The expression of the young lady, who had been happily chatting with Ethan across from her, quickly hardened. It didn’t take long for her to realize that a drink had been poured over her head.

“Kyaa, kyaaah?!”

Noticing the sticky liquid flowing down her face, the nameless young lady stood up, covering her head with her hands, but the sharp scent of alcohol already wafted from her crown.

“Lilli… Lillis…?”

Ethan, who was equally bewildered by my actions, also averted his eyes in confusion. He was taken aback by how my behavior had diverged from our original plan, where I was supposed to simply chase away the intruding young lady and then start a fake argument with him.

‘The plan might have changed a bit, but we’ll have to go with it.’

At the point where I had already upended a drink over the young lady’s head, there was no way to “lightly” chase her away anymore. The only relief was that I had poured white wine instead of red, so at least her clothes weren’t stained.

Thinking that pouring the remaining red wine would make things impossible to control, I simply drank the contents of the other glass.

‘This white wine looks strangely orange... but whatever, it’s all the same.’

Now holding two empty glasses, I noticed the young lady glaring at me—actually, I should just call her the “White Wine Lady” since that’s what she smells like now. Anyway, the White Wine Lady glared at me and snapped in a sharp voice.

“What… what do you think you’re doing?!”

“What?”

“...What did you say?”

“Oh, you understood that perfectly.”

Up until now, I had only seen the White Wine Lady’s profile, but looking at her face directly, the pig intestines she had been trying to press on Ethan stood out even more.

Damn it. No matter how much I set the stage for seduction, there should be a limit to what’s acceptable. What was she thinking, trying to stick her lips on someone else's property?

Well, not that Ethan is my property, but still.

‘Why is my head so hot…? Is it because of the alcohol…?’

Even though Lillis's body shouldn’t be as weak to alcohol as Agnes or Natalie, no wine could be that strong. There’s no way a single glass could get me drunk.

Was there really such strong wine? I didn’t look at the name when I grabbed it, but I think it was labeled with some brand or something.

Anyway, there’s no way I got drunk off a single glass of wine, so I wiped my mouth and locked eyes with the White Wine Lady. If I wanted to start a convincing quarrel with Ethan, I first had to get rid of this lady.

“What… what kind of rudeness is this?! How can you just pour a drink on someone’s head and then act so shamelessly…?”

“Oh, sorry. My hand slipped.”

“Y-your hand slipped?! Are you saying that was an accident?!”

“Of course, it was. Just like it was an accident when you tried to press your pig-like lips on Ed. Don’t you agree?”

“P-pig-like… Did you just say that?!”

Why is it that no matter where you go, noblewomen's arguments are always the same? I almost yawned at the expected, tired response.

But regardless, the original plan to spread rumors about a rift between me and Ethan was moving forward in some way. The attention that had gathered around us was so palpable that I could feel it without even turning my head.

I felt a little sorry for the White Wine Lady, who had become an unintended victim, but she had brought it on herself by trying to pull that crap on Ethan.

“Shut your mouth. The pig stench is overwhelming.”

“Don’t slander me! And what’s with that filthy mouth of yours? How can you go around saying things like pig… manure and... mouth! Don’t you have any shame as a noble lady?!”

“Oh, so comparing breast firmness with someone else’s fiancé is considered ladylike behavior now?”

“Ha! So you don’t even know what kind of event this is and you got dragged here. I guess it makes sense that someone with such a nasty temper would drag her fiancé to a gathering like this.”

Actually, I knew. The fact that this gathering was openly meant for these dim-witted nobles to have one-night stands means that a bit of vulgarity makes one more appealing.

Blatantly saying something like “You’d be surprised at what’s under this dress” in front of a man, or a nobleman boasting to a lady that “I’m skilled in horseback riding, and I can ride for six hours straight” was the more refined way of displaying one’s charms. Some more extreme cases, like the woman in front of me, just jumped straight to physical contact.

In that sense, what the White Wine Lady did to Ethan wasn’t necessarily out of line at a gathering like this, but that wasn’t why I was angry.

I was fine with letting her try to seduce Ethan for the sake of the plan, but she dared to try and stick those lips on Ethan.

...For some reason, my head wasn’t working properly. Maybe I was too absorbed in the moment.

