Honey, I Believe That’s Your Misunderstanding

Strange and unexpected words burst out from Jaime’s mouth.

Lucas’ foot had already left the ground, but it came back down.

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting now, Jaime? Have you finally become a dog once and for all?”

“Ah, really! I’m not barking or anything, Your Excellency! My words are credible!”

“Hm, I didn’t know that barking like that can be considered credible, too… Good grief, if my aide becomes a dog, then I wonder how I’d be able to continue working. Fine, I can just divide your salary and use that to give a raise to both Chloe and Deron.”

“Y-Your Excellency!”

After Lucas stroked his chin and murmured to himself, Jaime cried out in terror.

“I can’t even get a raise for myself, but how could you divide my salary and give it to those punks! You can’t! No, besides that, make a bet with me!”

Jaime was particularly fond of betting.

He would pick his racehorse and make his bets.

Though worried that his aide might someday lose everything he had on his wagers, Lucas asked.

“A bet?”

“Yes! When you go to the O’Ellin residence and Lady Grace either comes running to you, or hides somewhere while watching you, please give me a ten percent raise.”

“Hoh, look at you, trying to rob me in broad daylight.”

“Well, you never know. The esteemed Lady Grace O’Ellin is the young miss of a prestigious noble household and is known for her virtue, so what are the odds of her doing such things in front of Your Excellency?”

“Then why are you betting on such a slim chance?”

“It’s exactly because it’s not too probable that I’m betting. I don’t bet on anything that looks all too certain. The stakes would be too small.”

‘…I might need to assign a gambling addiction counselor to him.’

As Lucas was staring at Jaime seriously, the corners of his shapely lips turned up into a smile.

But it was a smile that looked more evil than any villain’s smile.

“Alright, let’s make a bet. But, Jaime.”

“Yes?”

Following his smile, the small scar on Lucas’ chin moved.

It was a few years ago when he got injured while doing his duty as the crown prince’s escort knight.

You’d think that a scar would stand out negatively on his magnificent features, however the scar itself added to the man’s beauty and suited him.

His overwhelming masculinity was further highlighted by the scar.

With his eyes bent, Lucas smiled and spoke with a tone laced with mischief.

“If you lose, your salary will be cut by twenty percent.”

“…WHAAAT?!”

“A great prize has an equivalent risk. There’s nothing you can do about that. Hound, behind us, will be our witness.”

Lucas added as he nodded his chin towards the direction of his guard, whose name was Hound. He was standing there like a shadow in the corner of the room.

Even if he had been told that the emperor had been ambushed just now, the expression on Jaime’s face right now was even more drastic.

But soon, that expression changed into a face full of bravado as he shouted.

“…You’ll see! No take-backs! I’ll use this opportunity to raise my salary! I have a good feeling about this!”

* * *

‘I have a good feeling about this!’

‘I have a good feeling about thiiiiiis!’

‘I have a good feeling about thiiis…!’

Trying to shoo away Jaime’s echoing voice inside his head, Lucas stared back at Grace, who was running in her sky blue dress.

Cha-ching—

In Lucas’ ear, the distinct sound of Jaime’s salary being raised could be heard in real time.

“Hah, uh, hmpt!”

On the other hand, after Grace ran in such a hurry like that, he saw her stopping all of a sudden.

She looked at him with a helpless expression, panting heavily and uncontrollably.

“Hu, huuk! Huuk!”

With her eyes wide open, her blushing cheeks became as red as before, the last time he saw her.

As she appeared in front of him like a surprise gift, Lucas’ expression turned a bit odd.

It was because of a few conflicting reasons.

No doubt about it—she was wearing a nightgown. However, despite the somewhat loose and disheveled outfit, her pink face was definitely flushed with excitement. His thoughts were all tangled up, but the one thought that arose was rather…

‘I can’t believe Jaime’s barking wasn’t just a dog’s nonsense.’

He felt so conflicted because the unbelievable situation that Jaime boastfully predicted actually happened.

If that’s the case, then did this woman really come here to greet him? Did she really like him?

Thinking about it that way, it’s as if everything Jaime said was right.

Whenever she looked at him, her face would turn all red like a rose at dawn, her fingertips would tremble, and her beautiful purple eyes would grow ever so round.

Of course, there had been quite a few young ladies who had been chasing after him until now.

Those young ladies were like sparrows who would go kyaah, kyaah! whenever he’d look their way.

The sparrow ladies would usually sneak up to him and recite a list of desserts that he didn’t even want to know about.

However, those ladies and Grace in front of him were so different.

No other woman had ever expressed her feelings for him so quietly and so intensely.

No, it seemed like she couldn’t hide it in the first place.

‘She really… towards me…?’

Feeling quite moved, Lucas stared at Grace, whose complexion was turning pale.

Unlike her feeble appearance, she must be a woman with extraordinary passion.

Right, it was evident just by looking at her honest moves.

He’s intrigued.

And the most intriguing thing was this—that he constantly found himself being interested in her.

He liked her quiet and tranquil atmosphere.

