Chapter 05 …

Slave Too Handsome!

Ever since earlier, nothing but irreverent words had been coming out of Lucian’s mouth.

What is this? He speaks perfectly well like this.

Ironically, the more Lucian spoke—even if his words were rude—the brighter Eloise’s eyes became.

That somewhat arrogant attitude and that skillful way of speaking that was just the right amount of irritating suited her taste perfectly.

As expected, my judgment is excellent.

Praising herself internally, Eloise looked straight at Lucian and asked,

“What do you want?”

The answer came cleanly.

“Money.”

He shook a small leather pouch.

Eloise turned her head toward the dressing table. Several drawers were open. It seemed he hadn’t arrived just moments ago—Lucian had already helped himself to a few jewels and expensive accessories.

That’s all?

Hmm. His ambitions seemed smaller than expected.

The corners of Eloise’s lips, which had been lifted high, lowered slightly.

At that moment, without realizing it, Lucian lost a few points in Eloise’s evaluation.

“And freedom.”

Lucian tied the leather pouch to his waist and added the words. Then he slowly walked toward the window.

It looked like he intended to escape just like that.

“Will just that really be enough? Judging by the look of you, you’ll probably get beaten up in some back alley again, have all your jewels stolen, and end up dragged back to a slave trader.”

“……”

Lucian’s steps stopped at Eloise’s words.

Eloise slipped a hand beneath her pillow and continued calmly.

“Are you not very smart? No matter how I think about it, staying by my side is far more beneficial, isn’t it? I’ll feed you, give you a place to sleep, clothe you. I’ll even pay you well.”

“……”

“Provided you listen to me.”

Crossing her arms and raising one corner of her lips, Eloise continued speaking in ways that deliberately grated on Lucian’s nerves.

“No matter what you offer, freedom is still the most important thing to—”

Lucian’s rebuttal trailed off.

Two finely sharpened daggers had just grazed his cheeks one after another.

For a moment, Lucian stopped breathing.

He sharpened his gaze, trying to understand what had happened.

When he turned around, Eloise was sitting on the bed like a doll, still holding the posture of someone who had just thrown the daggers.

“I missed on purpose. I can’t have that pretty face getting scarred.”

Crazy.

Lucian’s face immediately turned pale.

Eloise had already risen from her seat and was now drawing a bowstring.

The arrowhead was aimed directly at him.

Where in the world did she even get a bow?

A duke’s daughter who possessed as many weapons as jewelry.

Ha.

The tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and Lucian let out a disbelieving laugh.

“My late grandfather had a hobby of hunting deer, wolves, and foxes and turning them into taxidermy displays. They’re all still in the basement.”

“W-Wait.”

“I always thought that hobby was incredibly barbaric.”

Eloise’s eyes gleamed ominously.

“But now that I think about it, building a collection of my own doesn’t sound so bad. Naturally, the first item in my collection would be…”

“…Ugh!”

Somehow she had already abandoned the bow and walked right up to Lucian.

She easily grabbed him by the collar.

Lucian’s expression froze as though time itself had stopped.

A cool night breeze drifted in through the half-open window, enveloping the two of them.

“Where else are you going to find a master like me? Pretty, young, and kind-hearted. Honestly, if it weren’t for me, you would’ve been sold to some perverted noble and gone through who knows what. Isn’t that right?”

“Let go of me!”

Lucian slapped away the hand clutching his collar.

Surprisingly, Eloise released him without resistance.

“See? I’m the kind of master who even overlooks a little theft.”

Smiling brightly, Eloise swiftly retrieved her dagger from Lucian’s hand.

“Hah.”

Lucian let out an incredulous laugh.

Nothing about Eloise’s movements resembled those of a noble lady.

What exactly is this woman?

Her hands were as quick as someone who had grown up fighting in the back alleys.

And she was violent on top of that.

“Well? Have you changed your mind yet?”

A subtle battle of wills continued between them.

Just as Lucian, with his cold gaze, was about to respond—

BANG!

The bedroom door flew open with a noise loud enough to make it seem as though it had been broken.

It was Georges.

No one knew how much he had drunk, but not only his face—his entire body looked red enough to be on fire.

He still held a wine bottle in his left hand, half-full liquor sloshing inside.

It looked as though he had spent the entire evening drinking at a tavern after the ball.

Completely drunk, he shouted loudly enough to shake the entire annex.

“ELOISE!!!”

Unlike Lucian, who was startled by the pig-like screech, Eloise merely looked at her brother on paper with an indifferent expression.

The look on her face clearly said that this sort of thing happened often.

“You, you, you little bitch!!!”

Whether because of the alcohol or not, Georges pointed at Eloise with a trembling right hand.

