When The Cruel Villain Seduces Me - Chapter 120

Nelia quickly pushed him away out of surprise. The embarrassing scene was obscured by the blanket.

“D-Did you just suddenly turn into a human?”

The duke picked up the clothes that had fallen under the bed and said.

“I was about to say that I’m going to turn back to my human form.”

The duke put on his shirt and buttoned it up.

“Nelia just hugged me so tightly that it makes me a bit late to speak.”

So…… It was like that.

Nelia couldn’t think of any response for the duke’s words because she admitted that she had been too preoccupied and excited by the sight of the little dragon.

“It’s true that I can use various powers after absorbing Sigrid’s power, but it’s still difficult to control them intricately. I guess that’s why I turned back to my human form not long after.”

Before Nelia could grasp the situation, the fully-clothed duke lifted Nelia’s chin gently as she was holding the hem of the blanket with a flushed face.

“As a human being, I wish I could hug you tightly……”

A faint smile hung around his mouth. Nelia jumped out of bed at his teasing remarks.

And he cleared his throat for no reason before answering.

“Now that I run out of things I want to ask from you, you should go back to your room, Your Grace.”

Nelia said so and walked to where the bathroom was.

“I’m going to wash up before reading a book.”

“Wouldn’t it be hard to wash up on your own?”

A hint of playfulness still lingered in his questioning voice. Nelia replied sulkily.

“Not at all!”

***

The next day, Nelia was awakened by the knock on the door.

“It’s time to eat, Nelia.”

He treated her with great care, which was probably because he was really devoted to being her own exclusive servant. That must have been the reason he came to her room before he went to work.

Nelia blinked with her sleepy eyes.

Now that Nelia had no reason to go to work with the duke, she had claimed for a long vacation. Therefore, she had been sending the duke to work lately and used to oversleep at the mansion.

When Nelia told the duke to come in, he appeared from behind the door. There was a tray of food in his hand yesterday.

“I didn’t want to wake you up, but I thought you have to eat properly when you’re sick like this.”

The duke, whom she thought would leave the tray at the table, naturally sat himself on the side of Nelia’s bed.

It was as if he was going to feed her again……

“Oh, please dig in. Nelia.”

The duke was also acting like a mother bird giving food to the baby bird. Nelia said while grabbing his right, which was holding the spoon.

“What are you doing? You have to go to work!”

It felt as if she was waking up in a ridiculous situation. On the other hand, the duke still looked calm.

“I don’t have to go to work today.”

“……Why?”

“I took sick leave for Nelia.”

“I’m the one who got hurt, but why are you the one taking sick leave?!”

Nelia exclaimed out of surprise. The duke subtly raised the corner of his mouth.

Nelia lifted her eyebrows as she looked at him.

“Looks like what you said just now was a lie.”

The duke chuckled and attempted to cover his mouth at last.

It was quite pleasant to see him smiling brightly, but she didn’t feel really happy about it because it felt as if she had been teased.

“I was joking, but I didn’t think Nelia would believe me.”

“You talk that way with such a flat face, there’s no way I would doubt it.”

The duke sat behind Nelia with a pouted mouth, and gently rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to relieve her anger. His anger was relieved in no time by his massage skill which made her feel drowsy.

Well, she didn’t really have a solid reason to be angry in the first place……

“Nelia must not have known that today is our nation’s establishment anniversary.”

Nelia opened her surprised eyes wide.

‘I didn’t know about it at all……?’

She had been shutting herself in the mansion recently and living an unemployed life, so she didn’t pay any attention at all about the nation’s establishment anniversary or other national holidays.

It meant that today was her day off!

“Although the ceremony is taking place at the Imperial Palace, I decided to take a rest today. Carlos has come back to his senses by now, so I can get away from it.”

Oh…… Carlos.

When Nelia heard Carlos’ name, she recalled her worries related to him again.

‘Should I thank him personally…….?’

The reason she was able to survive even after being shot by an arrow in her shoulder was because the duke and Carlos passed the test for obtaining the heart and their wishes to save her.

If Carlos had wished for something else, she might not be here now.

However, it still felt awkward to meet him personally. It would be the same for him. Therefore, Nelia had been thinking about this for quite some time.

“Nelia, is there anything you want to do today?”

Nelia gave up the thoughts about Carlos at the duke’s gentle voice. It seemed that she had to think about it a little more.

Instead, Nelia thought about what she wanted to do today. To be precise, thinking about how to order the duke around.

‘The things I want to do while being indoors are limited.’

Then, Nelia realized that she had never got a dress custom-tailored for her in a year.

The competent butler, Ton, filled the closet with tons of stuff, it would feel different to choose the cloth and design by herself.

And so far the duke had been reluctant to go where there were a lot of people in fear of turning into snakes, but he would be able to attend as many parties as he wanted.

In order to do that, it was necessary to get a dress tailored ahead of time.

Of course, she couldn’t order him to go to the dressing room with her, but he could help her when they walked outside…… No, cancel it. She’d rather prefer this one.

From the unexpected experience yesterday, the duke seemed to enjoy picking her up and carrying her around.

‘Even so……’

It would be hard work to help her choose the fabric and design for several hours, wouldn’t it? She should take this one.

“I want to go to the boutique today.”

“Boutique? If you want to tailor clothes, we can call the designer to the mansion. And it would be a bit uncomfortable to walk, so we’d rather…….”

“No! I want to go out for a walk anyway. I’ve only been staying in the mansion for the past few days, so I feel kind of stuffy here.”

