Subliminal Wayfarer

‘……!’

Those piercing gazes stared right at her.

Startled, Grace gasped, drawing in breath as her consciousness, trapped beneath the surface, was forcibly dragged up.

“Huk, huuuk!”

Instantly, a ringing in her head pressed down on her painfully, as if a bell had been struck.

Grace moaned, clutching her head.

Grimacing in pain, the dream faded to just a blur of afterimages, as dreams often do.

“…Why does my head hurt so much.”

But once the pain subsided, her headache, whether it was from the dream or something else, demanded all her attention.

She took a small, deep breath and got up from her place.

Thinking of drinking a glass of water, she poured water from the jug into a cup, but her fingers trembled, and the cup slipped down.

Seeing the spilled water made her temples throb again.

“…Huu.”

Pressing down on her forehead, Grace turned on the light and stepped outside.

Walking down the now familiar path in the hallway, she noticed a faint light leaking from the central room on the second floor, Lucas’s study.

‘But that’s His Excellency’s study…?’

She wondered why there was light in his study at such a late hour.

Could it be a thief? If it was the study, there would be valuable documents…

Grace turned off the lantern and cautiously approached Lucas’s slightly open study.

Suddenly, without any warning, the door to the study flung open.

“Eek!”

Startled, Grace screamed, stepping back.

She hurriedly covered her mouth, but the sound was loud, and her legs had no strength as she stumbled backward.

Just as she was about to fall, a hand swiftly reached out, steadying her teetering body by the waist.

“Grace?”

“…Your Excellency?”

“Why are you here at this time?”

“That, well, I woke up in the middle and came down for a glass of water. I saw the light on and thought maybe a thief had broken in… But, why aren’t you asleep yet?”

As she stammered with a flushed face, Lucas just quietly laughed at her words.

Her reason was as cute and endearing as she was.

“Who would dare break into Lucas Black’s residence? Unless it’s a cunning snake…”

“Huh?”

“Never mind, Grace. Pretend you didn’t hear that. It’s really nothing. So, you haven’t had your water yet?”

“Yes, I was on my way.”

“I see. Then it’s still dark outside, let’s go together.”

Saying so, Lucas didn’t move, just looking at her.

In the same position as when he had caught her waist to prevent her fall, just moments before.

“…Your Excellency?”

Grace, still with a slightly flushed face, fidgeted, expressing her discomfort.

Only then did Lucas let her go with a lukewarm smile, his fingertips lingering slowly over her garment.

Feeling Grace’s warmth through the thin nightgown, Lucas had to clench and unclench his palm several times, not wanting to let go.

Worried his unruly hand might pull her close again, he hid it behind his back as they walked together.

“What were you asking earlier, Grace?”

“Haven’t you slept yet?”

“Ah, there’s been too much work I’ve put off… Just looking at what needs to be done immediately, and here we are, this late.”

“You must be tired.”

“Not at all. Maybe because I lazed around too much when I was Luki, I still have energy to spare.”

Speaking playfully and laughing, his face showed no signs of fatigue at all.

Rather, his complexion seemed as vibrant as someone who had just woken up.

On the quiet path back to the room, she hesitated before asking a question she hadn’t had the chance to ask earlier.

“But, Your Excellency.”

Lucas looked at Grace affectionately, silently urging her to continue.

Grace asked what had been on her mind.

“How do you… change into a horse?”

The corners of Lucas’s lips curved in a subtle smile.

She was troubled, or perhaps even overwhelmed.

But Grace couldn’t just let it go. After all, she was involved now.

“All I’ve heard is something about a curse. But you haven’t told me the details yet. Didn’t you say you would tell me everything soon?”

He sighed lightly and stopped in his tracks.

Before they knew it, they had arrived in front of Grace’s room.

“As you’ve heard before, this is a curse. A curse that has been passed down for a long time, shrouded in secrecy. It’s a top-secret known only to a few people of this country.”

The servants, who hold important roles in this mansion, have all sworn loyalty to the family over generations.

