‘it’s not going to work…’

    baron didn’t know until he shook louis’ hands. if he couldn’t give something greater than the revival of askan, then he was sure seira wouldn’t choose him.

    he felt that he ultimately lost an opportunity. if only he spent a fraction of his time chasing her around and used it to keep his family at bay, the contents of the contract they signed that day would’ve been completely different.

    ‘you are such a jerk…’ he told himself.

    he regretted that he couldn’t take on his father’s advice to fix his habit of focusing everything he had on chasing one thing only.

    seira looked at him with a puzzled face, “baron? what’s wrong?”

    “what?”

    “your face looks strange.”

    she tilted her head and reached out to his face. her warm eyes and soft touch, which weren’t playful at the moment, made his heart tingle. as she leaned her cheek so she could inspect him more comfortably, she couldn’t help herself and suddenly burst out into laughter.

    “i won’t get angry, so why don’t you stop acting this pathetic?”

    “you should be grateful to me,” he brazenly replied, then bit his palm as if he regretted it immediately after he spoke. even the way he raised his eyebrows and pulled his hand away seemed cute.

    “alright, this time around i’m going to wash on my own.”

    as she got out of bed, seira headed directly to the bathroom.

    “is this the part where i follow you? my bathing service must have surely been quite satisfactory.”

    “our commander-in-chief, why are you so fearless?”

    the more upset he got, the prettier she smiled, and the more that it scratched his stomach. he raised his hand in surrender, and seira smiled so brightly it felt like the curtains were drawn and the dark room was lit.

    “shall we go down to the restaurant today and eat?”

    his quick change in attitude went through.

    “all right.”

    baron stared at her as if possessed as she gracefully walked into the bathroom like a queen with sleeveless garments. as the door closed, he was quickly brought back to reality.

    “oh my god…”

    like an alpha who passed through the rut by staying up all night with his beloved omega, his condition was at the point where he couldn’t even close his eyes. he thought she wouldn’t have enough time to wash and dress up like yesterday.

    baron called a servant as he hurried over to another bathroom. he could only hope that seira enjoyed her bath as leisurely as possible until she was ready again.

    * * *

    seira didn’t have to worry about changing clothes at all. the dress room that was solely for jeff’s lover was filled with clothes.

    she released a sigh and looked back at baron, to which he only shrugged his shoulders as their eyes met, as if saying it was normal.

    “i’ve only got a few pairs for guests.”

    “how many… but why is there only one uncomfortable dress?”

    “the clothes you usually wear were too revealing in my opinion.”

    she laughed out loud.

    “it’s similar to the design of the knight’s uniform, what’s sexy about it?” she asked and then waved at the dress, “in my opinion, this is more revealing.”

    despite grumbling, seira picked a few options and put them on her body. she didn’t hate being pretty, but dresses were unnecessarily expensive and she was practical all her life. whenever she passed the street where boutiques were gathered, her eyes would turn without realizing.

    moreover, the dresses were ordered by jeff’s family head himself, so how much effort must it have cost? it would’ve been burdensome, but there wasn’t anything he didn’t like.

    seira glanced at baron, who was dressed quite neatly today, and then chose a turquoise dress to match. they were just going to lunch together, but it wouldn’t be bad to match colors. it was considered a ‘date’, right?

    “underwear is in the drawer.”

    she opened the drawer and her eyes darted back to baron as she saw what they contained.

    “…”

    noticing seira’s glare, baron hurriedly made excuses as he confirmed the contents of the drawer.

    “i never chose them. they said it was needed, so they filled it in moderately. honestly, i don’t remember buying a piece of fabric that was worse than not wearing it.”

    “oh, really?”

    it didn’t matter if he was lying or not. the problem was finding a better underwear to wear than the erotic ones she was seeing.

    anyway, as she assessed them, the underwear and her dress fit perfectly.

    however, there was not a dress made in haute couture that she could wear on her own, so she had to ask for baron’s help in the end.

    “tighten the string here, baron.”

    “like this…”

    “ugh… you pulled it too tight.”

    “but if it’s tightened this much, your bare skin would be visible…”

    “that’s the way it is.”

    despite his hesitation, baron shaped the dress as he was told to. it was kind of funny and cute to see him bending his large body and wriggling as he tried to tie the thin string somehow.

    in conclusion, baron miserably failed. when she heard something snap, seira kicked him out without mercy.

    ‘these clothes are expensive!’ she grumbled inwardly.