15
Shedding (脱皮)
Three days later.
“Why are you two acting like this?”
The Duke looked at Vivienne and Edmund, who were sitting across from each other on the parlor sofa.
Vivienne deliberately kept her gaze elsewhere, while Edmund leaned one arm on the sofa’s armrest, sitting at a relaxed angle.
Because he was leaning forward slightly, his vest hugged his trim waist, lifting slightly over the broad chest and forming a gentle curve. His taut shirt stretched over his firm chest, neatly tied with a black tie patterned with distinctive diagonal stripes—green bordered by two thin red lines.
“You seemed close enough to get along, yet now you two seem even more distant.”
Vivienne remained at a cautious distance from Edmund, her eyes fixed on the patterns of the carpet.
“By the way, that tie is quite stylish. I like it.”
“Thank you. I suppose the one who chose it has a rather refined sense of taste.”
“Unbelievable. You even go out with women now.”
“Yes.”
Vivienne’s face flushed even more at his words.
“Guess there are days like that.”
He’s teasing me. Vivienne didn’t dare meet Edmund’s eyes. Only the Duke seemed untouched by the tension in the room, lost in his own thoughts.
“When… let’s see… was it when you attended Alfred Imperial University? That was the last time we heard of any news about women. Now it feels like ages ago.”
“Yes. And after going to the New Continent for business school, I didn’t have any particular romantic involvement.”
“Don’t even mention wasting two years at that school whose purpose nobody even knows. If you were going for a master’s, you’d study humanities at Alfred Imperial University… what was it called, MSC? Master of Commercial Science, the predecessor of the modern MBA? Management is a discipline only for New Continenters too busy earning a living. Isn’t that right, boy?”
“Eh? Yes….”
Against her own will, Vivienne nodded absentmindedly.
Her mind had wandered; she hadn’t fully caught what the Duke had said. Edmund’s voice continued.
“I believe that in about thirty years, our Dartro will have a business school just like that. When that time comes, I’d like to be involved in it myself.”
“Ridiculous! Which elite parent would spend such ridiculous tuition to send their child there? Honestly, I don’t understand your mother paying for it either. You and your mother—though our blood is mixed—you two are somehow always a little different.”
Edmund simply smiled calmly.
“Are you implying we’re like the working class?”
“…Enough. Let’s drop that subject.”
“You entered Hamilton School at thirteen, graduated at seventeen, spent three years at Alfred Imperial University, and then finished a two-year master’s at the New Continent business school. By that calculation, it’s been eleven years since you last had someone by your side.”
“Exactly… So now, why not come to your senses, get married, and inherit the title? I don’t care, as long as you bring a suitable woman to wed.”
“Yes. Provided the lady is agreeable.”
“A lady? A noble, then?”
“Yes. She shares similar views with my maternal uncle and can complement my lacking noble qualities. She seems the perfect match.”
“That’s fortunate. Always commoners before, huh? Who is she?”
“I’ll introduce her at an appropriate time.” Edmund replied.
“She’s rather shy.”
Vivienne couldn’t bring herself to look at the Duke.
The Duke, apparently unbothered, laughed heartily and tossed out various names. Edmund deftly steered the conversation elsewhere.
Of course. As the first son of the Senwick dukedom, he wouldn’t need to pick up on hints.
Whether he truly didn’t notice or was pretending not to, Vivienne tried to read between the lines with nerves on edge. But there was no mention of their distance.
Then, unexpectedly:
“Why are you bundled up in that coat indoors?”
Vivienne flinched at the Duke’s question.
❖ ❖ ❖
Edmund had called himself a rabbit—but Vivienne wondered if it wasn’t his appearance, but rather the fact that she was prey for that black serpent.
Today too, she had run into him in the storage room.
At the end of the Duke’s parlor gathering, he had kissed her hand and left a note for her. He had mostly kissed her neck and touched her body, satisfying his own desire. Her lower abdomen itched with a strange sensation, yet his hands lingered just above her navel.
Though she didn’t know why, she began to secretly enjoy this, learning the sensation over time. She also realized that, unlike his firm body, her own was soft and pliable.
He liked leaving his hidden traces where no one could see. First the nape of the neck, then near the collarbone.
Today, he tugged down one shoulder of her afternoon dress, revealing the soft skin beneath. He bit, licked, and warmed it with his mouth.
She was embarrassed but surrendered to the urge to pull him closer with her head tilted.
Ludwig hadn’t shown such acts to women. Could this be something unrelated to intercourse? She wondered, and he suddenly swept her into his arms, carrying her to a nearby sofa, kissing her hand and letting her touch his lower abdomen.
Her fingers trembled but she did not resist. She liked how his palm held her hand, the firmness of his abs, and the warmth that radiated from him.
“Why are you squirming like this?”
“Because I like you.”
He said this while adjusting her dress, tucking the revealed flesh back inside.
“I shouldn’t have let you choose my tie when we went shopping,” Vivienne murmured, breaking the silence. After kissing her, Edmund wanted to do many things for her—chief among them, dressing her in luxurious clothing.
Previously, her body had been too thin for standard couture; now, with added weight, almost anything fit. She no longer needed the top designers at the mansion.
Edmund, a surprisingly controlling type, would take her to high-end stores, try clothes on her, and buy what he liked. Anything she picked that seemed stifling remained in his room, unopened.
