After a long time, we had a meal together and casually enjoyed some tea before heading into the office.
When I directly informed the two of them that Lucas was unwell and would be resting for the time being, they were a bit disappointed but soon accepted it.
I had expected it from Leon, but I didn’t think Tayros would be disappointed too.
Tayros remarked that it just went to show how well Lucas had been doing.
My heart grew heavy.
Because of the dream I had today, I finally understood the reason why I had acted so cruelly in the novel.
I also understood why he wasn’t attempting to escape right now.
He figured that seducing me had a higher chance of success than trying to break out.
In that case, had he decided to try escaping again now?
No matter how much I pondered it, no answer came.
How was this heavily derailed novel going to play out from here?
Was Lucas going to attempt an escape now?
If Tayros got hurt in the process, was I confident that I wouldn’t act as cruelly as I did in the novel…?
Honestly, I wasn’t confident.
If Tayros got hurt, I would torture Lucas just like in the novel, even knowing that I would suffer the exact same fate.
Since it was Lucas’s doing, he had to pay the corresponding price.
Even if it meant I would suffer too.
With my head in such a tangled mess, nothing but sighs slipped from my mouth.
As I kept letting out deep sighs while working, my aide, Scarlet, finally couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up.
“You are being noisy.”
“Everyone is acting so insolent toward me today. Why can’t I even let out a few sighs?”
“If you are going to suppress me with your rank, then I will suppress you with my age.”
“Sorry. Give me a break.”
Perhaps because she had treated me like an older sister since we were young, she still felt like one even though she was working as my aide.
Of course, just because I treated her like an older sister didn’t mean Scarlet treated me like a younger brother.
She simply treated me as ‘Superior Number 1’ whom she served.
“You are sighing far too frequently. Since lunch, you have sighed a total of seventeen times.”
“You actually counted that?”
“And that is with me missing a few times because I forgot to count. If you have a dilemma, go home early and resolve it. This is uncharacteristic of you, Count.”
“It has to be a dilemma that can be resolved for me to fix it.”
Am I supposed to grab Lucas and ask him if he plans to escape once his body recovers?
Or am I supposed to beg him not to touch Tayros when he does escape?
Both options were utterly absurd.
“Then give up on it. Why worry over it? Are you doing this because you want to head home early today as well?”
“That’s not it, but… are you going to let me leave early?”
“That would honestly be better. Your complexion looks awful.”
My aide’s nagging ended with words of worry for me.
Really, with everyone being so soft-hearted, how are they planning to survive in this harsh world?
“Then let’s take a short break. Come over here, sister. Let’s have some tea.”
The butler prepared the tea right away.
We sat at the tea table, silently sipping our tea.
Since we saw each other’s faces every single day at work, there wasn’t anything particular to talk about.
“Are you worrying because of that slave?”
I almost spat out the tea I was drinking.
This brother and sister pair were truly making things difficult for me today as a tag team.
I knew Scarlet was quick-witted, but I didn’t think she would catch onto this as well.
Seeing as it was break time, Scarlet spoke to me casually.
“The rumors about what happened in the office have already spread everywhere.”
“Why on earth would that become a rumor?”
“You talked with the door wide open.”
I banged my head against the table.
I had opened the door intending to kick Lucas out, but I hadn’t considered at all that the conversation could be heard outside.
I was a complete idiot.
“Do you like him that much?”
“It’s not like that…”
“Even from my perspective, he certainly is pretty. If you took him as a concubine, everyone would understand. In fact, if you went as far as marrying him, the others would be thrilled, thinking you won’t threaten the position of successor.”
I raised my head.
Analyzing the situation from various angles was indeed typical of my aide.
However, it was disheartening that she would support a marriage between Lucas and me for such a ridiculous reason.
“Even if I were to marry a woman, the successor would obviously be Leon. And the moment my brother returns, I am going to hand this position right back to him.”
“I believe you, but there are people out there who don’t. If it’s not even that, then what is there for you to worry about?”
I take it back. My aide didn’t understand my dilemma in the slightest.
To think she misunderstood and thought I wanted to take him as a concubine.
I cleared up that misunderstanding immediately.
“I don’t want to take him as a concubine. Not at all.”
“I do not think that is something you should be saying with those marks on your neck… But anyway, then what is it that you’re worrying about?”
Damn it. Even though I had covered my neck, she must have seen it.
Belatedly, I made a motion to grab and hide my neck, but realizing it was useless since she had already seen everything, I dropped my hand.
“It’s just… something like that is going on.”
“Tell me. I’ll listen and forget it immediately.”
Scarlet was a trustworthy person.
The way the siblings blindly trusted their lord was identical.
But a story I couldn’t even tell Tayros was a story I couldn’t tell Scarlet either.
However, it was true that I needed someone to talk to, so I altered the circumstances appropriately and spoke.
“Did you hear the story about Tayros sparring with Lucas?”
“Yes. Didn’t Tayros win?”
“Tayros said Lucas let him win. Tayros said so himself. He’s a knight stronger than him.”
Scarlet criticized her younger brother with a look of utter patheticness on her face.
It was an expression so full of disdain that it made even me feel a bit hurt on his behalf.
“So? What about it?”
