As the head of a family charged with exterminating evil from Great Britain, my life was full of dangers. It wasn’t just the wrongdoers who wished to snuff out my life. Carriages came racing toward me during walks down the street. I was thrown into ponds just by attending tea parties—all of it was part of who my character was.
Despite being nothing more than an ordinary office worker in my past life, I was hit by a truck and reincarnated into the world of the Evil Alice’s Lover otome game series. The game’s heroine, Alice, was so prone to death that the title won the “Deadliest Game of the Year” award. Thus, death lurked around every corner of my life after being reincarnated.
But there was no need to worry. After sixteen years of this, I knew to never let my guard down.
“Now!”
I struck the knife away with the folding fan in my hand, sending it clattering onto the marble floor. The zebra girl and other guests gasped.
Hehe! I didn’t even flinch.
I’d had the fan made with steel ribbing just for this sort of occasion.
On the opposite end of “Bull in a China shop” was “Villainess with a steel fan.” It was as powerful a combination as it sounded.
As I basked in my success, a voice called out to me from behind.
“What’s going on over here, Alice?” Dark, the other guest of honor, stood behind me with a worried look.
He was wearing a dark blue three-piece suit with French lace, despite this being nothing more than an engagement party. On his head, Dark sported a top hat embroidered with sapphires, diamonds, and a large bow tied around it. Great Britain was a large country, but I doubted any other gentleman in the land had outfits as gaudy.
“I dropped a knife, that’s all,” I smiled.
“I’m glad you’re not hurt. I wouldn’t want the scene of our proposal to be sullied with blood. My apologies if my fiancée here scared you.”
When Dark smiled at her, the zebra girl stormed off in a huff. I watched the large bustle of her dress, like a horse’s behind, shimmy away. Then I thought back to that day when Dark and I danced here.
We’d come to this venue for an inspection. Then, when Dark proposed to me again, I suddenly realized how deeply I’d fallen for him. My feelings were always of secondary importance until that point. Ever since I realized I’d been reincarnated into this world, I’d never had a spare moment to worry about love.
I’d been planning to marry some irrelevant background character if it meant staying out of danger…but my feelings for Dark and Dark alone broke down my stubborn heart.
It’s like I’m transformed into an entirely different person when I’m around him.
It was my first time experiencing love like a normal girl would. Being around Dark put me in a warm, happy place like a sunbeam. Blood and despair were nowhere to be found with him.
I was watching Dark engage in pleasant conversation when I spotted a young man at the snack table behind him. He wore a silk jacket with his signature light pink scarf wrapped around his neck. The man had taken a slice of a pretty raspberry cake.
“Hmm? Have a meat pie too? No, thank you. I’m on a diet.” The tall, slender man who winked at the chef was Leeds, a member of my family. With a head full of vast knowledge, he was the one I could always go to for advice, be it about work or life.
Leeds was a man, but he spoke and acted elegantly like a woman. His beauty attracted everyone, both men and women. He blew a kiss my way when he spotted me looking at him.
But then a black shadow passed beside me just as a smile crept onto my face.
“Don’t let your guard down, my lady.”
The warning came from a young butler with fine black hair.
The man was Jack, the only servant in the Liddell home. He never wore his butler’s uniform properly, which made him look like a troublemaker, but he was dressed formally today, patrolling the venue for irregularities.
But I never let my guard down at all.
With my steel fan in hand, I touched my dress, confirming the pistol underneath. I couldn’t wear my pouch like usual, since it would stick out on one of the party’s hosts, so I kept my pistol strapped to my garter belt.
Dark paused his conversation to praise Jack’s vigilance. “He never stops working, does he? We couldn’t have thrown this party in the first place without his assertive opinions.”
While Dark had wanted a party that pulled out all the stops, Jack objected, demanding that I not be made a spectacle for an audience. Thankfully, Leeds intervened, and the result was a lavish, but elegant party fitting for nobility.
I heard his change in tone and looked to Dark. He had a sad expression like he was out of energy. Perhaps he was exhausted from all the conversation. Most of the invitees were Dark’s guests, after all.
“I’d like to take a short break,” I said.
“Then let’s go to the back room,” Dark said. “We’ll be taking a break to change outfits, everyone. I do hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the party.”
Dark and I linked arms and waded through the sea of applause. The noises rubbed against my skin like falling leaves. Noise, after noise, after noise. It became hard to tell if we were being congratulated or intimidated.
Silence fell once we stepped into the back room. I could finally breathe again.
“I never knew engagement parties could take such a toll. I’m just glad this isn’t the social season,” I said.
“I would have liked to show you off to more people, personally. I want everyone to know that you’re mine now. Hmm, it feels a bit warm in here.” Dark opened the window. A brisk wind blew in, knocking the top hat off his head.
I watched his shadow on the ground as he quickly picked it back up. Two horns, absent from all-natural human bodies, stuck out of his head. But once I brought my eyes back up, there was no sign of the horns against his smooth, silver hair.
He was good at hiding them. He couldn’t let his true form be discovered.
The true Dark was a demon. Rather than taking a human form, he was born human, but his roots came from Hell. He was able to make his horns invisible, but not when it came to his shadow. That was why he wore extravagantly decorated hats to camouflage his shape, with matching outfits to avoid drawing attention to the strange hats.