Chapter 20
However, his gaze as he looked down at Rosen remained cold.
“How can I trust you, when you tried to run away without a word? Don’t even think about leaving here until you’ve paid back everything.”
“That’s too much! It’s not like I’m refusing to pay, can’t you cut me some slack…?”
Rosen unknowingly dragged out her words in response to his cruelly cold words. She was always conscious of etiquette outside to avoid bringing shame to the House of Lutèce or hearing that she was raised without parents. Although she was usually quite capable, when she was alone with him, habits from her childhood often resurfaced.
Perhaps it was because of the ease she felt in his presence during her childhood. Just as grown children remain children to their parents, everyone needs someone they can comfortably rely on. Knowing that Rosen only acted this way in front of him, Iscarion was still merciless.
“Don’t try to act cute. Did you plead with Esther the same way, asking him to help you leave?”
“Brother…”
“Lady Dana, do I have any reason to be more lenient with you?”
Had all the kindness he had shown been just a formal courtesy to his fiancée? His demeanor had grown cold, almost as if he were a different person, and she felt on the verge of tears. Moreover, his refusal to let her leave until she paid back everything—did that mean she was supposed to work at the grand duchy?
“What are you planning to do with me…?”
“Oh, who knows.”
As if assessing where she might be useful, his gaze slowly scanned her up and down, making her feel as if he were considering putting her to work as a maid. His finely shaped lips slowly parted.
“If you don’t want to be my fiancée…”
“…”
“I might as use you as a cxmdump.”
“W-What?!”
Rosen’s eyes widened in disbelief at the word that slipped out of his elegantly shaped lips.
“Brother! No matter how upset you are, how could you s-say such a thing?”
Thinking she should be angry, she was too shocked to speak properly. Instinctively, Rosen began to crawl backward on the bed. Using her hands to support herself, she paused as a strange sense of discomfort washed over her.
The nightgown she was wearing was a thin, silk slip dress. It was similar to the design she usually wore to bed, so she had assumed a maid had changed her into it. However, the sensation of the soft fabric clinging to her bare skin felt oddly different. For some reason, she felt strangely exposed beneath her skirt.
“…!”
Realizing the source of the odd emptiness she had felt for a while, Rosen gasped and curled up.
She wasn’t wearing anything under the thin, light nightgown. No corset, no petticoat, and not even the woolen undergarments usually worn in winter. The undergarments that should have been covering her modestly were gone.
The remnants of her sleepiness vanished instantly. Not only was her upper body exposed, but her lower body was also completely bare under her skirt. Feeling around the fabric near her hips, she confirmed the smoothness of her naked skin.
She hadn’t noticed it earlier in the dim room, but now with the curtains open and the room brightened, she realized her nxxples were visible through the soft fabric, making her head spin.
“W-Why…?”
“What’s wrong?”
Iscarion watched Rosen’s frantic movements on the bed with interest. His cold blue eyes, usually as frozen as a winter lake, softened slightly. He was dressed simply in a poet shirt and dark blue pants, typical of how he spent his time at home. As his gaze lingered on her collarbone and shoulders, and then slowly moved lower, Rosen felt all her body hair stand on end.
“Are you missing something?”
“N-No… don’t come any closer, hiiek!”
Trying to avoid his eyes, Rosen hurriedly moved back, but gasped as the smooth fabric brushed against her sensitive parts. The unexpected sensation made her reflexively squeeze her legs together. Feeling his piercing gaze settle between her legs, she clamped them shut.
Iscarion observed Rosen crawling into the darker corner of the bed but didn’t move to stop her. He recalled the torn piece of fabric he had removed from her lower body the night before, which had ultimately lost all function as clothing. Remembering the pleasure of burying his face in her intimate undergarments, he felt a familiar tension build in his abdomen.
“…Hiic, Brother, did you take everything because it was all bought with your money?”
“What?”
“I mean… did you order them to take everything, including my clothes, because you bought them?”
Iscarion momentarily widened his eyes at Rosen’s words. She seemed to think he had ordered the maids to retrieve her belongings.
Oh, how endearing.
Her innocent assumption almost made him laugh.
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