The Ring of Bondage - Chapter 1.9

II.

The banquet held in the annex of the ducal residence had a clear purpose. It was a place where alphas and omegas from noble families gathered to look for marriage partners. By custom, banquets with such a purpose were held by families with an alpha or omega who had just come of age.

So it was only natural that the host of today’s banquet was the Cunningham ducal family.

“Now that everyone is gathered in one place like this, the scent is so overwhelming that it makes me dizzy. Don’t you think so?”

As Luke listened to his dance partner’s words, he realized something strange. He could hardly sense the pheromones that should certainly be filling the hall. Even the fragrance of the flowers placed here and there was drifting faintly, so was it possible that he couldn’t smell all the pheromones gathered here today?

When he focused his senses, only then did he catch a faint scent of pheromones, but then all of them belonged to disgusting alphas.

As Luke looked around the banquet hall in puzzlement, he soon found the answer. An imprint must have occurred during last night’s lovemaking.

It wasn’t strange. His feelings for Yuria had always been sincere, after all.

“That’s true.”

Luke answered as he took the waltz steps he had learned from Yuria. Because her teaching had been perfect, there were no mistakes in his steps even while he entertained stray thoughts.

Naturally, the thoughts filling Luke’s mind were about Yuria. Was Yuria still asleep in that shabby room? If he had his way, he would have had Yuria sleep in his room, but it would be troublesome if bad rumors spread before their relationship had even been properly defined.

The straight-laced Yuria had no idea how to protect herself. If she heard some absurd rumor, she was the kind of person who would examine her own conduct instead of protesting. She was strict about right and wrong, calm, and diligent.

Because she was that kind of person, Luke had never even imagined that she might be an omega. He didn’t know why she had lied and become his governess, but she must have had her own circumstances. The Yuria who Luke knew wasn’t cunning enough to approach him for the sake of money or social advancement.

Yuria’s lessons always ended with self-study. While Luke reviewed what he had learned that day, Yuria would sit by the window at sunset and clean her glasses. That was Luke’s favorite time of the day. The way Yuria’s reddish-blond hair was dyed by the sunset, and the way her shadowed eyes, usually hidden behind her glasses, were revealed.

At times like that, Yuria gave off a very faint, subtle scent of water. A scent like warm bathwater before bath salts were added. It was so faint that by the time he noticed it, it had already slipped away and disappeared.

Luke deliberately turned the pages slowly and stole glances at her every day. Beneath her long eyelashes, which fell sorrowfully downward, and her straight nose, were lips that almost never smiled.

Yuria’s posture never faltered either, so at times she felt less like a living person and more like a statue. A beautiful and perfect statue, but one that wouldn’t even glance his way no matter how he reached out. That was why Luke wanted to see her smiling face. It wasn’t an easy thing.

When Luke had mastered dining etiquette perfectly, Yuria praised him with a dry expression instead of smiling at him. When he gifted her an expensive accessory, she refused him flatly, saying it was far more than she deserved. He had thought he had lived a life where he could obtain anything he wanted, so how could facing the smile of a mere governess be so difficult?

But that very point made Luke impatient. His feelings, mixed with admiration and desire, grew in an instant.

One day, Luke casually told Yuria that since she was his teacher, she had the right to read the books in the ducal residence. Yuria lost her words for a moment as she looked at the books densely filling the large study, then soon pulled out a geography book.

That was when Yuria smiled.

In her face, blushing as she smiled like a girl, there was no longer any trace of a strict teacher. It was also the first time Luke learned that her green eyes could look so fresh and vivid.

That very moment, Luke’s world was overturned in an instant. The center of the world no longer revolved around Luke Cunningham. Luke stared blankly at the new center of his world, Yuria Rigbye.