Vivienne wore only what he provided. After bathing, she’d see his selected lingerie atop neatly folded clothes, and her face would burn. Today, he tugged down one sleeve of her dress again to check the color of her undergarments.
“Why do you always let me touch you?”
She asked suddenly, caught in thought. He let out a low groan.
“What would my lady like to do?” Edmund asked with softened eyes. Vivienne noticed the difference from his earlier sharp gaze toward the Duke.
He released her hand, adjusted the tie, and she turned her eyes away. As he removed his jacket and vest, his sculpted torso became visible under his slightly damp shirt.
Vivienne studied it in fascination. It reminded her of torsos in a sculpture exhibit at an art gallery.
His skin peeked out tantalizingly, and his breathing deepened. He unbuttoned his shirt skillfully, revealing his bare flesh in the dimly lit room.
“Edmund’s chest is bigger than other men’s,” Vivienne noted briefly, trying to normalize the tense air. Compared to Ludwig, the only other she had been forced to see like this, it was true.
“Yet his waist is so slim…”
Though an objective observation, a rush of embarrassment followed.
“Come closer.”
“Why?”
“You miss that agent, don’t you?” He brushed his hand across her cheek.
“I don’t know how.”
“Do as we did on the sofa in your room.”
“That wasn’t proper behavior.”
“Then is letting a stranger touch you proper?”
“….”
“Mount me. When the underworld chief asks, you’ll need to know. That way, you can also get revenge for your agent.”
“….”
“Or do you want to learn from your fiancé?”
Vivienne hesitated, then moved, hiking her skirt, and sat straddling his legs.
“Good.”
He praised her and caressed her head, then wrapped his marble-like arms around her waist, pulling her close. She instinctively pressed against his heated body, though her own body twitched from ticklishness.
A pleasant pressure settled below her navel. As he rubbed his chin against her, she sank deeper into his embrace. His low, satisfied voice whispered in her ear:
“See? My uncle wanted to see my wife earlier.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Forget revenge. Stay here, play the lady of the house, and live well.”
“Mm….”
“I’ll handle the broken engagement. Just be cute, enjoy your treats, and wait for me nicely.”
“Ed…mund…”
Instead of answering, he lifted her chin and kissed her swollen lips. As she tilted back, his large hand supported her head; the other pulled down the sleeve of the dress where he had left his mark. Her bare skin pressed against his firm torso.
He explored her mouth as if savoring dessert, eliciting hot, breathy moans. He grabbed her hips with satisfaction.
While in the storage room of the mansion, Vivienne had a stronger desire than Edmund to entwine deeper with him. Her instincts longed for it—but he allowed nothing beyond what he permitted.
She only dared to steal a few timid kisses while leaning on him, and the kisses returned to her. Impulsively scratching his chest with her nails and kissing his neck, he groaned, stood, and disappeared into another room. Vivienne was left alone, thinking perhaps he didn’t like such behavior.
Her flushed body shivered in the cold air. She composed herself and headed to her room.
Once she closed the massive door, she collapsed, reality hitting her:
What have I just done?
Memories of past indulgence resurfaced. Even if he initiated, she should have kept her boundaries, informed her family, and safely annulled the engagement with Ludwig first.
Her original plan was to approach the underworld chief, but now her heart was swayed.
“Forget revenge. Stay here, play the lady of the house, and live well.”
Edmund was tempting. More than pursuing the impossible goal of killing the underworld chief, she wanted comfort in his presence. He had once said something that resonated deeply:
“If I can care for you better than your illusions, wouldn’t that be something?”
The person providing that care had the face she had longed for, moving her heart.
If the Prime Minister had assigned her an agent resembling her only son with such foresight, it was remarkably cunning.
“Without lofty revenge or desires…”
Edmund claimed she wanted nothing from him. But Vivienne suddenly found she did want something. She wanted to be lured by his gentle voice, to learn more from him. The thought of another woman beside him unsettled her.
Her heart pounded, accompanied by a fear deep inside: What if he abandons me? Like in the storage room, if he tires of me…
Her mother had always warned how men with other women discarded them mercilessly.
Ludwig’s indiscretions aside, that didn’t justify her behavior.
If her parents found out? That she, raised to be proper, had clung to a man half-naked, moaning like a beast? That she had allowed kisses and touches above her navel and had been discarded once his interest waned?
Her heart raced like never before, blood draining from her body.
“Did you sleep with him?”
“Duchess…”
“Since you’re naive, should I be blunt?” The Duchess leaned close, whispering. Vivienne’s ears burned red.
“No… nothing like that happened…”
Everything else… Vivienne thought, recalling the lewd acts she had allowed.
Couldn’t we just make it as if it never happened?
The Duchess suggested:
“If you’ve never seen blood on your sheets, I can pretend I know nothing.”
“….”
“But the lady must obtain a ring from Count Colt.”
Her footsteps echoed in the empty hall. The faces of nudes in the paintings seemed to watch her.
“If Edmund becomes the fault of my nephew—or you chase him off—then my storage room is all yours.”
“….”
“The enemy of my enemy is a friend. Seems the same applies here. I politely refused Kingsley’s presence here. Wouldn’t the lady need greater favor than this?”
Vivienne understood perfectly. This was about keeping silent regarding her and Edmund.
