The Main Character's Body was Taken by the Villainess.

Having arrived at the meeting place, Belver clutched Bellatrix's sleeve with trembling hands.

Even though time had passed and the day of the tea party had finally come, his anxiety remained unchanged.

What if he caused trouble after going in? What if he accidentally bit his tongue and made a strange sound?

Bellatrix found such a nervous Belver nothing but adorable.

"You don't need to be so nervous. The rumors have already spread as far as they could."

"Isn't that the problem?! What if they find out we've switched...!"

Bellatrix honestly couldn't understand anymore.

He'd been asking what to do every hour for nearly a week now.

She had repeatedly told him to just maintain a blank expression and not say anything.

"Just keep a straight face and don't say anything, like I told you?"

"That's not easy, you know?! How can I not respond when someone talks to me!"

Belver clung to her, his eyes now welling up with tears.

Perhaps it was thanks to meeting and walking around together every day for a month.

He had discovered that while small mistakes were embarrassing, she would let them slide as endearing.

Even so, he was still just as scared, but right now, he was more afraid of being discovered at the tea party.

He wished Bellatrix would do something to help.

For Bellatrix, she couldn't understand what he wanted her to do when she couldn't even attend herself.

She had already told him everything he should and shouldn't do.

Now, it was all up to Belver.

"Let's make a deal then. If you cause trouble, I get to play pranks on you all day on a day of my choosing."

"How does that benefit me?!"

"Won't it make you try your hardest not to cause trouble because you hate it?"

"You're right. Thanks to you, now I have a reason I must succeed."

Belver felt an enormous surge of courage, though he wasn't sure if he should thank her or blame her for it.

If she hadn't done this, it would have ended with just words of comfort, but now he was facing a whole day of teasing if he messed up.

Her pranks, which he never got used to, no matter how many times he experienced them, made him both terrified and determined.

However, Bellatrix was already planning what kind of pranks to play and when, watching Belver's serious expression.

She hadn't even considered the possibility that he wouldn't cause any trouble.

It wasn't just Belver who had learned about their counterpart over the past month.

"Look forward to it if you cause trouble."

"I absolutely won't! Well, I'm going now!"

"Have a good time."

Belver tried to step down from the carriage with an attempt at a haughty attitude but stopped and quickly ran back to Bellatrix.

When it came time to actually leave, his courage had failed him.

He hoped she would give him some encouragement.

Bellatrix understood Belver's intention and smiled slightly.

Everything about his actions and intentions was just cute.

"You'll do fine."

"Hehe. Thank you."

Bellatrix patted his head carefully so as not to ruin the hairstyle she had helped create, and saw him off outside the carriage.

Seeing him giggle happily at just a bit of praise made her chest feel warm somehow.

She still found it amazing that she could feel such emotions.

She had thought everything inside her had frozen and been discarded.

"Such a manly man, yet totally a maiden at heart."

It was clear that Belver should have been born a woman but, through some divine mistake, was born a man instead.

***

Upon entering the meeting place, Belver closed his eyes and muttered quietly.

Since it seemed no one had arrived yet, he wanted to take his time preparing mentally.

The courage he had gained from Bellatrix's praise had already been completely spent just by entering.

"I can do this."

"Do what?"

"Eek!"

The problem was that he couldn't handle unexpected shocks he hadn't prepared for.

When Roho, who had somehow silently approached from behind, suddenly spoke, he let out a startled chirp like a baby chick.

Belver realized the situation after making the sound, but it was already too late.

He collected his startled thoughts and stepped back to check where the voice had come from.

There was Roho, smiling brightly with her face right next to where his had been.

When had she arrived?

Belver hadn't even noticed when she had gotten so close.

"I was picking flowers. You're early."

"I am early. Is that not allowed?"

"Of course it is. I'm just happy we got to meet like this."

Belver responded with what he thought Bellatrix would say.

It was too late to follow the advice about not responding at all.

He had already made a cute, dainty sound that Bellatrix would never make.

