Honey, I Believe That’s Your Misunderstanding

trigger warning: depictions of violence/cruelty

—

The immediate vicinity was quiet, but it’s not that far from the banquet hall.

She wasn’t exactly nearby, though she was still in a spot where she could see the guards in front of the hall’s entrance.

Feeling as though she was stuck on the bench she was sitting on, Grace hesitated before she turned to look.

And, not so far away, she could see knights’ armors reflecting the moonlight.

At the center of it all was a beautiful black-haired man, who had an overwhelming physique…

‘Lucas Blacke!’

It was a bit far away, but she couldn’t not recognize him.

“For you to attempt to betray the Royal Family and sell off the country? With all the nerve you’ve got, it might be nice to slice you open just to see how big your guts¹ are.”

His low, deep baritone murmured those frightening words so casually.

“Ah, perhaps not. If we take out your guts and you die, then you won’t be able to tell us who the traitors are…”

His voice was so calm to the point that it was so chilling.

“Aha, since you dared to touch Her Royal Highness the Princess, cutting off your fingers one at a time might be good.”

“N-No! Don’t! Shit!”

“Restrain him.”

As though they truly were going to cut it all off, the knights moved in unison.

The shocked Grace hurriedly covered her mouth.

She had a habit of hiccupping whenever she got surprised, and she might start doing that now.

She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew that it would be better not to let her presence be known right here.

She turned around. No, she tried to turn around.

Unfortunately, however, her frozen legs would not move at all.

‘T-This can’t be. I have to run. Stop looking, Grace O’Ellin!’

Her own hand, which was covering her lips, trembled badly.

Cold sweat trickled down like rain.

Her head creaked like a rusty tin metal and would not budge.

In the meantime, Lucas Blacke unsheathed the sword from his waist.

Shiiing.

The distinct sound could be heard so terrifyingly close.

“……!”

With such hostility in his eyes, the captured man struggled.

Please, anyone—anyone at all who’s hearing this. Please rush to this place and stop it.

“Aack! AAAACK!”

Grace’s poor legs, as they couldn’t lead her to escape, shook heavily.

She couldn’t even let go of the remaining strength left in her legs. If she collapsed here, she was so afraid that she might get discovered.

With her wide eyes, she watched the tip of the sword glinting brilliantly beneath the moonlight.

That luminous light was in such dissonance with the terrible moment.

Right then…

“A-Ahh…! Uh, umpfh! Mmmnnh!”

Screams started bursting out from the captured man’s mouth, but there was a hand that coldly blocked out the sounds.

And, through the air, bright red blood spurted.

A streak of red could be seen as well on the cheek of the man, who was like the incarnation of the god of masculinity.

The moon had been covered by the clouds for a while now, but its radiance flowed down at that moment, of all times, and the face of the handsome man was revealed. His visage was splattered with blood.

Grace could not endure any longer.

‘You can’t faint. You can’t close your eyes.’

But even as she thought this to herself, she could feel her consciousness already slipping.

And it was that day.

The first day that Grace O’Ellin fainted after seeing Lucas Blacke.

* * *

‘But who carried me back after that?’

As Grace woke up in a daze, she grimaced as she recalled the memories of the day which she still could not forget.

She had been plagued with nightmares for almost a year after that day.

In her nightmares, severed fingers would constantly jump up at her.

She had a weak constitution in the first place, so she was practically ill for that year. She had to recover first before returning to high society.

Fortunately for her, meanwhile, all marriage talks went down the drain.

Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin was greatly disappointed, but he couldn’t very well force the sick Grace back into the banquet halls.

However, as soon as she returned to society, a marriage candidate was thrusted upon her yet again.

And it was Lucas Blacke again!

“Why on earth can’t you just marry that Lady Alendia? Why marry me? Why!”

Why didn’t they get married when it sounded like they were going to get married right away?

Grace rose to her feet and nervously paced around her room.

The light negligee dress, which served as her nightgown, cascaded in waves along her mature body line.

While she closed her eyes, what came to mind was Lucas Blacke as he was dressed in a dapper suit.

She heard that, these days, he had put down his sword and started being more hands-on with his business.

And he was supposedly working hard on the management of his estate…

Nevertheless, the bloodstains on his sharp and beautiful features did not leave her mind.

Even while looking like that, she imagined him smiling dreadfully at her!

“N-No way…! I need to tell Father right this instant that I can’t get married to that man.”

Eventually, Grace rushed out of her room with this in mind. Her face was as white as a sheet and her fingertips were shaking immensely.

Her father was about to go out soon.

He said it a few days ago—stressed it several times even—that he had many important people to meet.

He mentioned that he would be out of the mansion for about ten days.

And among those important people he had to meet was Lucas Blacke.

That’s why if she wouldn’t tell her father about this now, the engagement might never be broken off.