“It’s no wonder the Young Lord Blackwood would get tired of someone like you. What’s the point of being pretty and having big breasts if your manners and personality are a mess? I heard that the Rosewood family is just a baronet family. It’s laughable that a mere baronet’s daughter is pretending to be the fiancée of a duke’s heir…”

Crash!

“Kyaaaah?!”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t hear you. Could you repeat that? According to you, I come from a lowly family and have no manners, right? I’m not very good at controlling my temper.”

The White Wine Lady took a startled step back from the shattered glass at her feet, while I still held another empty glass in my hand.

“So why did you try to mess with someone else’s man? If you’d backed off, I wouldn’t have had to do this. Why did you try to put those filthy lips on him?”

“Ha, do you think something like this will scare me?! And why do you think the Young Lord Blackwood’s lips belong to you?! I can’t understand your logic! You might have been able to hide your violent nature until now, but today there are plenty of witnesses to prove your lack of manners! I’m sure the Young Lord Blackwood will use this opportunity to break off your engagement…”

“Why do Ed’s lips belong to me? Want me to show you?”

Grab!

“Mmhh?!”

In response to the drunk woman’s demand to know who owned Ethan’s lips, I grabbed Ethan and pulled him toward me, pressing my lips against his right in front of her.

Smooch, smooch.

“Mmmph, ha, hmpf…”

I knew that just a peck wouldn’t be enough to prove my point, so I made sure to kiss him deeply, with our tongues entwined, exchanging breath and saliva openly.

Fortunately, Ethan caught on to my intent, wrapping his arms around me and kissing back with enthusiasm. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the young lady’s expression freeze in shock.

After about a minute of this display, the chatterbox woman finally fell silent, leaving Ethan’s and my lips slick with saliva.

“Lillis, this seems a bit strong. Wasn’t what you just drank actually br-…”

“See? Now do you get whose lips belong to Ed?”

“…”

“If you understand, get lost. If you try to stick those pig-like lips on him again, I’ll stuff actual pig shit in your mouth.”

The young lady, whose face had been frozen in shock, quickly snapped out of it and hurried away, as if fleeing from both me and Ethan.

“Fine! I refuse to stay here a moment longer with such a violent woman! Do whatever you want with him for the rest of your lives!!”

“What the…?”

Do whatever we want for the rest of our lives…? Did she just say that?

Maybe she wasn’t such a bad person after all? I might have gone a bit too far with her. For a non-virgin, she seemed rather decent.

With the departure of the nameless young lady, whose parting words still puzzled me, I immediately felt the eyes of everyone around us focusing on Ethan and me.

‘…Oh, right, the plan.’

Although things had gone a little—no, a lot—differently than expected, we had still managed to draw attention and create a scene. I’d caused more of an uproar than planned, but as long as the outcome was good, it didn’t matter.

Now, all that remained was for me and Ethan to stage a fight, and for me to become temporarily isolated. After that, everything would be ready…

“…”

“Lillis?”

“…”

“Your face is red... are you drunk…?”

Jerk!

“S-stay away from me!”

Damn it. What the hell is going on?

My head wasn’t quite clear after chugging that glass of wine, and when Ethan’s face suddenly appeared in front of me, I was caught off guard.

‘Maybe it’s because we just kissed…’

Even though I’d only kissed Ethan to prove our relationship to that White Wine Lady, it still felt a bit overwhelming.

Honestly, I didn’t care how it looked to other people. I was just embarrassed to be facing Ethan after what I’d just done.

But it couldn’t be helped. The moment that woman tried to force her lips on Ethan, there was no way I could just stand by and let it happen.

If I hadn't intervened, some girl whose name I didn’t even know, who might not have even existed in the game, could have stolen Ethan’s lips right in front of me…

“…Oh.”

Right, I had something to ask Ethan.

The flush on my face quickly cooled as if hit by a blast of cold air, and my now-clear mind began analyzing the situation and the potential disaster that could have unfolded.

“Ed.”

“Yeah, Lillis?”

“There’s something I need to ask you.”

“…What is it?”

“When that young lady tried to press her lips on you earlier while I was away…”

“…Yeah.”

“…Why didn’t you move? Why didn’t you push her away?”

I wasn’t really asking because I was curious.

It just seemed that starting with this topic would be a more believable way to set the stage for a fight between Ethan and me, as opposed to the conversation topics we had originally planned.

“Lillis? What do you mean by that all of a sudden…?”

“…Answer me seriously, Ed.”

This was just a simple question.