Chapter 11
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Dear, I believe you may be misunderstanding.
Episode 11
'What... what is this?'
Dozens of pen nibs bared their teeth at me like predators.
Chatter, chatter, chatter.
My jaw was the first to react.
As though driven out into a raging blizzard, my jaw lost all control and clattered uncontrollably.
Those sharp, pointed things seemed ready to pierce and lift me up at any moment.
I wanted to close my eyes in fear, but even my thin eyelids lacked the strength to move. My breath came in ragged gasps as though I'd forgotten how to breathe, and cold sweat poured down my back like rain.
I felt dizzy.
Though my body remained frozen, unable to move, the world before my eyes spun in dizzying circles.
My constricted breathing finally opened when a violent hiccup burst forth.
"H-hic! Hic-cup!"
I covered the hiccup that erupted like a scream with one hand, pressing down on my heaving chest.
With my breathing restored, my senses finally returned.
I had to escape this place. Right now!
Suppressing the rising terror, I squeezed my eyes shut and hurried to turn away.
But was it because I was so tense?
The upper abdomen that Norman had kicked throbbed as though it might tear.
"Ah, ugh...!"
Just as I instinctively hunched my upper body and twisted, someone's collar brushed against my cheek and forehead.
My small frame was drawn into a large, firm embrace as though being pulled in.
"...Grace?"
A deep, low baritone whispered my name, tinged with bewilderment.
Still not fully regaining my senses, I grasped the two arms wrapped around me with trembling hands.
"What on earth...?"
Lucas looked down at the small woman nestled in his arms, unable to hide his confusion.
How was he supposed to interpret this situation?
The moment she saw him, she'd darted into the Fountain Pen Shop as though proposing a game of tag, and he'd followed her inside.
Then she'd suddenly emerged from her hiding spot and thrown herself into his arms!
Judging by her trembling white hands and flushed ears, she was clearly embarrassed, yet the body pressed against him showed no sign of pulling away.
How was he supposed to make sense of this?
Lucas felt his heart pounding in a way uncharacteristic of himself.
'This woman's audacity is truly...'
Weakened, Lucas surrendered to Grace's assault.
Grace didn't merely hold him—she threw all her strength into her small frame and pushed against him forcefully.
The problem was that her strength proved far greater than expected.
"Wait, Grace...!"
Caught off guard by her physical onslaught, his firm frame staggered backward and fell.
He could have resisted.
Yet if he resisted, the girl cradled in his arms might suffer injury—a thought that kept him from bracing himself with full force.
Instead, he embraced the force driving into him, yielding to it completely.
Their bodies intertwined as one, tumbling together to the floor.
Thud!
Lucas's firm physique instinctively shielded Grace from the impact.
Thanks to his protection, she felt no pain despite the fall.
Though truthfully, pain was the last thing on her mind.
'...I have to escape. I'm terrified. I hate this!'
Behind her tightly shut eyes, dozens of pen nibs materialized with vivid clarity.
'No, I hate this. Get away!'
Grace thrashed silently, desperate to break free from the phantom.
Mercifully, the solid warmth enveloping her proved immensely comforting.
What would normally have persisted far longer began to stabilize rapidly beneath that steady embrace.
The misfortune was that her mind had not yet recovered enough to fully comprehend that someone was holding her.
Grace clenched her teeth hard.
She was fighting to suppress her ragged breathing.
Following the technique Notia had taught her, she attempted to breathe through her nose, causing her heaving chest to rise and fall uncontrollably.
'Just like this, just like this a little longer.... Just a little more.'
Though her mind remained in turmoil, the warmth enfolding her small frame brought rapid calm.
It felt as though this solid heat would shield her from those terrifying visions like an impenetrable fortress.
Like a child seeking its mother's embrace, she burrowed deeper into his arms.
Meanwhile, Lucas, who had been holding her protectively, only now became aware of the subtle trembling coursing through her body.
'Why is she shaking like this?'
Puzzled, he looked down at her carefully and asked.
"Grace? Are you all right? Are you hurt...?"
"Just a moment longer. Please, just a little more like this...."
Her small voice trembled, yet it carried an unwavering resolve as she made her request.
To remain like this for just a moment longer.
Thump.
Lucas's heart lurched wildly against his will.
Bewildered and uncertain, his arms tightened around her.
He found himself unable to refuse her plea, nor did he wish to.
Feeling his lips grow dry, he held her with a rigid posture quite unlike before.
His confused gaze wandered aimlessly through the air before closing with a soft sound.
His heart grew complicated as he waited for the "moment longer" she had requested.
Two conflicting desires tormented him simultaneously—uncertainty about whether he should continue holding her, and a dangerous wish that this moment might last forever.
While he remained rigid and unaware of his own turmoil, Grace gradually found peace.
'Breathe slowly, yes, imagine something cute, something adorable.'
The children from the Orphanage came to mind first.
Mischievous Chris, freckled Anna, dignified Christine.
And... Rene, the youngest friend from the Orphanage.
