Now that Iris had obtained her very own maids, it was time to build the foundation for an idle life.
She had asked Jamie to buy all the newspapers and magazines published under the Count's decree each day. She would meet with the heads of various departments in the Green's family and head back to her bedroom late at night to study.
Keivrand on the other hand was busier than Iris and would often return to the bedroom later and leave earlier than she did. Or he would not return to the bedroom at all. As a result, there was little time for them to meet.
On this fine day, as Iris rested in the living room, Christina came in with herbal tea.
"The Count must be very busy."
She seemed to have thought that Iris was heartbroken from not seeing Keivrand for so long.
"Of course. The Count has a lot on his plate and doesn't have time for useless things."
Juliette said with a clear voice, but Iris didn't retort.
Elly, who was standing quietly, looked down and slipped her hand into the waist of her dress.
Christina stared at Juliette fiercely and was on the verge of reprimanding her, but held back.
Even though there were only three maids, the relationship wasn't very good.
No, to be exact, Christina and Elly didn't like Juliette.
It was because Juliette behaved rudely in front of Iris, and also looked down on Christina and Elly because of her status as a noble.
Christina would quietly ignore Juliette's rude behavior, but Elly would frown and place her hands somewhere into her dress.
It looked as if she was trying to pull something out, and Iris was very curious what it might be. However, she had never seen what it was because Christina would stare at Elly each time.
"Come to think of it, Iris. You're not wearing a wedding ring. Could it be that you didn't even get a ring from the Count?"
Juliette asked with an expression like she was asking out of pure curiosity.
Iris looked down at her hand. She was wearing a bracelet to match her dress, but there was no wedding ring.
She had never thought about a wedding ring before.
"Well. Since it's a political marriage, he must have skipped such a cumbersome procedure. You didn't even have a wedding. Other political marriages at least get one...The Count is too mean. I'm upset."
Unlike her words, Juliette looked happy.
"Miss Juliette, you best be careful what you say and do in front of the Countess."
Christina, who was staring helplessly at Elly, finally couldn't stand it and said something.
Juliette looked at Christina as if she was dumbfounded.
"Are you scolding me? Even though we're both maids, I'm the daughter of Viscount Merdi."
Because Christina couldn't stop Elly from staring daggers at Juliette, Iris was able to catch a glimpse of what Elly was trying to pull out from her waist.
There was a silver gleam, but before it could be fully revealed, a knock broke the tense atmosphere in the room.
As if Juliette hadn't given up on Keivrand yet, she quickly checked her clothes and fixed her hair.
Christina and Elly looked at Juliette dumbfoundedly.
With Iris' permission, Keivrand opened the door and walked in.
He was dressed in a proper suit as if he had just come back from traveling outside.
Wearing a white suit with gold rim, he was as beautiful as an angel.
Juliette let out a sigh of admiration inadvertently.
Christina was the only one who saw Elly making a puking expression at Juliette.
While Christina gave Elly a fierce look, Keivrand walked up to Iris with a joyful expression.
"It's been a while since I had time. Did you finish looking around the mansion?"
"I haven't looked at everything yet."
Keivrand stuck out his hand.
Iris looked down at the big palm, not knowing what to do.
His fingers were long and thick, with many calluses all over it from handling swords. It was her first time seeing such a weathered hand, and she couldn't help but become mesmerized by it.
At Keivrand's call, Iris looked up vacantly.
"What are you doing? Give me your hand."
Iris unconsciously placed her hand on Keivrand's palm.
"I can't believe you just gave me your hand like that. It's like a well-trained dog, Irie."
Christina, hearing the private conservation between her two masters, being quick-witted, winked at the other maids. However, Juliette stood upright and stared at Iris and Keivrand with her eyes wide open.
Eventually, Christina grabbed Juliette's hem. Juliette angrily slapped Christina's hand away and left the room on her own.
As the maids walked out, Keivrand grabbed Iris' hand and pulled her up from the couch.
"It looks like there's a maid who is baring her teeth."
"It's probably because you raised her badly."
"What a scary thing for you to say. The thing I hate the most in the world is growing something, Irie. I can't grow a single plant."
"I've heard from Juliette that she waited on you."
Keivrand squinted his eyes.
