By Mayo Momoyo and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Fukigen na Koushaku-sama wa Uso Hakkenki Tsuki Reijou no Torisetsu wo Goshomou desu: Ophelia ni wa Uso wa Tsukenai” by Maple Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Victoria Kasahara.
I saw the premise for this and I thought it would just be another one of those “girl has an ability that no one understands except the guy who is perfect for her” books, sort of the distaff equivalent of “everyone says my power is useless but it’s the strongest power”. But the author does not go down that road, mostly as Ophelia’s power is literally crippling. Being able to tell someone is lying is bad enough given how the world functions around lies, but her body literally shakes the longer and worse the person is lying, to the point where she falls over just because her limbs are vibrating too hard. This is not a cute power, it’s actually a bit horrifying. Fortunately, the girl with the power is cute enough on her own, though it’s unsurprising that she has a bit of an anxiety problem, and she’s now found the perfect job… maybe?
Ophelia is an earl’s daughter, but unfortunately she’s rarely left the domain since she was a child, because… well, see the previous paragraph. In a world where divorce is almost unheard of because cheating is considered socially acceptable, she’s simply unable to cope… and her parents are one of the few couples who have ever had to divorce, for that very reason. All she has is her very overprotective brother and a job cleaning at the Architectural Institute. However, she is a young woman, and as such has wants and needs. She wants to see the Duke, who is very, very handsome, and that means forcing herself to go to a party. Unfortunately, when she’s near the duke and his fiancée Stella, she has a bad reaction and has to leave. Unfortunately for her, the duke eventually figures out what she can do, and requests she change jobs, as he’s in charge of interrogating lying nobles. And boy does he hate liars.
Despite its premise being a bit more focused on how much Ophelia’s ability affects her, this isn’t as dark as I expected. Claudio turns out to be an awkward guy who doesn’t like admitting things straight out, and boy has he fallen for the wrong girl in that regard. After hearing about Ophelia’s childhood I was worried that her family was torn apart by it, but as it turns out her mother still meets regularly with her and her brother, and seems very happy married to her lover. Indeed, this turns out to be an important plot point, as it turns out she’s not the only one dealing with wanting to marry someone else. Oh yes, there’s also a lot of talk of religious symbols and how important they are, and a different duke with a big secret. Actually, the other duke may be my favorite character, and I’m glad Ophelia and Gian ended up bonding.
This is complete in one, though if you like the author you may want to watch the Always a Catch! anime, based on another LN of theirs. If you like cute, awkward people falling in love despite a disability this is a good one.