Chapter 3
As they rode in the carriage toward the banquet hall, silence flowed between the two. Since they had only met once or twice as agents, there was no reason for them to have much of a lively conversation.
No, Hosson had glanced at Sis several times. Seeing his throat quivering several times, he seemed to have swallowed his saliva occasionally. Although she felt uncomfortable with the blatant gaze, she pretended not to notice and just looked out the window. She thought that since she couldn’t change the agent now, she would change him right away once this matter was over.
The scenery of the capital city that passed by quickly felt unfamiliar. It was very different from when she used to walk around with her younger sister Sheila with a lively face. Every time she witnessed this change, she felt her own time stop and her mouth became bitter.
The palace we finally arrived at was just as grand and huge as it
was the last time we visited. It still had an overwhelming atmosphere.
Sis and Count Millan met in the carriage and headed to the banquet hall together. When the invitation was handed out, the inspector asked Count Millan a few questions and opened the large door. A strong beam of light leaking out from the slowly opening slit filled his vision.
Before and after the door opened, it was like a different world. Unlike the quiet outside where the grasshoppers were chirping and the night sky was filled with stars, the inside was somehow hot and humid. The bright light from the sparkling chandelier, the cheerful laughter, the lively music of the orchestra, and the pleasant smell of alcohol. All of these things were mixed together in an orderly manner.
It was the atmosphere of a banquet I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“As I said before, you should just show your face and then go back.”
To Sis’s soft warning, Howson replied with a rather timid expression that he understood. Taking a deep breath, she walked through the open door, step by step.
However, her eyes, which had been staring straight ahead at
first, gradually became filled with tension, and when she came to her senses, she was looking at her feet. She knew that it looked very unconfident to others, but her neck was stiff and she couldn’t move as she wanted. It had been so long since she had been in a public setting that she was so nervous that her fingertips were numb.
The gazes that began to gather one by one prickled her skin, and the chatter that continued at every street corner she passed gradually died down and soon stopped. However, Sis stubbornly kept looking at her feet, so she didn’t know the reason.
“Wait a moment…”
When they reached the middle of the hall, Siss, who was trying to pull Hosson’s arm away, stopped and pulled his arm back again. His body tilted toward Siss.
“Where is the Duke of Vegas?”
She lifted her chin to check if he was present, and only then did Sis realize that his gaze was focused on me. It couldn’t be a simple illusion, since every time she turned her head, she made eye contact with someone.
She didn’t know anything about Alexis Vegas’s appearance. All she knew was a bit of his past and his strong taste in women. All
she had was information about his appearance, which was described as statuesque and striking.
If such a rumor were to spread, the Duke would be no ordinary man. He would have to be an incredibly handsome man. Sis, who was momentarily flustered by the excessive attention pouring in, came to her senses and scanned the people’s faces.
Meanwhile, Hosson, who had been asked a question, took a sharp breath. It was because she had pulled his arm and her soft chest was pressed against his arm. The sinister instinct that had been suppressed by the thought of her being his employer was about to creep up again. He had thought she was beautiful even when she usually dressed like a man, but today, she was so beautiful that he couldn’t take his eyes off her, so he couldn’t help but look at her.
As Sis’s breath tickled his ear, Hosson’s jaw clenched. However, if he did something to her and this master-servant relationship was broken, he would have to pay the astronomical penalty written in the contract. It was an amount that he, a commoner, could not earn even if he worked his whole life or even if he sold his body.
He looked around the room, barely able to pull himself together again with the thought of the deposit. In order to maintain his noble title, he had to attend a social gathering at least once every two years. For this reason, Sis had periodically ordered him
to attend a banquet, and during one of these events, Hosson had caught a glimpse of the Duke of Vegas.
“I don’t think he’s here.”
“Hasn’t he come yet?”
Sis sighed deeply. It seemed she would have to stick with Hosson until he got there.
“Now, who is this? Isn’t it Count Millan?”