Something about her seemed to keep tugging at Lucas.

‘C’mon, calm down.’

While inwardly calming down the enthusiasm simmering within him, Lucas gave Grace quite the gentleman’s greeting.

“Hello, Lady Grace. It’s been about a week since we last met. Are you feeling better?”

“H-Here, why…”

“Marquis O’Ellin said that there’s something he’d like to discuss with me, so I dropped by.”

Lucas’ tone was relaxed and gentle.

Contrasting his dark brows, icy blue eyes and sharp countenance, his voice was as sweet as melted chocolate.

“I also wanted to ask if you’re doing better now after you fainted that day.”

As a formal greeting, Lucas tried to kiss the back of her hand.

And he was about to—if only the shocked Grace hadn’t stepped back in a hurry.

“Ah, um, it’s quite alright, you don’t need to.”

Grace mumbled with a trembling voice, covering herself as she was wearing only thin clothes.

Only then did Lucas realize that Grace was feeling embarrassed because of her current appearance.

‘Goodness.’

He again became conscious of her thin, white nightgown as the sunlight streaming through the hallway’s windows poured down on her.

Unexpectedly, Lucas saw her delicate figure outlined through the hem of her white nightgown.

“Ah, I’ve been discourteous.”

He quickly averted his gaze, but he had already taken a glimpse of her slender silhouette.

Grace’s pale face turned bright red.

‘Why did I run outside without wearing a robe first?’

Grace took a step back, wanting to die that very instant.

Lucas Blacke.

No matter how politely this man spoke with a voice as sweet as honey, she couldn’t easily forget her fear towards him.

Even as her legs were shaking, she wanted to bolt right out of there, but she held on to her nerves and endured it until now.

Because it would be extremely rude to run away after encountering a guest, who was now in front of her.

‘…I’m not even decent.’

Ah, all she wished for at this moment was to become like the dog that was raised by the gardener Roham—that golden retriever which would jump high and crash its nose into something whenever its plate was full, that simple life.

“I t-truly apologize. I’ve acted in a way that I shouldn’t have in front of a guest. Then, I shall be on my…”

Grace was trying to escape the situation however she could, however Lucas stopped her.

“Please wait.”

And his hand reached to touch the belt of his coat.

At that moment, Grace unconsciously recalled what happened back in the royal palace’s garden, when Lucas took out that frightening sword.

With the tip of that sword glinting brightly beneath the moonlight.

That cold, sharp image.

Feeling her vision turn faint, Grace staggered back a few steps in fear.

Without even remembering that there was a staircase right behind her.

Surprised, Lucas immediately reached out and tried to grab her.

“Grace, behind you…!”

However, reaching out to her only made Grace flinch even further back.

“Ah…?”

Grace lost her footing and met only air.

And she felt her body tilting downwards.

‘N-No—’

Grace instinctively reached forward.

She could feel her nightgown fluttering over her thighs.

Before closing her eyes, she saw the man’s face.

It was only a moment, but she was struck with the vivid sight of his blue eyes staring straight at her, wide and so filled with more shock than she was feeling.

Those clear blue eyes remained like an afterimage beneath her tightly closed eyes.

At that moment, a firm hand grabbed her wrist.

His vigorous strength pulled her so easily back into his arms, as though she was lighter than just a sheet of paper.

At once, Grace was enveloped in his strong, wide embrace.

‘This right now… What’s going on…?’

At first, she was in denial of what just happened, so she couldn’t think of anything else.

The only thought she had was that she’s still alive. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt.

Then, as she became aware of the body scent of the man who had wrapped her in his arms, the scent keenly entered her senses.

While being a cool and refreshing scent, at the same time, it was a clean fragrance like soap.

It was such a clear and fine scent that utterly didn’t match the mental image she had of him.

“Are you alright, Grace?”

He asked while letting out a sigh of relief.

It was a low whisper.

With Grace’s cheek resting upon him, she felt the man’s firm chest rising and falling against her.

She slowly, stiffly raised her head and looked at the person holding her.

The first thing she saw was his angular jaw, which had a small scar.

And next, his blue eyes.

Like the sea, or perhaps like the sky. A shade of blue that was so clear and crisp.

Lucas Blacke’s blue eyes.

“……!”

As though jolted back to her senses, she became aware of the current situation at once.

The small body, which was sturdily supported by Lucas’ thick forearms, started trembling in fear.

“You must be surprised. It’s alright now.”

To him though, it only seemed like she had gotten spooked by her near-fall.

At that moment.

Bang!

The door of Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin’s office slammed open without any warning.

“What on earth is all the fuss going on out there…!”

Her father’s shouts could be heard beyond Lucas’ broad shoulders.

The stunned Grace’s eyes started trembling inexorably in a different sense.

“Duke Blacke…?”

Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin called Lucas with a questioning voice, but he soon caught sight of a different kind of fabric fluttering at one side of the man.

“Grace?”

…She’s in such huge trouble.

t/n: a more accurate way of translating Jaime’s ‘barking’ is actually ‘bullshit’, but it didn’t exactly match the doggo context lol