Chapter 102: I Like It
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: I Like It
“Wait, didn’t Sir Norton tell you?”
Perel scratched his forehead with a bewildered expression, looking as if he hadn’t understood a word said for the last few minutes.
“Could you perhaps explain in a bit more detail?”
“I’m asking if you were really unaware that that maid has been poking her nose into everything!”
At that, Perel nodded. “I am aware.”
“And yet you still escorted her? All giddy and distracted?”
“She mentioned she seemed to have sprained her ankle, so I merely offered her my support.”
“You fell for such an obvious lie?”
“Still, how could I refuse a lady’s request?” Perel replied, sounding a bit wronged. “And I wasn’t ‘giddy and distracted’ either.”
What a grand display of chivalry, Cecilia thought sarcastically.
“Watch your behavior! Keep in mind that you are the Grand Duke’s chief aide.”
Cecilia fumed as she watched Perel scratch his head, still looking like he didn’t quite understand why he was being scolded.
*
“I’m telling you, it felt like she’d finally found her prey!”
Back in the room, Cecilia had been venting her frustrations for quite some time.
“Since Sir Perel was the only one who gave her the time of day, it’s obvious that maid is going to keep pestering him from now on.”
“Sir Perel does have a soft heart,” I said, recalling how his hands had trembled as he slipped the ring onto my finger on our wedding day. “When I first arrived at Blenheim, even when everyone else was on edge because I was the Marquis’s daughter, Sir Perel was consistently polite.”
“See!” Cecilia shook her head as if proving her point. “The man is far too soft. I don’t know how he manages his duties as an aide like that.”
Cecilia muttered something about him being so gullible that he might accidentally spill all the secrets of the Grand Duke’s Castle.
Soft?
Perel was certainly more affectionate than most Northerners, but...
“I don’t know.”
“If you ask me, he’s actually quite firm.”
“Firm? That man who’s as mushy as pudding?”
If there was one thing I’d learned about Perel while planning the shopping district, it was that he was far more clinical and precise than he appeared. Of course, he tended to yield in most minor matters and generally disliked conflict, but...
He’s actually the type to be quite ruthless about things he believes are wrong.
“It’s only because Your Highness is just as soft-hearted that you don’t see it,” Cecilia insisted.
She seemed so convinced that I simply nodded, deciding it wasn't a matter important enough to argue over.
*
“Loik, are you awake?”
Loik, who had been drifting off to sleep, sat up in bed, startled.
He hadn't heard the bedroom door open. Before he knew it, Annette was leaning over his bed, her hands resting on the mattress. Her thin nightgown rustled softly.
“I couldn’t sleep... Can I sleep in your arms like last time, Loik?”
Before the flustered Loik could even answer, Annette climbed onto the bed, crawling toward him. Left with no choice, Loik lifted the covers to let her in.
As she wiggled into his arms, Annette let out a small, surprised sound.
“Loik, you aren’t wearing your robe?”
Loik hurriedly looked down at his chest. He must have lain down without his robe out of sheer laziness. His bare skin was clearly visible under the bright moonlight.
Annette’s pale cheeks were slightly flushed.
“You... like my chest, don’t you?” Loik blurted out, bolder than he intended.
“How did you know?” Her sapphire eyes sparkled at his words.
With a slight curl of her lips, Annette slowly placed her hand on his chest.
Loik flinched. As she gently stroked his pectoral muscles, a tingling shiver ran down his spine.
“Your whole body is so firm, Loik... It makes me want to keep touching you.”
The moment her fingers slid down toward his waist, tracing the sharp lines of his obliques, Loik grabbed her hand.
“S-Stop touching me.”
“If you keep doing that, I won’t be able to hold back.”
“Hold back what?” Annette looked up at him with a suggestive gaze, as if she already knew the answer. “You don’t have to hold back.”
She slowly licked her lips as if provoking him.
How could he possibly maintain his reason after hearing that?
As if possessed, Loik gently brushed his thumb over Annette’s lips. The moist, soft texture felt incredible. When he pressed his thumb firmly against her lower lip, her mouth parted slightly.
Annette, who had been teasing him just a moment ago, looked away as if suddenly shy.
Loik slowly brought his face close to hers. A strange sense of satisfaction washed over him just by seeing his shadow cast over her small face.
