CH 11.1

Lila was alone in her room, embroidering. It had been two weeks since Michael had left.

Without the boy she saw every day, she felt empty.

“Ugh, I’m bored!”

She remember doing it to pass the time when she was alone in the manor, but now it was completely different.

She was bored and her fingers were sore.

Nevertheless, she pulled the finished embroidery out of the mold and unfolded it.

“Well, it’s beautiful, to say the least.”

The duke’s gray wolf was even better in her eyes than the imperial black wolf.

“Maybe it’s because I hate the crown prince.”

Muttering to herself, she unfolded the handkerchief, which was embroidered with a three-dimensional roaring gray wolf.

Its piercing emerald eyes were striking.

“Okay, I just need to get the borders right, and then I’m done.”

The reason she was embroidering the Montefeltra family crest on her handkerchief now was for the hunt.

“What’s with the sudden invitation?”

It was an imperial tradition to hold a hunting tournament before the arrival of autumn. It was meant to celebrate the fall harvest.

As farmers harvest, wild animals come down from the mountains. They instinctively know that food is plentiful.

The purpose of the hunting tournament was to reduce the population of wild animals and to capture game to sacrifice for Lupus.

The hunt, which lasts for three days instead of one, has another meaning.

It was also a time to confess one’s love to the opposite sex.

A woman hands an embroidered handkerchief to a man who is out hunting. A man who catches a lot of game and rises in rank presents the imperial prize to the woman who gave him the handkerchief.

It’s usually given to a spouse or lover, but unmarried young men and young women want to give the handkerchief to someone they’ve always admired.

“I’ll tie the handkerchief to the bow where everyone can see it, so I’ll do my best to not embarrass the duke.”

Lila murmurs, drooling on the thread. She smiled at the thought of tying a nice handkerchief to his bow.

“Done!”

Lila exclaimed, stretching.

“I’m not done yet.”

She said as she unfolded her finished handkerchief. She touched the brown silk handkerchief, which was nicely embroidered with a gray wolf and the name ‘Lucas Hugh Montefeltra’ in white.

“Mmm, it’s fine.”

Lila got up from the couch to give it a quick wash. She went into the bathroom and wiped her face with a lightly damp handkerchief.

As she left the bathroom, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

She said as she untied her hair. She ran my fingers through it lightly and headed back to the couch as she heard someone enter the room.

Lila stopped in her tracks and turned around at the sound of a voice.

“Wife.”

Lucas entered the room, taking off his jacket. He slung it over his arm and smiled at Lila.

“You’re here?”

He had been to the manor today, and his face was tired as he approached her.

He wrapped his arms around her naturally thin waist and gave her a pecking kiss.

“Yes, I’m here.”

Lucas loved this time at the end of the day, when he could hold Lila in his arms.

He wished he could swallow her sweet scent in one gulp, but even just this light embrace made him feel better.

“What did you do today?”

Lucas asked, sitting down on the couch. Lila gave him a sour look.

“It’s a secret.”

“A secret? Why?”

Lila let out a small laugh as she watched him make a puzzled face. Whenever she saw Lucas with that look on his face, she couldn’t help but giggle because he looked so much like Michael.

“Seriously, even if you are uncle and nephew, how could you look so much alike?”

Looking at her curiously, Lucas replied.

“He’s always looked more like me than my brother. Since he I born. I never thought I looked so much like my brother.”

“Do you happen to have any self-portraits of the former Duke?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Why?”

“Why, he didn’t want to have a face like this in a painting.”

His nonchalant answer made Lila bristle.

“I really don’t get it, it’s freckles, not an ugly face. I honestly think freckles are so cute, I just don’t get it!”

Missing a subject, but knowing full well who she was referring to, Lucas laughed, making a windy sound.

“Yeah, it’s like the Imperials are all a bunch of idiots. Oh, let’s just include the nobles, the commoners aren’t as stupid as the nobles.”

“What was the hardest part about being a duke?”

Lila asked, trying to sound lighthearted. Lucas corrected her, smiling at her words.

“Lucas. I thought I told you to call me Lucas?”

“It’s… I’m just not used to it yet.”

“Well, I’d like you to say it in half a sentence instead of the honorifics.”

