Chapter 37
Lionel said.
“The chef said he put a lot of effort into baking the chiffon cake. Karl also said he found a tea to compliment the cake.”
Riv salivated as she recalled the simple yet neat desserts made by the Duke’s cooks.
The chiffon cake made by the chef softly melted the moment she put it in her mouth. If it was such a tea time, of course she had to say yes. However,
“Should I really change my dress? It’s too troublesome.”
“Princess Marianne would change her dress six times a day. You should also get used to changing clothes. I like bright, revealing dresses rather than dull ones. Find something like that and try it on.”
Riv sighed and pretended to agree.
Riv was used to being Madame Katana, so she lacked the common sense of ordinary noble women.
“After an hour, come down to the parlor.”
The kindness from before disappeared in an instant. Lionel had turned professional again.
Riv left his office.
An hour was surprisingly short to be able to choose a new dress and change her clothes.
It was good to hurry. After entering her room, Riv asked her maids to find a dress, and then headed to her bathroom to wash. Riv Katana, reflected in the bathroom’s blurry mirror, looked as youthful as a girl on her first date.
Riv ended up wearing a modest-looking apricot dress. Of the few dresses she quickly pulled out, it was the most modest that fit her body.
The other dresses needed repairs because they had a large waist or a short hem.
“Ugh.”
Her shoulders were slightly exposed, and the dress that spread down the waist was too much.
It was a dress that seemed more suitable for a tea party in a gorgeous garden than casual wear.
‘Is this okay?’
She wanted to change into another dress, but didn’t have time. Riv looked at herself once in the mirror.
She saw a white-skinned woman with dark, luscious hair.
A blush spread across her terribly pale face, and now she looked like a living person.
“Miss, you are beautiful.”
Riv felt awkward with everything her maids said.
She looked like a plausible lady to herself, but she wasn’t sure how she looked in the eyes of others. A maid said as she came up to her.
“The Duke is waiting for you.”
Riv turned her body in the mirror.
Looking at her dark, voluminous hair flowing down her back. The maids said.
“Next time, I will curl your hair with an iron and put it up nicely.”
Riv nodded her head and went downstairs with her.
This was just a play.
A play that had to look real. Even if it wasn’t real, she and Lionel had to act like a proper couple in the future.
After Riv managed her expression, she went down to the drawing room on the ground floor.
Lionel, dressed in a suit, sat on the plush sofa and casually patted the seat next to him.
“Come sit here.”
“There?”
Even though the living room was small, there were plenty of places to sit.
Even if it wasn’t there, it was enough. Lionel’s eyes blazed as if he would eat her. He patted the seat next to him and emphasized.
“Sit here next to me, my love.”
The servants’ faces were engulfed in fear.
‘My love?’
Riv doubted her ears.
It seemed natural that the servants who had frozen and then melted for a short time pretended not to see and turned away from them.
‘Is it really this embarrassing to act as an engaged couple?’
Riv, conscious of the maids’ gazes, sat down next to Lionel.
She didn’t want to face Lionel, and he was still too close. Her heart started pounding.
She felt like her heart was being strained.
“Riv looks nice in bright and colorful things.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Lionel’s serious gaze seemed to rest on her white shoulders.
“Have I told you you’re pretty?”
At Lionel’s praise, Riv felt her heart tickle. Her face turned red involuntarily.
“L-Lionel looks great too.”
“Isn’t this scar scary?”
Riv knew that at some point, Lionel was going to show her the right side of his face.
Coincidentally, the seat she was sitting on was also on his right.
“How did that scar come about?”
“About five years ago, I got it from a battle.”
Lionel said nonchalantly, but refused to elaborate.
“I want to hear more.”
“There was a minor battle on the Northern border.”
Recalling the memories of that time, Lionel seemed to have become extremely displeased.
The pain at that time seemed to come back to him.
“Riv, do I need to tell you more?”
“If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to. But.”
“But?”
“Does Lionel have insecurity about the scar on his face?”
Without the scar, Lionel’s face would have been flawless.
However, for Riv, the scar was already part of Lionel.
“Lionel, I am not afraid of your scar. It’s pretty.”
“What? Pretty?”
For a moment, Lionel’s face went blank.
Riv traced the scar on his red face.
