Olivia Orte.
She was the kind of person whose appearance was impossible to forget once seen.
Her hair was a shade of red that glowed with a soft orange hue like a setting sun, and her jade-colored eyes resembled the warm southern seas.
On top of that, she had a small, charming mole right between her chin and her bottom lip.
The slight upward flick at the corners of her eyes made her look more passionate, and her small, full lips were as red and haughty as rubies.
Her charm had blossomed before she even turned ten and had recently reached its absolute peak.
Just as bees and all sorts of insects swarm to a heavily scented flower, many men hovered around the Orte mansion just to catch a glimpse of Olivia’s face.
However, she never took a single step out of the mansion.
This was because she was a precious individual destined to become a Countess next spring.
Yes, she was a precious individual destined to be a Countess.
At least, she would have been—if she hadn’t eloped ten days ago with Bareon, her dance instructor and the only man allowed to meet her privately.
Aidan, who had followed the Viscount back to his mansion and heard the whole story, wiped his face with his large hands.
‘This is crazy. This whole house is crazy.’
To summarize Viscount Orte’s request, it was this:
‘Go to the Count’s estate in place of the daughter who ran away for love.’
Of course, he wasn’t asking Aidan to actually get married.
It was a request for Aidan to pretend to be Olivia and buy time at the Count’s estate while they tracked down Olivia’s whereabouts to bring her back.
Aidan drained the tea in front of him in one gulp to moisten his dry throat.
The Viscount frowned at his lack of dignity, but Aidan didn’t care.
If he were to accept this job, he would have to endure countless looks of contempt far worse than the Viscount’s current expression.
“Use another woman. It might be hard to find someone who looks exactly like Olivia, but surely you can find a woman who looks somewhat similar?”
“No, I can’t. Olivia has never appeared in society, but her features are famous. Red hair, green eyes, and even that mole below her lip. Where would I find a woman like that?”
“For the hair, you can use a wig. The mole can be drawn on with ink. You’d just need to find someone with green eyes.”
After quickly offering a solution, Aidan stood up from the sofa.
He picked up his coat that had been draped beside him and put it on.
To think the man had held him captive, threatened him with a promissory note, and dragged him all the way to this mansion for such a ridiculous reason.
The time he’d wasted being dragged around felt like a loss.
“Aidan.”
“Find another woman to send to the Count’s estate. In exchange—though it’s not much—I’ll find Olivia for you.”
“I have already hired excellent rangers for that task. There is no need for you to step in.”
“And those ‘excellent’ guys haven’t found a trace of her in over ten days? If you leave it to me, I’ll find her within a week.”
Annoyed by Aidan’s uncooperative attitude, the Viscount slammed his teacup down.
The clatter of the cup against the saucer made a sharp, irritating sound.
“Aidan, you said you would do me a favor. Let me be clear: if you do not fulfill your promise, I will take not just that house, but the interest that has grown beyond the value of the house itself!”
Aidan, who was about to leave the drawing room, stopped dead in his tracks at the absurd threat.
“What kind of nonsense is that? Taking the house instead of the debt isn’t enough, so you’re going to squeeze even more interest out of me?”
“Whether it makes sense or not is not for you, the debtor, to decide. The important thing is that you are changing your word now.”
“Who wouldn’t change their word? You’re telling me to cross-dress and take bride lessons. Fine, let’s say I could actually do it. But do you really think the Count won’t realize I’m a man?”
Aidan pointed to his own body as if to show it off.
His face shared the same features as Olivia—as if they were born from the same womb, inheriting the looks of their twin mothers—but while Olivia was slender and curvaceous, Aidan was over 190cm tall with a body bulging with muscles hardened by swordsmanship.
Even if the comparison wasn’t Olivia, he did not have a body that could ever be mistaken for a woman’s.
And yet, cross-dressing? Exactly how?
“He might not notice!” the Viscount yelled back, refusing to lose ground.
“The Count who is supposedly Olivia’s fiancé… is he blind?”
Aidan didn’t want to be rude, but unless the man was literally blind or had vision so poor it bordered on it, he couldn’t understand how the Viscount could be so sure the Count would see Aidan as a woman.
“That’s probably not the case. But it’s not like he’s going to strip you naked…”
“He won’t…?”
“Just insist on it.”
Aidan was momentarily speechless at the irresponsible answer.
Viscount Orte came up with excuses as if they were nothing.
“There are all sorts of people in this world. If the Count says your body is impressive, tell him you have a hobby for exercise and that’s how it ended up.”
“…Are you actually looking for Olivia?”
Aidan suddenly had a suspicion.
The suspicion that the Viscount might have taken the money from the Count, married Olivia off somewhere else, and was now sending Aidan in as a shield.
Perhaps he thought that once the Count realized Aidan was a man and killed him in a rage, the Viscount could just wash his hands of it, claiming it was a scheme cooked up by someone else.
Yes, that might be it. The Viscount Aidan knew was exactly that kind of person.
“Didn’t I tell you? I’ve hired rangers. They’ll get in touch within two weeks at the latest. So three weeks is all we need, Aidan. No more, no less—just hold out at the Count’s estate for exactly three weeks. I beg of you. And to be honest, I did think about sending another woman like you said. But what if that stand-in fails to keep her promise and decides to seduce the Count and take Olivia’s place? If I mention the contract and tell her to hand the position back to Olivia, do you think she’ll just say ‘yes’ and step down?”
She probably wouldn’t.
Aidan conceded that point.
His heart wanted to say the man was overthinking it, but his reason understood the Viscount.
You can’t know a person’s inner thoughts just by looking at them.
Most people willing to act as a double because they needed money would be poor or commoners, and for such a person, the position of a noble’s wife or mistress would be incredibly tempting.
“Aidan. Just three weeks is all it takes. By then, I will bring Olivia back by any means necessary.”
The Viscount’s eyes and voice were more serious than ever.
He seemed to truly believe that everything would be resolved in three weeks.
Since there is no greater persuasion than sincerity, Aidan brushed away his earlier suspicions.
Then, in a slightly softened voice, he voiced his concerns.
“Three weeks. Fine, fine. Let’s say I go undercover as a woman. But how do you plan to handle the swap when Olivia eventually returns? You’re turning into a completely different person overnight. Do you think the Count will really believe that?”
This was a fairly difficult problem.
