Chapter 13: CH 13

Juliana glanced at the golden butterfly engraved on her feet.

A few days had passed, but she didn’t know whether the pattern would disappear. It doesn’t erase even if you wash it hard with a foam towel.

‘Why did he draw a butterfly symbolizing the Grand Duke in the first place?’

Juliana sighed deeply. As soon as her breath fell, she could sense the signs of Louis approaching.

“Louis.”

Juliana turned her head and looked at Louis, who approached her.

“Yes, Juliana.”

He was standing in comfortable clothes.

“This is… You didn’t draw it permanently, did you?”

Juliana stared at the golden butterfly drawn on her ankle with an upset look. Recognizing the woman’s uncomfortable look, Louis smiled softly.

“It’ll only be there for a week.”

“Really? That’s great then.”

Juliana let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her ankle.

At that time, a shadow of a man cast on her. This was because Louis, who stood tall, bowed his head towards her.

“What, what are you doing?” The distance between them narrowed to the point where her nose touched his bent upper body. Juliana hurriedly covered her mouth with her hands.

She could smell his light musky scent from the tip of her nose…

‘Why is he putting his face close to me? I was surprised.’

He probably knew of Juliana’s embarrassment. Louis spoke in an indifferent voice, but did not bring his face back. Seeing his quiet face, she felt like she was the only one conscious of him.

“I have a question.”

“What is it about?”‘

Juliana looked at him in a cold sweat. Unlike her, who was frozen by tension, Louis seemed free of stress. She couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

‘…What are you curious about?’

Juliana was forced to lick her lips.

“Did you give up on running away?” Louis asked quietly in a monotonous voice.

Boredom flickered on his face at first glance.

That calm expression and relaxed attitude, the base of those emotions clearly contained boredom, but-

Surprised, Juliana slowly closed her eyes and opened them. She took a close look at Louis’s handsome face again, and he was back to the same expression as usual.

“Did I see it wrong? I definitely saw indifference.’

She couldn’t help but feel suspicious and mistaken.

“You haven’t answered me yet.”

The corners of Louis’ mouth tugged up slowly.

“……”

Juliana’s heart suddenly fluttered. To answer his question, it was true that she withdrew. It remained to be seen when the investigation team would appear, and she had honestly tried enough.

Now, she thought it would be better to wait for outside help without moving hastily. Also, she had already sent a note to Ar, so she was going to watch out first.

“Juliana.”

“Ack-“

Louis pushed his face close.

Juliana rolled her eyes at his erratic behaviour. She didn’t know if it was on purpose or if it was because he didn’t know how fatal that face was…

‘Sometimes he looks like a mischievous snake.’

Juliana’s heart pounded at his harmful appearance, constantly making her lose her mind. The thing that made her feel unfair were those harmless, innocent eyes!

“Hmm, it’s just…”

Juliana pretended to be normal and cleared her throat. She was nervous that her voice would tremble, but fortunately, her usual tone came out.

“I don’t think there’s anything good to stimulate a crazy person for no reason.”

“Crazy guy…”

Louis thought slowly over her words. Unknown satisfaction appeared on his rather shy face. As evidence, the corners of his mouth twitched.

“..?”

Juliana tilted her head at Louis’s smile. Then she quickly shook off her thoughts. This was because it was already complicated with other thoughts in her head.

“Haa.”

She didn’t even know why a crazy man brought them here in the first place. She wanted to enjoy the month-long vacation she had received as a reward, but time passed like water.

‘What even is this? He caught my eye! At that time, if I hadn’t visited the masquerade. No, if we were to talk about evil, it would be…’

“Robert.”

He was the reason.

Urgh.

Juliana grinded her teeth on remembering her ex-fiance, who suddenly came to mind.

She went to the masquerade due to Rosa and Robert’s betrayal. If she knew this would happen that night, she would have just washed up and slept.

“I won’t leave you alone.”‘

When she got out of here, she vowed to not leave Robert alone. She wanted to stop feeling bloated with these violent thoughts about him.

“Robert. Who is he?”

Juliana, who was swearing to herself, gasped at the dark tone. Strangely, her heart sank.

“…w-who?”

Looking back, pretending to be peaceful on the outside, she saw that Louis has an expressionless face.

“Robert.”

As if he had heard everything she said to herself earlier, he uttered Robert’s name. Cold sweat flowed down her back.

“Hngh.”

‘Why am I so nervous? I didn’t do anything wrong…’

Juliana deliberately avoided his gaze, scratching her head. Robert, the man that Juliana once liked.

She was furious at the thought of her ex-fiance, whom she’d now hate to see. She barely tried to suppress my anger, but she couldn’t help but get emotional.

“You had another man.”

In the continued silence, Louis lifted one eyebrow.

‘I should’ve asked them to do a background check.’

Louis recited it in a low voice, thinking of an order to give the butler.

“If you leave…You’ll go to him.”

The woman he found was following another man in a hurry. Louis felt an unknown discomfort.