"Irie, did you think Juliette was warming my bed at night? So you pretended to be busy and avoided me?"
"The first one is true, the second is your words."
"Such a thing, Irie. Who the hell do you think I am? Did you think just anyone can touch Keivrand Green's body?"
Iris placed her hand over Keivrand's chest and stared provocatively at him.
"I can touch it so easily."
Keivrand lowered his head and bit Iris' ear.
"You're not just anyone."
His breath penetrated into Iris' ears. An unknown sense of numbness spread from her ear to the tip of her toes and stroked her spine.
She flinched and then giggled.
Each time she giggled, his breath would tickle her ears and she would find it hard to breath.
She thought she knew the private acts between a man and woman well enough to the point of it not affecting her.
However, she couldn't understand why she kept getting nervous by the small contact of his breath.
She backed away and looked up at him. Without revealing how she was feeling right now, she asked.
"Then why did you let Juliette do whatever she wants?"
"The Merdi family is useful."
"Because they're a family of merchants?"
"Abandon it. It's useless."
Keivrand answered without hesitation or asked how she knew.
Iris stared at him gently and opened her mouth.
"You're less talkative, Kei."
Keivrand burst into laughter.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. Sometimes I forget that you're speaking roughly to me. It's so charming to watch it again, Irie."
Keivrand took Iris out into the hallway.
"Since I have time, I'll show you around the mansion. Apparently, you've been learning a lot about the Green family, but there's nothing as detailed as what you see with your own eyes."
After showing Iris the main house, separate houses, and the driver's quarters, the last place that Keivrand took her to was a black building.
A black building with no windows.
There was only one door to the building, which was made of heavy steel and appeared hard to break.
As the building came into view, Keivrand spoke.
"From here on out, you have to follow my steps."
Iris followed after Keivrand, focusing only on stepping where he stepped.
He looked back several times in case she made a mistake.
She kept her lips closed as if she were concentrating. It looked quite cute to him.
Although he had been so busy lately that he was walking around like crazy, she had always been on his mind.
He was someone who didn't like to waste time, but strangely enough, he found it fun to joke with her pointlessly.
"It's okay to relax from here. Oh, but don't touch the door."
Keivrand said, standing in front of the building.
"Because there's something precious. Excuse me for a moment."
In the blink of an eye, Keivrand had changed into a big wolf.
It had been a while since Iris last saw this side of him.
She casually approached him and stroked the tip of his nose.
The fur felt soft against her palm.
When she stroked the bridge of his nose, he briefly flinched but soon squinted as if he was in a good mood.
"It's the first time someone is petting me when I look like this, Irie."
Keivrand even thought he would turn over and show his manhood.
Iris thought it was fascinating to see a wolf who was much bigger than her accepting her touch with its eyes half-closed.
In particular, it was cute when the gray fur above Keivrand's eyes, which looked like eyebrows, wriggled.
"Maybe I should raise a puppy."
Keivrand widened his eyes inadvertently at her muttering words.
Iris didn't listen last time when Keivrand said she would regret it and was humiliated in the end, so she was going to hear him out this time.
"Dogs are afraid of me, so they wet themselves around me."
"Something like that... "
Keivrand's mouth slit open as if he was smiling, revealing his big sharp canine teeth.
Iris touched his fangs fearlessly.
"You don't look scared at all, Irie."
As Keivrand opened his mouth and licked Iris' palm, she raised her hand in surprise.
From the black wolf's throat, a growl came out.
She guessed he was laughing.
Turning away from her, Keivrand walked to the door in front of the building and raised his front paw. The sharp claws on his large paw were inserted into the four crevices of the door.
In turn, the door opened.
"This door can only be opened with my toenails."
While Keivrand turned back to his original form and got dressed, Iris thought about what might be inside the black building.
It's where the sacred relics are.
Alfred stared at the Green's mansion in front of him.
While Iris was held captive, it had taken him some time to produce clothes that would make him stand out and put his plan into action.
He couldn't even begin to imagine the terrible things 'his Iris' was subjected to under the ruffian Keivrand.
In his mind, she was a pitiful and lovely woman who was forcefully dragged away by Count Green and was missing him.
Holding his head high, he approached the guard at the front gate and spoke.
"I'm Viscount Alfred Hutch, and I'm here to request a meeting with Count Green."
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