At that moment, someone approached them. It was a man with a mustache and a good figure. Sis was so nervous that her palms were covered with sweat. Fortunately, Hosson was able to greet him naturally based on his experience attending banquets.
The man known as Count Dumber glanced at Sis during their conversation.
“But this pretty lady… … .”
The way he couldn’t take his eyes off her showed from the beginning that his purpose for approaching them was clear. Hosson introduced her with a friendly smile.
“She is my relative. She recently returned from studying abroad
and is attending the banquet for the first time.”
“Oh. Somehow, I thought you were a new face. Excuse me, but may I ask your name?”
Eyes stained with greed stared at Sis’s exposed flesh and body lines. Sis, barely able to suppress the rising disgust, forced a smile.
As soon as she appeared, the attention pouring in was not an illusion, and many people, starting with Count Dumber, approached Sis. It had been so long since she had received such attention that Sis just stood there dumbfounded. Hosson answered the questions directed at her.
While we were spending such a hectic time, the atmosphere in the banquet hall suddenly changed.
A silence that made people swallow their saliva and a certain tension that surrounded them spread through the air. Everyone except for the group gathered around Sis and Hosson was looking towards the entrance of the banquet hall. Sis’s eyes also turned towards that atmosphere, as if they were immersed in it.
A man was entering.
The first thing that caught my eye was his jet-black hair that
seemed to contain the cold night air, followed by his refined and refined facial features. Whenever his golden eyes, which looked like melted gold, were directed at the ladies in the banquet hall, their faces turned red. Soon, the suffocating silence disappeared, and a large crowd of people approached him, forming a large circle.
Even though the host of today’s banquet was the Emperor, he appeared in a way that drew attention, making it seem as if he was the main character of the banquet. Siss guessed that the man was probably the Duke of Vegas.
“That is the Duke of Vegas.”
Hasson whispered in her ear of what she had expected. Sis slowly closed her eyes and opened them, nodded, and uncrossed her arms. Then, after asking for the understanding of the group gathered around her, she turned around.
She was thinking of going straight to the Duke of Vegas, but not yet. There were too many people surrounding him. Thinking she would wait for an opportunity, she headed to the corner of the banquet hall.
The Duke of Vegas, seen from afar, looked like a painting. The expression on his face as he stared blankly down at the ladies asking after his well-being was quite indifferent. He was
obediently listening, but his face showed no interest at all.
Sis took a glass from a passing servant and sipped the alcohol. The scent of alcohol that she had not had in a long time spread through her mouth. Unlike the sweet scent, the taste was quite bitter, and she couldn’t help but frown.
At that moment, Sis’s eyes met with a man who looked like a famous painting from afar. A feeling of surprise spread across his eyes that seemed to be indifferent to everything in the world. Sis, who was surprised by his change, hurriedly looked around, but she was the only one standing in a corner where there was no light.
When she looked back at him, his gaze had already left her.
‘Was it a mistake?’
Sis watched him closely from an inconspicuous corner. If anyone noticed her and showed signs of approaching her with curiosity, she would quickly notice it and quickly move away. Every time, the Duke of Vegas, surrounded by the crowd, would look back at her. It was as if he knew that Sis was watching him.
Then, someone approached the Duke of Vegas from behind. Judging by his polite manner, he seemed to be his aide. The Duke, who had heard the report in a whisper, frowned, asked for
the understanding of those surrounding him, and stepped aside. It was a gesture so dignified that it was hard to believe that he was born out of wedlock.
Afterwards, he headed straight to the entrance of the banquet hall, so it seemed like he was thinking of going back even though he had only been there for a short time.
‘Already?’
To Sis, who was circling around anxiously, waiting for the right moment to approach, his departure felt like a bolt from the blue. She couldn’t let the Duke go like this. With that thought in mind, she grabbed the hem of her skirt and quickly followed him, avoiding everyone’s eyes.