“How dare you humiliate me like that!”

Staggering forward with an unsteady gait, Georges smashed the vase on the table with the wine bottle he was carrying.

Crash!

The unpleasant sound rang through the room.

It happened to be a vase Mary especially liked.

The innocent flowers scattered across the floor.

Georges began trampling the petals and stems beneath his shoes.

I’ll bill him for all of it tomorrow morning.

Eloise thought little of it.

In fact, the more that idiot Georges rampaged around like this, the happier she became.

After all, he was creating perfectly legitimate reasons for her to discipline him.

“So this great ducal family you’re always bragging about isn’t any different from street thugs.”

Apparently Lucian thought differently.

Seeing Georges’ violent behavior, he unconsciously stepped in front of Eloise and muttered those words.

His broad back blocked her view.

Eloise tilted her head.

What? Is he protecting me right now?

While she was still surprised by this unexpected side of Lucian, Georges bent down and picked up the largest shard of the broken vase.

The fragment looked quite sharp.

“Move, you bastard!”

Shouting first and thinking later, Georges charged at them with the shard like a weapon.

Even as Georges rushed forward like a wild boar, Lucian showed no sign of moving aside.

Instead, he grabbed the gold candlestick sitting on the table to his left and swiftly blocked the vase shard.

Before Georges could charge again, Lucian shoved him back with the candlestick.

“AAAAAAAH!”

Unable to overcome the force, Georges was pushed backward and landed disgracefully on his rear.

Unfortunately for him, water had pooled on the floor because he had smashed the vase.

Georges sat directly in the puddle he himself had created.

In other words, to anyone who didn’t know the situation, it looked exactly as though he had wet himself.

“Pfft.”

Eloise laughed sincerely.

Georges was always someone who ended up getting beaten by her, but today’s appearance was by far the most ridiculous she had ever seen.

“Y-You! What the hell are you doing?!”

Having barely managed to stand again, Georges shifted his target to Lucian.

To prevent any further incidents, Lucian casually kicked the broken vase shards farther away.

Georges marched right up to him and looked up at Lucian, who was much taller.

The difference in physique intimidated him for a moment.

Then, just as Georges regained his nerve and reached out—

This time, Eloise stepped in front of Lucian.

“Don’t touch my knight.”

Lucian’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

The sight of a woman much smaller and more delicate than him standing protectively in front of him was almost laughable.

Still, he decided to watch.

He became curious about what she would do.

“Hah, a knight? A mere knight dares stand in the way of the young duke of House de La Croix?”

“This is a warning. Get out of my sight right now. Otherwise, I’ll stab you.”

Eloise pointed her dagger at Georges.

Her eyes were as sharp as the blade itself.

What a savage sibling fight.

The House of La Croix really wasn’t all that impressive after all.

Watching the situation unfold as though it had nothing to do with him, Lucian clicked his tongue.

“……”

Georges’ frightened face reflected clearly in the polished blade.

He was struggling internally.

Should he leave now and lose face?

Or should he somehow get one hit in before leaving?

“…I won’t forget this.”

Georges chose the former.

Despite being the one who had barged in and caused trouble, he acted as though he were the victim.

Turning around, he slowly walked toward the door.

Only then did Eloise loosen her grip on the dagger.

And at that moment—

“Take this!”

Georges snatched up a small shard of the broken vase and hurled it at Eloise.

Eloise hadn’t anticipated that.

As she froze in place, Lucian quickly raised the leather pouch and shielded her.

“Ah…!”

But despite his effort, the shard still lightly grazed Eloise’s cheek before falling to the floor.

By then, Georges had already fled.

“Let me see.”

Startled, Lucian hurriedly examined Eloise’s face.

Eloise simply stared blankly at the man before her.

In the midst of all that chaos, escaping would’ve been the most natural thing in the world.

Yet Lucian had remained by her side.

And they hadn’t even known each other for twenty-four hours.

More than that, genuine concern was visible on Lucian’s face.

No matter how she looked at it, he didn’t seem to be acting.

Why?

Why did his attitude suddenly change?

Ignoring the disturbance Georges had caused, Eloise’s mind worked rapidly.

To shape Lucian into the person she wanted him to become, she first needed to understand him completely.

“Ah.”

Eloise winced slightly.

Lucian’s finger had touched the spot where the shard had scraped her skin.

A thin line of red blood trickled down her pale cheek.

Lucian flinched as well.

Eloise spoke in her usual calm voice.

“Now you understand, don’t you? Why a noble lady carries dangerous weapons.”

“……”

“So, are you still going to leave me?”

The gaze of Lucian, who was struggling to decide on an answer, wavered.