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T/N: Today Id like to thank my Cookie Donors Emilia and Johanna! Thanks for the snacks!

Mmm, this feels so nice. A fluffy bed. Super soft pillow. Deliciously warm body heat.

.Body heat!?

Im so shocked my eyes fly open. In an instant, all traces of drowsiness are completely blown away.

In front of me I see lovely, long eyelashes, a strong, straight nose, and slightly thin lips. An unbelievably beautiful sleeping face. I feel like I could just stare at this face for the rest of my life and Id be happy.

.Wait, no. A villainess cant be swayed from the mere power of a handsome man!

Okay, snap out of it. Theres something more important to be thinking about right now. why is Duke-Sama sleeping next to me? And why is he shirtless?

..Wow, his body looks great though. Look at those muscles! I wish my muscles could look like that. But it seems that no matter how hard I train, even though Im clearly getting stronger, visibly you wouldnt be able to tell the difference.

Absentmindedly bemoaning my accursed body type, I take a look around the room. And realized that this. isnt my room.? My room isnt anywhere near as large as this, and the decorations here are much simpler too.

Which must mean that this is Duke-Samas room I suppose? Which also means that Im currently in the Royal Palace, right? But how did I get here. I dont remember anything that happened after getting onto the carriage. I must have fallen asleep as soon as I sat down.

Well, I guess I can figure out how I got here at a later time For now, theres really only one thing that I can do in a situation like this.

Lets hurry up and get out of here.

Without making a sound, I very carefully swing my feet out of the bed. And then slowly, slowly. I start to remove my weight.

And just where are you going?

I had been about to take my first step towards the door when I hear Duke-Samas voice call out from behind me. Could he have actually been awake this whole time?

Feigning nonchalance, I slowly look back at him over my shoulder.

Huh? Thats my diamond necklace. Why does Duke-Sama have it?

It should be around my.. wait, no. It wasnt there when I noticed the magic sealing collar. which is also now missing. My neck feels oddly bare like this.

This was in the pocket of the man whos head you sliced off, Duke-Sama says with an evil, teasing little grin.

No way. Are you telling me that I let my extremely valuable diamond necklace be stolen from me? I can feel it distinctly as the blood drains from my face.

Yup. Okay. Maybe I should be running away right about now.

Pretending as if I saw nothing, I turn away from Duke-Sama and make to bolt out of the room.

Come here, Duke-Sama says and then grabs me around the waist, lifting me up easily.

Isnt that move just foul play?

He sets me back down on the bed and has me sit down. But what Id really like to know is why I have to sit facing him.

This posture. Am I about to be in for a huge lecture? I need to stay strong now. A villainess cannot allow herself to lose her nerve just because of a bit of scolding.

But instead of saying anything, Duke-Sama just silently brings his hands around my neck.

..Huh? Why is his face suddenly so close to mine?

My mind goes blank. Then I feel something cold and hard laying against my chest and I look down and see that my diamond necklace is once again back in its usual spot.

Just as before the diamond glitters exquisitely.

Beautiful, Duke-Sama murmurs, his eyes looking directly into mine.

..You mean the diamond, right? Right.?

I wish youd say the subject of the sentence out loud. Then there would be no possibility of misunderstanding. You were being vague on purpose to tease me, I just know it!

His gorgeous azure eyes gaze deeply into mine. With just that look, I can feel my body growing hot.

What am I supposed to do in this sort of situation? If it was the heroine Im sure she would demurely lower her eyes. But, isnt looking away quite rude? Plus, if its something the heroine would do then I certainly dont want to do it!

Um, so, His Majesty the king

My mind still blank, I blurt the first thing that comes into my head and unwittingly switch the topic over to the king.

The moment the words pass my lips, Duke-Samas face clouds over darkly.

Typically, I never regret saying something once its already been put out there, but this time, seeing his face, I feel an incredible wave of sheepish regret pass over me.

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T/N: Chapter 100!! Woohoo!! To celebrate, this is a bonus chapter for you guys~! It wont count as one of the 5 for this upcoming week

Lol, I was literally just asking how many of you guys can accept Duke as the ML.. and now we get this! Man am I glad that more than half of you said you liked him XD For the 221 of you who like the flirting, the 85 of you who are hoping for a confession, and the 67 of you who can ignore the age gap, this was probably a fun chapter lol. Shocking, but fun. Unfortunately, that still leaves at least 9 of you disgusted, 49 of you bored from the romance, 66 screaming for Alicia to stay single and keep her eyes on the prize, and 9 of you wishing it was anybody but Duke.

There was also a record breaking number of people who just dont feel like they fit into any of the categories I supplied haha. A couple of people are shipping Alicia and Gilles (which is still a four year age gap in the other direction if I might add XD), one person who prefers Will still (LOL), and one person who wants a harem for her but is upset due to lack of decent male options. They admitted that Duke, Gilles, and Henry would suffice though! (But you know that Henry is her blood related brother, right? Thats just bringing along a whole new level of taboo hahahahaha) I also had a couple people say that they prefer the Gilles x Henry ship to the Alicia x Duke one, a couple more hoping for the romance to remain a slow burn until Alicias a bit older, and a couple more emphasizing their dislike by calling for Dukes head or yelling, DONT YOU DARE TOUCH MY ALICIA!!!

As you can see, opinions are pretty spread out haha. Weve got a super diverse lot of readers and opinions and that just makes this all the more fun~! Thanks for playing, guys!!