Chapter 54
“While I was away from the mansion, I simply assigned one of my knights to you.”
“Was that really necessary?”
“Consider it my personal satisfaction.”
He gripped her calf through her skirt, hidden beneath the fabric. The gesture said he wouldn’t entertain objections. It was the first time she’d discovered this kind of uncompromising stubbornness in him—he was usually so tender. When she realized it was about her safety, Luirene couldn’t press further.
“I actually spoke with her about it already. I asked if she’d consider leaving the mansion work and coming to work at my bookstore. I don’t mean any ill toward her, but… she has a strong personality and seems to easily draw the ill will of others.”
“There are personalities that don’t suit communal life.”
“So… I’m thinking of matching our holidays next week and going to the bookstore together.”
“The bookstore. A place I miss.”
She could tell what Hitaon meant by ‘miss’ from the way his hand traced the scar on her cheek. He was merely touching a wound, yet the gesture was so sticky, so lingering. Luirene smiled softly, then spoke.
“If Eneka does submit her resignation later, could you approve it quickly, young master?”
“If it earns me more points with you, gladly.”
“I’d be able to lean on you even more than I do now.”
“More than enough.”
Hitaon smirked and rubbed his cheek all over her head. At the more unreserved skinship than usual, Luirene blinked.
“Did you go to the imperial palace again today?”
“No, today I met with Broil.”
“I smell alcohol.”
“We shared a celebratory drink.”
“Did something good happen to Sir Pesche?”
“Yes. That fellow’s getting engaged soon.”
“That’s happy news. Will there be an engagement ceremony?”
“Yes. It’ll be next week.”
“Do you know who the bride is?”
“A daughter of House Monsel, I think he said… The moment I heard the news, my insides twisted so badly I couldn’t take in anything else.”
“Why? Don’t tell me… because he’s getting engaged before you, young master?”
“Yes.”
He admitted it plainly, as if there were no point in hiding it, and loosened his cravat. He pulled the white cloth free, took Luirene’s hand, removed the glove, and wrapped the fabric around her ring finger, tying a playful knot.
He rested her hand on top of his and gazed at it quietly, then let out a small chuckle—his expression half-smudged with intoxication. Tipsy, Hitaon turned rough and candid, like a boy who never learned to hide a thing.
“You said we wouldn’t be impatient.”
“I know. I know.”
Hitaon’s voice came out tightly locked as he stroked Luirene’s calf, hidden beneath her skirt. It was as if he was steadying himself, revisiting the wound his impatience had once caused—just as she’d said. A touch that couldn’t quite extinguish a pinch of desire drifted upward, kneading softly at her stomach.
“Young master. Today I’m…”
“I know. It’s that time, isn’t it?”
Luirene nodded. Tonight, of all nights—their first secret meeting in a while—her monthly visitor had come.
“How did you know?”
“I can tell just from your face and the way you move.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“You look a little pale, or your body seems drained.”
He kissed her earlobe and rubbed gently at her belly.
“I’ve heard the pain can be quite bad.”
“Today is on the easier side.”
“Which means, on the flip side, there are days when it hurts badly?”
“Yes. It varies each time.”
“What a truly bothersome function. Isn’t there a way to stop it?”
“Once you’re quite old, or if you become pregnant…”
Pregnant. It wasn’t such a special word, yet somehow the tip of her tongue tingled. The hand stroking her stomach stopped at the exact same moment—she wasn’t the only one who’d felt it.
“…Pregnant. I see.”
He held Luirene close and stroked her stomach for a long time. It seemed less like he was gauging the pain brought by her monthly visitor and more like a kind of anticipation—dwelling on a different visitor that might arrive someday, in a very distant future.
“Summer will be here soon. You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“Word is this summer will be especially hot. My parents are busy making plans to retreat to the territory to escape the heat.”
“Will you go with them, young master?”
“No. I’m staying here.”
Which meant a stretch of time was approaching when they’d be freed from the suffocating surveillance—a chance to taste a little freedom. Luirene wiggled her ring finger, wrapped round and round with the cravat, and thought: she wished the world would hurry and fill with pale green hydrangeas.
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