Chapter 59

Perhaps it was because the room was changed. Liv was ashamed to be without her clothes. Excusing herself to sit down to play the piano would probably be less embarrassing than to stand idle in the middle of the room.

Liv stole a glance at the Marquis. He, sitting on the sofa, looked down at his gloves, which were smeared with black ash, and was lost in thought.

“Do you want me to… continue playing?”

The Marquis, who seemed to be thinking about something while rubbing his thumb and index finger, raised his head to the question. Instead of answering the question, the Marquis looked at Liv’s exposed leg.

It was the most seriously injured area when she fell, and now it was a place stained with bruises and scabs.

The injury suddenly became itchy when the Marquis’ gaze landed on it. Liv faked a cough for no reason.

The Marquis, who tilted his head crookedly and watched her, raised his hands.

“You know, Teacher.”

Moving his lips slowly, he grasped the edge of a glove and pulled it leisurely.

“I like clean bodies.”

The glove was pulled out smoothly, revealing the man’s long fingers. From the way his hands were covered with gloves, she thought his hands would be fine, smooth, white and quite pretty, but the hands that were revealed were surprisingly manly, large and sturdy.

They also looked to be… perfect to hold a gun.

“So this is strange, you see. I think it won’t be that bad for your body to get a little dirty.”

Liv, who looked blankly at the Marquis’ hands, suddenly realized that his hands were part of his bare skin that had always been hidden. It was the first time that the Marquis, who had always covered his whole body thoroughly, took off his gloves in front of her.

Her heart beat wildly as she noticed it. Blood rushed through her body, and chills ran down the nape of her neck where his touch had been just moments before.

Not wanting her reaction to be noticed, Liv forced herself to speak.

“What do you mean by that, and with what are you talking about?”

“With anything.”

The Marquis tossed his gloves nonchalantly down the sofa. He seemed to have no intention of using them again.

“Preferably with anything I want.”

Liv’s face heated up.

Liv remembered Adolf’s reaction when she drew up the contract for this extra work. His blatant laugh, a response he gave when she asked what if the Marquis requested for something immoral and lascivious, which was not written in the contract.

Adolf acted as if it was rather strange for something to happen between her and the Marquis. But the situation right now…

Liv wasn’t a child, and she wasn’t naïve enough to not recognize the tension that flowed between the Marquis and her. She also wasn’t stupid to say it out loud.

It was better to pretend to not know it. Until the Marquis brought it up himself. She didn’t want to be treated as a woman who jumped at him because she desired for him. Though she didn’t know what led to that response from the Marquis.

Liv opened her lips to ask once again about playing the piano.

However, the words that came out of her lips were completely different.

“You came to the birthday party of the daughter of Baron Vendons.”

The Marquis raised his eyebrows at the sudden topic.

“Yeah, so?”

“… Your brief greeting led many to speculate. As you might have known.”

The Marquis propped his chin and leaned back. He responded to Liv’s words with interest.

“So?”

“I don’t know you well, but I’ve heard that you don’t normally interact closely with nobles. So, then why did you do that to the Vendons…”

The Marquis never visited the manor of the Vendons again after Millian’s birthday party. Nevertheless, Baron and Baroness Vendons were still buying paintings and decorating the mansion with great care to greet the Marquis, whom they had no idea of when he would come again.

It felt strange for Liv, who saw it every time she went for teaching. Would the Marquis really maintain his friendship with the Vendons? Even if the first visit was really because of the painting deal, was showing his face at the birthday party really for maintaining their friendship?

As she met the Marquis, and the more time she spent with him, the more the event at Vendons Barony became an unsolvable riddle in Liv’s mind.

She came to wonder if he had any other intention at least at the birthday party.

“Why are you curious about that?”

The Marquis asked straight back as if he had looked into Liv’s thoughts. Liv explained in a polite tone, putting all her speculations behind her.

“I am the teacher of the daughter of the Vendons. Ever since you attended the birthday party, there has been a disturbance in her life.”

“Oh, so this is about the heart of a teacher who cares about her student.”

There was a hint of cynicism in the Marquis’ voice as though there was something funny with Liv’s answer.

Liv, feeling her conscience pricked, thought of a more legitimate reason. But before she could give any further explanation, the Marquis replied briefly.

“To see you.”

Liv’s gaze, which was wandering at her feet, looked up at once. The appearance of the Marquis crossing his legs nonchalantly filled Liv’s wide open eyes.

“You would be different from what I know there. So I went to see you.”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know via our discord so we can fix it as soon as possible.