She had to speak up as soon as possible.

Grace ran down the stairs with a very pale face.

Just around the corner now, she was about to reach her father’s study.

But then, standing right in front of the door and holding the knob was a man in a dark gray suit.

“Lady O’Ellin?”

Lucas Blacke stood tall, staring back at her.

* * *

As soon as Lucas saw Grace running towards him, he remembered what his aide, Jaime, told him.

“Pardon me? She called your name even while she was unconscious?”

It all started with a simple question.

While putting on his tie, Lucas suddenly remembered what happened with Grace.

He wasn’t really expecting much from this, but he nevertheless asked his faithful aide.

What do you think about a Lady who keeps calling my name even after she has fainted?

Jaime was in the middle of attending to Lucas at that moment, but he soon stopped what he was doing. His eyes were twinkling.

“Oho? Oho…!”

Instead of answering the question, he just began hovering around Lucas.

He looked like a puppy looking for a good spot to take a shit in.

“You look like you’ve gone crazy, Jaime.”

As if he couldn’t hear what Lucas just said, Jaime sniffed here and there while kicking up a fuss.

All the while, he kept saying weird things like, ‘I can smell something, I really can.’

Jaime had been Lucas’ aide since they were young.

Being the skilled employee that he was, he could handle his work perfectly without needing to be asked twice about anything.

He was a very capable aide whose hands were quick and moved even quicker on his feet, but there was one downside: he sometimes acted like this.

It was also because they grew up together that they were close like this.

In the end, Lucas couldn’t stand it any longer, so he pushed away Jaime’s head as he was very close to him. Then, he spoke nervously.

“You know I don’t like people hovering around me.”

“Ah, right. I apologize, Your Excellency.² I was just so excited. You know, of all things, I fell asleep in the middle of reading a detective novel last night. Haha!”

What kind of correlation was there between a detective novel and him sniffing around Lucas?

However, before Lucas could even try to question this nonsense, Jaime spoke up again.

“So you said that Lady Grace kept blushing in front of Your Excellency, right? She can’t make eye contact with you, and her hands even kept trembling a little?”

“I guess. She wasn’t just shaking a little, perhaps more intensely, but… What does that have to do with anything?”

Clap!

Jaime exaggeratedly clapped once, as though he was having a eureka moment. Then, he cried out.

“Oh, I can’t believe it!”

After shouting cheerfully, Jaime burst out into a guffaw.

His sudden racket made Lucas’ brows furrow.

He hated any sudden noises.

Just by looking at his muscular physique and beautiful appearance, some people thought that he would fit right into the splendid lifestyle that the capital would bring upon.

Or, there were also many rumors that followed him, perhaps because of him once being a knight of the Crown Prince’s royal guard before. However these notions were all very far from Lucas’ original personality.

Unlike his glamorous appearance, he much preferred a quieter way of life.

He would usually get nervous whenever he’d be thrusted into noisy or crowded surroundings.

He hated any type of situation that might make him uneasy.

Had it not been for the Crown Prince’s request, he would not have forced himself to stay in the capital for the past few years and would have instead remained just in his fief.

But since he was the head of the household now, this had become impossible.

In any case, he still much preferred having a quiet and solitary outdoor life in the tranquil countryside.

He liked beautiful sunsets and endless fields.

“Then! Didn’t you also say that when Lady Grace fainted, Your Excellency gave her a handkerchief and she smiled a little?”

As Jaime continued to buzz around him in excitement, Lucas glared at him.

‘…Hm, should I kick this guy with one hind leg?’

It was a very tempting impulse.

If this guy would get kicked like that, his voice might just drop an octave, maybe…

“Your Excellency, this must be it! The famed metrosexual of Rozenta! Everyone’s lover! As a mage of love, I, Jaime Brade, stake my honor on it! This must be it!”

Lucas continued to side-eye Jaime as he got louder and louder. Those shins looked awfully tempting as targets.

If Lucas were to kick those right in the middle, he’s very confident that he’d be able to break them.

“W-Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I had a fleeting thought that, you know, maybe you’d finally be quiet if I kick you right there.”

“…W-Wait a sec, just listen to me!”

He hesitated.

He was just about to lift one leg, getting ready to kick, however.

“I’m sure of it—Lady Grace has fallen for you! It’s too big of a deal that she fainted and even called Your Excellency’s name!”

¹ For this part, it was actually ‘liver’ in Korean because to them, the liver is connected to one’s guts/courageousness. That doesn’t really translate very well in English though, so I instead used ‘guts’ here.

² Lucas is a duke, so he normally should be addressed as ‘Your Grace’, but since our FL’s name is Grace, it might get a bit too confusing moving forward. I’ve instead opted for ‘Your Excellency’, I hope you don’t mind.