Watching her delicate eyelashes quiver, Loik softly pressed his lips against hers. The temperature of her lips—at once cool and warm—was immensely pleasing.
“Mnh...!”
As their breaths became entangled, a sweltering heat filled the space around them.
“Loik, I’m out of breath,” Annette gasped like a small bird.
She looked as if she might fly away from him at any moment, so Loik pulled her tight into his embrace. A strange pleasure surged through him as he locked her slender waist within his arms, ensuring she couldn't escape.
They pressed their lips together again and again for a long time.
Annette, reaching her limit, trembled at her fingertips. Loik pulled back to let her catch her breath, leaving light kisses around her mouth.
Annette giggled as if it tickled, then reached out both arms to wrap them around his neck. With a loving gaze, she whispered softly.
“Does it really stop your body from hurting when we kiss like this?”
“Yes. It’s all thanks to you,” Loik said, his voice slightly strained.
He was so grateful to have such an excuse.
“I’m glad.” Annette smiled brightly at Loik, whose jaw was tight with tension. “Actually, I have a confession to make.”
“What is it?”
Annette hesitated for a moment as if debating whether to say it, then leaned in to whisper in his ear.
“I like kissing you, Loik.”
Loik felt the thundering of his heart echoing in his head. Annette’s voice melted into his ear, sweet as sugar.
“Do you know why?” Annette asked with a seductive look.
She lightly licked her lips, which looked exceptionally red today, and murmured, “Because it’s delicious.”
Delicious? How could she say such a thing?
Loik’s face turned beet red, all the way to the tips of his ears. Annette teased the back of his head with her fingers as if urging him on.
Of course, it wasn't as if he hadn't thought about devouring the woman in front of him from head to toe, but...
The ticklish sensation made his entire body tense up. Loik managed to force his voice out.
“I like it too.”
Because you are so deli—
But just as he was about to let the words roll off his tongue, his face flushing even deeper...
“It’s really delicious, right?” Annette said, her eyes curving into a soft smile. “The spicy tomato stew, I mean.”
*
And in that moment, Loik woke up.
The dark canvas of the military tent came into view.
It had all been a dream. He was away from the castle on an expedition.
This was already the third day he’d had a suggestive dream about Annette.
You beast.
Loik squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm his racing heart.
“Spicy tomato stew...” he muttered with a heavy sigh.
He felt like today was going to be another long day without Annette.
It was already the evening of the fourth day since they had left the castle. Loik and the 1st Knight Division had just set up camp on a mountainside a short distance from a nearby village.
While the knights voiced their concerns that the monster habitats seemed to have expanded compared to last year, Loik remained lost in thought, silent.
“What should we prepare for dinner?” Leon asked his senior, Johas.
“Tomato stew,” Loik suddenly spoke up after being quiet the whole time. “Make it... spicy tomato stew.”
The knights’ eyes all shifted toward their lord.
“What?”
When Loik looked around with a displeased expression, the knights, including Johas, all put their fists to their mouths and cleared their throats, pretending to be busy with something else.
Since when does he ever comment on the menu?
And of all things, spicy tomato stew!
Leon and Johas exchanged looks, their eyes doing the talking since their mouths couldn't. It was a fact known to everyone in the knights' order that the Grand Duchess’s favorite food was spicy tomato stew.
Is he missing Her Highness?
Leon spoke up, struggling to keep his grin in check. “Then I shall show off my skills a bit.”
He decided that since things had turned out this way, he should properly present the food Her Highness loved to his lord.
A short while later, as Leon was rendering fat from the meat in a large pot...
“How do you make this?”
Loik had approached him unnoticed and was staring down at the pot.
“The recipe is quite simple,” Leon said, gently sautéing the meat. “You just sauté the ingredients like this, then add water and let it boil.”
“Do you put all the ingredients in at once?”
“Ah, first you sauté the meat, then you add the vegetables...”
“When do you add the water?”
Leon had thought Loik was just asking in passing, but his lord was showing an unexpectedly persistent interest. After answering a few more questions, Leon eventually began to explain the recipe step-by-step.
“...Then you add some red wine and let it simmer until the tomatoes are soft. You add as much spicy pepper as you like.”
“For the Grand Duchess’s...” Loik, who had been listening with intense focus, hesitated slightly before asking, “...how much should I add to suit her taste?”