Chapter 69: Chapter 36.1

The director seemed to give up on washing the children. He brought a drawing paper and a brush and handed them to Yernia and Cassian sitting in the room.

Then, the two slipped into the children’s playground.

“What are you drawing?”

“I don’t know!”

Yernia peeked at the children.

The children seemed to enjoy applying paint onto their bodies rather than painting on the drawing paper.

‘These children are unusual.’ Yernia thought as she spread the paint onto the paper.

“What should I draw? Is it fun for you, guys?” Yernia asked.

“Yes!” The children answered in unison.

Yernia liked the kids.

However, she rarely spent time with them so she wasn’t that good at playing with the children.

The same seemed to be true for Cassian.

The next moment, the director held his breath.

Surprised, Yernia looked back at Cassian.

A child, who had been throwing paint at other children and avoiding them at the same time, tripped and fell.

The child had desperately reached for Cassian as he fell and his painted hands left an imprint on his clothes.

There was a moment of silence.

Cassian hated dirty things.

It wasn’t that bad but he still preferred to be neat.

Unfortunately, Cassian would never let the paint on his clothes slide.

His face crumpled as expected.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. What should I do with this?”

“If you ask me that—-” He spoke coldly and paused.

Noticing the tense atmosphere, the child’s face contorted as if he was about to cry.

Cassian regarded the whimpering child coolly.

“This happens sometimes.” He murmured in disapproval as he thought about what to say.

“Cas–”

“Yes?”

Yernia tried to stop Cassian.

The child would wail like a banshee if he expressed his anger.

So, what?

“I wanted to put the paint on my body, too,” Yernia replied with a face that told him she didn’t want to do it at all.

Without warning, Cassian dipped his large hand into the red paint and splashed.

Now, his fingers had dripped with red paint.

“Hey!”

Cassian grabbed Yernia’s face with it while laughing out loud.

Yernia couldn’t laugh at all because her  face was sticky with paint.

“Don’t scream. They’ll be shocked.” Cassian said.

Then, all the children stared at Yernia.

Some of them just examined her in silence while most of them burst into giggles.

Soon, the serious atmosphere had shifted into something fun.

“Nooooo! My face!”

“Just enjoy it, Yernia.”

Cassian lowered his cheek-grabbing painted hand shamelessly.

She should have avoided that fast.

Not only did his offensive hand slip from her cheek and jaw but the paint had also invaded her neck and the front of her clothes.

Her face and her clothes had turned white!

“You! You! Come over here!”

Yernia felt the thin thread of her reason snap.

She squeezed the paint into one of her palms and rubbed her hands together afterward.

This joyful atmosphere had to end.

Not wanting to lose, the children also rubbed the paint in their hands and went insane.

The director looked away from the messy room.

“Was the duke always like that?”’

Cassian was rather indifferent as a patron, giving away nothing except donations.

Although he carefully examined the orphanage’s circumstances, he never expressed a desire to see the children.

If the children ran his way by mistake, Cassian’s brows would furrow before avoiding them.

Yernia assumed he hated children, so witnessing him enjoy everything so far felt surreal.

“Ah, Cassian! Help. I—- I got some…paint in my eyes!”

“Did it go in? Open your eyes, Yernia.”

The Marquis and Marchioness were on the verge of lying on the floor.

Before she knew it, the children had lowered their guard as they touched the Marquis’ mottled back.

The Marquis didn’t  seem to care about that.

At that moment, Cassian grabbed his wife’s cheek to look at her face, but Marchioness Lecardo had already caught his cheek with her sneaky hand.

“You’re lying—-”

Then, she started rubbing the paint hard.

“Guys, help me! This old woman is trying to kill me!”

Contrary to his desperate words, Cassian seemed quite happy.

“Why did you call me an old woman when you’re older than me? Do you have a conscience or not?”

The smirking Marquis pushed her away and quickly hid behind the children.

Yernia felt like she was looking at someone else.

Cassian Lecardo’s smile, while he was hanging out with the children, seemed so strange.

The room was filled with laughter.

The only person who didn’t laugh was the confused director.

***

“Oh, well…”

It made Yernia groan every time Cassian applied strength in his hands.

She was so exhausted after visiting the orphanage.

Her muscles must have been shocked from moving too hard.

Meanwhile, Cassian was dumbfounded that Yernia needed an intense massage after that.

“Oh, yes! Yes! That.”

“Are you sick, Yernia?”Cassian asked while rubbing her legs.

Yernia laid drowsily, face down, on the bed while holding her pillow tightly.

He guessed his massage didn’t hurt.

“I feel good, Cassian.”

Finding Yernia adorable, Cassian laughed inwardly as he gently pressed Yernia’s soft calves with his thumbs.

He was amazed at her legs, which appeared to have no muscles at all, but had their muscles.