Chapter 9
I thought I had been spending fairly peaceful days in the Fernandi Grand Duchy.
Something had gone wrong.
“What? The chef is being replaced?”
“Yes. Originally, the replacement was supposed to happen exactly on schedule, but the carriage carrying the new chef got into an accident, so they’ll apparently be arriving a bit late. Unfortunately, Lady Annette, I think we’ll have to prepare a simple lunch for you today.”
There was no particular reason for them to inform me about the affairs of the Grand Duke’s residence, but I still felt disappointed. I at least wanted to thank him for all the delicious meals he had prepared, but apparently he had already left.
“Did His Highness not tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Dale, who had been observing my face, made a puzzled expression.
“A few days ago, His Highness suddenly said he wanted to replace the chef. So I mentioned that Lady Annette would likely be disappointed, and he said he would personally tell you. He even said he would make time for you to say goodbye.”
This was absolutely the first I had heard of it?
No matter how much I searched my memory, Seion Fernandi had never said anything remotely like that to me. All he ever did was wear a displeased expression and say things like, “I don’t understand.”
“I am disappointed as well. He worked as the head chef for ten years already, yet he ended up leaving so suddenly.”
“Why did he suddenly leave?”
“Well, even I have no idea. Once His Highness brings someone into the Grand Duke’s household, he usually becomes rather attached to them.”
As I watched Dale shake his head, a single thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Ah, no way. There’s no way…….
“Annette.”
At the voice from behind me, I flinched and turned around trembling. The crimson eyes that immediately met mine were as calm as ever.
“What conversation are you having that seems so enjoyable?”
It was not a particularly enjoyable conversation at all. I glanced toward Dale, but he had already disappeared at some point.
“……I was just hearing about how the chef at the Grand Duke’s residence is changing today.”
“I see.”
Even though he was the one who asked first, Seion did not seem particularly interested in the conversation. After giving a lukewarm reply out of politeness, he simply brushed past me.
I stared blankly at his back before hurrying after him. Even though he must have sensed my gaze, Seion did not look back at me.
While staring at his handsome profile, I threw out the question that had just occurred to me.
“Your Highness, are you perhaps replacing the chef because I said I would kidnap them?”
Come on, no way. Could my joke really have caused this kind of result?
Unlike my casual thoughts, reality was bewildering.
“Annette. She is a married woman well over forty.”
“What?”
They say assumptions kill people. He really evacuated her away from me?
“I will respect the fact that Annette likes women…….”
I stopped walking at Seion’s next words.
“No, I like men!”
Of course, I do like cool older sisters, but that is admiration at most. Not the kind of love where I want to kiss them!
I did not even know the chef’s gender in the first place, yet somehow I ended up being misunderstood like this. I made an extremely wronged expression, but it did not seem to reach Seion.
“I see.”
Seion answered halfheartedly. He did not add anything else, but his face still looked as though he misunderstood.
No, why are you so convinced that I like women?! Frustrated, I smacked my chest and urgently spoke to Seion.
“Your Highness. I think there’s some misunderstanding here.”
As I repeatedly thumped my chest, Seion grabbed my collar and pulled me closer. It was different from how he used to seize my wrist whenever he pleased.
However, I had no time to praise that right now. At this rate, I was about to become a future adulteress secretly in love with a married woman.
“Saying I’d kidnap the chef was a joke. I only meant the food was that delicious, not that I was actually planning to do anything.”
“Ah, a joke…….”
Seion muttered quietly. He looked as though the possibility that it had been a joke had never even crossed his mind.
“And I seriously like men. If one day I spot a pretty older sister and my eyes light up or I start drooling, that’s not love, it’s admiration? Something like that.”
“You drool out of admiration?”
“Well, that wording is a bit weird, but people don’t only drool over delicious food. Normally, no one can resist handsome, pretty, or cute things.”
Seion furrowed his brows again as though something still failed to make sense to him. My excessively honest explanation seemed to have only deepened his suspicion.
“Then why do you not drool over my face?”
“What?”
“You said I was handsome. You even said my face was so striking that just glancing at it would make someone’s nose bleed.”
Ah, this is dangerous.
“You also said that just looking at me makes you start thinking about names for our grandchildren. Have you thought about them?”
Seion asked seriously. Even though his expression made it seem like he was not particularly interested in my answer.
Why did he somehow seem to sparkle even though his face was completely expressionless? Was this the effect of beauty?
While staring at his blank face, I carefully chose my words. Seion probably would not care no matter what answer I gave, but my situation was different when I was being attacked by the most handsome man in the world.
