective urge inside me.
I barely held back the sudden wish to reach out and touch her with my fingertips. The faint, sweet smell of soap from her body tickled my nose.
I carefully held my breath and slipped out of bed, making sure I didn’t wake Cecilia.
At that exact moment, the bedroom door was knocked on quietly, and Lilia and Mina entered to wake me.
”A very good morning to you. Oh, I see you are already awake, Master.”
”Yeah, just a moment ago.”
Lilia asked, a cute smile on her lips.
”And, if I may ask, how goes the matter?”
She was asking about the status of the “Cecilia conquest.”
―She’s really gotten quite comfortable, hasn’t she?
Maybe it’s only in this bedroom, but my private talks with her—a Dedicated Slave—have certainly increased.
”By the time the night was through, she had already fallen.”
”My, just as expected—there simply isn’t a woman alive who could stand up to your chase, Master.”
She praised me, a playful glint in her eyes.
Hmm. I think that might be a bit too much; compatibility matters, after all… I feel like Lilia’s opinion of me is a little too high.
”Hey, hey, whatcha guys talkin’ ’bout?”
Mina, apparently, had no idea about the hidden meaning in the adults’ conversation.
”We were just talking about how the Master had a wonderful time last evening.”
”Hmm.”
Mina’s interest turned to Cecilia, who was still sleeping in the bed.
”Wow, she’s a super pretty lady…! Master, is she gonna be your future wife?”
Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the beautiful girl on the bed. A look of pure longing.
As we were having that little back-and-forth, Cecilia stirred, the sound of silk rustling faintly as she shifted on the bed.
In the room filled with amber light, her deep, blue eyes slowly opened. As if trying to understand the situation, those moist eyes blinked a few times, full of confusion.
Lilia wore the smile of a perfect maid as she spoke to her.
”A very good morning to you, Cecilia-sama. My name is Lilia. From this moment on, together with Xenos-sama, I will be looking after your needs. We have prepared your clothes, if you please.”
”Wife…?”
Cecilia repeated Lilia’s words, stunned. Her gaze met mine, then she realized she was sleeping in my bed, and then, surely, she remembered everything.
Heat spread across her white neck, and her skin turned a bright, vivid red in an instant.
”I—I will change my own clothes right now, just wait a moment!!”
She let out a sound somewhere between a protest and a scream, pulled the blanket deep over her head, and completely shut herself away in her own little world. The way the blanket shook and rustled gave away her total confusion.
Aware of the smile on the corners of my mouth, I thought back on last night’s victory.
The wild horse that had been showing its teeth and throwing insults at me just last night was now desperately trying to hide from me.
It was the ultimate sense of conquest.
On her beautiful stomach, my own personal mark was already written.
That mark, glowing with a faint, silvery light, was the proof that her soul had given in to me.
It was my own personal stigmata, something Liam would never be able to give her.
After showing her the incredible power of the Magic Seal (a spell that marks a person’s soul) and completely beating her down with pure strength, I had gently, and over and over, continued my “talk” with her on that bed.
I had touched the deepest parts of her heart—the most fragile and softest part—that Prince Liam would likely never have been able to reach.
The lead in this battle was now completely in my hands.
”Cecilia, you’ll eat breakfast, right?”
When I called out toward the pile of blankets, a muffled voice came from inside.
”…Y-yes. I will.”
”Then I’ll have you taken home. Or better yet, shall we go to school together?”
”Wh-what, th-that is…”
At my suggestion, the blanket wiggled.
Even though we were engaged, if we went to school together from my mansion, there was no doubt the other students would guess what had happened between us last night.
Maybe worried about that, even the tips of her ears poking out from the gaps in the blanket were bright red.
”You don’t need to worry about that, do you? We are officially engaged.”
”B-but… you see, until we graduate, one must think about how the public sees us…”
It seems she’s embarrassed about being the subject of rumors.
―What a cute thing she is.
”Alright, alright. I’ll have someone from the house take you by carriage.”
When I gave in so easily, she played with the edge of the blanket, her expression a mixed look of slight disappointment and relief.
”…It is not that I am against going with you to the academy. I just want you not to misunderstand, that is all…”
She added that as an excuse, looking at me from under her eyelashes.
