Although they tried to avoid contact during the day, this is the only time they were together. Not even the maids were allowed in the room, so they had some time alone together.
Then one of them leaves the room and goes to the other bedroom, and the other goes to sleep.
In other words, this is where the shuffling took place.
âOhâŠ! Are you sure youâre okay?â
And Catherine was naturally quarrelsome.
âIf you dye your hair and wear the same clothes, but behave in an ungraceful manner like a boy, theyâll know right away. I canât stop thinking about you all day long! I keep thinking, that youâre probably doing something weirdâŠâ
More than sarcastic, this was like a high-strung puppy barking at an unwanted guest.
âThatâs not good enough! Then they would know which one of us is the fake!â
âIâm doing the best I can, even if I canât do it perfectly. Thatâs why Earl-sama hired me. If you have a problem with me, shouldnât you tell your father about it?â
No More Black Labor.
In his previous life, Chojiro had more than one experience of being forced to take responsibility on the job site by his zombie-like smart boss, but it was not right for him to take responsibility when the upper management was not so well managed.
A hired worker should do the best he can within his capabilities, and if it still doesnât work out, the problem should be with the person in charge.
But Catherine, of course, was not convinced by that.
âI donât have magic like you! I canât do anything if Iâm being threatened by a terrifying assassin! Itâs important that you donât get noticed!â
âIâll do my best to make that happen. Itâs just that I canât do it the same way you do. It is impossible to reduce the risk of anything to zero percent. It is my job as a double to make it as small as possible. â
âYou can say such things with impunity because you are strong! You must put more effort into pretending to be me!â
âI donât know how a commoner like me can perfectly imitate a young lady who grew up wearing sparkly clothes! What are those movements? Even your natural hand gestures have an elegance that I donât understandâŠâ
The arguing almost got heated.
But then Catherine suddenly pressed a hand over her mouth.
â⊠Ah? Why are we complimenting each other?â
âSpeaking of whichâŠâ
There was silence, then a curious pause, and the next moment theyâŠ
ââPfft.ââ
They simultaneously erupted.
âAhahahahahahaha!â
âFu, ufufu, kukukuku⊠hey, why are we doing this âŠ?â
â⊠Itâs okay to laugh rudely⊠Iâm the only one here.â
Her shoulders shook and her body curled, and Catherine struggled to hold back her laughter.
Expressing emotions in a straightforward manner was a vulgar behavior that people of the upper class avoided.
âFuu, hahâŠ, ah, jeez! I really donât know how this came about!â
Benedict said that Catherineâs inferiority complex stemmed from the fact that she did not inherit her motherâs magical talent. It was not hard to imagine that she had mixed feelings of envy and jealousy toward Iris, a genius blessed with magical talent. The very existence of âIrisâ irritated her complex.
Her perception of âIrisâ as a cold, mechanical, perfect superhuman was probably partly due to her envy.
Moreover, âIrisâ was quite shy. She was at ease with her friends, but never smiled openly at strangers.