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Chapter 7
Selena had begun her acting career like a performer in a theatre. She was even capable of captivating an entire audience by herself.
In theatrical plays, even though the spotlight was often withdrawn, the play still continued as it could be covered with the enthusiasm of a single actor.
For Selena, the top actress who dominated the entertainment world, taking control of the stage was nothing. A loud voice was heard through the thick door.
“I don’t want anyone else to be involved! Please, tell them to go away!”
“It’s their service….”
Although he knew it was just an act, he replied casually.
“No! Tell them not to wait, Duke! I don’t want anyone touching my body!”
“…..”
Kalcion was awfully silent.
She knew it would be embarrassing. However, she couldn’t just back down.
“Hurry Duke, please tell everyone to go away.”
“…..”
“Please!”
“…..I don’t need the bath. Leave.”
Kalcion spoke, as if he had a sword held near his throat.
“Pardon? Ah, yes….Your Excellency.”
The servant outside the door was embarrassed, but he followed Kalcion’s orders faithfully. Selena could hear him running away from the door.
As soon as the sound of the footsteps faded away, Selena, who had her ears pricked up towards the door, stretched her arms.
“Okay. Now ask them to bring me some clothes to wear. Oh, I need to tear off this one.”
“Tear it off? Can’t you just hide it somewhere?”
Selena shrugged.
“We can’t leave a shred of single evidence behind. It’s better to just tear it into pieces so that it becomes unrecognizable.”
“It would be strange to just rip off your clothes.”
Selena grinned.
“The Duke was taking a bath with a woman who was trying to seduce him, so it wouldn’t be so weird to have my clothes ripped off.”
“Huh…?…Oh? Ah.”
Kalcion’s expression changed three times.
‘Huh…?’ = What are you talking about?
‘…Oh?’ = Oh, do you mean that!
‘Ah.’ = I understand.
It was a 180 degrees change.
Selena’s stratagem was pretty good.
It might be questionable that he was captivated at once, but it would fit the situation perfectly. It was possible to replace the horrible acting skills of the Duke with a ripped off garment.
Even though it was impulsive, there was no greater idea than this. It might be suspicious that it was not what Kalcion would usually do, but on the contrary, it was better than what he’d do. Acting wasn’t just about words.
“Well then, go wash up first. Do I have to hold you again?”
“No, you don’t have to.”
Kalcion opened a smaller door to the bathroom that was attached to the room. Selena widened her eyes when she stepped in.
Inside the bathroom, another door used by the servants came into sight. So that’s how it was possible for them to prepare a bath quietly. This was also an unexpected luxury.
There was a fairly large bathtub in the middle of the room tiled with antique patterns all around. The bathtub, full of smoke-filled water, was big enough to accommodate five people at once.
Next to it were the bathing accessories, soap, and sponges that seemed to be used to serve. There was also a luxurious spa bed in one corner.
‘I don’t even have these in my private house.’
As expected of a Duke.
‘Ah, It’s not the time to be amazed!’
Selena hurriedly came to her senses. She noticed a bathrobe was also prepared on one side of the bathroom.
“Stay out for a moment.”
Selena, after sending Kalcion out, took off her clothes and put on the robe. She opened the door again, now calling him in.
“Now, you can tear this off.”
Kalcion glanced behind his back and turned around when he saw Selena in his bathrobe.
‘I have to be careful too.’
She knew he was not looking at her, but still, she felt insecure. She hugged herself, trying to cover up her sensitive parts.
Even when he entered the bathroom, he kept his eyes as far from her body as he could and grasped the garment with both of his hands.
Jakk—
The garment ripped with a sound. It was not of a material that could be torn with bare hands, but in the hands of Kalcion, it was like a sheet of paper.
“You’re good at cutting things.”
“Hmm.”
“There’s no one outside, so it’ll be easier for me. I’ll take a piece of it and soak it in the water, and when they come in later to clean it up, they’ll imagine it, right?”
“They’ll imagine it very roughly.”
Kalcion’s hand, which was holding the piece of the cloth, hesitated again.
“Why, isn’t this enough?”
“Not entirely.”
Kalcion’s eyes grew as fierce as though they were aiming for the beast in the mountains. His eyes turned towards the door connected to that corridor. Selena, too, followed him nervously.
“What is it?”
“Someone might be hiding.”
Selena did not hear anything, but she had no other choice but to believe Kalcion.
“A spy? Outside the door?”
“Right.”