“Haa, what are you talking about…”

Juliana’s mouth opened to let out a sigh.

He sounded unreasonable.

The discomfort associated with Robert sped up her pulse. She tried hard to suppress her emotions and touched her forehead.

“Robert is my ex-fiance. We’ve already broken up.”

The misunderstanding with Robert was not very pleasant. When Juliana corrected the fact, Louis’s expression eased smoothly.

“I’m worried, Juliana.”

He stared at Juliana with a worried look, creating a serious atmosphere. What? Her face became tense.

“Men except me are dangerous.”

Juliana was speechless by Louis’s unexpected words.

‘Are you saying that all men except you are wolves? This guy is driving me crazy. Is he for real?’

If so, she didn’t expect to hear these absurd words from Louis. She couldn’t believe it because she was that flabbergasted.

“This is bad…”

Juliana narrowed her eyes. She felt like she was going to burst into laughter at this ridiculous moment. Should she say that what was stopping her was the pressure emanating from him? She couldn’t smile in front of his face because of his silent aura.

Juliana frowned with difficulty and covered her mouth with her hands.

The corners of her mouth pull up helplessly behind the covered palm.

If someone else had done it, it would have been more serious. It was strangely acceptable because she did it. Almost like magic.

“Why?”

Juliana asked back the absurd words of Louis. Maybe because she covered her mouth with her hands, he didn’t frown. He might not have been able to see it.

“Juliana is fearless.”

“…… ”

“I’m worried that you’ll follow another man around.”

Juliana burst into laughter at Louis’s expression, who was deeply worried.

‘Hahahaha, I’m going crazy. This guy!’

“I’m not like that!”

Juliana smacked his shoulders and laughed. What Louis said was useless concern. But he pouted his lips as if he was really worried.

“Didn’t you already do that?”

“What? When did I do that?”

Suddenly, in her head, when she was trying to deny it, what she suggested overnight at the dance club passed by.

‘Oh. Come to think of it, there was only one time.’

Sweat dripped down her back.

She had once followed a strange man. Of all things, he was the one.

She turned her head and stared at Louis. Louis slowly grabbed Juliana’s hand and looked over her with a shady face.

“Uh, that, back then…”

She shrank at his strong gaze. She tried to protest quietly, but she had a hunch that something was wrong with Louis’s expressionless face.

It was not the same as before, but his atmosphere has changed somewhere.

*Blink*

As she came to her senses, Louis’ hands were around her waist. In an instant, Juliana, trapped in Louis’ strong arms, held her breath.

“I, Louis…”

“That time, it was me.”

His voice sounding in her ears was low and husky. When his hot breath touched her ear, goosebumps rose on her body.

“Next time, how would I know if it’s someone else?”

“Hold on, Louis. First of all, get away from me.”

She was speechless at the look he gave; one of doubting a lover. Juliana first turned sideways to get out of his arms. She was trying to remove his arms around her waist…

“Oh my god!”

Juliana exclaimed.

Was this how the movement of live, strong muscles felt?

Louis’s veins protruding from his forearms drew Juliana’s attention. When his hot body temperature could be felt through his clothes, she became distracted.

Juliana stared at Louis in a daze. She looked at him who seemed like he was in trouble, and he leaned back lightly.

“Juliana, let go.”

‘Huh?’

Juliana tilted her head blankly. Why did he look like he was in trouble? Following his glance, she looked down.

“Ahh!”

A scream came out of Juliana’s mouth. Since when had she been holding… Juliana’s hand was holding onto his forearms.

“Sorry!”

Juliana, who jumped like a freshly caught fish, hurriedly let go of his hand.

“Puhaha!”

She could hear a clear laugh from above.

“You look like a fish.”’

Louis laughed out loud. He had never seen a person jump like that.

‘…So embarrassed…’

Juliana’s face turned red with shame.

“Did you know this?”

The man bent his eyes gently and made eye contact. Juliana couldn’t bear to look at him, so she fixed her eyes on the floor with the wish of drilling a tunnel then and there. If there was a rat hole, she wanted to go in and stay there.

“You look alike.”

“……”

“The more I look at you, the more I think about how similar you are to fish.”

Juliana’s eyes shook at Louis’s lazy voice.

“Fish? Which fish?”

Louis smiled mischievously as she raised her head, forgetting the shame. Juliana’s eyes turned dark.

“Don’t tell me I look like a frozen pollack.”

As soon as she opened her eyes wide, her golden eyes shone splendidly.

“No way.”

Louis grinned and was not shaken by Juliana’s fierce eyes. He slowly raised his hand, capturing the woman’s wavy hair.

“I meant that its flapping appearance resembles you.”

He twirled strands of her hair in his hand and ran it through his fingertips. He had an urge to keep her to himself, so that only he could see this beautiful blonde hair. So that no one knew about it.

“Louis?”

She called him with a small voice.

When would she notice it? Now, she was a little interested. What expression would she make if she knew he was a lunatic?

“Don’t worry.”

A man who skilfully hid his feelings pursed up his lips.