Chapter 108

By all means, Liv hadn’t meant to hear this from him.

“I don’t want to hear it anymore. I mean, why did you tell me this? What will you do if I go around and talk about this?”

Liv, her face was pale white, eventually spoke back to him in a scolding tone.

“You said you don’t want to expose both your identity and job, didn’t you? It’s careless of you to say it out in the heat of the moment.”

“Anyone can find out my identity through a little investigation, and for the Marquis… It doesn’t have to be me, anyone would have been checking his background. This is not something to talk about openly, but it’s also nothing to hide.”

Liv’s jaw dropped as she listened to Camille’s shameless statement. Was it really okay to proudly open up that he had been snooping on someone?

“Even so, why would you…”

“I’ve told you before that I’m interested in you. And it has nothing to do with my job.”

As though he felt better after letting everything out, Camille had found back his carefree smile.

“I felt like I would never get close to you if I didn’t tell you this. And I don’t want you to keep seeing me as a suspicious person.”

“Have you ever had the thought that I might be even more distant from you after hearing that?”

“Your question made me regret it a bit, but… it can’t be helped. It’s better than lying, isn’t it?”

Liv was speechless for a moment. It might have sounded more persuasive if he said he wanted to sleep with her once, but what he was saying now didn’t sound like he meant it that way.

Even so, it didn’t sound romantic to her. Rather, it made her disturbed. They had only been running into each other and sharing a conversation a few times. Moreover, this suspicious approach from Camille hadn’t been started recently.

“I really can’t understand. You’ve been friendly to me since the first day we met, Mr. Marcel. Are you telling me that you did it without any ulterior motives?”

“Ah…”

This time, Liv’s point left Camille speechless. Scratching his forehead and looking perplexed, he replied in a dejected voice.

“Yes, I will let you know about it. At that time, I thought you might have some connection with the Marquis.”

“Me and the Marquis?”

“To be precise… I was skeptical that the Marquis of Dietrion’s visit to the Vendons estate was truly due to his relationship with the Baron couple. Therefore, I tried to keep a close eye on everyone who was present when the Marquis visited the estate.”

Liv remembered her first meeting with the Marquis. When they had stumbled upon each other due to a mistake of a servant.

That led her to recall that the buyer of the nude painting she was working on at the time was the Marquis. There was already a connection between her and the Marquis without her realizing it. Of course, the Marquis wouldn’t have known that Liv was the model for the painting, but…

He wouldn’t, would he?

He must have learned Liv’s identity after receiving the nude painting with her side profile depicted. Since he recognized her from the painting, he would have acted as if he knew her in the chapel. If not for that nude painting, that great man would never have recognized her.

“That’s such an… absurd speculation.”

“Well, there was no lead at all. But in particular, I found it was a bit interesting that your movements strangely overlapped with the Marquis’.”

Liv thought of the little chapel she used to attend. She had never imagined it then, but now she knew. The Marquis had shown up at the chapel to see her.

“So, have you solved that suspicion?”

“The Marquis really visited the Vendons estate for an art deal. He’s a very picky man, and apparently must have what he sets his eyes on. Normally, he buys works of art through the director of the Royven Gallery, but the one the Baron had purchased was through a different source.”

It appeared that the only reason Camille was so friendly with Baron Vendons was to find out about his relationship with the Marquis. And it turned out that he had been barking up the wrong tree.

“Do you think it has nothing to do with me?”

“If you’re making fun of me, I’m really sorry, but let me tell you this. I’ve figured out that he’s resolutely avoiding women.”

“Resolutely…”

Liv lowered her gaze, mulling over Camille’s answer. She felt like Camille and she were talking about a different person. The more the distinction grew, Liv, strangely enough, felt the closer she was to the Marquis.

Though the Marquis did not show the slightest consideration for her, who was new to the world of sex, and often rubbed her the wrong way with his sarcastic remarks.