“Then I want to pierce your ears too, Master.”

Reniel said this unknowingly, wanting to reciprocate after seeing Felix’s expression.

She seemed to be getting a bit more used to his kindness now, though it was still uncomfortable.

Just as everything looks beautiful when you think it’s the last time, that’s how she felt about the current situation.

She would soon be saying goodbye to this mansion.

If so, it would also be farewell to this decadent man gazing at her with such a languid expression.

As parting time approached, Felix seemed to come into proper view.

The brilliant sunlight just past noon suited Felix’s dark yet intense beauty well.

As she stared entranced, his red eyes gazed directly at her with a strange tenderness.

Perhaps because she had kissed him often, his thick, sensual lips looked very tempting to Reniel.

The vivid color of his lips seemed to suit him well, perhaps because of his blood-red eyes.

As he swallowed dryly while looking at her, his alluring Adam’s apple bobbed, stealing her gaze.

Reniel wondered if Felix might really be a sculpture.

How could everything about him be so flawless and handsome? If not for his crazed gaze, she might have admired his face without reservation.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s because you’re so handsome, Master. I can’t help but keep looking.”

Felix smirked at her honest answer.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright going to the bank alone?”

“I’ll be fine going alone, I tell you.”

She spoke playfully and then started to head to her servant’s quarters. Felix grabbed her hand and said:

“Why don’t you use the room next door while you’re at it?”

“Pardon?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to serve me by my side that way?”

“That’s true. But the room next door is…”

Reniel knew that the room Felix currently used was originally the Duchess’s room converted into the Duke’s room.

In other words, the room next door Felix was referring to was the former Duke’s room, now left for the future Duchess.

“The bed there would be better than your servant’s quarters.”

“Oh my.”

“Or should I replace the furniture? Of course, everything inside is new.”

“I know that. I drew up the budget and put the furniture in that room myself.”

Reniel’s heart pounded at Felix’s words. She was the one who had originally chosen the furniture for that empty room.

She recalled ordering furniture to her own taste and the enormous bed size.

“Come to think of it, why is the bed in your room so small, Master? It seems unusually small compared to your body.”

Felix’s bed was quite large for a single bed.

It’s just that Felix himself was so tall and huge that it fit him perfectly. It was quite comfortable when Reniel slept with him, since she wasn’t that big.

However, she was curious because the bed in the Duchess’s room was at least twice as big as this one.

“The bed in that bedroom is for a couple, while this is for personal use.”

“Ah.”

Reniel nodded in understanding.

“If there’s a color you like, tell me. I’ll have them change the sheets at least.”

“I…”

Reniel was about to mention the pink she liked as a woman, but when she saw Felix’s eyes, words flowed out without her realizing:

“I like the deep red color like your eyes, Master. It’s pretty.”

Felix smirked again at her words.

His relaxed smile was so unfamiliar even to her that she wondered if this might be a dream.

“Come back soon.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Don’t forget that your master is waiting.”

“Of course.”

Reniel answered energetically and headed back to the fifth floor.

****

Reniel got ready to go to the bank after washing up.

She was going to call a hired carriage, thinking it would be inconsiderate to use the mansion’s carriage.

The Lepelique duchy had good welfare, so if you requested the mansion’s carriage a few days in advance, you could use it.

However, since Reniel was requesting a carriage suddenly, she was going to call from outside the mansion.

As she came out to the main gate like that, a coachman was waiting.

“Oh? Mr. Bill?”

“Deputy Chief of Staff, please get in! The Master ordered me to escort you!”

“…Pardon? The Master did?”

“Yes. He ordered me to attend to you on your way back as well!”

Reniel exchanged eye greetings with the familiar knights already seated beside her.

As she reluctantly got into the carriage, there was a familiar person sitting inside with his legs crossed annoyingly.

“Get in quickly.”

It was Ianathas inside.

“Why are you…”

“Do I need to answer that?”

“No, I suppose not.”

Reniel was going to swallow her words, wondering if they suspected her and were tailing her, though she wasn’t really curious anyway.

As Reniel tried to sit as far away as possible across from Ianathas, he started glaring at her.

Ianathas was irritated with her. As if he wasn’t already troubled enough these days, his body malfunctioning was clearly because of Reniel.

It happened just this dawn too. For some reason, he kept making mistakes whenever he thought about Reniel.

On top of that, his chest had been feeling tight from the bedroom earlier until now. It was like the tightness of having to pretend not to know a long-time enemy right in front of you.

Yet if asked if he wanted to kill her.

When she was in male form, he definitely did.

Clack.

“Take off your ring for a moment.”

“Pardon? Why?”

“Are you going to say useless things? Do I have to force you to listen?”

Reniel sighed as she checked with her eyes again if the door was closed properly, then took off her ring.

Her luscious long hair then cascaded over her shoulders.

“Stay like that while we’re going. Otherwise, I might kill you.”

“I think your words are too harsh.”

“…I apologize.”

“Don’t just apologize for that, apologize for glaring at me too. I’m too scared to look up.”

“I’ll try not to.”

Compared to how angry he was until just now, Ianathas was quite willingly complying when Reniel became a woman and ordered him as if making a request.

Rather, Ianathas himself didn’t understand his own behavior. But seeing her troubled yet prim expression, his anger seemed to melt away like snow.

“Why did you get in here together?”

“I have business at the bank too.”

“Business at the bank? Or business with me?”

“Both.”

Reniel found it curious how Ianathas became strangely kind when she was in female form.

At the same time, she wondered if it might be because this casino’s general manager had a great weakness for women.

Come to think of it, he always smelled of various perfumes.

Mixed with his own fragrant scent were the floral scents of many women.

Perhaps that’s why Felix, who only smelled of cold water, seemed even more contrasting. He seemed to have a scent that wasn’t mixed with anything.

“What’s wrong with your neck?”

Realizing that Ianathas was looking at the bite marks on her neck, Reniel spoke without avoiding his eyes:

“The Master bit me.”

Since it was actually Thanasis who had bitten her, she looked him straight in the eye to avoid being caught in a lie.

“Why are your lips in that state?”

“Ah… this is also the Master’s doing…”

Reniel’s cheeks flushed as she recalled Felix persistently biting and tugging at her lips.

“I saw earlier that there were marks on your chest too.”

“That’s because the Master keeps pressing his chin there while sleeping.”

Reniel replied without much thought, but Ianathas’s expression was getting worse and worse.

She was flustered, wondering what mistake she had made in her last words to cause his darkening expression.

“It seems I want to kill Reniel after all.”

“Pardon? But I didn’t do anything wrong…”

“Whether you did wrong or not, you’re bothering me.”

“Then wouldn’t I bother you less if I’m out of sight?”

“I can’t trust that. I think I’d feel a bit more at ease keeping you in sight.”

Reniel thought Ianathas was peculiar. It would be self-torture to keep someone you dislike in front of you, so she wondered why he was doing this.

At the same time, Ianathas’s expression looked strangely wronged, so she couldn’t say anything.

“If you’re worried about me, thank you. I’m worried about you too, Ianathas. You look tired.”

Reniel spoke as kindly as possible. She also thought it wouldn’t be good to provoke him further.

However, her words seemed to have quite an effect, as his expression, which had been glaring with full hostility, began to soften.

“I’m not someone to be worried about by anyone.”

“That’s good then.”

Reniel reflexively smiled when their eyes met.

“Don’t smile.”

“I won’t.”

She decided to try not to bother Ianathas as much as possible.

However, every time Ianathas saw her, he felt really strange due to the guilt of not revealing the truth to his lord and the peculiar feeling he got whenever he saw her.