They were taught not to question what they knew or pretended not to know.

No one could recklessly speak of the curse.

Even if they were the subject of the curse.

“This curse is not exclusive to our family, Grace.”

“Then, other families are… cursed as well?”

He reached out and gently caressed her cheek.

His large, warm hand stroked the end of her cheek and lips.

Her reflection flickered in his deep, blue eyes.

“I’m sorry. This is all I can say for now. When we make our vows of marriage, then… I will tell you everything.”

Lucas’s lips slowly touched the corner of her eyes.

His lips, which were supposed to end with a light kiss, softly smeared across her cheek as if to leave his mark on her face.

She thought it would end there.

“…Ah.”

Until the moment her defenseless earlobe was softly sucked into the inside of his lips.

Unwittingly, Grace held her breath and closed her eyes.

The soft, warm, and slow sensation keenly stimulated the tip of her ear.

The sensation of her earlobe being sucked into his lips was so strange that her weak legs could barely stand, though it was just a tiny bite.

“It won’t be… too late then, Grace.”

Whispering with a low voice, he kissed her wet earlobe, and slowly pulled away.

 

* * *

 

As Grace was told the night before, Lucas Blacke was incredibly busy.

The work he had deferred to Jaime, using the excuse of his transformation, engulfed him like a wave.

“There’s a request from the Lasentra domain to lower the tenant fees. They say they might not be able to meet the original amount due to famine. Zehr and Honajem have been sent for on-site assessment. And here, this is what you instructed to coordinate with the Naqium Guild…”

Endlessly, truly endlessly, work piled up.

Thanks to this, even after he had returned to his healthy human form, Lucas couldn’t spend proper time with Grace.

Meanwhile, the O’Ellin family continuously sent urgent requests to send Grace back.

Lucas flatly refused.

He couldn’t send her back to a family that treated her so poorly.

Such vile people.

“This time say that she broke her arm. Next time, she injured her wrist. After that, just say she caught a cold.”

Jaime sighed as he took notes.

“Your Excellency, we can’t keep them at bay forever with that approach.”

“I know. Just wait. I’ll go to the palace soon.”

“When exactly is ‘soon’?”

“As soon as possible. Apply for an audience at the earliest date.”

Lucas didn’t take his eyes off the documents for a second as he responded to his aide.

After going through all of this, he had to check each item entering the trade himself.

The inspection of products from the domain had been delegated to Gabriel.

Finishing the work as soon as possible would give him the leisure to take a walk with Grace.

“Speaking of which, where is Grace?”

“Ah, she went shopping with the Elder Madam.”

“What? Shopping?”

At that, Lucas’s already sharp gaze intensified.

The veins on the back of his hand holding the pen bulged.

Seeing Lucas suddenly stiffen, Jaime shrank back a little.

Did he say something wrong?

Or… was his master angry because he was working without sleep while the others went shopping?

But the Lucas that Jaime knew wasn’t such a petty man.

“Hah, shopping.”

Finally, Lucas slammed his hand with the pen down on the desk and muttered.

“I’m so jealous.”

He wanted to go shopping with Grace too.

About a thousand things he wanted to buy for her came to mind.

With a bit more thought, he felt he could double that number.

Lucas wanted to give Grace everything she laid her eyes on.

He had the wealth to make it possible.

Such was the extent of House Blacke’s wealth.

 

“Y-Your Excellency.”

 

The image of Grace, her face turning as red as a peach from just a kiss on the earlobe last dawn, came to mind.

He wanted to see that face again soon.

Just looking at it made him think of sweetness, as if filled with juice.

‘Huuuu. Quickly, quickly. Quicklyyy…’

There was no time to stand idly.

He became impatient.

Lucas, with a jolt of realization, commanded sternly.

“Jaime, bring me all the remaining work. All of it.”

“All…? All of it?”

“Yes, we’ll finish it today.”

So that whether it’s shopping or a picnic, they could go.

Lucas was ablaze with determination.