“Get out.”
“What?”
“Hurry!”
I whispered urgently, waving Kyle away with flustered gestures to shoo him out. He hesitated briefly, startled, before realizing the situation. Quickly, he activated a magic circle and disappeared from my office.
In the meantime, I scrambled to gather all the scattered papers on the desk.
When I didn’t respond for a while, Ian’s voice called out again from behind the door.
“…Eloise?”
“J-just a moment!”
Not yet!
I hastily shoved the papers into a drawer and spread out a few work-related documents from nearby on the desk.
“There… Oh wait, a pen, a pen!”
I grabbed an ink bottle and a quill, setting them on the desk before rushing to sit down in my chair.
Finally, I ran my hand through my hair as if I had been working and cleared my throat.
“Ahem… Come in.”
Only then did the quiet door click open.
“What were you doing? It sounded noisy.”
Did you really have to hear that, you Swordmaster.
“Oh, I was just doing some stretching.”
I stretched out my arms dramatically as I spoke, and Ian’s expression turned… peculiar.
“…Stretching?”
“Ahaha, you know how your body gets stiff when you sit in an office for too long? So, I thought I’d move around a bit.”
I forced a smile, but even I knew it sounded ridiculous. Ian’s gaze on me felt sharper than ever.
For a moment, silence hung in the air. Then, Ian nodded.
“I see.”
Huh?
He accepted that far too easily, leaving me completely dumbfounded.
‘Did I not get caught?’
I cautiously pressed a hand to my still-thumping chest. For now, I felt like I had narrowly avoided disaster.
Meanwhile, Ian, who had been holding the door handle, stepped further into the office. The closer he got to my desk, the faster my heart pounded.
“What were you working on?”
His gaze dropped to the desk.
“Oh, uh, I was drafting the budget plan for the Grand Duke’s estate for the year.”
“The budget plan…?”
His tone was curious, his half-lowered eyelids casting his expression in ambiguity.
Instinctively, my eyes followed his to the desk. And there, I could only clamp my mouth shut like a clam.
Of course, the documents scattered on the desk had nothing to do with the budget plan.
I had just grabbed whatever papers were within reach, so there was no chance I had conveniently picked the right ones.
Silently, I sighed to myself.
‘This is bad.’
I was, quite evidently, terrible at lying.
“…….”
Ian raised his gaze to meet mine, his eyes piercing. Naturally, he didn’t seem to believe a word I said.
“W-wait!”
Realizing too late just how clumsy I was, I flailed my arms to gather the papers and shielded them with my body.
Of course, given who I was dealing with, I knew this wouldn’t accomplish much.
“Um, so, you see, this is…”
I racked my brain for an excuse, feeling the weight of Ian’s gaze growing heavier.
Just as I thought I couldn’t bear it anymore, his tone lightened, as if trying to ease the tension.
“Don’t push yourself too hard, Eloise.”
“…What?”
Startled, I looked up to find Ian’s gentle expression meeting mine.
Wait, he believes this?
‘…Did he not notice?’
I cautiously glanced back down at the papers, only to see quarterly reports completely unrelated to the budget plan.
As I stared at him, dumbfounded, Ian tilted his head slightly with a faint smile.
“It’s not something urgent anyway. You have plenty of time, so take it easy.”
“…Oh?”
Then, as if teasing, he lightly tapped my cheek with a finger, his voice as carefree as ever.
His reaction left me even more confused. The excuse was suspicious at best, and the papers on the desk were clearly unrelated, yet he seemed to believe me completely.
‘Is it because we reconciled the other day, so he feels more at ease now…?’
Thinking back to how dramatic that reconciliation had been, I suddenly felt embarrassed.
Awkwardly, I let go of the papers I had been clutching and scratched my cheek.
“…Right? Yeah, I just wanted to get ahead on things.”
Whatever the reason, I was grateful he let it slide.
After a few forced coughs, I slowly lifted my head to meet Ian’s gaze. He was looking down at me with his usual calm demeanor.
“S-so, what brings you here?”
“…Ah.”
As if just remembering why he came, Ian let out a short exclamation.
“If you’re free, I thought we could take a walk together.”
“A walk? Sure!”
I lit up and leapt to my feet.
Anything to get Ian out of this office was fine by me.
But before I could say more, Ian spoke again.
“Actually, it’s fine. We can postpone it to another time.”
“What?”
Why now?
I stopped in the middle of getting up, puzzled by the sudden turn of events, and looked up at him from my awkward half-risen stance.
Ian, however, answered with a casual, unbothered expression as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
“I just remembered something I had forgotten—a task I need to handle urgently. I’ll have to go take care of it now.”
“A task…?”
Ian Cloud, forgetting something he had to do?
The man who was so obsessed with work that he would cut down on sleep to get things done? And now he’s claiming to have forgotten something?
Whether he noticed my confusion or not, Ian simply shrugged with a playful smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
It had become more common for him to show subtle smiles in front of me lately, rather than his usual stoic expression.
“Are you disappointed?”
“No, I’m not disappointed, just—”
“I’ll take care of it quickly and come back.”
Before I could even finish my sentence, he leaned in, gently tucking a stray strand of my hair behind my ear, and planted a soft kiss on my left cheek.
Smack.
With that, he pulled back and gazed at me.
“…Ian?”
“My apologies, Eloise, for coming all the way here only to leave.”
“No… It’s fine, really.”
Caught completely off guard, my mind froze. I could only stare blankly at him, unable to process the situation.
Ian, tilting his head slightly, curled his deep blue eyes into crescent moons.
…This is seduction.
This man is definitely trying to bewitch me with his face.
‘You’re not supposed to pick up skills like this on your own.’
I had to stay sharp—otherwise, I’d end up completely swept away by him.
But before I could react, he straightened his posture and stepped away, leaving me no choice but to watch him go.
“Then, I’ll see you at dinner, Eloise.”
“…Yes.”
“I’ll come to escort you soon.”
Click.
The door shut as he turned and left. Still dazed, I blinked a few times before slumping back into my chair, pressing a hand against my cheek.
“…What was that, seriously?”
❖ ❖ ❖
The main building of the Grand Duke’s estate, third floor, office.
Having left Eloise’s office, Ian headed straight to his own quarters. He sank into his chair, crossing one leg over the other.
The gentle smile that had softened his face while he was with Eloise had long vanished, leaving only a cold sharpness in his azure eyes.
As though lost in shallow thought, he absentmindedly tapped the armrest of his chair before finally speaking.
“Come out.”
At his curt command, the empty air suddenly shifted, revealing Kyle.
“…My lord—uh, yes, sir?”
Kyle, who had been abruptly summoned, instinctively shut his mouth upon receiving the frosty glare of his master.
Having served Ian Cloud as his closest aide for nearly a decade, Kyle knew all too well what kind of mood his lord was in when he wore that expression.
Sweat began to trickle down his back.
Ian, tilting his head slightly as he stared at Kyle, gave a subtle nod with an unreadable expression.
“Kyle.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Explain.”
At the single word, Kyle squeezed his eyes shut.
Ah, damn it. Why is it always me?
• • •
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