Portrait of An Arrogant Master - Chapter 81

“Ah! I-I’m so sorry, Duke!”

Startled, she quickly released his hand, nearly flinging it away in her panic. Duke Krygen stared at her for a while, and Macy was paralyzed with dread, fearing he might scold her on the spot.

“Why don’t you take a short break?”

Instead of reprimanding her, the Duke left the room without another word. Macy felt her legs weak and sank into a nearby chair.

“What’s wrong with me? Why is this happening?”

She clutched her head in self-reproach. The faint scent of cigars lingered where the Duke had been sitting. The room felt stiflingly hot, as if it were collecting all the heat of midsummer.

* * *

Macy wondered why her heart kept racing whenever she saw Duke Krygen. She thought about it on the carriage ride back, before bed, upon waking up, and while painting.

After much contemplation, she finally came up with a plausible reason.

‘It’s the scent. It’s like Pavlov’s dogs.’

The unique cigar scent triggered her heart to recognize the Duke as Eren, causing her to feel fluttery. Since she didn’t know Eren’s face, she likely associated Duke Krygen’s scent with Eren, causing these feelings. If it weren’t for this bizarre occurrence, she couldn’t make sense of it.

Although this explanation seemed a bit odd, it was the only one that made some sense.

‘And don’t their body shapes seem somewhat similar?’

Not long ago, Eren had lifted the fabric slightly to show her it was daytime. For a brief moment, she had seen his lower body silhouette, and it looked similar to the Duke’s. The size of his hands and long fingers were also comparable…

‘Oh, I should stop thinking about this.’

The more she thought about the similarities, the more everything seemed alike. If she had known Eren’s face, this situation wouldn’t have happened. It didn’t make sense that she would mistake someone for the same person just because they had a somewhat similar scent.

As Macy was wrestling with her thoughts, a deep voice interrupted her.

“Why don’t you lie down and rest?”

He must have thought she was sleeping since she was sitting on the bed with a cloth over her eyes. Given that she had jumped up as soon as the door opened before, it was understandable he would make such an assumption.

“I’m not asleep. I was just thinking deeply and was lost in thought…”

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

The sound of outer garments being removed was followed by the bed slightly tilting. As soon as he lay down, he pulled Macy into his arms, gently smoothing her forehead as if trying to understand her thoughts.

The deep scent that complicated her feelings emanated from his hand. Macy took a deep breath and hesitated before speaking.

“Um…”

“What?”

“That is, ah, never mind.”

“……”

“It’s just……”

“……”

“Do you, by any chance, have any siblings? Like, twins or something…”

“If you have something to say, just say it directly. I’m not a fan of beating around the bush.”

Eren’s voice was slightly cold. But what could be said about the fact that Duke Krygen and Eren had similar voices and shared a similar scent…?

“Well… Eren doesn’t have a partner, does he?”

In the end, she asked an irrelevant question.

She suddenly recalled that Duke Krygen was about to get engaged, and she wondered if the engagement was something discussed with his name master. Or was it still separate from the concept of marriage…? Macy became curious whether Eren thought the same way.

She wondered why she hadn’t considered this scenario before, and now, if Eren had a beautiful lady like Lady Werfel beside him, she’d probably be quite upset.

“You’ve been having pointless thoughts.”

“Right? You don’t have anyone. Haha, of course not. There’s no one, right?”

“Just go to sleep.”

“Can’t you give me a clear answer?”

Macy grew anxious, feeling as though he was evading the question. Finally, Eren spoke in a monotone voice.

“There’s no one.”

“Oh, that’s a relief!”

In her moment of excessive joy, her words tumbled out uncontrollably. Macy stopped abruptly, realizing she had spoken too candidly. She could almost imagine Eren snapping at her about what that had to do with their relationship.

“Well, then what about you?”

“What about me?”

But Eren said something unexpected.

“You probably don’t have a lover. So, who is someone you’d want to kiss these days?”

“……Are you joking with me?”

“No. I’m serious.”

Is he serious…?

Eren’s voice was so flat that it was sometimes hard to tell whether he was joking. Macy had previously thought his comment about wanting to kiss multiple people was a joke, but his voice carried no trace of amusement.

“I don’t want to kiss anyone else. Just you, Eren…”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Should I believe you or not?”

“It’s the truth…”