Charlotte slapped my cheek sharply. Benjamin’s eyes narrowed at the sight.
“What are you doing?”
His look was fierce.
“Are you drunk?”
Finally, he concluded, ‘Is she acting like this because she’s drunk?’ Charlotte laughed awkwardly. Her cheek was burning.
“I’m not drunk.”
“Then in your right mind?”
Benjamin reached out. His gesture was forward, but his manner was polite and restrained.
“It’s red.”
“What?”
“Your cheek is red. Windsor people wouldn’t have their cheeks turn red over a little wine. But don’t be ashamed. If you live in that house, even more so. Even if Duke Leandro seems careless, he worries a lot. If you did that in front of him, you’d get all sorts of attention.”
Charlotte pushed his hand away. The friction of the back of their hands against each other was more tingling than she thought.
What was I here for now…? I nearly forgot my original purpose because I was swept away! As I glanced at his hand with a startled expression, Benjamin added nonchalantly,
“It was a story I told you to make it look like you were avoiding their interest.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“Did Aster send you alone?”
“I came out without letting my family know.”
“No way. They must know….”
Benjamin trailed off, saying something. But Charlotte was lost in other thoughts and didn’t hear him. What did he just say? Why do I keep spacing out?
“Charl. Where is your mind?”
Benjamin withdrew the hand he had extended and leaned his head forward.
“You look like you didn’t hear.”
“What? I was daydreaming.”
“It’s okay. It was a story you could miss.”
Benjamin crossed his legs and looked down at her.
“Why are you making that face?”
“It feels like Your Highness is manipulating me.”
Benjamin fiddled with the armrest of the sofa out of boredom.
“Charl.”
He uttered the nickname once more. The distance between them was narrowing.
“I told you to be on guard.”
Benjamin warned her in a low tone.
“Don’t be swayed by me.”
“…….”
“Didn’t Aster warn you? He told you not to get close to me.”
Benjamin had now exposed his informants. Still, he was relaxed and spun a web around Charlotte who had come to him directly. She gets entangled. Gradually ensnared.
“Are you crying?”
Charlotte covered her mouth and laughed.
“Is it not? Are you laughing?”
Benjamin reached out. His hand touched her eye.
He wiped away a tear with his fingertip, tasted it, and then wrinkled his brow, touching his mouth with his fingertips.
“……Salty.”
“Benjamin.”
“Yeah.”
“Tears are not for eating.”
Benjamin sat up from the sofa and answered,
“Charl.”
“Yes?”
“The one who should be wary here wasn’t me, but you.”
Benjamin kicked something with his foot.
It seems like what was crushed under his foot was the distance between the two of us.
“I forgot that I am the Tutea. Tutea is a faction that supports the Empress.”
“You are Windsor.”
“No. Half of my blood is Tutea.”
“I was wondering about that too. Why were you born there? You don’t resemble them at all. On your own, you’re closer to Windsor. From your usual sayings, even your gestures, down to the way you look.”
Charlotte knew it well too. She resembled Windsor, not Tutea. This fact had stimulated her father’s inferiority complex.
“I don’t resemble.”
From every single strand of hair to the smallest detail, she resembled Windsor. What was in her blood seemed to be Windsor, not Tutea.
“That child resembled his father.”
“Was there another child in Tutea besides you?”
There was another son to my father.
“Ah, should I start looking slowly…….?”
“Who.”
“I have people to take over as Tutea instead of me.”
“Write down their names and details. I’ll find them for you.”
“Why?”
“Just giving back as much as I receive.”
Benjamin handed her a blank note. Charlotte scribbled down the details and handed it back, and Benjamin took the note.
“Just these two?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll find them quickly.”
Benjamin narrowed his eyes, biting his lip. Only then did he shift his gaze from her.
‘Boredom.’
He is annoyed by everything now. He licked his lips.
“I wonder why.”
Benjamin stumbled over his lips, seized by a strange emotion.
“You feel like you put your head in my mouth.”
“So you caught the prey?”
“If you really put your head in, I’ll catch it right now.”
If you see me as prey like a snake, I am willing to be prey. I will gladly be eaten by that mouth.
“If you caught that prey.”
There was emptiness in his dark eyes.
“Please hide behind Your Highness’s shadow.”
Benjamin was of the serpent kind. The snake opened its mouth and dripped saliva drop by drop.
“In my mouth or in my stomach?”
“Both the mouth and the stomach are good. However, if you put it in the stomach, don’t digest it. I’ll get indigestion if you eat it.”
As if to open the way for her to escape at last, Benjamin asked her,
“Aster knows you’re doing this?”
“Don’t misunderstand. My uncle does not know.”
“I know that much. Aster wouldn’t bring you in front of me unless he was crazy.”
Benjamin closed his lips. He gulped down his prey.
(This is a time separator.)
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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