Really… He came with a woman?

Herald Maximilian?

If it had been someone else, Liam would have been certain they came with a woman from the moment he found the women’s socks, but since it was Herald, Liam had some doubts.

That’s because Herald was so uninterested in women that rumors circulated that he might prefer men.

It’s enough to say that there’s even an anecdote about how he didn’t even blink when the lady of Count Artemis’s family, rumored to be the most beautiful in the empire, confessed to him with tears in her eyes.

But Herald came to the hotel with a woman?

Not just for one night, but a woman he’d spend until morning with.

It was unbelievable. Liam found it more believable that Herald might have a strange hobby of collecting or wearing women’s socks, so he cautiously asked.

“Have you… discovered an unusual hobby lately?”

“What do you mean by that?”

In response to the question, Liam looked at the socks in question.

Following his gaze, Herald finally noticed the socks Lily had left behind and chuckled. He thought it would be fine as long as he didn’t let her into the room, but he never expected to be caught like this with evidence of Lily’s presence.

What was a bit embarrassing and ridiculous was that Liam had said something strange about him having a new hobby after seeing those socks.

“It seems you’re the one who’s developed an unusual hobby,” Herald said, loosely curling up the corners of his lips.

“They say you often see what you’re familiar with.”

“Wh-what…! Absolutely not!”

“Everyone denies it verbally, though.”

Liam, who had suddenly become a strange person with an unusual hobby, felt wronged but had nothing else to say. After all, he was the one who brought it up first. He had only shot himself in the foot.

At the same time, Liam’s eyes sparkled like they were studded with stars as he realized that Herald hadn’t developed a strange hobby, but had really brought a woman.

Herald Maximilian’s woman. It was an exclusive scoop he absolutely couldn’t miss.

“Which family’s lady is she? Perhaps someone I know? Shouldn’t I greet her then? She must be hearing my voice from inside…!”

Liam flinched and stepped back as Herald approached.

Herald closed the room door behind him with his hand and said in a low, heavy voice,

“Don’t you know that unnecessary curiosity shortens one’s lifespan?”

It was a warning not to pry any further. Knowing that Herald was a man of his word, Liam nodded frantically.

“O-of course! Don’t worry. I didn’t see anything. Right. I really didn’t see anything. Ha ha, what could someone like me have seen? Absolutely nothing, that’s for sure.”

Liam rambled on like a thief caught red-handed.

Then, when the hotel staff arrived with breakfast, momentarily distracting Herald, Liam seized the opportunity and quickly fled.

The reason Lily couldn’t leave the bathroom even after finishing her shower and getting dressed was because she heard an unfamiliar voice from beyond the door. The voice was too low to hear clearly, but it definitely wasn’t that man’s voice.

The man with the striking appearance reminiscent of a black panther, who had spent the night with her.

“……”

Suddenly recalling Herald’s face, Lily cupped her reddening cheeks. The heat rising to her face didn’t seem to be just because of the hot steam filling the bathroom.

To resolve last night’s incident, she needed to have a serious talk with that man, but…

She absolutely couldn’t go out while someone else was with Herald, so Lily waited for that person to leave.

How long had she waited? The voices from outside completely disappeared. Not only the mysterious voice but Herald’s voice as well was no longer audible.

Could they have left together?

It was ironic that while it would be troublesome if Herald left, as she wouldn’t be able to resolve yesterday’s incident, part of her hoped he had.

Lily opened the door just enough to peek through and surveyed the outside. She rolled her eyes, examining every corner within sight, but Herald was nowhere to be seen.

“Did he really leave?”

Just as she was about to open the door a bit more to confirm if Herald was really gone, a large hand from the outside pushed through and yanked the door open.

“Ah!”

As the door swung open, Lily lost her balance and fell forward. Her hand, grasping at the air trying to regain balance, touched something firm yet warm. Her arm bent instinctively.

Only when her face followed her hand and made contact did Lily realize that the firm object was Herald’s bare chest. Her eyes widened like saucers. Then, a low chuckle sounded from above her head.

“You ran away saying you didn’t want it, but now you’re pouncing on me again. I guess even a lady was left wanting more.”

“…!”

Finally coming to her senses, Lily quickly straightened up. Her face burned as if on fire.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“I know it wasn’t intentional, so there’s no need to apologize.”

Lily looked up, startled as Herald grabbed her arm.

Herald, who had briefly made eye contact with her, smiled and pointed to the sofa table laden with food with his other hand.

“I’ve prepared breakfast, so let’s eat.”

“N-no, it’s fine.”

Lily refused, partly because she had no appetite due to drinking too much, and partly because her stomach felt uneasy, but mostly because she was sure anything she ate in this situation would just make her feel worse.