“Du, no, Lucas, you’re not the only one, but you do use honorifics.”

“Well, maybe you should start mixing it up like I do.”

“Really…”

Lucas chuckled as she crossed her arms and turned her head to the pack.

“The hardest time I ever had… Probably when I was eight or nine. I haven’t really thought of it as a struggle since then, maybe because I don’t really think about other people?”

He shrugged once, as if it were no big deal, and removed his vest, placing it on the table.

He tossed the crossover tie he was wearing onto the table and straddled her thighs.

“Hmmm, very nice, is there anything else you want to ask me?”

“Um… about our wedding.”

Lucas, who had been listening to the words flowing from her mouth as sweetly as if he were listening to a performance, opened his closed eyes at the word wedding.

“Why? Even if you change your mind now, it’s useless. The contract has already been terminated.”

She hadn’t meant to say it, but Lila’s eyes narrowed at the mention of canceling the contract.

“I thought destroying one side of the contract didn’t mean destroying the entire contract. And wasn’t that a magic device, so you can just destroy it and get away with it?”

Lucas glared at her questioning, then looked away.

He hadn’t taken it, but he felt like an unwitting accomplice.

“That’s strange, why do you sound so confident?”

Lila stood up to check the contract, suspicious of the way Lucas looked away and the way he spoke. No, she tried to get up.

Pressing one hand lightly on her leg, Lucas admitted.

“I destroyed yours too…”

“What?”

Lucas replied in a low voice as he took her hand.

“Michael found it and brought it to me, and he said I was an idiot.”

“…Michael found it?”

Lila was shocked that she didn’t know. That would mean he knew before she confessed.

“No, why are you telling me this now?”

“Michael told me not to tell you.”

Even though he never did, Lucas answered shamelessly.

“But it is! I don’t even know what to say and when to say… If I tell him, won’t he be disappointed? I’ve been thinking about it!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m well aware of that, so why don’t you lower your voice a little, my ears are really hurting?”

“Ugh!”

Lila couldn’t resist and pushed Lucas’s head away. Unable to push him with her strength, Lucas, who had been gently pushed out, lost his balance for a moment and fell down the sofa.

“Huh?”

“Lucas?”

It wasn’t a hard hit, but it was loud, and Lila looked down at him, a contemplative expression on her face.

Lucas wasn’t in pain, but he was purposely pretending to be. If he didn’t do this, he’d have to take the brunt of her anger.

Then again, he wasn’t the one who’d taken the contract away from her.

“Ugh.”

Lucas, who had never been sick except in heat, placed a hand on his chest and groaned.

Lila’s eyes widened at his behavior and she descended on his body.

“Where does it hurt? Where, your heart? Where did you get it?”

Lucas shook his head, his eyes searching hers as she asked more questions.

“What, your arm?”

She took his arm and squeezed it, and Lucas felt happier than he’d ever felt in his life.

He rarely laughed, but now, in her presence, he broke into a genuine smile, and her words gave him courage he hadn’t known he had.

He had never been interested in other people, but when it came to Lila, he knew her habits, and he researched her family.

His interest in and behavior toward Lila was a little twisted, but no one noticed.

Not even Lucas, himself.

Lucas narrowed his eyes at Lila as she leaned down and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“You yell at me, and it hurts. Come on, do me a favor. Last time I saw you, you were nice to Michael.”

At the jealousy in his voice, Lila’s worried expression faded and her eyes narrowed.

“Are you lying to me?”

“No, I’m not. It’s really hurting my heart.”

“…really?”

“Uh, put your hand up.”

He took her hand and placed it over his own heart. His heart, which had been beating gently, began to beat wildly at the contact of her scent and body heat.

“…uhh…”

Lila gave him a look that said, ‘Is it really hurting?’ Lucas stared at her without missing a beat, and his hand groped for her pelvis.

“…now what…”

He tugged at the back of her head as he opened her mouth in a frown. Swallowing her lips in one bite, he parted them with his tongue.

He found her inner flesh with familiarity and swirled his tongue around it. A slurping sound filled the room.

Lila was lost in the sweetness of his body heat and scent as it washed over her. It was always like this with him.

She could never resist him. Not that she ever wanted to.