* * *
At the unexpected attack, Raizen looked up to find Whisen staring at him with an exasperated expression.
“I was just loosening up his muscles.”
When Raizen looked back, the duchess was on the verge of tears, silently begging to be saved.
“…I forgot to go gentler.”
‘I didn’t even use that much pressure.’
As Raizen rubbed the back of his head, Whisen smacked him again.
“There won’t be any bruises. I may be an idiot, but I wouldn’t be so rough.”
Pushing Raizen aside, Whisen naturally took his place in front of Sylvian and carefully resumed massaging his legs.
This time, Sylvian didn’t scream.
“The vice-captain is the best at this.”
Sonya, who had accompanied them, laughed and greeted Whisen.
“Sonya, can you lead?”
“Of course! I may be an Omega, but I’m still a knight.”
She confidently declared that she could take on both the leader’s and follower’s roles.
“That’s impressive.”
While Sylvian chatted, Whisen silently continued massaging his leg.
‘A bit deep, isn’t it?’
Whisen’s hand slid toward the inner thigh, and Sylvian flinched slightly.
But when their eyes met, Whisen simply grinned.
Sylvian sent him a look of gratitude and resumed talking with the other guards as if nothing had happened.
“You just need to establish dominance.”
“Dominance?”
“Yes! Even if you can’t dance well, just think, ‘I’m the most elegant and handsome person here.’”
Raizen reassured him that, since the duchess was beautiful, no one would notice his lack of skill.
“But I don’t want to embarrass the Duke. I’ll do my best.”
As soon as Whisen stepped back, Sylvian spoke resolutely and stood up.
He had refreshed himself and relaxed his legs—now it was time to conquer dancing.
“Ah! Ouch! Sorry! Wrong step! Ack!”
Over the next two days, Sylvian stepped on Whisen’s feet more times than he could count.
Thud.
“Ahhh!”
As he wobbled, Whisen quickly caught him.
His slender waist fit perfectly in one hand.
The heat flushing Sylvian’s cheeks and his subtly sweet scent made Whisen momentarily pause before stepping back.
“Let’s go again.”
“…Okay.”
Exhaustion was written all over his face, but when Whisen suggested starting from the top, Sylvian sent Elgana a pleading look.
She simply gave him an encouraging nod and restarted the music.
“Focus on the rhythm.”
After remaining silent the whole time, Whisen finally spoke up.
Sylvian pressed his face against Whisen’s firm chest and frantically moved his feet.
Whisen focused on the dance, trying to ignore how close their lower bodies were.
He subtly led Sylvian with light touches, guiding him into a smooth rhythm.
“Hah!”
“Well done.”
For the first time, Sylvian neither stepped on Whisen’s foot nor crashed into him.
Whisen’s simple praise made Sylvian beam.
He had almost stumbled again, but he managed to stay on beat and avoided burying his face in Whisen’s chest.
Clap, clap, clap.
“Wonderful. That will do.”
Elgana smiled as she tidied up the magical device and quickly handed Sylvian a towel for his sweat-dappled face.
“If you overdo it, you might struggle at the party tomorrow.”
Sylvian, who had been gripping Whisen’s hands tightly, reluctantly nodded at her advice.
“Whisen, thank you.”
“It was nothing. I’m glad I could help.”
Whisen’s face remained unreadable.
They had spent the whole day practicing together, and after being stepped on countless times, he had lost all expression.
‘Sorry… I didn’t realize I was this bad at dancing.’
Throughout the training, Sylvian had stepped on Whisen, Raizen, and Sonya’s feet equally.
While Raizen and Sonya reassured him that struggling at first was normal, Whisen simply kept dancing without a word.
He wouldn’t have moved on from me that quickly.
Sylvian let go of Whisen’s hand and stepped onto the terrace, cooling off in the night air.
“You might catch a cold.”
Sometimes, Whisen nagged even more than the maids. At his words, Sylvian took a deep breath of the cool air with a reluctant expression.
“It’s a little hot.”
“Then it would be better to bathe in your chambers.”
“But I didn’t sweat that much…”
At his mumbling, Whisen’s eyebrow twitched upward. Seeing his expression, Sylvian sighed and stood up.
“Elgana is right. If I keep practicing, I might be too exhausted tomorrow.”
“I’ll go in and wash up.”
Sylvian, who had been planning to sit comfortably for a while, had no choice but to head to the bedroom at Whisen’s urging.
A few maids followed behind them.
“Hoooh.”
Good.
It was a good thing he listened to Whisen.
As Sylvian let out a pleased sigh while soaking in the warm water, a few of the attending maids giggled.
When he first arrived at the ducal estate, he had been so horrified at the idea of servants assisting with his bath that he had run away.
But now, it didn’t bother him in the slightest.
All he had to do was entrust his body to them, and they took care of everything.
Humans were creatures of adaptation.
His embarrassment had been fleeting, and now Sylvian could comfortably leave himself in their hands.
“We’ll make you the most beautiful person tomorrow.
Everyone will fall for you at first sight, Sylvian.”
“Mm… That’s… not necessary.”
Sylvian murmured a response he didn’t mean as he relaxed into the water.
This was finally his chance to make a name for himself in public.
He needed to get close to people quickly and identify who could help him when the time came to escape.
“The Duke will be the envy of all.”
Listening to the maids pour out sweet words, Sylvian finished his bath and found Whisen waiting for him.
“Haaahm.”
“Are you going to sleep?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, let me help loosen your muscles a little. Sleep well.”
…That’s what Zeroth did just a while ago.
At Whisen’s words, Sylvian flopped onto the bed with a composed expression.
Since Whisen had massaged him yesterday as well, the maids took it as a given and quietly left the room to let the duchess rest.
“I’ll only massage your legs.”
At Whisen’s words, Sylvian nodded.
‘Is he openly seducing me?’
But if that was the case, Whisen’s eyes were too indifferent.
Even as he looked at Sylvian’s pale, slender legs, his gaze didn’t change at all.
He simply looked like someone doing a given task.
Drip.
Just like Zeroth had done, oil dripped down, but this time, it wasn’t cold.
When Sylvian glanced down, he saw Whisen warming the oil in his hands before letting it fall.
“Mm.”
His hand touched Sylvian’s ankle.
As he gently worked around the protruding bone, a dull ache mingled with relief.
“Ng.”
A groan slipped out naturally.
It felt like he was reacting too much, but unlike Zeroth, Whisen’s hands moved up his calves and thighs, pressing only where it actually hurt.
‘This is dangerous.’
The problem was that his body felt like it was preparing for something to happen!
A few days ago, Zeroth had done something indecent, making Sylvian’s body twitch in expectation.
“Does it hurt?”
“Hm? No, it feels good.”
Sylvian tried his best not to blush as Whisen met his eyes and asked.
Eventually, the comforting touch lulled him into sleep.
After finishing the massage, Whisen watched the peacefully sleeping duchess for a long moment before silently leaving the bedroom.
* * *
