The Doll Has a Name Chapter 22.2 - About Us

Kise could feel the man chuckling softly as she posed the question.

 

Ah, I really spilled it. I spilled it all over, on this man’s shoulder. 

 

The moment she saw it, such gloom filled Kise, and she fell into deep despair over how to make up for today’s disgraceful affair.

 

“It’s just a simple body search, so don’t be nervous.”

 

“I didn’t steal anything.”

 

“It’s a very important personal matter for me.”

 

“If you say so.”

 

Leonhardt adopted a posture that seemed to say, ‘Go ahead, touch me all you want,’ permitting Kise’s contact.

The moment permission was granted, Kise unhesitatingly reached her hands toward his upper body. 

 

And then she groped around wildly.

 

‘A damp feeling…!’

 

The sensations from her fingertips raced along her nerves, past neurons, heading toward her brain in real time.

 

Finishing her detection, she finally withdrew her hands, and Kise took a deep breath.

 

💫

 

Eyes as deep blue as glacial ice shot a look at Leonhardt’s face.

 

“You cheated, didn’t you?”

 

Even her voice was clear and ringing.

 

“Hm? Cheated what?”

 

Adjusting his clothes, which showed signs of the intense physical contact, Leonhardt tilted his head. 

 

Even so, he smiled lavishly with a face full of decadent charm.

 

Hey, pretty boy, get lost!

 

Kise mentally kicked the flying ‘pretty boy’ label away with her foot.

 

“You cheated.”

 

“Cheated, Kise?”

 

“Swindler. Deceiver. Toyer-with-people.”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Leo.”

 

Cutting him off firmly, Kise raised her slender fingers, brushing them over the area in question—Leonhardt’s shoulder. 

 

To confirm the kill, she gently touched it once more, but far from being damp, all she felt was the soft, fluffy texture of the fabric.

 

“There’s nothing here. Nothing at all.”

 

“I didn’t say anything either.”

 

Is this how you’re going to be?

 

“My actions!”

 

“I did touch you because my shoulder was stiff, but?”

 

“It didn’t feel like that. You can’t just lie as easily as you breathe. You intentionally embarrassed me. Clearly.”

 

“You’re misunderstanding something.”

 

“I must be understanding something correctly.”

 

Even after being directly called out, Leonhardt continues to play the visual role with nothing but a sunny, ‘I don’t know anything’ smile.

 

I clearly told him to stop teasing me.

 

At this point, it seemed safe to assume this mischievousness was just his innate personality.

 

Then, the definite feeling of being tricked by a smooth-talker set in, and this man, who had touched upon a woman’s petty pet peeve, began to seem like a cunning, polite, and handsome villain.

 

The three things that protect a woman’s pride,

 

• Her hair

• Feigned innocence that doesn’t go too far

• The outfit to wear to an ex-boyfriend’s wedding

 

Out of these, Leonhardt had violated the second one.

 

Struggling to resist the impulse to pinch his reddish lips curved in a smile, Kise put force into every joint of her fingers.

 

Leonhardt let out a small groan and, wrapping his hand around Kise’s wrist, moved her hand away from his shoulder.

 

“Try not to do things like this.”

 

The man’s fingers, which had been wrapped around her entire wrist, slowly crept into her palm. 

 

Stealthily, then again stealthily, they gradually felt their way up along her inner skin.

 

“I’m starting to feel strange.”

 

A deep, low voice entangled hers beautifully. 

 

Heat, concentrated where their skin touched, flared up intensely. 

 

Kise immediately twisted her wrist and pulled her hand free. The moment she pulled away, the cool air, a stark contrast to human body temperature, chilled her skin.

 

“What you’re misunderstanding, it’s really not that.”

 

“Your mouth is smiling though? All bright and cheerful.”

 

“Your eyes are smiling too, aren’t they? Beaming?”

 

It was a battle of wits that lasted only a few seconds.

 

Kise, who had been shooting sparks even while smiling, half-resigned herself, thinking something like, ‘Ha, alright. Wow, you’ve got some nerve.’

 

She walked right past Leonhardt and said, “Alright, fine. Let’s just say I misunderstood.”

 

Then, with a swift turn accompanied by a whoosh of wind, she added, “Though I’m not sure whose misunderstanding it really is!”

 

Leaving a laughing Leonhardt behind, she strode briskly alone and knocked on the door handle of the house with the golden sailing ship sign.

 

This place would be her space to sleep and eat from now on. 

 

Therefore, first impressions were crucial.

 

Kise softened her expression with some lip exercises—‘A-E-I-O-U’—and vigorously rubbed the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand to artificially add a dewy moistness.

 

She made sure to remove her earrings and necklace, flaunting just the right level of poverty to emphasize the necessity of having to live in someone else’s house.

 

Finally, the door opened. It was the moment when Kise, filled with anticipation, was about to part her lips to speak.

 

“Pleased to meet—”

 

“Goodness! Why are you so late?”

 

“Shouldn’t we go in now?”

 

“I’ve been waiting! But did you two fight?”

 

“No?”

 

Just a minor misunderstanding? 

 

Leonhardt, brushing past the frozen Kise and stepping inside, answered Tristan, who had opened the door. 

 

Following that, Tristan’s voice asking, “So who won then?” faded from earshot.

 

“…”

 

Kise’s arms, which had been trembling, moved on their own, swiftly grabbing Leonhardt’s arm and the back of Tristan’s neck.

 

“Hey, that hurts! What are you doing!”