As I left the lively banquet hall, a cold wind blew, as if I had returned from a dream to reality.
‘Where did he go?’
She looked around, saw his back as he turned the corner, and quickly followed him.
The corridor, where a ray of moonlight penetrated, had an inexplicable eerieness. The cold floor felt eerie, so she swept her exposed arms. Without an aide following him, the man strode
ahead on his long legs. The luxurious gold-leafed patterns engraved on his coat occasionally sparkled in the moonlight.
Even though it was from behind, Sis could now openly look at him. The Duke of Vegas was very tall. Judging by his height, he must have been about 190 cm. And although he was doing some kind of physical training, his entire body was densely packed with muscle, which could be clearly seen even outside his clothes.
Even without trying to look closely, his broad shoulders and thick thighs kept catching my eye. The young ladies who surrounded him in the banquet hall were like that, and so was the Sis who was busily following behind him.
Sis, who had been absentmindedly admiring her rear end while moving her feet diligently, was startled when she realized her own sinister gaze. Perhaps because she had to spend the night, her thoughts kept drifting in that direction.
He looked like didn’t care if anyone he knew was following him. Still, she silently followed him. Sis, thinking that she couldn’t let anyone catch her following him. They were alone in the hallway, but they didn’t feel like they were together because they were so far apart.
Another corner appeared, and the Duke turned away,
completely out of sight. Sis clenched her fists and took a few heavy steps.
“Whoa!”
As Sis was turning the corner where he had disappeared, she screamed in surprise at the force that suddenly grabbed her wrist. Her new voice echoed in the space filled with only cold air.
Immediately afterwards, she was pushed against the wall with great force. Sis’s heart sank at the sudden incident. When she came to her senses, she was standing unsteadily in front of him. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about Sis following him, but it seemed like he had planned this from the beginning and led her to a remote place.
“Hi”
The man, whose face was close enough to feel my breath, greeted me calmly, which was not appropriate for the situation. His cold golden eyes, devoid of any warmth, filled my field of vision.
At that moment, something cold touched the back of my neck. Even though I didn’t see it with my eyes, I could strangely guess what it was. It was the muzzle of a gun.
“It’s the same at the banquet hall. Why are you watching me?”
For someone who had pointed a gun at a person’s neck, his tone was incredibly calm. From that behavior, it was inferred that he had a lot of experience pointing guns at people.
The golden eyes, dripping with an air colder than the muzzle of a gun, were showing a sharp wariness toward her. It seemed that the gazes that occasionally looked in this direction in the banquet hall were not an illusion.
What would make you feel wary rather than fond? But you need to have this kind of experience.
There was no way that Sis, who had lived a simple life for hundreds of years, could have any kind of seductive technique to lure men into bed.
Her heart that had been pounding hard quickly calmed down. If it had been someone else, she would have trembled in fear that he might actually shoot her, but that wasn’t the case for Sis. Of course, she was a little worried about the pain that would come, but she wasn’t afraid at all because she knew that there would be no death in the end. Normal people are more afraid of death than pain. And Sis was the one who regretted that death didn’t come.
First, I’d like to ask him to remove this gun. But then he might think that she might do something stupid.
Sis, who was wondering how she could remove even a single layer of his suspicions, reminded herself of her purpose.
At that moment, her lips opened on their own.
“I fell in love with you!”
“… … .”
“At first sight.”
A dry voice echoed through the quiet hallway. He stared at her blankly, then narrowed his eyes in silence. The suspicion in his eyes grew even deeper, as if it was not a good idea.
Was it the wrong way to do it? Or was it too orthodox?
Sis’s mind was filled with confusion as the plan seemed to have gone awry from the very beginning. She had to somehow win over his favor and enter the duke’s residence, but if he continued like this, she would end up worse off than anyone else.
First, she had to put this gun away. Sis desperately tried to think of something to add.
“That’s, that’s, over there.”