“Y-Your Highness… this is a little different from that……?”
“I do not understand what is different at all. Should I memorize this too? ‘Annette is not particularly interested in my appearance.’”
And what exactly would you do if I *were* interested? Even though the atmosphere was not sweet at all, it was still enough to make my heart pound wildly.
If you’re not some devoted pure-hearted man in love with me, then please stop saying lines like that. It seriously sounds like you’re flirting with me!
If Seion had not been the villain from the side stories, I might have unconsciously shoved my lips against his already. Kiss first, think about the consequences later.
“So saying I’m handsome was a lie after all?”
Sniffling, I grabbed my nose with the hand Seion was not holding. It felt like a nosebleed could burst out at any second. Who could possibly endure a handsome man asking why they were not captivated by him?
“Your Highness! If you have any conscience at all, please look in a mirror! How could calling you handsome possibly be a lie?!”
It was not as though every mirror in the Grand Duke’s residence had shattered, yet Seion’s standards regarding his own appearance were absurdly low.
“But Annette feels absolutely nothing when she sees my face. If I were truly that handsome, by now you should have…….”
“Ah! Then what, should I just suddenly smash my lips against yours? Are you saying I can bite all over Your Highness’s cherry-like lips?! Would you forgive me for that?! Huh?!”
I messed up. My loose mouth had gone wild again in the end.
But I could not simply leave him alone when his self-awareness regarding his appearance was this disastrously low. Whether it was because of the affection deprivation from his childhood or because of his tragic unrequited love, I wanted him—who strangely lacked confidence in certain areas—to value himself at least a little more.
Swallowing down the heavy sincerity in my heart, I made a fairly firm expression. While I was teaching Seion not to hurt others, his safety was important too.
“Your Highness, always be careful! Men aren’t the only wolves. Women can be wolves too!”
If you flirt like that with just any woman, it’s seriously dangerous. Especially for women like me who are weak against handsome faces!
“You never know when someone might pounce on you, so always be careful. And don’t follow someone just because they say you’re handsome, alright?! I’m putting this on the test too!”
At my rather fierce tone, Seion tightly shut his mouth, then lifted the head he had lowered and stared directly at me.
The crimson eyes that met mine were calm. Whenever I looked into those eyes, I occasionally found myself wondering what he was thinking.
“Annette, is it your preference to be the one who pounces on others?”
Haha, damn it. Seriously. What kind of thoughts does someone have to live with to arrive at a conclusion like that? I wanted to crawl into his head at least once.
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Seion sent away the newly arrived male chef and brought back the original one. Dale worried about him because of how unusually fickle he was acting, but there was nothing I could really say.
And so, it seemed the small commotion at the Grand Duke’s residence had finally come to an end. Since Seion’s one-sided misunderstanding had been cleared up, it should have been a good thing…… yet this time, a new problem arose.
“You’re not going to pounce on me today either?”
That shameless sentence was something I heard every single time I visited Seion’s office for class. After our brief greetings, Seion always asked that question. It had started after I passionately declared that women were wolves too!
No matter how innocent Seion was or how hopeless he was at romance, surely he still understood what “pouncing” meant. Just in case, I had even asked Dale to confirm it. I asked whether Seion had perhaps never received any sort of sex education.
At that, Dale immediately denied it. He even unnecessarily added that while Seion simply did not engage in such things, he would probably be better at it than anyone else.
“Your Highness, I told you already. It’s seriously dangerous to say things like that carelessly.”
“I did not say it carelessly. I said it specifically to Annette.”
“You think I’m not dangerous?”
I placed both hands on my hips. As I looked down at him sitting on the sofa in what I considered a rather intimidating pose, Seion tilted his head slightly.
“Because Annette is my romance teacher.”
Seriously, dangerous. Natural flirting. The problem was that he himself had absolutely no intention behind it.
He actually seems like he’d be good at dating once he starts.
I faced Seion, whose expression did not change even the slightest bit. Once he overcame the ordeal of his first love, perhaps he would become quite a sly man.
Someday, he probably would. They say old love is forgotten through new love. I’ll absolutely find you a destined partner who will love you, Seion!
Suppressing my burning determination, I casually placed my hand on Seion’s shoulder before suddenly swallowing a gasp. Gah, without realizing it.
According to the information Dale had told me, Seion hated physical contact with others to an extreme degree. Yet contrary to my worry that he would be displeased, Seion simply asked with a calm face.
“Are you going to pounce on me?”
It was an extremely dangerous question.
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