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Chapter 7
“Huh?”
At my words, Hares looked at me as if asking how on earth did you know that?
“Then how about this? I’ll look into what kind of person Lady Rotesie is for you so I can feel at ease. And until then, you’re not meeting her either.”
People only understand how something feels when they’ve experienced it themselves.
Well?
How’s that?
I glared at him, putting as much force into my expression as possible.
Hares frowned.
“No, it’s not that. I did get asked out on a date, but…”
“Exactly. So don’t go.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
I tilted my head.
Then he continued.
“I never said I’d actually go on the date in the first place, so what’s this about whether I go or not?”
“She asked you, though?”
“Yeah.”
As he said that, Hares avoided my gaze and ran a hand carelessly through his hair.
“Well… you seemed like you didn’t really like it.”
“Didn’t like her?”
“No. More like… you didn’t seem comfortable with the whole situation.”
A cold sweat trickled down my back.
How did this idiot figure that out?
His instincts were terrifyingly sharp.
Part of it was probably because we’d known each other for so long.
But still—his intuition had to be naturally absurd.
“Well…”
Unable to say yes or no, I simply mumbled.
Hares continued.
“Besides, who would you even hang out with if I wasn’t around? Until I marry you off, this big brother isn’t dating anyone either.”
So that was what this was about.
At this point, I’d heard variations of this enough times that I was almost numb to it.
Instead, I shot back sweetly:
“Wait. If you’re planning to marry me off someday, then why can’t I go on dates?”
“You think I’d just sit back and watch you go on a date with some random guy whose background we know nothing about? It’s your first date. Don’t you need a chaperone?”
“We’re the same age.”
To be a chaperone, you needed actual qualifications.
This idiot had never even dated anyone himself.
At my incredulous stare, Hares chuckled softly and covered my eyes with his hand.
“Don’t look at me like that. Even if we’re the same age, my birthday comes first.”
“Oh, shut up! What difference does one month make?”
“Listen to your elder. Even a one-minute difference makes someone the older sibling.”
As we started bickering all over again, the lingering sting in my chest faded.
So that was it.
He was saying he wouldn’t date anyone until I found someone first.
Come to think of it, the novel never actually said whether he and Eve ever went on dates together.
It only mentioned that Eve had asked him out, and that Killian later started keeping a closer watch on her because of it.
Maybe in the original story, this was exactly why Hares didn’t grow close to Eve until a year later.
Of course, the novel described them as slowly becoming closer over that year.
And since Killian had already allowed Eve to enter high society, it wasn’t as though they would have no contact at all.
“…But what if I never get married?”
“Well…”
Hares lowered the hand that had been covering my eyes.
He thought for a moment.
Then he flashed his teeth in a bright, easy grin.
“Then I’ll stay single too. Loyalty, right?”
“…You’re seriously insane.”
I muttered it under my breath.
But even as I did, I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes.
The smile he was giving me was so bright and clear—like fresh summer-green leaves shimmering under the sun.
To me, Hares had always been summer itself.
Sweltering heat.
Desire.
The season that made everything burn.
How could I not love him?
Heat rushed all the way to the corners of my eyes.
Before he could notice my face turning red, I scrambled to my feet and hurried out onto the balcony.
“Where are you going?”
“To dance.”
“With who?”
“Don’t know. Anyone.”
My thoughts were already in complete disarray.
If I stayed alone with him any longer, I was terrified that some fragment of my feelings might spill out without my realizing it.
So I ran.
…What I had forgotten, however, was one crucial fact.
Hares was far more persistent than I ever gave him credit for.
Once he sank his teeth into something, he never let go.
“Why exactly are you sleeping over at my house tonight?!”
“Because you wouldn’t tell me what time your date is tomorrow, or where it’s happening.”
Completely unsurprised by my outrage, Hares casually pulled my house key out of his pocket.
The ball had ended well past one in the morning.
By then, all the servants had already retired to their quarters.
Which meant Hares—who somehow knew my own house better than I did—ended up opening the front door for me.
“Ta-da. Come on, pig.”
I stared at him in utter disbelief.
Then shook my head.
“Are you actually insane?”
“Hey, we used to sleep together completely naked when we were kids. Why are you suddenly acting all weird now?”