How many more seconds had passed?
"...Who might you be?"
The proprietor, who had been dozing at the desk, finally stirred awake and posed the question.
At that voice, Grace's eyes snapped open as though jolted from a trance.
'Where am I right now...?'
My dulled mind gradually began to register the situation.
The firm, solid body beneath me, pressed down by my entire weight.
A muscular frame woven without a single gap—so utterly different from my own soft, supple skin.
And that sensual fragrance I had caught mere days before.
"Do you require more time still, Grace?"
The voice that whispered those words felt familiar.
It carried a hint of amusement, yet remained profoundly tender and courteous.
'This fragrance, this voice...?'
Goosebumps erupted across my skin, and I jerked my head up abruptly.
The face of the man beneath me came into startlingly close view.
A visage sculpted as though by a master craftsman's hands gazed directly at me.
"W-Lucas...?"
At my foolish utterance, Lucas raised one eyebrow with a slight smirk.
I saw the corner of his mouth lift ever so slightly.
Even watching him smile before my eyes, I could not grasp the reality of it.
Mercifully, the shock of the situation had swept away all fear of that sharp pen's point.
Lucas cleared his throat and continued, gazing at the bewildered Grace.
"You... never cease to astonish me, Grace. It seems I have gravely underestimated you."
At the reverence gleaming in his eyes, Grace felt only deeper confusion.
"Y-Your Excellency, why...? Hic."
Shock sent another hiccup bursting forth.
My ashen complexion gradually regained its color, until finally both cheeks flushed a vivid crimson.
Even the bridge of my nose burned noticeably red.
'Why is this man before my eyes—no, where exactly am I right now? And how did this situation even occur? My head, my head aches terribly!'
Even as I berated myself, the hiccups showed no sign of ceasing.
Hic, hic—they erupted like the call of a cuckoo bird, and I pressed my hand over my mouth in distress.
"I-I beg your pardon, hic, ugh!"
Damn it.
"It is quite all right. I was startled, certainly... but I suppose such things can happen."
'What do you mean, such things can happen?'
I had no chance to protest before I scrambled to rise to my feet.
Yet my weakened legs and uncertain hands betrayed my efforts.
My floundering body tumbled forward once more onto Lucas's firm chest.
As I squirmed and shifted atop him, Lucas's expression began to change in the most peculiar way.
"Grace, if you move like that...."
"Yes? Yes. Yes! I'm, *hic*! I'm, trying to get up! *hic*, I, I'm doing it! *hic*!"
Oh, I wish I were dead.
Grace wept inwardly at the thought.
And at that very moment, Lucas Black found himself increasingly wishing the same thing.
Die. Please.
...Die. Lucas.
He drew a sharp breath, his eyes squeezed shut.
To steady his mind and body, he recalled a hymn. The sacred melody proved remarkably effective.
"I'm, *hic*, I, I've lost my strength, *hic*! I'm truly, sorry, *hic*!"
Why was the floor nowhere to be found today.
It would be faster to search for a mouse hole, he thought, turning his head away.
Grace, who had been staring at the enormous glass window of the Fountain Pen Shop above Lucas's head, felt her face drain of all color.
"What is the matter, Grace?"
Grace froze so completely that her relentless hiccups ceased at once.
Puzzled, Lucas followed the direction of her gaze.
'Oh, no.'
Several familiar faces were pressed against the window pane, their dignity and composure utterly abandoned as they watched the two of them.
The elderly woman in the red hat was Marquess Rodia, the High Society's megaphone, and the one with the yellow fan was Countess Girash, who favored gossip so much she had founded a daily newspaper.
And... that blonde hair belonged to Viscount Thomas Hopkins, Norman Oellin's closest friend.
Upon spotting him, Grace felt her blood run cold in an instant.
'Damn it.'
She could already hear Norman's shrill voice coming to confront her, ringing in her ears.
Since the places he had struck before had not yet fully healed, if he raised his hand again, she would surely be bedridden for days.
Grace's expression hardened.
Her heart, which had been racing hotly with panic, sank heavily.
"Your hiccups seem to have stopped, but your expression has only grown worse."
At the concerned voice sounding so close by, Grace suddenly realized she was still lying flat against Lucas Black's chest.
Ah, why was she being such a fool today.
It was truly strange.
Whenever she stood before this man, Grace felt utterly unlike herself.
Perhaps the reason this man was so peculiarly troublesome stemmed from that very fact.
He possessed some quality that made her cease to be herself.
"I apologize. I have been committing rudeness continuously."
A soft sigh escaped between Grace's tightly pressed lips.
As Grace belatedly stirred to rise, Lucas's hands suddenly gripped with considerable strength.
"It seems to be because of those gazes from outside... Would you entrust this to me?"
Holding Grace's gaze, Lucas raised his dark brows slightly.
It was a smile that radiated not mere confidence but outright arrogance.
To Grace, Lucas's smile resembled that of a greater villain subduing smaller villains.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org