TLPIF 09

Chapter 9

Every time she met him, he always gave her a cold look, as if frost had formed in his eyes!

Unable to believe what she was seeing, Kassia opened her mouth wide.

Perhaps she had stared at him with too much shock on her face.

The Grand Duke’s expression quickly returned to its usual lazy, emotionless look.

‘Somehow…… that’s a little disappointing.’

She swallowed the saliva that had gathered at the back of her tongue and thought so.

For a moment, just a very brief moment, she had actually had such a crazy thought.

Had she lost all common sense just because she sometimes lost her mind?

Now that she knew the Grand Duke was suffering from a potion’s side effects, there was still something she needed to do before their conversation could truly end.

‘An apology.’

She had to apologize properly and sincerely.

After all, it was a potion maker who had sold the love potion to Lady Clovis.

As the successor of the Talpiot family, which was responsible for potion makers, Kassia lowered her upper body deeply with a serious expression.

“As the successor of the Talpiot family, which is responsible for potion makers, I apologize for causing you trouble, Your Grace.”

She bowed so deeply that her nose touched the floor.

Huh?

The surface felt firm rather than soft, so she looked to see what it was……

Oh, no.

The thing her nose was pressed against was the Grand Duke’s thigh.

His firm thigh muscles twitched beneath her warm breath.

Oh dear.

Whenever she was with the Grand Duke, she kept making one mistake after another.

“I’m sorry.”

Feeling awkward, Kassia rubbed her sore nose and apologized again.

At that moment, a glimmer appeared in the Grand Duke’s cold eyes.

His eyes were usually emotionless, but when some unreadable feeling entered them……

Honestly, it was even more frightening.

As she swallowed nervously, the Grand Duke opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for the right moment.

“I originally planned to find the culprit who made the potion and make sure he could never pull any tricks again for the rest of his life.”

“Make sure he could never…… hic!”

“But for the sake of your pride as someone with a strong sense of responsibility, I suppose showing some mercy would not be a bad idea.”

The Grand Duke’s tone was rather indifferent.

Perhaps that was why.

His words moved Kassia twice as much.

He acts like he doesn’t care, but he really is kind.

She looked at the Grand Duke as if to say, You’re better than I thought.

In response, the coldness surrounding him seemed to grow even colder.

‘Oh dear. I really shouldn’t get too close to him.’

Kassia slowly moved her bottom, putting some distance between herself and the Grand Duke.

As far away as possible.

When she reached the very edge of the bed, she barely managed to keep her balance.

She had to put all her strength into her feet.

Under the Grand Duke’s intense gaze, her curled toes wiggled.

The atmosphere wasn’t exactly hostile……

But an awkward silence floated around them like dust.

“Ahem. Your Grace has forgiven me, and all I have to do is study the love potion and make an antidote.”

She had been rambling about anything that came to mind, hoping to break the awkward silence.

But as she spoke, a wonderful realization struck her.

It was as if she could see a brilliant light in the distance. It was still far away, but it was there.

She only needed to analyze the ingredients of the love potion the Grand Duke had taken to make an antidote.

It shouldn’t take too long.

In other words, she would soon be able to say goodbye to the wicked Grand Duke.

“Heh heh.”

Feeling relieved, Kassia grinned without realizing it.

Her smile looked as if she had finally gotten rid of a painful tooth.

The Grand Duke’s eyebrow twitched.

It was a fierce movement, like a worm dancing in the sunlight.

And the feeling behind it was pure spite.

“You look like you’ve finally gotten rid of an annoying bug that was clinging to you.”

Oh dear, he was practically a fortune-teller.

Startled, Kassia hunched her neck and rolled her eyes.

At a time like this! She absolutely could not fall out of favor with the crooked-minded Grand Duke.

If she wanted to say goodbye safely with her head still attached to her body, she had to be careful.

‘Let’s throw away our pride and everything else for now! That way, there won’t be any trouble later. Yes, yes~.’

She narrowed her eyes into crescent moons and put on an expression that looked as if she were terribly hurt.

“Not at all. An annoying bug? Who would think that? Come on~.”

“……”

“How could the Grand Duke, whose beauty could make even the goddess of beauty jealous, be compared to a wrinkled, squishy bug?”

“Hmm.”

Kassia stared at the Grand Duke as he drew out the last sound.

No matter when she saw him, his face was truly handsome.

Just looking at him was enough to cleanse both her eyes and her soul.

But there was a limit to what a handsome face could do.

Wasn’t that obvious right now?

She had run out of things to talk about, even after desperately squeezing her brain for conversation, and things had become awkward again.

Honestly, that was how she felt.

“Um, then I think you can leave now……”

Kassia carefully suggested that the Grand Duke leave.

Still, her tone clearly meant, Could you please get out of here now?

He was sure to understand, since he could easily see through things she tried to hide. Yet, for some reason, the Grand Duke seemed reluctant to leave.

He even suddenly threw himself backward as if he had fainted.

“I’m hungry.”

……He said he was hungry.

Kassia’s enthusiasm instantly disappeared, and she looked out the window with a hollow feeling.

Dawn was already breaking.