Why did I even try this method? Now I was deeply regretting it. The problem was my overly grand confidence that I could easily get a man into bed. I couldn’t look up because I thought his expression would change strangely the more I opened my mouth.
While Siss was busy trying to come up with an excuse, Alexis was staring at her blankly. His expression was actually a little strange. But it wasn’t what she thought it meant. It wasn’t wariness or suspicion, it was observation.
She thought Alexis suddenly thrust his face toward her in an attempt to threaten her, but in reality it was a little different. Alexis’s deep eyes were closely examining something, as if searching for some trace on her face.
“So?”
He asked softly, still not putting away his gun, perhaps frustrated by her stutter.
Only then did Sis raised her head. The moment their eyes met, ripples formed in his eyes that were like a calm lake. It was a gaze that was filled with mixed emotions that could not be defined by one thing. Why did he look at her like that? Sis carefully opened her mouth, while suppressing her rising curiosity.
“Tonight… …would you like to spend it together with me?”
Her beautiful voice seeped into a corner of the outer palace, a place so dark that not even a ray of light could penetrate because it was blocked by a pillar.
t was a truly clumsy seduction. Nevertheless, perhaps because of the weight of the place, the atmosphere quickly became secretive.
The end of her voice was shaking so faintly that if someone had heard it, it would have sounded like she was squeezing her throat out reluctantly. If it had sounded that way to the man, it seemed like there was really no hope.
As if she was waiting for his reaction as if she was facing life and death, the gun barrel that was aimed at the back of her neck suddenly moved. As if she sensed the pain that would follow, her eyes instinctively closed tightly. However, instead of shooting, he lifted her chin with that cold and ruthless object.
“… … This is really strange.”
Her shaking red hair sparkled in the moonlight as he nodded along with the light. And those fresh green pupils that immediately revealed themselves at his single word.
Alexis slowly moistened his lips as if he was thinking about something.
“Is it because it’s so hard to be this similar?”
Sis looked blankly at Alexis, who kept mumbling incomprehensible words to himself.
It wasn’t in the report, but is there something mentally wrong with him? If not, what on earth has he been mumbling to himself all this time? However, he was seriously fine looking, so it’s hard to say there’s anything wrong. As his response was delayed, her thoughts became more and more confused and unorganized.
“I tend to play a bit dirty.”
His voice, which had been wandering through the air for a long time, finally reached Siss.
“Are you sure you can handle it?”
The faint smile that only lifted one corner of his mouth seemed like a warning to stop here. He probably thought of her as a young lady who knew how to act a little coy. That was usually the case with young ladies who walked around in high society. However, it was what Siss had hoped for. The slight gap he was showing now was an opportunity Sisse had to dig into sharply.
This time, she needed what she had to get to die, and to end this miserable life.
Before answering, Sis swallowed without thinking. Strangely, whenever his gaze met hers, she felt hot and tense all over her body. She nodded her head, barely able to see, while holding her sweaty hands.
Then, the gun that had been holding her still until then moved away, and instead, his hand came closer. His hand moved in the same way as if he was raising her chin with the gun, but perhaps because it was warm, the same action felt completely different.
Sis, who had been wondering why he was holding her chin, quickly realized the reason. Their faces were close enough that their noses were brushing against each other, and he swallowed Sis’ lips in one breath.
Unlike the solemn atmosphere that emanated from his thick features, his kiss was quite gentle. He slowly sucked her lower lip first, and occasionally he stuck out his tongue and rubbed her upper lip. As he moved up and down like that, her lips naturally parted. He twisted his head and pressed his lips even deeper. The high bridge of his nose, drawing an elegant line, gently rubbed against her cheek.
I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been this close to someone else. In the unfamiliarity, Sis unconsciously tried to avoid his face, but his hand was holding her chin tightly, so it was impossible. My heart, which had been fine before the kiss, was pounding as if it couldn’t figure out what was going on.
