“Yes. I’ll leave now.”
Only then did Clyne stagger to his feet and slightly turn his head to look at Hugrey.
“Ha, really. What’s with your appearance? Can you even see like that? Why don’t you take off your glasses?”
He seemed to understand why he had been rubbing his head like that.
Clyne was wearing his usual thick glasses that covered half his face, looking stuffy as always. But now, a hazy mist had settled on the lenses, making it doubtful if anything could be seen through them.
“Ah, no. I can see well.”
Even as he said this, Clyne raised his arm to wipe his glasses.
“How foolish.”
As he wiped the lenses with his damp forearm, the glasses became slippery with moisture and were in a mess.
Realizing that his glasses were stained with water, Clyne lifted his upper arm to his glasses and wiped off the moisture.
He looked utterly stupid. Was there anyone else besides this Clyne Liden who would wipe their glasses by bringing their upper arm to them instead of taking them off?
Wearing his messy glasses, Clyne staggered out of the bathroom.
Everything looked strange. All of it.
His hurried footsteps.
The pathetic and miserable gesture of wiping his glasses.
His buttocks, wet from falling on the damp bathroom floor.
His two calves, running out, excessively smooth, thin, and white.
But the strangest thing was still the changed atmosphere.
As Clyne disappeared from the bathroom, only then could Hugrey breathe properly.
While that fellow was in the bathroom, his body scent was so intensely strong that Hugrey had to hold his breath, only taking a quick breath when he reached his limit.
Could someone who was in a relationship with a woman with the same body scent emit such a strong scent?
And it wasn’t even right after meeting a woman.
Ah… Is it really like that?
The assumption he wanted to deny kept raising its head, insisting it was true.
It was strange that they had the same body scent, but that scent seemed to be Clyne Liden’s own.
Not something he picked up from somewhere, but a scent he was directly emitting.
A scent so sweet it could drive one mad, so thirst-inducing one wanted to drink it.
This is dangerous. This is truly dangerous.
He thought he should send a message to Joyce to hurry the investigation.
They needed to find the woman quickly.
At this rate, he might end up imprinting on that attendant servant soon.
Of course, it’s nonsense. A wolf that has already imprinted, imprinting again? And on the same gender, no less.
But his current physical state was equally nonsensical.
Not just his sense of smell, but his entire body was responding to that fellow, Clyne Liden.
He needed to find the owner of the imprint as quickly as possible.
[This is the timeline separator]Chloe, who had returned to her room, was in a daze as if her soul had left her body. She needed to change out of her wet clothes, but she didn’t even have the presence of mind for that.
The image she had seen just moments ago was floating before her eyes.
So that’s what it was.
That’s what it was.
That night, she had suffered all night in the dark room, but because she had fled when the dawn’s twilight still filled the room before sunrise, this was the first time she had seen it clearly with her eyes.
Duke Hugrey Ulpaz.
She knew he was perfect and majestic, but was it necessary to be so perfect and grand in every detail?
The Duke’s body, standing up boldly in a completely naked state, was so harmonious and beautiful that even a glance would make one’s mouth drop open.
But the moment her gaze fixed on the prominent part in the center of his body, the overall image evaporated.
Only one thing remained in her mind.
So much…
No, no recollection, no reminiscing!
Chloe shook her head vigorously, trying to self-edit and delete the image that had appeared in her mind.
But the memory that had already entered stubbornly survived.
But you know… it seems impossible.
Even as she tried to shake off the image, only sequential questions following that image came up.
Hmm… so that… and… also… but, how was it possible?
She couldn’t believe anew that she had done that with the Duke.
But it was certainly something that had happened. The pain in her body for several days after that night was too much to dismiss it as a dream. That aftereffect was like proof that it wasn’t a dream.
So that’s why.
She now understood why her body had felt like it had been beaten for days after that night.
With this realization, the last bit of guilt towards the Duke slowly disappeared like dissipating fog. Because it seemed no woman could handle such a Duke.
She even thought that perhaps the reason the Duke avoided women to the point of rumors spreading that he was impotent was due to his objective self-awareness and human conscience.
No, does Sir Joyce know anything to be angry at women? Does he know the state his lord is in?
Chloe, who had come to think that she had practically sacrificed herself for the Duke’s sake, even set a deadline in her heart.
She decided to leave the Duke’s mansion on the day either Sir Joyce or the information guild brought the investigation results first, no matter what.
Because the Duke had no right to intimidate her without reason and keep her as an attendant servant.
Until now, she had no choice but to stay in the Duke’s mansion due to a slight sense of guilt for deceiving the Duke and fear of being discovered.
But now, more than the fear of what might happen even if she was revealed to be that woman, the thought that she should leave this house became stronger.
