Chapter 125

He grabbed Liv’s arm, she was probably trying to step back in silence, and pulled her to his side in one swift motion. Liv opened her eyes wide.

“My Lord?”

“What is it?”

Demus let go of her arm and slid his hand down around her waist. As he rubbed his fingertips along the curve of her slim waist, Liv’s body stiffened. She then turned to look at Roman.

“Well, it’s…”

“Is there any problem, Teacher?”

“No, there isn’t, my Lord.”

Her neck and earlobes were stained bright red. Describing it merely as shyness would neglect the faint but discernible presence of anxiety and shame on the side of her face.

Demus ignored it, pretending to not notice the emotion he had read, and pulled her waist securely. Liv walked along, practically being carried by him.

It was an impulsive decision, but he liked the feel of the woman in his arms. Meanwhile, Roman glanced at Demus in wonder.

But perhaps because Demus had intimidated him before, he didn’t say anything carelessly.

“Welcome back, Master.”

The grand front door of the Lanxess manor opened, and the employees who had lined up to greet their master bowed. When they spotted Liv standing next to Demus, they looked puzzled.

Philip, who had come in first, must have told them beforehand. But seeing that they couldn’t hide their expressions must mean they were amazed with the way Demus acted now.

Well, this was Demus, who only accepted the bare minimum assistant from his servants as he didn’t keep people close to him, so they must be surprised with Liv’s presence he proudly kept by his side.

Liv seemed to feel their stares as well. The flush on her face didn’t faint down, but only deepened.

She twisted her body, apparently trying to keep some distance with Demus. But Demus tugged on her stronger, making her get openly hugged by him in front of the employees.

Looking at Demus with troubled eyes, Liv spoke in a small voice.

“My Lord, I will wait elsewhere.”

The way she kept trying to distance herself from him was cute at first, but it was starting to get annoying. Demus rolled his eyes, glancing down at the top of Liv’s bowed head.

“You will come if I tell you to come, and you will go if I tell you to go…”

He didn’t say the rest. Nevertheless, Liv must have heard it until “I will take my clothes off if you tell me to take them off.”

“Wasn’t that what you said?”

Liv didn’t answer him. But he could feel her body slowly relaxed. Demus’ mood, which had been going down, got a little better.

The body in his arm was soft.

***

Liv really had no idea what was going on in the Marquis’ mind.

Having herself eventually dragged to the Marquis’ office and made to sit alone in a corner, Liv swallowed a sigh and looked up.

The Marquis was listening to a report from a man named Roman a short distance away. At first, Roman seemed wary of Liv, but he was unable to defy the Marquis’ orders and began rattling off his report.

As a result, Liv was compelled to listen in on their conversation. Although she couldn’t understand all of it due to Roman’s adroit omission of the subject, she was able to infer a few things.

“Considering that he was able to shake them off, he may indeed possess skillful tactics.”

“Or maybe it’s just the glory of Eleanor.”

Not only was the Marquis aware of Camille’s existence, but he was keeping an eye on him, and he recently tried to do something to him, but failed.

Liv lowered her gaze, hiding her restless expression.

Why did the Marquis let her know about this?

“We’ll respond more aggressively.”

“Aggressively?”

The Marquis gave a faint sneer at Roman’s statement.

“He doesn’t give up, and hovers around the Vendons.”

“Well, is he hovering around ‘the Vendons’?”

Pulling out his cigar case with an indifferent look on his face, the Marquis looked back at Liv. Liv, who had been keeping as quiet as possible, blinked in surprise at his unexpected gaze.

The Marquis brought the cigar to his mouth while keeping eye contact with Liv. She could see the tip of his tongue darting out from between his slightly parted red lips.

“I wonder if that’s true.”

A strand of his platinum hair flowed down along his tilted head.

“What do you think about it, Teacher?”

Roman looked puzzled as the Marquis suddenly drew Liv into the conversation.

“… My Lord?”

“Sometimes you need an objective opinion from the outsider, don’t you think?”

The Marquis, who replied dryly, lit his cigar and addressed Liv again.

“You seem to be quite close to him, Teacher, so why don’t you answer?”