Even as he spoke, he was acutely aware it was too late.

But being brazen was what Bellatrix would do.

"Shall we sit down?"

"Sure."

Roho was convinced by this brief exchange.

That the current Bellatrix had changed significantly.

The woman who had seemed crafted from eternal winter's frost had become a maiden like a springtime sunflower.

First, the sharpness had disappeared from her tone, becoming softer.

Clear emotions began flowing in eyes that had shown no feeling before.

And above all, she had become incredibly cute.

Using her old way of speaking while in such a softened state was extremely adorable.

In reality, the person inside had completely changed.

"What's your relationship with him? Are you lovers after all?"

"With who?"

"The gentleman you're always with."

"Ah... we're nothing like that."

He hadn't expected her to ask so directly if he was dating Bellatrix.

Belver was grateful he hadn't been drinking tea at that moment.

If he had had tea in his mouth, he would have surely spit it out in an unsightly manner.

While people whispered among themselves because of their status difference, no one had actually asked before.

At the same time, his face turned bright red at the realization that they appeared to be lovers to others.

Seeing the sudden blush, Roho briefly doubted if she was seeing things correctly.

The mask that hadn't cracked even under Bellatrix's verbal attacks nearly fell off.

She thought it was truly a frightening change as she continued speaking.

"Really? You two seem quite lovey-dovey together."

"That's just unavoidable."

"Hmm."

She clearly didn't look convinced.

Belver wanted to pound his frustrated chest.

His eternal regret was that he couldn't honestly say they had switched bodies.

While he had come to like Bellatrix over the past month of living together, excluding her teasing and pranks, it would be disrespectful to her.

Belver heaved a deep internal sigh.

So this was how painful it was to carry a secret that couldn't be told.

He hadn't known before since he hadn't talked to anyone besides Bellatrix and her maid while attending the academy.

"What do you like so much about him?"

"I don't like him."

"Don't lie."

"It's true."

He didn't give in to Roho's persistent questioning.

Though he had discovered countless good things about her while getting to know her, Bellatrix would surely never admit to any of them.

It would remain his secret that he had almost blurted out, "I like this about her!"

Unlike Belver's thought that he was doing well by not answering, Roho was steadily gathering information.

Because with each question, small cracks appeared in that iron-clad voice.

Whenever she asked about the mysterious man, his voice would tremble slightly, and his lips would quiver, wanting to turn upward.

If she wasn't mistaken, his cheeks had also turned a flushed pink.

'Love has completely changed this person.'

Roho never imagined that the person inside had actually changed.

It made more sense to think that love had reformed her character.

She looked every bit like a maiden in love, after all.

'Ah, I want to go back.'

Whew. Belver enjoyed the brief respite after the barrage of questions with a small sigh.

She had been so persistent that he had almost answered carelessly.

It was also frustrating not being able to say he liked what he liked.

He felt like being brazen and saying he liked her since everyone already thought they were lovers anyway.

Not in a romantic way, but in a friendship way, but he did like her.

If he hadn't already made one mistake, he probably would have said something, thinking once would be okay.

He was only being extremely careful because he had already messed up early on.

It seemed the pranks wouldn't end with simple pranks if he made mistakes multiple times.

While he didn't want to lie about not making mistakes, he tried his best to be careful.

"How did you two meet?"

"We met by chance."

"So it was a fateful encounter."

Belver subtly raised his hand to check his expression.

Thankfully, his blank face hadn't wavered.

Though he couldn't be certain, it seemed he had avoided the bright, grinning expression that Bellatrix had constantly warned him about.

The problem was that he felt like he was getting caught up in Roho's pace.

It was somehow frustrating how she kept nodding as if she understood everything and smiling with satisfaction.

It wasn't exactly a dismissive look, but rather like someone watching something cute.

He was about to start thinking about what he could do to dramatically change that look.

That is until the door opened, and an ear-piercing scream rang out.

"Where is Salazar!!"

"Eek?!"