If it’s discovered that she disguised herself as a man to get a job, she should rightfully take responsibility for that. But even if she had pounced on the Duke first that night, afterwards, alone with such a… such an enormous man… It’s impossible. Yes, definitely impossible. So it’s not solely her responsibility, is it?
Chloe, who had not yet recovered from the shock of what she had seen while attending to the bath, finished her self-rationalization.
There was no need for her alone to take full responsibility for one night of agreement between grown adults.
[This is the timeline separator]Waking up an hour earlier than before and barely managing to rub her sleepy eyes open, Chloe grumbled as she prepared the washing water and brought it to the Duke’s bedroom.
Things had changed too much.
Since having her attend to his bath, the Duke, who until now had been a master who neglected his personal attendant, was now working her to the bone as if he were a completely different person.
Starting from preparing the clothes he would wear that day in advance, she also had to help him dress, and even had to attend to his meals, which he had been perfectly capable of eating alone before.
Even when training in the practice field, he instructed her to stick close by his side. If he said he was thirsty, she had to promptly bring water, and if he sweated, she had to quickly hand him a towel.
However, she couldn’t particularly object to the Duke suddenly acting like a master who had become aware of the purpose of a personal attendant.
In fact, this was the normal life for most personal attendants. She had just been living an unreasonably comfortable life until now.
Well, there were some additional tasks that normal personal attendants didn’t do.
The Duke, as if he couldn’t bear to see her resting, even assigned her the task of translating books from Tigrium to the Elaion Empire language.
She had no choice but to do the translation work in between attending to the Duke’s needs.
It was difficult to refuse since he assigned it under the pretext that she became a personal attendant due to her Tigrium language skills.
Originally, her salary was set high because of that ability, and since he said he would pay additional compensation for the translation work, she had no intention of refusing anyway.
In any case, the Duke called for her incessantly from the moment he opened his eyes, and Chloe had to change not only her wake-up time but also her meal times. Waking up an hour earlier, and eating meals in the first part instead of the second part.
Just wait until Lord Joyce comes. I’ll leave right away that very day!
Grinding her teeth, she prepared the washing water and entered, only to find the Duke leisurely reading something in bed.
My, he looks so comfortable.
“Your Grace, I’ve prepared the water for washing.”
The Duke didn’t answer, only slightly nodding his head without taking his eyes off the paper he was reading.
Chloe had no choice but to just wait.
Yesterday, when she had only prepared the water and gone to the Duke’s dressing room to get his clothes, she had been scolded for not waiting with a towel in hand.
In fact, it was the role of a personal attendant to hold the towel and hand it over when the master finished washing.
From what she heard from other servants, there were even personal attendants who washed their master’s face. Thinking about that, her situation seemed relatively good.
The problem was that a master who had never asked for such trivial things, nor had ever made an issue of mistakes like that, had suddenly changed.
It seemed he would torment her like this until the woman he had slept with appeared. But that woman would never be found.
Regardless, anyway, she would endure and hold out only until Lord Joyce came.
“Go bring my clothes.”
The Duke’s voice reached Chloe’s ears as she was thinking about leaving the Duke’s residence.
At some point, the Duke had gotten out of bed and was approaching her.
“I should hand you the towel…”
“I have hands too. I’ll do it myself, you just go prepare the clothes.”
Really now. Where did the prickly master who was irritable yesterday about her not waiting with a towel go?
Grumbling inwardly, Chloe headed to the Duke’s dressing room.
What should she bring?
The Duke didn’t put much effort into his attire and preferred simple and clean styles over flashy clothes.
Perhaps it was because his appearance was already overwhelmingly gorgeous. With that appearance, anything he wore casually would look good.
She returned to the Duke carrying the plain everyday clothes he often wore.
By then, the Duke had finished washing and had already unbuttoned most of his nightwear.
__________
Men In The Royal Harem All Yearn For Her (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The men (young empress, young empress dowager, crown prince) in the harem all yearn to become her consort.
Synopsis:
The female protagonist is a wildly popular heartthrob with a natural halo.
The male protagonist is a crazily obsessed and self-abasing loyal dog.
Qiu Shu, the top scholar’s daughter, is pure, elegant and incomparably enchanting, captivating countless admirers.
Being favored by the eldest prince, the most handsome man in the capital, and becoming his wife in a single move is truly the pride of a poor student.
However, what they don’t know is that the seemingly bright and splendid female protagonist lives in a battlefield of jealousy every day.
The cute and adorable young empress is unusually attached to her.
The gentlemanly and upright young empress dowager has an ambiguous relationship with her.
Even her aloof and proud eldest prince is actually a gloomy and petty jealous husband.
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.