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Chapter 19: This is Paradise
Hernan came out to the garden about 10 minutes earlier than the time he was supposed to come to the duke’s residence. Linzel was in good shape today, so she went out to meet him.
Ten minutes before three in the afternoon. The weather was perfect.
In the warmth of the midday sun, all Linzel’s physical limitations were forgotten.
The well-kept grass swayed in the same direction with each breeze, and she smelled the scent of flowers of unknown origin.
She had a wonderful premonition that something good was going to happen.
Linzel was stomping her feet when she heard the sound of rattling carriage wheels. It was the only sound that cut through the silence of the ducal estate.
The louder it got, the more nervous she became. Her heart began to beat much faster than usual.
It must be the excitement of knowing who the owner of that carriage is, and how handsome the man inside is.
She swallowed hard. ‘Why am I so nervous when it’s not even the first time we’ve met?’
The carriage came to a halt in front of her. The coachman jumped down and quickly opened the carriage door.
Meanwhile, someone started to get out.
The first thing she saw was someone’s black shoes.
They were shiny and blindingly bright. They looked like they had been carefully polished.
The next thing she saw were a pair of black trousers that revealed a sensual Achilles heel.
The trousers were neither too wide nor too narrow, but they fit nicely around the thighs, highlighting them.
They were perfect for showing off those thighs.
Linzel lifted her gaze from his shoes and continued to look up. He had very long legs.
Her gaze finally settled on someone’s face. An expressionless face that exuded a certain solitude.
He had a good figure and an expressionless face that exuded a natural intimidation.
But she was well aware of how cute and sweet he was.
Linzel called his name aloud.
“Your Highness Hernan!”
Hernan. He looked at her and smiled from ear to ear. His face softened as he smiled.
The gap between an expressionless face and a softened face. It was a thrilling thing which those who have not tasted it will never know.
Linzel clutched at her heart.
‘You look even more handsome today, and you’re dressed perfectly.’
Linzel was so impressed by his handsomeness that she thought her heart would jump out of her mouth.
Her heart was beating so hard.
She put her hand over her heart and tilted her head weakly, and a few seconds later, she heard Hernan’s impatient footsteps.
He stepped in front of her and grabbed both her arms.
“Are you okay, where are you hurting again?”
Linzel gulped down a thin breath.
“It’s just that Your Highness is…… so cool that…… my heart hurts so much.”
Hernan let out a small “Ha.” He must have thought she was really sick and was very worried.
Linzel lifted her head to look at Hernan’s face. He was leaning in closer, his face full of concern.
“Your Highness Hernan, I’m perfectly fine, and you shouldn’t worry.”
“…….”
“But just in case, if I were to die today, the cause of death would be excitement.”
“That’s cute, but I don’t want you to talk about dying so easily.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Hernan let out a small laugh.
“Your Highness, I have been very careful today.”
Linzel stretched her right leg out in front of her. The hem of her dress fell away, revealing her white leg.
It was the exposure of conversion.
She could feel Hernan’s gaze moving towards her leg.
But no. There was no reaction from him.
Instead of the savagery she’d expected, he merely furrowed his brow. As if he was unhappy. As if he didn’t like the exposure.
“You don’t ………like it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“My legs!”
“……hah.”
He began to remove the thin jacket he was wearing.
In just two movements, he had the jacket off and wrapped around Linzel’s waist.
No matter how big the jacket was, it almost completely covered her lower body.
“Eh! You shouldn’t be covering this up.”
“There are many eyes. You’re wearing a dangerous outfit.”
( T/N : Eyeball graveyard here we come? :D)
‘The only people in the garden are you, Mini, and a few gardeners,’ Linzel huffed.
“I put it out there for you to see?”
Hernan’s face grew serious.
Linzel suddenly felt the need to defend myself. If nothing else, he was a pretty good judge of character.
“I offered it to you, Your Highness Hernan, because I wanted to be seen by you, not anyone else.”
Linzel tilted her head again and muttered, “Ah. You don’t happen to have a taste for chastity, do you?”
Hernan didn’t answer, just lifted her up in one motion. She naturally fell into his arms as she had the day before.
He spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper.
“If you want to be seen by me, I will only allow you to dress like that when we are alone.”
‘Well, I guess you could say that the kitten gets to climb into the barn first.’
He wasn’t saying that she shouldn’t wear it, but that she should only wear it when they’re alone?
‘Oh, gosh.’
