If You Tell a Pickpocket to Save the Male Lead

Estribal, who had been silent for a while, opened his mouth.

“I will tell you about my father, after clarifying what kind of person Your Highness’s brother is.”

Estribal stood up from his seat.

“Well then. Have a comfortable evening.”

Without hesitation, Estribal left the castle. Ciello, who had been lost in thought, hastily got up, saluted Raysendella, and followed him.

Estribal, who had come out of the castle, spoke to Ciello.

“Since we’ve come this far, we should stop by the book street. If you’re tired, you can stay in the carriage…”

“Duke.”

Ciello interrupted him with a meaningful voice. Estribal glanced at Ciello.

“I… I have something I want to ask.”

At Ciello’s expression, Estribal’s eyes trembled slightly. He asked in a deliberately calm voice.

“What is it?”

“You must not take it badly. Just in case, really just in case.”

Estribal secretly bit his lip.

‘Has she finally noticed?’

“Duke, could it be…”

Ciello took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

“Duke, are you an orphan too?”

The tension that had been flowing between the two of them seemed to snap and dissipate. Estribal chuckled and asked,

“Am I an orphan?”

“No, it’s just that it is said earlier that you succeeded a family of no marriage record. So, the agent…it should be from bringing talented kids from the orphanage…”

Estribal didn’t answer.

‘I guess I guessed it wrong.’

Ciello hung her head low. Estribal, with a smile on his lips, looked down at the back of her head.

“Keep going. Your nonsense is not ordinary, it never gets boring no matter how much I hear it.”

At his words, Ciello shivered and continued her speculation.

“That… they do that at the orphanage. Smart and pretty kids are often adopted by nobles who don’t have children. So, you were nice to me because I’m an orphan, and you said you wanted to be someone else because you didn’t want Cello to be adopted by Duke Trepe…”

“Ha ha, my goodness…”

Estribal rarely laughed and touched his forehead.

“You’ve written quite a novel on your own.”

“No, I was serious!”

Ciello’s face turned bright red. Estribal extended his hand next to the carriage.

“Huh? Duke, that glove…”

The glove he was wearing was the one she had worn while practicing dance a while ago. But he asked back with an indifferent expression.

“Why, are you trying to write another novel?”

“Tsk. Never mind.”

It must be a coincidence. Ciello, with her lips pouted, now quite naturally overlapped her hand with his and climbed into the carriage. As Estribal followed her into the carriage, he asked,

“So, would you have been disappointed if I really was an orphan?”

“No? I think I would have liked that too.”

Unexpectedly, Ciello answered immediately. Estribal chuckled.

“Without any flattery.”

“I’m serious! Duke, you’re so different from me. It would be nice if there was something similar.”

“You don’t like that your status is different from mine. Go.”

Estribal tapped the inner wall of the carriage with the back of his hand.

“The clothes you’re wearing, the carriage you’re riding, the national foundation ceremony you’re so eager to go to. All of these things you wouldn’t have been able to enjoy if I wasn’t a noble.”

“Well, that’s true, but nobility should be moderate. Being a duke is too much.”

Ciello grumbled with her lips pouted. He thought for a moment and then blurted out.

“Too much…So, you must really hate me.”

“No, it’s not that bad. At least you’re not royalty, right?”

Ciello joked and giggled. Estribal muttered with a bitter smile on his lips.

“Yes. You must really hate me.”

“Huh? Why do you keep saying that?”

Ciello looked at him with wide eyes, but Estribal turned his gaze out the window as if he hadn’t heard it.

A little later, the carriage stopped in the book street. From old bookstores to bookstores dealing with the latest popular novels, they were lined up on the street. Ciello looked curiously at the books piled up not only inside the bookstore but also outside.

“Doesn’t anyone steal them?”

“It’s your first time in the book street, isn’t it?”

Estribal made a non-answer to Ciello’s question and got off the carriage. Ciello also got off with her escort and looked around.

“Why would someone who came to buy books have a thick wallet? And what’s the point of sneakily taking a book you don’t even know…”

When Ciello casually flipped a book that was stacked outside, the book next to it fluttered and flew up.

“Eek! What is this?”

Ciello screamed in surprise. The book circled around Ciello as if monitoring her. Estribal chuckled and said,

“It’s better not to think about stealing. Unless you want to be bitten by a book.”

“Bite, you say? You’re lying!”

“Why would I lie?”

