Subliminal Wayfarer

She seemed like she was perfectly proactive when it came to expressing her feelings.

That was something he really liked. Really. It drove him crazy.

“Why are you grinning like that, Lucas? Stop it. It diminishes your charisma.”

“Oh my— Madam, His Excellency is absolutely perfect right now. But more importantly, we’re in a hurry! It seems Lady Grace is already prepared.”

“Oh dear! I was so focused on giving Lucas support that I forgot.”

At the urging words, Selena belatedly turned around.

Before leaving the room, she quickly kissed Lucas on the cheek and advised him.

“Crush them. Completely.”

It was a statement from his mother, who had already grasped where he was going and why.

Lucas responded with a smirk.

“Don’t worry. That’s my specialty.”

Selena smiled satisfactorily and left the room.

Lucas kicked the butt of his aide, who had come running with hay stuck to the back of his head.

“Check your appearance and get out here within a minute.”

“Yes, sir!”

With a spirited reply, Jaime rushed to the mirror.

 

* * *

 

After about an hour of travel, the carriage reached the destination Lucas wanted.

The door of the carriage, which looked as new as ever, swung open towards the duke’s carriage.

Catching a glimpse of it, Jaime quietly informed him.

“It was reinforced with very sturdy materials. It’s said to be strong enough to withstand a cannon shot.”

“Oh, really? Should we test it to see if that’s true?”

At Lucas’s amused suggestion, Jaime frantically waved his hands.

“No, please. Please don’t say that. I never want to handle Your Excellency’s duties again. My esteemed lord, no, my esteemed master, please live long and prosper, without any incidents to upset you.”

While Jaime sincerely wished for Lucas’s peace, the black carriage passed through a modest garden and arrived at the lobby of the O’Ellin marquisate’s residence.

Thomas, the butler of the Marquis of O’Ellin, who had been waiting after receiving prior notice, greeted them politely.

“The Marquis is waiting for Your Excellency. Allow me to escort you.”

The marquisate, which employed the minimum number of servants, was generally quiet.

Lucas, Jaime, and Hound, who always guarded Lucas without being noticed, followed the small and sturdy Thomas to the second floor.

The sound of footsteps echoed quietly.

 

* * *

 

“It’s been a while, Duke.”

Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin greeted Lucas warmly as he entered the reception room.

Following him in, Jaime and Hound quietly stood in a corner of the reception room.

“Yes, it has been a while.”

After a brief exchange of greetings, Lucas nonchalantly took the place of honor on the sofa with his long legs.

The expensive-looking suit, handcrafted by an artisan, formed perfect creases along his long legs.

Leaning back comfortably, Lucas crossed his legs arrogantly and clasped his hands over his knee, revealing a sleek wristwatch on his wrist.

‘That is…’

Gulp.

It was an item so valuable that Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin couldn’t even dream of owning it.

The wristwatch itself was an accessory first introduced a few years ago by the queen of the Okandium Principality.

It was difficult to make and there were very few craftsmen who could.

While large clocks occupying an entire wall had become commonplace, making a small one to sparkle on a wrist was a highly challenging technology.

It took a whole year to make just one, and the watch O’Ellin had never even seen before was now gleaming right in front of him.

Because of that, the arrogant appearance of the young duke sitting confidently with his legs crossed was barely noticeable.

The marquis struggled to tear his eyes away from the watch and forcefully brought up the main topic.

“So, what business do you have with me to come all this way?”

Lucas Blacke responded with a slight smile, giving a completely different answer.

“Oh, Grace is doing well.”

Seeing Kafrenn frown as if asking what he meant by that, Lucas calmly replied.

“Isn’t that what you were curious about? I thought that’s why you requested her to be sent back home… wasn’t it?”

‘Ah.’

At Lucas’s words, Kafrenn’s eyebrows furrowed into a complicated expression. He reluctantly nodded.

“Oh, well…”

Forcing himself to respond, Kafrenn changed his expression and spoke again.

“I was just thinking Grace might be imposing on the Blacke household for too long. And since you’re not even married yet, it seems a bit much for her to rely on your household for so long.”

Seizing the opportunity, Kafrenn smiled slyly.