She wished he would leave before morning fully arrived……

But the Grand Duke didn’t seem like someone who would do what she wanted.

Since things had come to this, she decided it would be better to feed him until he was full and then send him away quickly.

After making up her mind, she spoke through gritted teeth, pretending to be kind.

“How about pea and quail soup? I’ll prepare a few other things so you can have a simple meal.”

“Not bad.”

Every second counted if she wanted to part with him sooner.

Grumbling to herself, Kassia hurried out of the room.

She didn’t notice the Grand Duke watching her from behind before turning his gaze toward the rooftops beyond the window.

When his eyebrow twitched, a black shadow leaped into the air.

And so, morning arrived.

Morning had arrived, but……

The shameless Grand Duke was sitting on the sofa with his left leg crossed over his right.

His appearance was more dazzling than the morning sunlight, but what did that matter?

Anxious, Kassia asked, hoping to tell him, It’s really time for you to leave now.

“Aren’t you busy?”

“……”

There he went again, pretending to be a man of few words.

He had spoken more clearly and fluently than anyone else in the world at dawn.

Unable to stand the sight of the annoying Grand Duke, Kassia fought the urge to punch him.

“Are you not going to leave?”

As if answering her question for him,

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

The sound of hooves shook the ground.

“……What is that?”

Startled, Kassia pulled open the orange curtains and looked out the window.

“……”

Again. Again.

Those damned knights.

The knights known as the Black Snakes were lined up in the yard, riding pitch-black horses.

There seemed to be at least fifty of them.

And that wasn’t all.

At the sight of the knights, potion makers and customers alike rushed over to watch.

“What on earth is……?”

As Kassia stared outside, unable to finish her sentence, the Grand Duke stood up.

“I suppose it’s time to go.”

He rose leisurely and left the room, leaving the stunned Kassia behind.

A little while later.

As soon as the Grand Duke appeared in the yard, the knights shouted loudly.

“Your Grace, did you have a ‘fiery night’?”

With that single shout, the voices of the onlookers spread like wildfire and merged into one huge commotion.

Because of all the noise, Kassia couldn’t clearly hear what everyone was saying.

But what did that matter?

There was only one phrase that entered her ears and stuck in her mind.

‘A fiery night’!

Just as she was about to shout that nothing like that had happened, the Grand Duke turned around and looked at her steadily, as if to silence her.

His silent gaze stopped her from speaking.

“……”

The Grand Duke raised one corner of his mouth wickedly and spoke in a sweet tone.

“I’ll see you later, Kassia.”

……Kassia?

Why was he suddenly calling her by her first name so affectionately?

That friendly remark coming from the Grand Duke’s mouth gave her the first chill.

What kind of scheme was he up to now?

Unable to figure out the dark intentions hidden in his mind, she got a second chill.

The sudden attack left her unable to think clearly.

‘Good grief!’

Kassia pressed a hand to her forehead, her brows tightly furrowed.

Perhaps he had predicted even this reaction. Or perhaps not.

While she was still too stunned to argue, he suddenly spoke again.

“I think I’ll spend the whole day thinking about the passionate night I shared with you, Kassia. I couldn’t sleep a wink.”

“……!”

After dropping a remark that would easily lead people to misunderstand what had happened, the Grand Duke mounted his black horse in a stylish manner.

With only one corner of his mouth raised, he looked so wicked.

Like a devil, he rode away while attracting everyone’s attention.

As soon as the Grand Duke’s figure disappeared into the distance,

Murmur, murmur.

“Oh my! Were Lady Kassia and the Grand Duke lovers?”

“Exactly. I never knew the Grand Duke, who is famous for being so cruel, could be so sweet.”

“Hehe. It seems our innocent young lady has managed to keep the Grand Duke under her thumb.”

“But if the Grand Duke, who is said to enjoy himself with three or four women at once, had such a satisfying night……”

“Hohoho. They must have tangled together again and again until their flesh and bones were practically burning!”

Good grief.

The situation had gone completely out of control.

The Grand Duke Penminid, the most famous man in the Empire of Carleon.

Just because he had left her house in the morning.

Just because he had called her Kassia.

That alone was enough for the rumors to grow wildly out of control.

“That supposedly energetic Grand Duke slept all by himself~!”

Feeling utterly dumbfounded, Kassia complained to no one in particular.

It wasn’t as if anyone would listen to her anyway.

Just as she was helplessly banging her forehead against the window, she heard heavy footsteps and turned around.

Her nanny was approaching.

She was shaking her plump body excitedly.

Her movements showed just how happy she was about her young lady’s romance.

“You even hid from me that the Grand Duke was your lover!”

“That’s right. I didn’t know the Grand Duke Penminid was my lover either.”

“Oh my! Since when did my honest young lady start pretending to be shy?”

……If only she were pretending.

Kassia stared blankly at her nanny, who kept shaking her plump body.

She stared for a long time with unfocused eyes, as if she had drunk three bottles of vodka.

Then she let out a deep sigh and raised her head toward the clear sky.

……To her mother, who was wandering somewhere in the Empire.

‘Mom, I think this life is a complete disaster!’