Clarice's Secret

We had all finished lunch, but I couldn’t stop suspecting Clarice’s story. She seemed to be lying—maybe I should use a little bit of Slime Pleasure on her.

“Hey, kid, do you want to go fishing with me and my son?” Beltrond asked.

This guy must be some kind of idiot, wanting to go fishing right after lunch.

“Thank you very much for the offer, but I’ll have to decline. I need to think of a way to help your family get out of this problem,” I replied.

He smiled, then he and his son Sairo went off fishing. Now in the house it was just me, two young girls, and a milf. The three of them were washing the dishes. I went up to Clarice and asked if she wanted help.

“There’s no need, the three of us can handle it,” said Clarice.

“At least let me get you a glass of water, since you look tired, miss,” I told her.

Clarice then smiled at me.

“I’ll accept your kindness,” she replied.

“Alright then, I’ll get it for you,” I said.

I asked Sabrina where the cups were, and she showed me. I filled one at the faucet, looked around to see if anyone was watching, and since no one was, I injected a bit of Slime Pleasure into the water.

“Here’s your water,” I said.

“Thank you very much,” Clarice replied.

She drank all the water, and right after, her body gave a slight shiver. I held her body, and Sabrina saw everything and was startled.

“Mom!” Sabrina shouted.

“She doesn’t look well, I’ll take her up to her room,” I told Sabrina.

“I’ll come too!” Sabrina shouted.

“Don’t do that. Actually, go call your father back,” I told her.

Sabrina turned her head away in indignation, but she accepted and left the house to fetch her father. I then went upstairs with Clarice leaning on me until we reached her room.

“Sir, I’ll go in too,” said Margarida.

“Don’t come. I need to speak with her alone,” I replied.

Margarida made a face.

“I’ll agree to let you be alone in a room with her on one condition,” Margarida said.

“And what condition would that be?” I asked.

“If you give me a kiss on the mouth,” Margarida replied.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I had never kissed anyone back in Japan. Besides, I bet she had never kissed anyone in her life either.

“I’ve never kissed before. Have you?” I asked Margarida.

For some reason, she got excited when she heard that.

“Me neither, so that means the kiss we’ll share will be the first for both of us,” Margarida replied happily.

“Then hurry up and come here!” I told her.

Margarida climbed the stairs, and then we kissed. I couldn’t believe I had just had my first kiss. Both she and I blushed at the situation, but she was happy.

“I’ll go back downstairs. You can deal with Lady Zairos however you want,” Margarida said, smiling happily.

I opened the door to Clarice and Beltrond’s room and entered with Clarice.

“Hero, do you want my body, by any chance? I don’t mind if you do,” Clarice asked.

“Do I look like Christopher to you?” I asked.

Her reaction was panic. She pulled away from me and sat on the bed.

“What’s with that reaction, Clarice? Only your stupid family failed to notice what you meant at lunch. You were the one who brought his apple here, because you two used this very room to do indecent things,” I told her.

Clarice’s look was one of desperation and fear.

“Please, don’t tell them,” Clarice said.

“So you want me to keep this a secret so you can keep fooling your family?” I replied.

Clarice fell completely silent.

She doesn’t want me to tell them, but she wants to keep betraying her family? She’s really naive if she thinks I’ll allow that.

“How did your affair with Lord Christopher start?” I asked her.

“I was a maid in his house. One day he forced me into his room. I was terrified. The next day, he did it again. Over time, it became routine. Instead of hating it, I began to enjoy it. But then I decided to stop, and he got angry with me,” Clarice replied.

“That’s why he set up this plan against you, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Yes. He told me he would let me go if we did it one last time at my house. So we did, in this room, while Beltrond was out fishing. He left in the late afternoon. The next day, guards came knocking on the door, accusing me of stealing, because they found the apple marked with the Bellmarck family’s seal in my house,” Clarice replied.

She really was awful, betraying her own husband.

“I already know how we can solve this situation,” I told her.

Clarice then smiled.

“You, I, and Princess Margarida will confront Christopher,” I told her.

“Princess Margarida?” Clarice asked.

Of course she wouldn’t understand when I mentioned Margarida. After all, she and her family had never seen Margarida, since she would never set foot in the commoners’ district.

“That girl called Miyamoto is actually Princess Margarida,” I told her.

“Are you really telling the truth?” Clarice asked.

“Yes. Margarida disguised herself to avoid drawing too much attention,” I replied.

Clarice believed my story and thought Princess Margarida was a very kind person. Margarida should thank me later, since I was making her popular even among the commoners she despised so much.

