The man who clenched his fist by bringing his fingers together that were stroking her cheek raised his body. If he couldn’t avoid the woman’s scent that evokes blind desire like a narcotic, he decided to take it in until he was tired, but… it wasn’t the time yet.
Caeron, who covered Idel’s body with a blanket, turned his body. As if trying to erase the image of the woman imprinted on his retina, he slowly closed his eyes, and then left the room.
“Your Highness.”
“Follow me.”
Gregory, who had been waiting outside the Duchess’s room, followed behind the Duke, who started walking towards the office.
Arriving at the office, Caeron, seated on the sofa, scrutinized Gregory’s face, sitting opposite him. Gregory’s face was relatively calm in the carriage, but what was going on inside him was unknown.
“Did you… happen to smell it too?”
It took Gregory a moment to interpret the Duke’s words about smelling something. Ah! He must be talking about that.
“Yes. I smelled it too.”
“You too…?”
Caeron’s eyebrows twitched. It was annoying to see Gregory nod as if he was the same, even though he expected it.
“How could we not know when the smell is so strong?”
“…Is that so? Don’t you feel anything?”
He didn’t like the calm expression, unlike himself, who was struggling to control the urge provoked by her scent.
“It’s not that. I also struggled.”
“So… it wasn’t just me.”
With a faint sense of relief, the thought of Gregory feeling the same emotions as himself towards Idel made him boil inside.
Should I send him to the Elyos Duchy…? Various ways to deal with the competent and loyal chief assistant of the Ducal House quickly crossed his mind.
“Your, Your Highness? Why are you like this?”
Startled by the cold glare, Gregory wore a confused expression. Cold sweat formed on his forehead under the gaze of the Duke, akin to a beast.
“Are you upset because of that smell? The suspicious smell emanating between Countess Fleur and Count Shale!”
“…What?”
“Don’t you see the obvious plot to hand over Idel to Count Shale? They’re trying to arrange a marriage.”
Gregory spoke as if he was angry. At his words, Caeron realized there had been a misunderstanding in their conversation so far.
“So, you didn’t smell the real scent like a fragrance, but the suspicious circumstances?”
“Fragrance? What sudden fragrance are you talking about?”
Gregory tilted his head as if he didn’t understand the Duke’s words, then clapped his hands as if he remembered something.
“Ah! If you’re talking about fragrance, there was a rose scent from the other Fleur lady at the Count’s place earlier. It did give me a headache, though…”
Rozelin, was it? She was beautiful, but she had a somewhat overpowering scent as if she had drenched herself in rose perfume. Recalling the toxic fragrance that had given him a headache, Gregory wrinkled his forehead slightly.
From his words, Caeron realized with certainty.
‘Am I the only one reacting to her scent…?’
Even though the carriage was spacious, there was no way the strong scent that had been so intense for Gregory, sitting across from him, wouldn’t reach. It wasn’t that there was something wrong with his sense of smell, as he had smelled the scent of another woman.
“Your Grace, are you alright?”
Feeling the Duke’s momentum, which had been sharpening towards him, wane, Gregory let out a sigh of relief. Instead, looking at the Duke, who seemed to have sunk into deep thought, he asked worriedly.
“No, I’m fine. That’s a relief.”
Completely unaware that he had been trying to distance himself from him, Gregory brought up the question that had been on his mind.
“Why did Miss Idel, who was not an aide, suddenly become the Duchess? Do you know how surprised I was? All the others in the Duke’s presence are in shock right now.”
“As you might have seen earlier, she wanted complete independence from the Fleur Count. That’s why she even took the imperial college exam.”
“Then you should have given her the imperial college admission certificate and brought her as an aide to the Duke. Could it be that you… fell in love with Miss Idel at first sight?”
It was a rational inference, based on seeing the look in the Duke’s eyes as he gazed at Idel from inside the carriage. If he had tried to scout her as an aide but had proposed to her because he had fallen in love at first sight, it would have made sense.
Idel was a beauty, with no rivals to argue with within the empire. Of course, the Duke had no interest in such beauties, but since she had top academic credentials to be admitted to the Imperial College, it was enough to feel a different charm from other women.
‘Love at first sight’…
At Gregory’s words, Caeron recalled the first time he met her in the library storage room. Even if it wasn’t for her enchanting scent, her trembling but determined look as she faced him had been quite impressive.
Could it be a delusion caused by interest and curiosity felt for the first time towards another person? Her scent, which only he could smell, inducing this strange thirst…
The reason would become clear over time. But Caeron concluded that his interest in her was not the kind of romantic emotion that Gregory spoke of.
“It’s a contractual relationship out of necessity. Noblewomen need to get divorced to live independently.”
“A contractual relationship?”
“Yes. She agreed to manage the administration of the Duke’s house as a Duchess for the three years she attends the Imperial College, and then I will grant her a divorce. What she does will be similar to an aide, so both of us can get what we want.”
“But…”
Gregory’s words trailed off. The look in the Duke’s eyes towards her was unusual for just a contractual Duchess based on a transaction. But the Duke’s expression, which had already made a decision, was so resolute that he couldn’t dare to say anything.
“Even if it’s a temporary contract, keep this to yourself. Order the other servants to respectfully serve her as the Duchess. You too, help her so she can smoothly run the administration of the Duke’s house.”
“…Understood.”
He couldn’t go against the words of the Duke who had already made up his mind. Only, what kind of influence her existence would have on the Duke in the future… Lost in thought, Gregory’s gaze deepened.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
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