“You, Duke, tell a lot of lies! Just now, you said I couldn’t go into the casino!”

“Hmm. Shall we pick a book before it gets too late?”

Estribal dodged the topic and entered the bookstore.

“Oh, really…”

Ciello gritted her teeth and followed him into the bookstore. Estribal familiarly spoke to the owner.

“How is the book I requested last time?”

“It’s prepared over here.”

The owner took out a book from under the counter. It was an extremely old hardcover book at first glance. When Estribal handed over three gold coins for that old book, Ciello’s eyes widened.

“Is it that expensive?”

Ciello whispered. Estribal nodded briefly, bowed his head, and replied as he left the bookstore.

“Well, even if it’s a book that bites people’s heads.”

“Stop teasing me!”

Ciello said so, but she seemed scared inside and slowly moved away from Estribal. He chuckled and slowed his pace.

“I was wrong. Come closer.”

“Tell me what book it is.”

“You have to come closer for that.”

“Ugh.”

Ciello glared at him and approached him again. As Ciello approached, his expression quietly softened.

“It’s a book about how to handle the power of spirits. The research speed of that magician is slower than I thought.”

It was as he said. Reposa revealed the fact that Ciello’s existence needed to be increased. After that, he found out how a person with sufficient existence can separate the spirits. But fundamentally, how to quickly increase existence was still under research.

“But, Duke, is it okay? If Reposa leaks something to someone…”

Ciello asked with a worried expression. Reposa was the only outsider who knew that Ciello had the power of the spirit. The feelings she had for Ciello were not just goodwill, so Ciello had enough reason to worry. But Estribal calmly replied with his head down.

“A freelance contract magician’s tongue stiffens if they try to tell others about the contents of the contract or the identity of the client. So you don’t have to worry.”

“But what if the emperor comes to check in person? After all, the client is the emperor.”

Estribal’s expression hardened slightly. He had spread too many lies and it was not easy to decide where to start cleaning up.

Of course, Reposa couldn’t tell the emperor. The client of this matter was Estribal alone from the beginning.

Estribal had originally planned to steal the power of the spirit from the emperor for his own plan, but he somewhat modified the plan when he saw hope in Ciello. This is the truth.

But he couldn’t reveal this to Ciello. His original plan was something that had to be kept secret from Ciello no matter what happened.

So, he had two things to do. First, he had to reassure Ciello by telling her that Estribal was the only client.

Estribal began to speak, cleverly mixing truth and lies.

“…I am the only client. The emperor does not know that I have located the spirit.”

Up to this point, it was the truth.

“Huh, why?”

At the same time, Estribal had to make Ciello believe the lie that he had accidentally encountered Ciello while moving to return the spirit to the emperor.

“That’s because…”

From here on, it’s a lie again.

“I planned to report after safely separating the spirit from you. If the emperor knew you had the spirit, he would have tried to recover it immediately, even if it meant cutting off your head. If there was a mistake in the process, I would have lost the spirit, and the blame would have fallen on me.”

At his plausible answer, Ciello nodded and asked.

“So, even if the emperor asks about me, Reposa won’t be able to answer, right?”

“That’s right.”

Ciello sighed with relief. Estribal also took a deep breath secretly. He was reminded of the reproach of the information merchant that he had built his whole life on lies, but he still couldn’t tell the truth.

“While we’re at it, I’ll buy you a few more etiquette books. Is there anything else you want?”

Estribal changed the subject by pointing to the bookshelf. Ciello thought for a moment and then spoke.

“I’d like an easier etiquette book. The first one you bought me was so hard that it took me a long time to read. I also had to look up a lot of dictionaries.”

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

Ciello sighed with relief.

‘If she had to look up the dictionary to that extent, it would be better to buy her a few easy wordbooks.’

Estribal thought as he scanned the bookshelf. He picked out books that Ciello could read and moved on, while Ciello began to rummage through the music book section.

“Can I buy a few scores?”

“Anything.”

Estribal casually answered Ciello’s question from behind and moved his steps to the inner bookshelf. There were coloring books that stimulated peripheral desires. At first glance, the books with obscene titles did not attract his interest at all.

Just as he was about to turn away with a sour face, a thin book prominently placed in the most visible spot caught his eye.

“That is…”

He frowned and looked around. Fortunately, Ciello was busy contemplating two scores. Estribal picked up the thin book. The vulgar title scratched his eyes.

[The Foolish Duke and the Lewd Maid’s Night]