Linzel was embarrassed. Linzel thought she was being flirty, but now she had to try to keep her cool.
She wanted to pretend she was still a docile kitten.
“……..I don’t mind you wearing any style. If it’s what you prefer to wear…….”
‘Hernan. Are you really crushing on me?’
Linzel remembered the question she’d asked Hernan a few days earlier, a question she’d never heard an answer to.
‘Your Highness Hernan, have you grown to like me enough to risk your life for me?’
She asked something akin to that.
“Your Highness Hernan. Would you like me …….no matter what clothes I wore, even if I was wearing rags?”
( E/N : Girl, I think those two questions are VERY different…)
“Clothes don’t matter. It’s the person who matters, and I think you would be beautiful in rags.”
( T/N : He is smooth like butter. How could this guy still be single? („ಡωಡ„))
The answer was simple. Linzel felt a faint smile forming at the corners of her mouth.
“What do you think? Is that the kind of answer you’d expect to hear in heaven?”
Linzel looked up into Hernan’s face, which was gorgeous even from below, and responded, “This is paradise.” Linzel grinned. “I like that answer.”
If this isn’t paradise, she didn’t know what was.
“Well…… and.”
Hernan said something and then he paused.
What was he going to say?
“And?”
“Lo…….”
Lo? Look?
“You’re only looking at me?”
Hernan tilted his head.
“Are you going to be such a person who only looks at me?” Linzel guessed.
Was she sounding too self-centered?
Hernan shook his head shyly and tried to open his lips. He was about to give her the answer.
Linzel placed her index finger on his lips.
“Shhh. Let me guess!”
This time, she thought she might get it right.
Because it reminded her of similar situations in the past.
When he was hesitant to say something!
Whenever she complimented him on his outfit, which he loved.
There was only one outfit that started with ‘tro’.”
“Your Highness. The trousers you’re wearing today look really good on you, much more sophisticated than the wide-bottomed ones you’ve been wearing.”
“……!”
Hernan’s eyes widened as she praised the trousers. She had no doubt that the trousers were the right answer.
“Of course, the ones you wore before that were fine, too. You’ve got a handsome face and a great body, and I don’t think there’s anything you wouldn’t look good in.”
“……Thanks. I was concerned, you know.”
“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.”
Linzel wondered what he’d wear next to dress up for her.
She was already looking forward to it.
No, but could these trousers be the ones Izekiel was talking about?
She remembered Izekiel’s expression when he said that Hernan had bought his trousers after him.
As she wondered how long Hernan’s copying of Izekiel would last, Hernan turned to her.
“Linzel. Where can we go?”
The drawing room, the garden, the balcony…… were all options, and so was the choice Linzel made.
“Let’s go to my room.”
Her room was the most private.
She could do whatever she wanted in there and not be seen.
Oh, of course, Linzel didn’t mean to do anything with Hernan that would get them in trouble.
* * *
Hernan entered the ducal residence and began to stroll down the long corridor.
There was no hesitation in his steps.
He seemed to remember the location of Linzel’s room because he had been there before. She glanced behind Hernan’s back, where the man he’d brought with him was following.
He was a middle-aged man with bronze-coloured hair and a rather stern face.
Linzel thought she knew who this stranger was.
The man who was Hernan’s closest confidant, and the man who made Hernan look bad.
He was Hernan’s aide, no, his damned aide, Gatt.
As she scanned him, Linzel’s eyes locked with his.
She glared at him. She could see him flinch as he caught the full force of her glare.
The glare was a warning.
‘Hey, you. If you give His Highness Hernan any strange advice, I won’t let you off the hook.’
Gatt lowered his head. Linzel didn’t know if he understood, but for now, she had won.
She withdrew her gaze from Gatt and looked up at Hernan, then spoke in a voice only he could hear.
“Your Highness, Hernan.”
“Eh.”
“The man behind you is one of your aides?”
“Indeed.”
As expected, it was Gatt.
“I think it would be best not to listen to that aide.”
Hernan said dryly, “He has served me for many years.”
There was a deep sense of trust in his voice. As if he trusted him more than he trusted her.
It was only natural.
Linzel was a woman he’d only known for a few days, and Gatt had been by Hernan’s side for years.
And yet. Linzel wondered why she felt so pouty.
She wanted Hernan to trust her more.
“I’m fine with everything else, but I think it would be better if you don’t listen to your aide when it comes to romantic matters…….”
“Romantic matters?”
“Did he give you any sort of advice?”