The man’s tongue dug into her mouth quite naturally. The tongue that had been skimming the sensitive mucous membrane soon found her tongue hidden in a corner and slowly rubbed against it.
Their eyes suddenly met. Neither she nor he closed their eyes while kissing each other so passionately that their fingertips were tingling. His golden eyes were still filled with a light of caution. However, Sis saw it clearly. Something bright red was wriggling inside, revealing its presence. Perhaps, it was something lustful, like a tongue that was stirring inside the mouth.
“hmm…….”
A moan escaped from deep in her throat as her saliva and breath became sticky and entangled. Then, the corners of his eyes seemed to slightly slant. Sis had a hard time keeping her mind straight due to the ticklish sensation running up her toes.
He, who had been leaning against the wall, wrapped his arms around Sis’s waist and pulled her closer. Despite her desire to break away, their bodies pressed closer together.
“Ugh.”
The moans that had started to leak out were becoming more and more noticeable. His kisses, which had clearly been generous, became rougher as they continued, revealing their true colors. This suited him better than the man who had pointed a gun at me when we first met.
Her head tilted back to match his height. A wet, sticky sound flowed out from between her parted lips along with her saliva. Slurp. The sound of him passionately fucking her mouth rang in her eardrums.
“Ah, yeah… … . Wait a minute.”
The cold air from the wall that touched the back of her head did not dissipate the heat that set her body on fire. The tongue that had been stirring inside her small mouth to the point where her breath was burning hot soon began to move forward and backward in a strange manner. Sis realized after a while that it was reminiscent of sexual intercourse. Even if she had realized that, there was nothing she could do.
The momentum of him tickling the roof of her mouth and rubbing his dry mucous membranes was quite fierce. It was as if he was the same man with a calm demeanor who had been bathing his entire body in the pouring moonlight just a moment ago.
The tickling sensation he gave kept running down my spine and making my eyelids flutter. She had kissed before, but it had never felt this longing. Perhaps the reason I felt this impatient was because this man was so good at kissing.
Even though she thought she shouldn’t lose her mind, she couldn’t stop herself from being dragged away by pleasure. As if he had noticed Sis’s wavering mind, his golden eyes stared straight at her and sparkled.
It seemed that his suspicions had not completely disappeared. Of course, it was only natural, considering that her approach had been so sudden and suspicious.
Even though I knew that, I couldn’t help but get angry at the sight of the him, who looked so normal unlike me, and I hugged his thick neck tightly. Then, as if to show his displeasure, the man’s large hand lifted one of her legs and wrapped it around my waist. Knock. Something hard touched my thigh and rubbed it. I wanted to see what it was, but I couldn’t because his tongue was wrapped around mine and sucked hard.
“ha…….”
The lips that had been touching at various angles moved away, releasing hot breath. His lewd hands dug into Sis’s thighs. Her chest heaved as she took in the breath she had lacked due to the kiss.
The man’s gaze landed on her lips, which were glistening with saliva, and then moved down slightly. Moving slowly, he soon began to lick the white breasts visible through the gap in her dress.
The golden eyes that had felt as cold as frost had suddenly become hot, and the feverish pupils made the hairs on Sis’s body stand on end.
But soon she put her hand on the back of his neck and lifted her lips, trying to look as feminine as possible.
“What do you think? To go to this extent… that too here … .”
Unlike earlier when she had said she was in love with him in a stiff voice and poured cold water on the mood, it was a natural and captivating smile.
Instead of words, a long sigh escaped Alexis’s lips. His gesture of rubbing something blunt between her spread legs became more explicit. That action was enough to answer her question of whether he would be okay with her for one night.
Sis barely managed to stop him from rushing at her again like a blindfolded beast.
The purpose of approaching him was to head to the duke’s residence, so she couldn’t proceed any further. Even aside from that reason, doing it outside was absurd to her.
“Not here… … .”
The moment she whispered it with an embarrassed face, Alexis turned his body too fast to catch her. His hands were holding her delicate wrists.