“Sir Hero, what would your and the Princess’s plan be to convince Christopher?” Clarice asked.

“We’ll have to make Christopher think you and Princess Margarida are under my control,” I replied.

“But how are we going to do that?” Clarice asked.

“I’ll kiss both you and Margarida in front of him,” I said.

Clarice blushed at that. I smiled.

“Don’t tell me you already want me to kiss you now?” I asked her.

She was silent and nodded, as if agreeing.

“Stand up and come to me,” I told her.

Clarice stood up from the bed, came close to me, we held each other by the waist, and then kissed.

“What did you think of my kiss?” I asked her.

“It was a great kiss,” Clarice replied.

“Between me, your husband, and Christopher, who do you think kisses best? Also, how old are you?” I asked.

“I’m 43 years old,” Clarice replied.

She seemed to be avoiding the other question.

“And about the other one?” I pressed.

“I won’t lie. Your kiss wasn’t as good as Lord Christopher’s. His is the best,” Clarice replied.

I see. It was only my second kiss, so of course I wouldn’t be that good yet. But I’d still give two more kisses today.

“Clarice, I think we can already go visit Christopher,” I told her.

“Let’s hope it all works out,” Clarice said.

We left the room and went to Margarida. I explained the plan to her, but she didn’t agree.

“What do you mean you can’t come?” I asked Margarida.

“I can’t go dressed like this, or the kingdom’s image would be tarnished,” Margarida replied.

She was right. Taking her dressed like that to a noble would make both her and the king a laughingstock. It wouldn’t help my intimidating image either.

“Clarice, do you know any inns in the commoners’ district?” I asked.

“I know one,” Clarice replied.

“You two will stay there. Meanwhile, I’ll go to the nobles’ district to buy clothes for Margarida,” I said.

They agreed. So the three of us left Clarice’s house. We went to the inn, and I left the two of them there. Now I had to walk to the nobles’ district to buy Margarida’s clothes.

I walked for a while until I reached the nobles’ district. By carriage it would’ve been much faster, but on foot I think it took about four minutes. I looked for a clothing shop, found one, went inside, and bought the most expensive clothes possible. After all, I had Margarida’s purse, so I could spend as much as I wanted.

Now I had to walk back to the commoners’ district. Carrying the bags, I arrived at the inn and went inside.

I asked the receptionist about a young blonde girl with another lady, and she told me they were upstairs. I went to their room, knocked on the door, and Margarida opened it. I handed her the bag.

“Don’t you want to help me change clothes?” Margarida asked.

“No,” I replied.

I didn’t expect Margarida to get so lustful under the effect of the Slime Pleasure. Margarida came out of the room wearing noble attire. I paid the receptionist with coins. Then Margarida, Clarice, and I left the inn. We walked all the way to the nobles’ district. These walks were going to kill me someday.

We reached Christopher’s house without anyone noticing. It was a huge mansion. I knocked on the door, and a butler answered. When he saw Princess Margarida, he was startled.

“We came to speak with Lord Christopher Bellmarck,” Margarida said.

“I’ll fetch him,” the butler replied.

The butler went to a room, and a minute later Christopher appeared. He was a short, somewhat fat man with slicked-back hair. He clearly carried himself with arrogance.

Christopher looked at me and Clarice with disgust.

“What brings the princess to my residence?” Christopher asked.

“I came to speak about the Zairos family’s case. The hero and I learned of it today,” Margarida replied.

Christopher reacted calmly.

“So you’ve heard about the apple theft. I believe that family should be punished,” Christopher said.

This worm thinks he has everything under control, but he’s sorely mistaken.

“Actually, according to her testimony, you’re lying,” Margarida said.

Christopher looked at Margarida’s body.

“So the princess is saying that a noble like me is lying, and a peasant like her is telling the truth?” Christopher asked.

Margarida hesitated to answer.

“It’s not that… It’s just that we must gather all possible testimonies and evidence,” Margarida replied.

Surely that bastard had already noticed how tense Margarida was.

“Hey, man, I know how we can solve this. Can we talk in your office?” I asked him.

“Alright,” Christopher agreed.

“Wait here, girls. Everything will turn out fine,” I said.

Christopher led me to his office. We entered, and now I just needed to bargain with him. But my offer would have to be something that completely harmed him while fully benefiting me.

Christopher sat in a chair in front of a desk full of paperwork. It looked like he had a lot to deal with.

“Sit down so we can talk,” Christopher said.

There was a chair near the desk. We sat facing each other to deal with business. The battle of negotiations was about to begin, and I couldn’t afford to lose my first business dispute in this world.