Chapter 155
Lance’s eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly grabbed Macy’s hand.
“Hello? I’m Lance Bayanen.”
Then, he lightly kissed the back of her hand. It happened so quickly that she didn’t have a chance to pull away.
“As the rumors say, you’re such a beauty, it’s almost a shame for you to be an artist. You’re Macy Horton, right? Or should I say Miss Horton?”
“Yes… hello.”
As he came closer, the smell of alcohol hit Macy. She instinctively pulled her hand back, gently rubbing the spot where he’d kissed it. She could feel his gaze scanning her face.
The slight smile on his lips was sly and suggestive.
“I expected a painter’s hands to be rough, but yours are surprisingly soft. Do you get special treatment or something?”
Why is he asking such questions?
“Lance, stop with the nonsense and come here. We couldn’t really play because we were short on people.”
“Oh, right. Got it.”
As Lance tried to continue the uncomfortable conversation, Marquis Lingston called for him.
Lance gave a casual nod and walked toward the billiard table. He walked away, but Macy’s hand still felt warm and irritated, and the tension in her didn’t dissipate.
She felt disturbed and uncomfortable, as if she’d been suddenly teased.
“She looks even prettier up close. Shouldn’t we call Tess too?”
Lance continued talking while playing billiards, shifting the conversation back to Macy.
“Tess said he fell for that artist at the engagement banquet, remember?”
“He couldn’t even properly talk to her at the banquet. What’s going to change here?”
“Still, it’ll be easier to talk to her now. No Baron Shearton around. Call him now, it’ll be fun.”
Macy had been told that there were only about five people originally. Was the group still incomplete?
It seemed like the number of people here might increase, given the way they were talking…
Macy found it harder to focus on her painting. Since Lance’s arrival, the men’s attention had turned in a much more obvious direction toward her.
At least Marquis Lingston tried to steer the conversation back to normal and keep the atmosphere in check, but that was all he did.
Whenever Marquis Lingston stepped away to drink or smoke on the balcony, the men, led by Lance, would hover near the easel, observing Macy closely.
Lance, who had been waiting for an opportunity to speak, seized the moment when Marquis Lingston went to the balcony and suddenly asked her,
“Are you no longer seeing Duke Krygen?”
“Excuse me?”
“You two seemed quite close. I heard you got close while painting his portrait.”
“…”
“Was that just a rumor?”
Macy froze. Eren had told her that rumors of her being the Duke’s mistress would spread soon.
But Lance seemed to be asking about their relationship more casually, and she wasn’t sure how to respond.
“We’re not close. How could I be close with the Duke…?”
After thinking it over, Macy decided to deny it. If she said that a commoner painter and a noble family head were close, it might hurt Eren’s standing, so she said no.
Lance grinned and spoke again.
“Well, I guess we can be friendly for a day. Right?”
“Eh? Yes.”
Macy didn’t fully understand the meaning of what he said, but she didn’t want to continue the conversation and awkwardly nodded her head.
She was still fumbling around, unable to get back to painting, when Lance suddenly changed the subject.
“Hey, the posture’s wrong here.”
“Where?”
“You need to draw it with the back bent more and the arm stretched out like this.”
Lance gestured toward Macy’s sketch. He was pointing out the posture of Marquis Lingston, who was bent over while playing billiards.
“Looks like you’ve never played billiards, have you? The pose is pretty unnatural.”
“Yes. I’ve never played before… Is it really that strange?”
“You just need to fix it like I said.”
He began explaining the basic billiard stance from behind Macy.
Where to place the most pressure while hitting, where the body weight shifts, and how to hold the cue stick—he explained every detail to her.
“You need to rest your middle finger on the floor and curl your index finger.”
“Like this?”
“Yes, and your thumb should be apart.”
“Ah.”
Despite feeling uncomfortable, Macy was able to talk to Lance easily now that the conversation had shifted to painting.
She was getting paid, so she didn’t want to produce a poor result.
“Just a little tweak here, and it’ll be perfect.”
“Oh, Lance, you know a thing or two about art, huh?”
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