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Chapter 19
After the Interrogation Was Over
At her question, Ain flinched slightly and quietly avoided her gaze.
Following his eyes, Serenia continued speaking.
“Your running speed, your movements, even your arm strength. This is way beyond the level of someone who just exercises a little.”
“Is… is that so? Thank you for thinking highly of me, but… it’s really not that impressive.”
Seeing him awkwardly change the subject with the face of someone hiding many secrets, Serenia narrowed her eyes.
“If you think you can just brush this aside like that, you’re mistaken. I may not know other things, but I know bodies very well.”
As she spoke, she slowly examined his exposed upper body.
A flexible and agile physique that resembled a feline predator, covered entirely in firm lean muscles without even a bit of excess fat.
This was the kind of body that could only be created through extremely harsh training.
“Just from looking at your back, I can already tell you’re not some ordinary host.”
At those words, Ain’s shoulders twitched.
Serenia stared at him with narrowed eyes before muttering to herself,
“Don’t tell me you’re some spy sent by the Kingdom of Argentum or something?”
For a moment, Serenia imagined him seducing customers at host bars with his looks to gather information, then burst into a small laugh at how ridiculous her own imagination sounded.
“⋯⋯Cough.”
The awkward cough that suddenly escaped him made Serenia stop laughing and stiffen.
“Cough. Ahem. Cough, cough. It’s just… something went down the wrong pipe⋯⋯.”
Looking at him trying to explain himself with a reddened face from holding back coughs, Serenia shouted in confusion.
“What do you mean something suddenly went down the wrong pipe right now?! That’s incredibly suspicious!”
“Just… a coincidence⋯⋯. Cough.”
“I don’t think so?!”
“Cough. Cough.”
Serenia barely resisted the urge to grab him by the collar and shake him violently as she shouted:
“Tell me honestly! Are you really a spy?!”
“N-No, cough, I’m not.”
“Liar!”
“I’m really not⋯⋯.”
“Then what are you?! Why does someone more trained than most agents have a body like yours?!”
Faced with a difficult question, his eyes rolled around for a moment.
And then—
“Ahh. Suddenly… I’m feeling sleepy.”
Ain used every bit of the acting talent that people praised as something seen only once in a century and pretended to fall asleep.
Seeing through the obvious trick immediately, Serenia opened her mouth in disbelief.
Meanwhile, he began breathing softly like a peacefully sleeping baby angel.
Since he had not even removed his tinted glasses, it was obvious he was only pretending.
But his expression and body language looked exactly like someone truly fast asleep, leaving Serenia genuinely confused for a moment.
She wanted to shake him awake by force, but every time she looked at the bruises on his back growing redder and redder, she could not bring herself to touch him roughly.
After standing there helplessly for a long while, she finally let out a deep sigh and slumped her shoulders.
“⋯⋯Sigh. Fine. Even if I learn your identity, what would I even do with that? Better not to know than accidentally get tangled up in something dangerous.”
Muttering like that, Serenia replaced the compress bag that had already become lukewarm again.
Even while glaring at Ain, who might or might not actually be asleep, she continued nursing him.
By the time she replaced the ice compress for the eighth time—
Serenia sat down on the wooden floor beside the bed and lightly patted her sore legs from standing for so long.
Maybe it was because she had been outside since three in the morning.
Or because she had moved her body properly for the first time in a while.
Or perhaps the tension in her body was only now finally fading away.
In the warm, quiet, peaceful room, with no one to talk to, drowsiness slowly crept over her.
‘⋯⋯Maybe sleepiness spreads just like yawns do.’
As that thought crossed her mind, her eyelids slowly drooped shut.
And just like that, she unknowingly fell asleep.
When the hands that had been constantly moving on his back suddenly stopped, Ain slightly opened one eye and looked around.
Only after discovering Serenia asleep beside the bed did he slowly open his eyes completely.
‘⋯⋯There’s such a thing as being too defenseless.’
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Ain quietly lifted his head.
She had fallen asleep leaning sideways against the bed like it was a pillow.
Resting his chin on one hand while lying on his stomach, he stared at her silently.
After watching her for a while, she suddenly shifted in her sleep.
“⋯⋯Mm.”
As she moved, her long black hair fell messily across her pale face.
Apparently bothered by the strands sticking to her skin, her peaceful expression slightly frowned.
Seeing that, Ain hesitated for a moment before carefully extending his free hand.
Even while wearing gloves, he skillfully brushed her messy hair aside.
Then, after briefly hesitating, he gently stroked her head once.
When she still showed no reaction, his hand became slightly bolder.
His gloved fingers lightly brushed against her left cheek.
The wound that had once crossed it still remained as a faint mark.
He carefully caressed that mark for quite a long time, even though it would surely disappear before long.
“Mm⋯⋯.”
Perhaps it bothered her slightly, because she frowned and let out a sleepy little complaint.
Startled, he quickly pulled back his hand and immediately pretended to sleep again.
Meanwhile, Serenia stirred for a moment before lifting her head groggily.
“Ah. Oops. I must’ve fallen asleep.”
Clearing her throat awkwardly, she hurriedly stood up and immediately picked up the compress bag.
Holding the now lukewarm bag, she quickly left the drawing room and rushed outside through the front door to dump out the melted water.
Then, crouching beneath the front steps while aggressively stuffing fresh snow into the empty bag, she grumbled:
“Seriously, why was he touching me like that?”
Her ears and the back of her neck were burning bright red as though she had been burned.
* * *
Perhaps touching the cold snow helped.
Serenia quickly regained her composure.
Just as she stood up with a perfectly calm face and started climbing the front steps—
“Excuse me, are you perhaps Lady Serenia Barishart?”
Hearing the voice behind her, she jumped and turned around.
A man wearing a feathered beret and a short cape reaching his waist stood there.
The man, smiling kindly, was a royal messenger.
Serenia flinched and instinctively stepped backward.
There was only one thing that could possibly make the royal palace send a messenger personally.
A royal order punishing her for completely ruining the Foundation Day banquet and running away.
‘Revocation of title? Execution? Immediate punishment? Or maybe extermination of the entire family?!’
In that brief moment, her imagination traveled everywhere from the royal palace dungeon all the way to the afterlife.
Swallowing dryly, she carefully looked around her surroundings.
Ready to run at any second, she awkwardly answered the messenger.
“I-I am Serenia Barishart, but⋯⋯ what brings you here⋯⋯?”
Though puzzled by her tense reaction, the messenger simply smiled warmly.
“Ah. I have documents to deliver.”
As he spoke, he handed her a stiff envelope made from expensive paper.
While Serenia absentmindedly turned the envelope over in her hands, trying to guess what it contained, the messenger gave a short bow.
“Then I shall take my leave now.”
He crossed the small yard, exited through the gate, mounted the horse waiting outside, and disappeared toward the royal palace.
Watching him leave, Serenia let out a small sigh of relief.
“⋯⋯At least it doesn’t seem to be an execution or extermination order.”
She opened the front door and entered the house while reluctantly tearing open the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
The moment she pulled it out, Serenia froze completely while locking the front door.
“This is⋯⋯?!”
“A marriage proposal.”
The words she could not even bring herself to say were spoken from behind her instead.
Startled nearly to death, Serenia screamed loudly.
“Kyah! W-What?!”
But Ain calmly continued reading the document over her shoulder.
“And not just any proposal. It’s an official marriage proposal personally approved by His Majesty the King.”