There were still traces of his natural skin texture on the scar.
The traces were like cracks on glass.
“Riv, aren’t you afraid of me?”
Riv chose what to say.
“I think it’s human.”
“Human?”
“Wouldn’t you have been too perfect without the scars? You must have been so handsome that you looked like a sculpture?”
At Riv’s words, Lionel was expressionless.
But somehow he seemed happy.
“Riv, you’re amazing. All the other servants are watching.”
“What?”
When Riv turned around, the servants and maids averted their gazes.
She could feel a lot of eyes spying on them from the doorway. Lionel looked at them and waved his hand in annoyance.
“Leave.”
“Duke.”
“Get out.”
“We will leave the cake and tea.”
“……”
The maids set the cake and tea down.
The brightly colored black tea was poured from the teapot.
The cakes looked pretty and tasty, but Riv didn’t pay them any attention.
“L-Lionel.”
Lionel hugged Riv’s waist. Their knees touched and his thighs rubbed against hers. His muscular legs could be felt through the skirt of her thick dress. Lionel was deliberately making them touch.
“Isn’t this too close?”
As Riv whispered to him, Lionel laughed.
“You have to act properly.”
Who the hell did they have to act in front of?
Aren’t you trying to touch me under the guise of acting?
Riv felt embarrassed. She didn’t want to reveal that she was attracted to him.
The cake that she had wanted to eat was right there, but it didn’t catch her eye. Her appetite was long gone.
“I, I.”
“Ah, we have to do tea time properly as well.”
Lionel grabbed a plate with cake, breaking a piece off with a fork. He brought the fork up to her mouth..
“Eat.”
Riv hesitated and opened her mouth.
Lionel put the piece of cake into Riv’s mouth.
Riv’s eyes widened at his bold behavior.
Surprised and startled, she barely chewed the piece of cake, and swallowed it immediately.
She felt like she was going to get indigestion from the discomfort. Lionel looked at her with such a caring face. One of his hands was still wrapped around her waist.
“You don’t look good. Where does it hurt? Are you not fully recovered?”
“I-It’s uncomfortable.”
Riv struggled to keep her face from turning red.
“Take one more bite to show your sincerity.”
Riv couldn’t taste the cake. It must have been a romantic scene, but why didn’t it feel romantic?
Lionel looked the same as he usually did.
A hard face, and a brutal appearance that seemed to spit out black energy.
A face smiling towards Riv.
For some reason, it gave her the feeling of seeing a terrifying villain. She wasn’t scared, but still, she felt strange.
“What?”
“Just.”
“Let’s have dinner together later.”
Riv just turned her head away, more embarrassed by the situation, where they were so close together. Lionel said casually, grabbing Riv’s hand and holding it.
They were in a loving pose, but his voice was indifferent.
“Riv, I don’t think I mentioned the wedding date earlier.”
“When is it?”
“It’s in three days.”
Riv’s eyes almost popped out. She didn’t know it would be this soon.
Lionel added.
“Tomorrow the seamstresses will come and mend the wedding dress.”
“You really are in a hurry.”
“I want to do it today or tomorrow, but it would seem to be difficult with the Bishop’s circumstances.”
“Yes.”
Riv, who was admiring Lionel’s momentum, asked.
“Doesn’t a wedding need the permission of the royal family or the bishops’ church?”
“I need approval from both of them. So, I urged the Cardinals to get us married, ignoring the royal family. He will host our wedding.”
‘The proud Cardinal, His Eminence?’
The Cardinal who refused to meet the king carelessly?
Lionel casually told a story that shocked Riv.
“Your wedding dress is the only problem because the schedule is tight. We didn’t have time to order a dress, so Claudel said she’d look at my mother’s wedding dress.”
“The dress of the former Duchess?”
“Do you not like it because it was my mother’s dress?”
Riv hesitated.
“It’s not that, but will it fit me? I am taller than most women.”
“My mother wasn’t quite as tall as you, but she was tall, so it will only need light mending.”
“Your mother was also tall?”
“My father and my mother were both tall. Probably just like you and me.”
Lionel muttered involuntarily.
“Oh, is that why you’re my ideal type?”
Riv tried to understand what he was saying, but as he wrapped himself around her, he couldn’t continue his words.
“Hey, Lionel, please get away from me.”