“Actually, you never know what might happen until the marriage is final. It’s not very good for her future to stay long in the house of a young nobleman in such a situation.”

“Ah.”

At the marquis’s words, Lucas smiled as if it were a picture.

Leaning loosely against the back of his chair, he tapped the floor with one hand that was resting on the armrest, dragging out the moment.

An uncomfortable silence ensued.

“So…”

Finally, he stopped tapping his fingers and opened his mouth.

“Are you saying the marriage could be called off at any given moment?”

Lucas asked with a languid smile, as if the idea was utterly amusing.

“Haha! No, not necessarily… As you know, my dear Grace is exceptionally talented in many ways, so there are quite a few families interested in her.”

Lucas listened to Kafrenn’s words with an expression that showed he found it terribly boring.

From a distance, Jaime realized anew that his master had a fascinating ability to express contempt just through his facial expressions.

Fortunately for Lucas, Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin was quite poor at interpreting his expressions.

“Haha, there are even some who can’t hide their passionate love for her. They’ve been so fervent in their courtship that it’s hard to ignore.”

Tap, tap, tap… tap.

Lucas’s long, somewhat rough fingers began tapping on the armrest again.

Pressing one temple gently, he made a thoughtful sound.

Due to Lucas’s silent nodding, as if he understood, Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin grew increasingly anxious.

‘…I hope I didn’t provoke him needlessly.’

Even Kafrenn O’Ellin could sense that Lucas was holding onto Grace for various excuses. If he hadn’t realized that, he would have been a fool.

It was highly unlikely for a noblewoman to break her leg and arm so easily, and it was rare for anyone to keep a noble lady at their house for such reasons for so long.

The reason was obvious.

They had already developed feelings for each other.

Kafrenn O’Ellin’s eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

Grace bore a striking resemblance to Eleanor. When Grace was young, she looked almost identical to her.

Even though Grace’s appearance had changed somewhat as she grew, Kafrenn still occasionally flinched when he saw her, reminded of Eleanor.

‘…She resembles her mother, even in her vulgarity.’

To be already involved with a man.

Kafrenn clicked his tongue inwardly, but in the end, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for him.

After all, what kind of family was the Blacke Duchy?

Besides the royal family, they were the largest household in the country.

Although the house itself had a tendency to avoid power struggles and thus did not involve itself much in central politics, their authority was still undiminished.

And most mysterious of all was the wealth that the house possessed.

Not only did they own millions of hectares of land and islands, but their trading company was also one of the largest in the entire continent.

Forming a connection with such a family would undoubtedly be to Kafrenn’s advantage.

‘But the problem is that he won’t be easy to deal with.’

Even if their households would be united through marriage, Lucas Blacke wasn’t the kind of man who would give away a large portion of his wealth for his father-in-law’s sake.

If Grace got married off, it would undoubtedly become even harder to extract anything from him.

‘The initial plan to assert dominance is ruined…’

The moment he saw Lucas and Grace hugging each other right in front of his study in this mansion, he lost his composure.

Kafrenn hated seeing women behave indecently.

Especially Grace. He couldn’t stand to see her act that way.

It always reminded him of that woman, Eleanor.

That’s why, when he saw Grace and Lucas Blacke embracing that day, he couldn’t control the raging fire inside him.

And since he had already raised his voice, he wanted to suppress Lucas Blacke’s spirit a little.

Of course, he knew that raising one’s voice was not an effective way to dominate someone.

But he thought that since Lucas Blacke had only recently become a duke, he would be intimidated by his fiancée’s father.

That was a mistake.

He thought it was entirely possible, but it wasn’t at all.

There was something unsettling about Lucas Blacke.

Kafrenn O’Ellin had to eventually avert his gaze from Lucas Blacke’s piercing blue eyes that were staring straight at him.

It hurt his pride, but those eyes had something strangely unsettling about them.

Like a devil with hidden intentions, there was an eerie glint.

‘Huu, but why is he so silent? It’s making me uncomfortable.’

Although he had placed a bet, he was getting unnecessarily anxious that things might go wrong, making his throat dry.

“Ahem, ahem! Hmm!”

He pretended to clear his throat and took a sip of the now-cold tea. Around that time, Lucas finally spoke.