“It’s better to eat something, even if it’s just for the hangover.”

However, her refusal was not accepted. Led by Herald’s hand to sit on the sofa, Lily scanned the food laid out on the table.

Tomato juice, salad topped with plenty of tomatoes, tomato soup, pasta, and so on – every dish contained tomatoes.

Even if one likes tomatoes, this seems a bit excessive. Lily looked at Herald with slight surprise.

“I heard tomatoes are good for hangovers. So it’s better to eat even if you don’t feel like it.”

In other words, he had prepared tomato-based dishes for Lily’s sake.

This is a bit touching. The fact that he was now speaking politely was also somewhat endearing.

Lily glanced at Herald’s smiling face and drank the tomato juice. As if to prove that the claim about it being good for hangovers wasn’t a lie, her queasy and uncomfortable stomach felt a little better.

The food was quite delicious too, making her earlier refusal seem foolish as Lily ate heartily.

On the other hand, Herald didn’t eat anything except coffee. Lily, who belatedly noticed this fact, asked:

“Aren’t you eating?”

“Ah, I don’t particularly like tomatoes.”

He ordered dishes made entirely of tomatoes despite not liking them?

Lily stared at him blankly, unable to understand his behavior. Misinterpreting her gaze, Herald smiled and said:

“I suppose it’s not very appealing for an adult to be picky like a child.”

“Ah, that’s not why I was looking at you. And I don’t think it’s unappealing at all.”

“Is that so?”

Seeing his skeptical expression, Lily quickly added an explanation, not wanting to create any unnecessary misunderstandings.

“I don’t like cucumbers either. So when I eat salads or sandwiches, I leave out the cucumbers.”

At those words, Herald looked down at the salad. Indeed, there were plenty of cucumbers left, as if she really disliked them.

“My adjutant also dislikes cucumbers. It seems you’re the same, my lady.”

Herald put down his coffee cup, picked up a fork, and began eating the cucumbers Lily had left behind.

“Why, why are you eating that…!”

“It seems a waste to leave food uneaten, so I thought someone should eat it.”

That may be true, but this doesn’t seem right.

Unlike the flustered Lily, Herald calmly ate the cucumbers. His attitude was so brazen that Lily blinked her eyes wide, feeling as if she was the strange one for being surprised by this.

More importantly, it was about time to bring up last night’s events.

While there was no way to undo the fact that she had spent the night with Herald, she needed to somehow address her request to become his mistress.

As Lily was looking for an opportunity to bring this up, she flinched at the sound of a knock and looked towards the door.

Herald, on the other hand, nonchalantly said as he cleansed his palate with coffee:

“You can ignore it.”

“Commander, it’s me.”

When Dillon’s voice was heard, Herald’s attitude changed. Lily hurriedly hid behind the sofa as Herald approached the door.

Herald glanced at the frantically moving Lily, then opened the door and stepped outside. Dillon bowed his head in greeting before stating the purpose of his visit.

“The Duke is looking for you.”

“What for, so early in the morning? More importantly, I’m curious how you knew I was here.”

Dillon grinned.

“If I didn’t know where the Commander was, I wouldn’t be fit to be your adjutant, would I?”

“Am I imagining things, or does it sound like you’ve been stalking me?”

“Oh my, of course not. I was merely protecting you out of concern, Commander.”

So he did follow me after all.

Which means he probably knows about bringing Lily here too. Herald looked down at Dillon intently.

When Herald looked at him like this, Liam would startle and spout all sorts of nonsense, but not Dillon. He met Herald’s gaze calmly, as if asking what the matter was, which made Herald chuckle.

“You’ll keep it a secret, won’t you?”

Dillon, who understood immediately as befitting an adjutant who had assisted him for over three years, tilted his head.

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to, sir.”

It meant he would keep his mouth shut and pretend he hadn’t seen anything. Satisfied with that, Herald told Dillon to wait for a moment before re-entering the room.

Lily, who had been watching the situation while hiding behind the sofa, slowly emerged when only Herald came back in.

Herald picked up his coat that he had taken off and said to her:

“It seems I have an important matter to attend to. There’s still time until check-out, so you can stay a bit longer if you’d like, my lady.”

“Ah, I’ll go too.”

“Then I’ll give you a ride to the Benjamin Viscount’s residence.”

“No, it’s fine. I can go by myself, so you can leave first. You said you have an important matter to attend to.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll take my leave then. Ah.”

Herald made a short exclamation as if he had just remembered something, then approached Lily and pressed something into her hand, saying:

“You hurt your knee, didn’t you? Make sure to see a physician.”

“……”

“Well then, goodbye.”

Lily, who had been staring blankly at Herald, belatedly checked what he had put in her hand and gaped.

It was a pair of socks with pure white lace.