“Are you on your period?”
Exercise should not be an excuse. After all, if they wanted to exercise only when they were in good shape, had a good time and had good digestion, they would do it a few times a year.
Selina, who was strict with herself, never gave any reason except when she was on her period.
She knew the cycle because every time she was on her period, there were people who helped with period supplies. It was definitely not that day, but apparently, they had no reason to think other than that when she said she was taking a rest.
They knew that her period was still far away, so the maids asked.
“No, just… There was an accident yesterday at the hunting ground… I don’t want to see anyone cutting blades for a while because I’m surprised.”
She couldn’t confess, ‘Last night, there was a profound incident that reduced my physical distance with Kalcion, and the repercussions continued until this morning, and I’m not confident to see his face without embarrassment.’ So instead, she quickly brought up a reason though it fit perfectly.
“Aahh…”
The servants who accompanied her yesterday nodded, feeling sorry for the rumors.
“Then, what will you do next?”
“I have nothing today.”
If there were, it would be canceled. In a hunting contest hosted by the Royal Family, a nobleman almost died. If she went around and played as if nothing happened even though the condition was not known yet, it would be like confessing, ‘I am your enemy.’
She had heard that there were some who were hostile to Count Orlane, but most weren’t, so it would be quiet for a while.
“Then breakfast…”
“I will do it in the dining room.”
Most of the breakfast was simply served in a nearby garden after training. She was not going to training today, so there was no need to simply do it in the garden.
“Okay, so would you like to choose a dress first?”
Every day, dresses and accessories were chosen by Selina herself.
Although she wanted to leave in moderation, she couldn’t because Juna often tried to play tricks. What she was good at and what she enjoyed were different. Because she had a prominent job, she always had to pay attention to it, so her senses developed.
“I’m going to be at home anyway, so I’ll be wearing just about anything. Can I leave you to it?”
Juna was not here now, and people wouldn’t notice anything today. To test the maids’ eyes, Selina grinned as she decided to leave the troublesome work to them.
“Of course!”
Did they think of this as a promotion? The maids were excited and rushed out.
After a while, the dresses they had in their hands were not what she would wear at home at first glance. Selina asked the reason for their incomprehensible choice with calm eyes… Were they indirectly saying they want her to die of discomfort in suffocating, cumbersome clothes?
However, the maid’s response was completely different.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, because I think this dress will suit you really well. Still, you’ve never worn it before.”
It was a passionate look. She seemed to be saying that seeing her in this dress was her lifelong wish. She remembered that not all maids always wanted to take over the master’s title or make a fuss. Some could purely support her… because she was no one else, ‘the prettiest girl in the world’ Selina!
For a while, she was treated like a rude commoner, so she almost forgot her own identity. It had been a long time since she looked at the person that called ‘Selina’ with such a longing.
“Then, shall we try it on?”
Because it was from the heart, whether in pajamas at home or in bearskin, there was nothing she couldn’t wear in front of the eyes that wanted it so much.
“This one!”
“No, this one!”
The maids rushed in front of Selina, who stood up with graceful gestures like a veteran actress. It was even cute, like fans, who asked to receive their gift first.
“There is a lot of time, everyone. Slowly, one by one.”
Selina cleared the maids’ enthusiasm with a veteran actor-like stature.
* * *
“Won’t fresh flowers look good here?”
“Well… Let’s put it in.”
“Ah… I think a little more colorful flowers would be better. Or should I attach jewels to the petals?”
“That’s fine, too.”
Amazing events in the world sometimes happen.
It was ‘somehow’ that Selina fell into this world while filming, ‘somehow’ that Kalcion caught her eye, ‘somehow’ they kissed, and ‘somehow’ that the maids created a masterpiece of a lifetime. Even if she went to the Rose Palace party right away, ‘somehow,’ the decoration that would shine the most beautifully had been completed.
“Wow…”
Art was a field that pursued beauty.
The maids were intoxicated as they admired the beauty they had created with their own hands.
“Ah…”
On the other hand, Selina, who couldn’t just admire herself, showed a somewhat toned-down admiration. Even though she had no objection to how beautiful the finished look was, she remembered once it was finished.