“That was when we were actual children, you lunatic!”
“What’s different now? Got any comfortable pants I can borrow? Didn’t I leave a few pairs here before? Go grab one.”
The sheer casualness of his tone—as if I was ridiculous for even making a fuss—only made me more stubborn.
“Oh, really? So nothing’s different now?”
“Nope. Hey, I’m hungry. I’m raiding your pantry for pie.”
“Do whatever you want!”
Hares was already heading toward the kitchen like he owned the place, sleeves rolled up and several shirt buttons undone.
Watching his retreating back, I shook my head.
How oblivious did someone have to be to suggest sleeping under the same roof so casually?
And then, suddenly, Killian’s words resurfaced in my mind.
“If you put in the effort, there are plenty of qualities about you that would appeal romantically. In fact, if you dressed yourself up properly and revealed an unexpectedly charming side of yourself, the shock alone would make him see you as a woman much faster.”
He was right.
I mentally reviewed every negligee I owned.
Obviously, I couldn’t wear anything absurdly revealing.
I wasn’t trying to make things awkward between us overnight.
And Killian had said—much to my embarrassment—that I suited “cute and lovely” styles better than anything overly provocative.
Thankfully, as a certified homebody, I had plenty of sleepwear to choose from.
After carefully surveying the options in my bedroom, I selected one.
Hares definitely wasn’t the type to go straight to sleep.
We’d probably end up eating snacks and playing cards.
Or bickering over something pointless until dawn.
After taking a quick bath, rubbing rose oil into my skin and hair, and making sure I smelled pleasantly soft and sweet, I headed downstairs.
And what greeted me was—
“…Why are you half-naked again?”
Hares.
Sitting comfortably in the family room.
Waiting for me.
The shirt he’d at least been wearing earlier was now completely gone.
“I just showered. …Want me to put something on? I mean, if it bothers you…”
“Forget it. Just put these on.”
I hurled a pair of pants at him.
Not because it bothered me.
If anything, the opposite.
His body was impossible not to notice.
Where mine was all soft curves, his was hard lines and clean angles—solid muscle from head to toe.
Sometimes, I wondered what it would feel like to trace those muscles with my hands.
To feel his heartbeat pounding beneath smooth skin.
To test the firmness of his body for myself.
My face flared crimson.
So, panicking, I threw the pants directly at his face.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“Put them on already.”
I tried to sound normal.
But all my senses were hyper-focused on him.
Then Hares rose to his feet.
And, without a shred of hesitation—
Started taking off the pants he was currently wearing.
“…W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
“Huh?”
He tilted his head, looking utterly baffled.
As if I was the strange one here.
I nearly shrieked.
“Even if we’re close, could you at least change somewhere I can’t see?! If Sister Haine saw this, she’d kill you!”
“She’s at our relatives’ house tonight.”
That wasn’t the point!
I waved my arms frantically.
“That’s not what I mean! I can tolerate everything up to a certain point, but do I really need to see that too?!”
This shameless pervert.
We hadn’t slept over together in years, so I’d forgotten he was like this.
Seriously.
Did he think I was family on the same level as Sister Haine or something?!
Completely unfazed, Hares ordered:
“Then close your eyes. Open them when I tell you.”
“Ugh!”
How comfortable was he with me?!
In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Though…
I’d already seen something.
Not clearly.
Just enough to register the shadowed outline of… well.
Something very much there.
I’d never seen another man’s body before.
Had never even imagined one.
But still.
That had definitely looked…
“AAAH!”
Mortified by my own thoughts, I let out a strangled scream.
Hares clicked his tongue.
“That’s why I told you to close your eyes if you didn’t want to see.”
“I wasn’t looking!”
“You can open them now. I’m dressed.”
By then, my face was so hot I could practically feel it burning.
When I finally looked, Hares was neatly folding the clothes he’d taken off.
Ridiculously competent at housework for no reason…
“Aren’t you hungry? You barely ate anything at the party.”
“…A little.”
“Good. I made sandwiches.”
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he patted the seat beside him.
“Come eat.”
I bit down hard on my lip.
Why did he always have to be so kind?
So attentive.
Always noticing what I needed before I did.
Always preparing things for me.
Always taking care of me.
If Hares ever treated someone else this way too—
What would I do then?