If they call the designer to the mansion, she would have to stay indoors even more. Therefore, even if it was a little bothersome, she’d personally prefer to go to the boutique.

“Yes, so let’s go to the boutique today. However, only if……”

Only if? Was there another reason they couldn’t do it?

“If we visit the boutique together, people’s attention will turn to us.”

Nelia understood what the duke said.

He was the type of person who caught attention wherever he went, and strange rumors might circulate when he’s seen entering the boutique specializing in women’s clothing with her.

“Didn’t you hate getting attention like that, Nelia?”

She did. She thought it wasn’t necessary for unmarried men and women who weren’t in a relationship to be haunted by such useless rumors.

However, this time……

“I don’t mind.”

Nelia replied with a shrug. And she asked the duke back.

“What about you, Your Grace?”

“I don’t mind either.”

The duke added with a smile.

“On the contrary, I wish rumors would spread. Between you and me, Nelia.”

“…….”

“It would be better if it’s a strong one.”

No matter how long they’ve been staying together, she couldn’t seem to get used to the way the duke spoke, direct and straightforward.

Nelia pretended not to hear it and got out of bed as her nape was about to become flushed.

***

Fortunately, there weren’t a lot of people when they arrived at the boutique.

Of course, when she entered the building with the duke, she’d received a few hot stares from others.

The male store owner opened his eyes wide when his eyes landed on Duke Hart, who appeared along with the sound of the ringing bell. He came running hastily.

“Are you the Duke of Hart? It’s an honor to meet you here!”

The store owner bowed his head respectfully and asked.

“Oh, may I know the reason for your personal visit to the store? Are you coming here to tailor the dress for the duchess?”

Since the boutique was specializing in women’s clothes, the store owner seemed to be embarrassed and perplexed by the duke’s arrival.

“No. I’m coming here to tailor this young lady’s clothes today.”

Only then did it seem that the store owner found Nelia, who had been standing by his side.

The store owner, who was staring at Nelia, quickly put a smile around his mouth as if realizing that she was the lady-in-waiting for the duke everyone had been talking about lately.

“I see! Please come on in.”

The store owner led Nelia and the duke further inside. Once they were inside, there was a space where the cloth was neatly arranged.

“What kind of clothes does the young lady want?”

“It’s a dress for the party.”

The store owner moved quickly and brought several fabrics upon Nelia’s order.

“Your light brown curly hair looks so lovely, so I think yellow or light green will look good on you.”

Although the store owner was a man, he seemed to have a good eye on this as he ran a boutique specializing in women’s clothing.

The fabrics he brought seemed lavish as they were filled with subtle glitter.

Nelia looked at the fabrics that were brought by the owner with a searching look. She liked both fabrics but she still had to choose one out of them.

However, she has never picked a fabric by herself, so she didn’t know which one would be prettier to be tailored into a dress.

‘Oh, I’m going to ask His Grace.’

She brought the duke, and she almost forgot that fact.

“What do you think, Your Grace?”

“I think both of them are going to suit you well.”

She didn’t like his answer.

“Don’t choose so insincerely.”

“What do you mean so insincerely? I mean it. You are pretty regardless of what you wear, Nelia.”

Nelia, who was blinking slowly, spotted the store owner’s face through the mirror.

He was embarrassed as if he didn’t want to see someone else’s love moment.

“I just can’t decide, Nelia.”

Such an unfaithful servant.

“Why don’t you just pick all the fabrics they have here?”

“…What?”

“You can make one pair out of them all.”

The duke still remained calm after spitting out those words.

‘This is what I’ve only heard before, but would he actually give me everything here……?’

This kind of thing she could only see in TV dramas that she used to watch during her part-time job. She thought it was just a fantasy, but she didn’t expect to actually experience it today.

Nelia recovered her senses after being puzzled for a moment.

“N-No way. The closet will explode.”

The duke grinned.

“We can make a separate dressing room.”

“There’s no need to go that far…… I won’t be able to wear them all anyway.”

When Nelia appealed with fists balled up, the duke shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

“……I got it. If that’s what you say, Nelia.”

Although the duke accepted, Nelia already felt exhausted.

She decided that it would be better not to ask the duke.

“Your Grace, I’m going to pick the fabric, so you can take a seat there.”

“I see.”

The duke sat gracefully on the chair against the wall with his legs crossed as Nelia asked him and read the newspaper placed beside him.

Nelia thought to herself while staring at his figure for a moment.

‘Nothing is going according to my plan.’

She felt more vulnerable every time she tried to order the duke around.

Nelia left the duke on his own and chose the fabric for herself. Her final choice was yellow and light pink silk fabrics.

She felt exhausted after choosing all the designs. She just picked out the fabrics and designs in the boutique, but she already wanted to return to the mansion.

Then, the store owner caught Nelia’s steps.

“We have a sample dress with the design the young lady chose, so why don’t you try it on?”

The shopkeeper was very enthusiastic.

Seeing the duke was very devoted to her words, he must have assumed they have a thing for each other. That’s why she felt as if she had been included in his list of special clients before she realized it sooner.

Nelia felt burdened by his attitude and thought about refusing his offer, but she knew it would be another trouble to come back here if the dress didn’t fit.

If she tried the sample dress in advance, that problem wouldn’t occur in the future.

“Yes, I’ll try it on.”

The store owner said that it was a wise idea coming from her and brought the sample dress from somewhere else.

“You can change over there.”

The store owner pointed at the room covered with curtains.

Drawing the curtains meticulously before trying to put on the dress, she soon came across trouble.

“Oh….”

***