She really is a stubborn, honest-to-a-fault princess.
”Yeah, I know.”
I kissed Cecilia on the forehead gently before leaving the bedroom to change.
Knowing when to pull back and never forcing a girl when she’s uncomfortable.
That is the secret to my success with women.
The morning classes were a bit of a blur.
After school, I went home, but I didn’t head straight for the Grimlock Mansion.
The noise of the evening flowed in through the windows of the carriage as it rattled down the cobblestone streets.
”We’re stopping at the Zaitz Merchant Guild today. Head for the business district of the Royal Capital.”
When I told the coachman, the carriage changed its path from the usual way home and headed toward the business district, where the smell of energy and money filled the air.
I had to check on the progress of the “theater-style restaurant” project I’d left in the hands of Balthazar Zaitz and talk about a certain auction that was to be held soon.
There was no time to get drunk on the victory of the opening fight.
My plan, after all, had only just begun.
—
Summary:
Xenos wakes up to find Cecilia sleeping in his bed, marking the success of his conquest. After an awkward morning interaction involving his maids and the flustered Cecilia, he decides to escort her home via carriage. He then proceeds to the commercial district to advance his business plans with the Zaitz Merchant Guild.
—
Trivia:
- Cecilia’s emotional state has transitioned from hostility to vulnerable surrender, evidenced by her reactions.
- The “Dedicated Slave” role Lilia holds allows for a higher level of familiarity and candid conversation with Xenos than the other maids.
- Xenos actively balances his public and private persona to maintain his standing and control over his social dynamics.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Kai – A pale-faced young male commoner with Fire-attribute Mana who lives as Lizel’s Magic Slave, serving him like a shadow. Sold into slavery in the past, he has recently begun to regain his lost consciousness and emotions, displaying complex expressions. He is currently searching for his long-lost younger sister.
• Cecilia – The eldest daughter of the Vermillion Duchy is a noblewoman with burning crimson hair and cobalt-blue eyes. Cold and status-driven, she holds her fiancé, Xenos, in icy contempt due to his lack of magic and is desperately seeking an annulment. While secretly entangled with Prince Liam to become his concubine, her soul has already been subjugated and marked with Xenos’s crest.
• Lilia – A voluptuous, mature maid and former slave, she serves Xenos with absolute loyalty, deep affection, and refined, sycophantic deference. Bearing a chest tattoo and nullified abdominal crest, she recently wore a glossy bunny suit or dancer’s outfit at his request. Exuding a sweet fragrance, she shares an intimate bond with him, tenderly caring for him and reacting sensitively to his mana testing.
• Mina – Kai’s younger sister is an innocent, childlike maid serving Xenos in the Grimlock household alongside Lilia. Separated from Kai after being sold to a slave trader, she is deeply loyal and affectionate to her master—even wearing a dancer’s outfit at his request due to her lack of adult subtext. Fearful of strangers, she has soft brown hair, anxious eyes, and an adorable white rabbit kigurumi.
• Xenos – A reincarnated nobleman, hated villain protagonist, and calm head of the Grimlock family, he masks his immense power and Magic Seal behind a “Zero Mana” facade of incompetence. Using calculated manipulation and game-script knowledge, he dominates targets, controls the underworld, relaxes only around servants, acts as Mina’s benefactor, and is currently forcing an annulment with his fiancée.
• Liam – As the influential, idealistic First Prince and game protagonist, he leads with a calm, amused, yet detached demeanor. While engaged to Princess Elisabeth, he secretly loves Cecilia. Balancing complex political duties and personal desires, he actively opposes the Grimlock family’s war stance, rallying academy allies to his cause.
• Grimlock – Xenos bears the Grimlock name, an influential noble martial house entrusted with guarding the national border. Reflecting their high-status identity, the succession of this prominent household carries significant weight. As bearers of this lineage, Xenos and his father, Gaius, share a strong familial bond dedicated to upholding their family’s prestigious military legacy.
• Balthazar – A merchant at the Zaitz Merchant Guild with a penchant for bizarre desires and questionable business ethics. The son of Lazarus Seitz. A short, plump man with greasy skin and childish arrogance, he wears expensive, stained clothing and smells of sweet pastries.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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