Chapter 1
* * *
The fluffy hair all over her body seems to raise.
She was not confident to look into Enoch’s eyes.
“Yes.”
Ines answered Enoch’s call, fixed her gaze toward the pillow.
Enoch asked.
“Why do you keep avoiding my eyes?”
“…….”
Really, how can he be so clueless!
Ines glanced sideways at Enoch with resentment.
Enoch seemed to never back down until he heard an answer.
In his persistence, Ines asked back in tears.
“Can’t you just pretend you don’t know?”
“Didn’t I tell you yesterday?”
But Enoch shook his head firmly.
“Now, no matter how much the Countess tries to push me away, I won’t retreat.”
“No, this isn’t about pushing you away…!”
Ines, who was raising her voice reflexively, frowned.
It was because she felt like she said something that she shouldn’t.
“Then what is it?”
Enoch continued.
His angry voice and nervous attitude was strange.
In the midst of the embarrassment, Ines became a little puzzled.
‘What’s wrong with you?’
Wasn’t that image far from the ease Enoch usually showed?
As if he was angry with her…
“Ah.”
For a moment, Ines’ eyes grew a little bigger.
Perhaps the reason Enoch kept looking at her mood like that, asking questions, and getting on her nerves.
‘…because I feel the same way.’
As much as Ines valued Enoch, so much as she was happy with her actions.
The same may be true of Enoch.
When she thought so, her heart calmed down in an instant as if snow was melting in the spring sun.
‘Good.’
Even though she was embarrassed and wanted to hide somewhere right away, she couldn’t hide from this forever.
Ines, who was determined, opened her lips.
“I…”
“What?”
“That’s….”
But Ines’s voice, which drew all the courage out of her mouth, was smaller than the sound of a mosquito.
Of course Enoch didn’t understand her.
Ines’s face turned redder and redder.
“I mean, I…….”
“Excuse me, Countess, I can’t hear you very well.”
“Oh, really!”
Ines eventually couldn’t resist and raised her voice.
“It’s because I’m excited to be with you! Do you have to hear that from me?”
Ines, who had been throwing a tantrum, paused for a moment.
It was because Enoch was smiling brightly before she knew it.
“Was that why you were trying to avoid me?”
“Gosh, there’s no way I’m avoiding you.”
Looking at that bright smile, it tickled her heart.
Ines stuttered a little unconsciously.
At the same time, Enoch’s smile deepened.
“I’m excited.”
Enoch, who was pondering Ines’ words, whispered softly.
“I’m glad.”
“……I’m glad about everything.”
Ines glanced sideways at Enoch.
But whether Ines scolded him or not, Enoch had a really happy face.
There was a faint smile in his voice.
“How can I not be happy?”
“…….”
It was a calm tone that told a very natural fact.
Rather, Ines was embarrassed.
Enoch added cautiously.
“In fact, I’m afraid the Countess will regret what happened last night..I was a little worried about that.”
[T/N: I’m more worried that you still use her title instead of her name during pillow-talk, Duke ಠ_ʖಠ]
However, Ines couldn’t just listen to that.
She immediately answered.
“There’s no way I’m going to regret it.”
“…….”
Enoch stared at her.
Facing the gaze directly, Ines nailed it firmly.
“Did you forget already? I’m the one who said I liked you first.”
“…Countess.”
“Well, I don’t lie about that.”
Ines recalled what happened last night.
Hot kisses. Passionate touch. Ecstasy moans….
[T/N: my, my…]
And the beautiful man in front of her who made all that time perfect.
“I’m serious about all the confessions I made yesterday.”
The whole thing felt like a dream.
To the point where she could live with that memory for the rest of her life and remember it as the most ecstatic moment of her life.
“Countess, I….”
Enoch tried to say something, but Ines was a little faster.
“How long are you going to call me Countess?”
[T/N: oh, good question..]
“What?”
Enoch, caught off guard, looked a little embarrassed.
‘Why, why, why?’
Ines met Enoch’s gaze with strength in her eyes.
“Just when we are alone, call me Ines.”
To be honest, the Duke called the Marquess of Attlee, Margaret.
Although he quickly corrected her title to Marquees Attlee but!
She could help but was jealous!
Besides,
“Come to think of it, what exactly happened to the marriage talk with the Marquess of Attlee?”
Her voice came out sharp without filters.
Enoch, who noticed that her mood had gone down in an instant, hurriedly opened his mouth.
“Huh? Why is the Marquess of Attlee suddenly…….”
“No, well.”
Ines replied coldly.
“I’ve been married to Ryan before, so I just wondered…”
As soon as she started, Enoch’s face hardened.
Ines flinched inwardly.
No, he looked pretty happy just now. What’s wrong with him?
“But honestly, I’m curious. So if you don’t mind…….”
Ines glanced at Enoch, blurring the end of her words.
At the same time Enoch opened his mouth firmly.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding, so let’s correct it.”
“Your Excellency?”
“It doesn’t matter what you’re curious about me. I can tell you anything. However.”
But?
Ines swallowed her dry saliva.
“Let’s stop talking about young master Gott.”
It was a rare cold voice.
“I don’t want to hear his name from the Countess’s mouth.”
“Uh…”
‘….Did you feel so low because I talked about Ryan? Really?’
Ines, who was blinking her eyes blankly, asked back mischievously.
“Is that jealousy?”
“That’s possible.”
To ease the mood. She was going to tease him a little bit.
Rather, Enoch simply affirmed .
Ines was speechless.
“Is it okay for you to say that you’re jealous?”
“Whatever.”
Enoch shrugged his shoulders proudly.
“I’d rather be a little more honest than have misunderstandings in our relationship.”
“That…”
“People say that the one who likes more loses.”
For a moment, Enoch looked down at Ines with a soft, fluffy smile.
Ines grumbled coyly.
“Even if you say so, I feel like I’m losing now.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Enoch smirked.
“Is that why you’re looking at me so seriously?”
“…….”
‘How can you make a person’s heart flutter with every word?’
Ines, who was staring blankly at Enoch, came to her senses.
She hurriedly arranged her expression and asked as if nothing was wrong.
“Well, so. When exactly did you propose to the Marquess?”
In a way, it was an individual’s private life, so it was a question that could be taken somewhat sensitively.
Enoch answered sincerely.
“It was about seven years ago.”
“Oh, seven years?”
It was a long time ago…
Ines’s face felt hot because she seemed too angry about the old days.
Enoch went on to explain softly.
“The Marquess of Attlee was the daughter of the Count of Lloyd before marriage.”
“If it’s Lloyd, isn’t he one of the most prestigious families in Kaldorov with Marquis of Attlee?”
“That’s right. We are two years apart in age, but since we were of the right age for marriage at the same age, there was talk of marriage..”
“…….”
A marriage talk.
Enoch’s marriage talk made Ines very unhappy.
Even though it was in the past, and knowing that even if it didn’t happen, she felt jealous anyway.
She kept making a curt expression.
Enoch shrugged.
“But it’s all a long time ago. As you can see, the Marquis of Attlee and his wife are very lucky to have each other.”
“But it’s true that the Marquess liked you.”
“Well…… I can’t say no to that.”
Enoch, who was still blinking, smiled brightly.
“Anyway, I’m here now, not by her side.”
“Well, that’s…”
“Just like you’re there for me.”
The sun rises in the east, sets in the west, and raindrops pour down from the sky and wet the ground.
It was just a natural attitude.
“Most of all, the person I love is you, not the Marquess of Attlee.”