‘…Where am I going after this?’
She was going to the dining room. While the dress was not appropriate for the time and place, it was a waste to undo it again.
“I hope the Duke’s eyes will find it good.”
Although it didn’t fit the situation, it fit the position of the lover, who fed on the Duke’s love.
“He won’t even be able to eat because he would be staring at Miss Selina!”
Hearing the maid’s fuss, Selina wondered with a low laugh.
* * *
“Eat, please eat.”
“Huh? Ah…”
Surprisingly, the maids’ predictions came true.
No matter how hard she was dressed, her original face didn’t go anywhere. The background was Selina, and things were just pasted on it.
Still, she didn’t know he was going to be blown away like that.
An illusion was sometimes overlaid on the human eye. It was seeing the shell of the imagination, regardless of the actual phenomenon.
Those who guess that Selina had a bubbly personality would see it better with her convex lips and raised eyebrows. Those who focus on her splendid appearance would see the accessories and large features well.
However, it was different for those who were used to her bare face, like a tree in front of their house.
Even if the tree bloomed, it became a flowering tree. Or, even if its leaves fell, it still became a tree — no matter how pretty the outfit was, the person would be the same, and no matter how suited the outfit, the person stayed the same — such things.
From the moment she came to this world, she spent almost every moment with Kalcion. She showed more of an unpretentious look. She now yawned and rubbed her eye boogers away, twitched her puffy eyes, and fell asleep while listening to their conversation.
She didn’t have to go far, every morning, she got sweaty and rolled around in the dirt. Now, wasn’t it a little late to fall in love again?
“The bread is good today.”
“Aahh.”
“It’s moderately sweet.”
“Aahh…”
They say that the only thing that was really late in the world was going back to being a child.
“Oh, but you didn’t forget what I said, right?”
“Aahh… Huh?”
“That’s a relief. Yes, I think you remember.”
It was then that Kalcion suddenly came to his senses. His focus, which had been digging deep into Selina’s skin, finally receded. The focus returned to her dazed eyes.
“Where do you plan to go today?”
“Nowhere.”
“By the way… you look good.”
His tone of voice returned to normal. Selina loosened her back, which had been stiffened by the tension, hearing the familiar voice.
“The most important schedule for me is to look pretty to the Duke.”
As the tension relaxed, she was able to speak lightly as usual. It was the same when Kalcion returned to his usual tone.
“Pretty.”
In a simple and clear tone of purpose.
“…Now, those words come out very easily.”
Selina was dazed for a moment, and then the words came out a beat slower as she took hold of her mind and answered.
“Do you not like it?”
“It’s not a matter of not liking it or not… is it that I am very used to it, or that I was just pouring out words that I did not need to say before?”
“Is it a problem?”
“Not a problem, of course, but…”
Usually, it was something to applaud and cheer for.
It was almost as if he was born again when she thought this man was the one who couldn’t say a word after practicing for hours. As Kalcion said, it was a change that could only be understood if he thought he was out of his mind.
“If it’s a problem to say pretty things are pretty, I’ll correct them.”
“No! No…!”
Selina hurriedly waved her hands. The operation was still going on, so they shouldn’t stop acting as lovers.
“Yes,”
Kalcion smiled and skillfully spread the hard-to-peel fruit flesh on the plate. It was a fruit that she often used as a means of being childish in public.
“Eat this.”
Instead of putting it on her plate, he took it with his own tableware and brought it to the front of Selina’s lips. She reflexively opened her mouth to eat, then realized… it was the tableware that touched Kalcion’s mouth.
She didn’t let her eyes fall from the sinking tableware that had slipped through her lips. Kalcion, whether doing it as a ritual or not, naturally put one in his own mouth, too. The tableware disappeared between the soft, smooth lips.
Her throat tightened at the smoothness of the tableware pushed through the gap between his closed lips.
Selina’s throat went dry.
She didn’t know how she was chewing it in her mouth, but after chewing for a while, she gulped it down on its own.
Kalcion, who recognized it quickly, took a piece of the flesh and put it out with the tableware he had pulled out of his mouth.
“One more?”
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