Typically, princesses were the ones being locked away in towers, so this was her first time hearing anyone use that trope as a metaphor for anyone but a lady. It was kind of scary how plausible that would be with Edmund in a tower, considering how pretty he was.
It also explained why the god chose him to be the person negotiating with potential heroines.
“You! You’re the one working for the god in charge of the raffle!” cried Clarissa, her eyes sparkling.
He told Nina they had met only once, but it seemed Clarissa still remembered him. Actually, he stated that things got complicated when he met her. Assuming they weren’t suspicious of him randomly showing up, most people would be delighted by a visit from such an attractive boy.
“I heard rumors there was a beautiful boy with silver hair at the soirée,” exclaimed Clarissa. “You really do exist!”
“My name is Edmund Zelati. It is a pleasure to formally make your acquaintance, Lady Clarissa.”
Clarissa was spellbound, her eyes locked on him as he gave her a graceful bow. Nina wanted to ask her what happened with Dino, but she wouldn’t have needed this villainess play if she genuinely had feelings for Dino. Maybe she simply wanted some excitement or to overcome an obstacle in the path of her love.
Based on how she acted, even if she did love Dino, she definitely had room in her heart for another attractive boy.
Nina wished Clarissa would simply make it clear whether she liked Dino or not, but Dino was sort of the same in terms of his affection for her. Maybe that was how engagements between nobles and royals were.
She did not understand that world at all.
“Zelati… Are you the son of Duke Zelati?” asked Clarissa.
“The unfit second son, yes.”
Clarissa’s mood improved even more when she learned this beautiful boy with the graceful motions was the son of a duke.
“Lady Clarissa Tessarini, winner of the raffle. There is only one remaining condition of your contract, a section of clause five. Do you remember it?” asked Edmund.
“Of course I do. It’s the love confession scene.” Clarissa nodded vigorously, answering without hesitation.
She wrote the contract within only three minutes, so the fact that she remembered what was left was a sign that she was quite picky about these clauses. And yet she was so bad at carrying things to the end. It must be a character trait of hers that couldn’t be helped.
“Considering how Prince Dino is, are you…Lord Edmund, going to take on that role instead?” she asked.
“I am. Is that acceptable?”
“Hm… It wouldn’t be bad to be stolen back from a tryst with a duke’s son. Let’s just start by hearing how you feel.”
What she muttered was not exactly moral, but the problem was that this was the end of the contract. There was no guarantee Dino would actually bother to steal her back. Did that mean she was confident enough in herself to believe Dino wouldn’t give up chasing after her?
Nina couldn’t help feeling this whole play was completely unnecessary if what Clarissa wanted was to end up with Dino.
Clarissa glanced sideways at Nina, who was filled with conflicting emotions. The raffle winner herself was bewitching and beautiful, her smile oozing with confidence.
Edmund looked at Clarissa’s expression and nodded with satisfaction.
Oh, so that’s what he’s doing.
Even if the bullying issue never came out, and Dino confessed his love to Clarissa and they got married, Nina would only be an obstacle to their love. That could have been the cause that led to her downfall.
But if Edmund, a different contractee, took on the role in Dino’s place, then it might work out. They already knew that everything was very loosely interpreted as long as the promisees carried out what was specifically written in the contract. This shouldn’t cause a problem.
If Edmund confessed his love and married Clarissa, then Nina was safe because she wasn’t involved at all. That must be what he was going for.
Clarissa was the most important factor, and she seemed to react favorably to Edmund. Plus, he can’t find it too bad as a duke’s son to marry a bright and beautiful daughter of a marquess.
Nina was worried about him choosing his life partner just to save her, but she learned from seeing Dino and Clarissa that not all high-ranking pairings were made between two people who loved each other. This was actually normal.
Thinking of it that way, it was actually good for Edmund to have a smart and gorgeous lady like Clarissa, who was also into him.
Nonetheless, Nina was also worried Clarissa would suffer a little from ending her engagement with Prince Dino, depending on how she carried it out. Edmund said he’d talked to Dino about this beforehand. It should be fine, right?
It seemed Clarissa wanted Dino to win back her love, so maybe she would make it look like she was pairing off with Edmund here, then dump him after the contract ended.
Whatever way it went, it wasn’t every day Nina got to see a fairytale-like love confession happen right in front of her. She was overwhelmed with emotion as she thought of everything she’d experienced since meeting the white cat sent by a god.
“Nina, would you come here, please,” asked Edmund.
“Huh? Uh, okay.” She nodded. Nina didn’t know why he was bothering to call her over, but he had to have something in mind.
She made her way over to stand beside him. Nina understood she was meant to be a witness for this love confession, but this was way too close for that. Or maybe, since she was the heroine who enchanted everyone, he would use her to describe how Clarissa was even better.
Whatever direction he was going, she knew she should go along with his lead.
“Miss Nina Scaglione,” began Edmund, Nina suddenly finding herself tense as he did.
“Y-Yes?”
“I love you.”
“Oka— What?!” In her confusion, her voice jumped an octave in the end. She couldn’t help staring at him with a million questions, but he merely looked back at her with such a gentle smile that she was thrown even more off balance.
“What…is this…about?” uttered Clarissa. Her words were quiet, but it was obvious from her expression that she was furious.