Since Kalcion was here, she had nothing to be afraid about.
“Does this happen on a daily basis?”
“It’s been especially frequent these days.”
“What are we going to do now?”
“Let me think about it.”
But, he didn’t seem to be much concerned.
“What do you usually do?”
“I kill them.”
“Ah….killing them or saving them?”
“No. I’m thinking of a way of killing them.”
He was not lying, given that it was not much different from his usual tone.
“….Wait a minute.”
Selena was used to it now. But, she was reluctant to witness any more deaths.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we use him for now?”
His eyes turned towards her.
“That will be the other way around. Wouldn’t it be a more plausible situation?”
“Hmm.”
“It’s more efficient than a hundred acts.”
Kalcion agreed with Selena’s opinion.
“Doesn’t it still require acting skills to make the situation decent?”
Kalcion neatly acknowledged his atrocious acting skills.
“Or do you really want to do something?”
Selena frowned, pushing his chest.
“I didn’t see you like that, Duke. You’re a jerk.”
“….what…?”
He felt his back hitting the wall. It was the first time that he had such a poor assessment.
“You’re the first woman who had the guts to call me that, you know.”
Kalcion was surprised but Selena was calm. She had done this act once or twice.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t fall for it.”
Selena replied in a professional manner. While there was a spy, she had to finish setting up the situation quickly before getting back to the main room.
“I should be the only one to act. The Duke will stand next to me…..No, just tear off the clothes.”
A tremendous thing to bind “incompetence” and “uselessness” at the same time, which had never been woven together in his life. There was no more shocking moment than this.
“Oh, it will be better if you can laugh at me sometimes by calling my name. But, if you think it’s going to be awkward, then be quiet.”
Kalcion was bewildered.
A cold-blooded Northern Duke.
As cold as an ice wall.
As cold as a glacier.
The numerous cold titles that were addressed to him became ‘idiots’ in a moment.
“Haha…..ha”
He laughed weakly. While he was picking up the scattered pieces, Selena took a deep breath…
“Ahhh!”
The beginning was intense enough to catch everyone’s attention. Outside the door, she could feel a sudden surprise. Even Kalcion, who was with her, was surprised.
“What’s wrong with you!”
The play had already begun. She could not just say that it was a scene where she would scream pleasantly.
“Ohh, Duke, don’t touch me there. Ah! Mhn!”
“I….”
Fortunately, Kalcion had no acting skills and was not tactful. He shut his mouth when he couldn’t protest.
“Haha….ha.”
Instead, the atmosphere was filled with embarrassment and absurdity once again.
Selena was able to step up in her acting career because she had the ability to be real.
“Don’t do this, ah!”
She entered the bathtub that made a sound of splashing water, as if she had been tangled up with an invisible man.
“Ohh, n-no…..!”
Selena’s performance was overwhelming. She kept shouting such words sweetly.
At the same time, she pointed towards the torn pieces of the clothes. Kalcion hurriedly tore the remaining once again without a second thought.
“Ah, you shouldn’t tear my dress like this! H-ha, can you buy me a pretty dress later?”
“….”
Kalcion, who was not confident enough to fit into that performance, tore the pieces repeatedly instead. From outside, they would sound like a grumbling charming woman, and a violent Duke, coveting her body silently.
“Uh? Huh? More pretty than anyone else’s! Can you buy it for me?”
Boom.
That’s enough. Selena signaled for him to stop. As instructed, Kalcion dipped the pieces in the bathtub before returning to his room.
So, it was Selena’s solo stage act. The things that could happen between a man and a woman were realistically enacted only by a voice and the sound of water. Excluding the specific descriptions.
In Selena’s performance, Kalcion became a cold-blooded beast, who pushed as hard as he pleased, but not as harsh as her breath.
While waiting in the room, Kalcion covered his face with his hand. His face was burning up.
***
Only
After Selena was done, Kalcion went in and took a bath.
His flushed face still didn’t subside. This was due to the fact that he was now washing up in the warm water, which was just used in the act.
He knew that the spy had run away in the middle of the play. But, he did not know if the reason was that he was sick of it or he had nothing more to hear.
He wanted to stop her, but he couldn’t when she was so intoxicated with the act that she was running wild. As a result, she succeeded.
“Hurry up and call the maid before I catch a cold.”
Selena was also quite satisfied with the results. The maids came running as soon as Kalcion pulled the leash.
“Ah!”
The person who opened the door was startled upon seeing the inside of the room.