Chapter 08
“Kyaaaaah!”
Elisha screamed at the sight she faced with no warning.
Blaine’s shirt had vanished into thin air, and his solid upper body was fully exposed.
His masculine body, revealed without anything to hide it, was far too stimulating for Elisha.
‘D-Did this happen because of me? Really because of me?!’
Elisha’s eyes spun wildly.
She didn’t even know magic, so she couldn’t understand how she had made his clothes disappear.
“Elisha…”
Then Blaine, looking embarrassed, covered his chest with both arms.
Even the tips of his ears were red.
“I never knew you were such a bold and aggressive woman.”
“Huh?!”
“But I’m not mentally prepared yet… what should I do?”
“H-Huhhh?!”
Elisha jumped up with her mouth wide open.
Her face was already as red as a ripe tomato.
Blaine even acted shy and pushed his hair back behind his ear with one hand.
“But if Elisha wants it… then just for today, I’ll gladly—”
“Th-That’s impossible! What are you even talking about?!”
Panicking, Elisha hurriedly grabbed the tablecloth next to her.
She didn’t have time to think about anything else.
First, she had to fix this situation.
No matter what, she felt like she couldn’t even talk properly until she covered that very angry-looking chest.
“H-Here, wrap this around yourself! Wrap it first, then we’ll talk…!”
Elisha rushed forward, trying to cover Blaine’s bare upper body even one second faster.
“Uh, Elisha. Wait—”
But her aim was terrible.
Failing to control her speed, Elisha ended up crashing straight into Blaine with her whole body.
Flop.
The two of them tangled together and fell onto the bed.
Elisha hit his hard muscles and let out a low groan with a pained expression.
“Ugh…”
Still hurting, Elisha carefully opened her eyes.
And right in front of her was…
‘Eek!’
Blaine’s solid chest was practically right in front of her nose.
“Y-Young Grand Duke!”
“Stay still.”
When Elisha tried to push herself up in shock, Blaine’s arm wrapped around her.
Without meaning to, she ended up lying on top of him, held tightly in his arms.
Along with his firm warmth, a heavy, masculine scent brushed her nose.
“Just stay like this for a little while, Elisha. I won’t do anything more.”
“Ah…”
Elisha’s heart began pounding like crazy.
She wanted to run, but if she moved, she felt like she would cling to him even more.
With a miserable face, Elisha could only wiggle her fingers slightly.
“I-I’m sorry, Young Grand Duke. I don’t know what happened…”
She apologized in a tiny voice.
“I can’t even use magic, so how did something like this…”
“…You can’t use magic?”
At Elisha’s mumbled words, Blaine’s eyes narrowed.
“That can’t be. You clearly…”
Just as Blaine was about to say something—
“Brother!”
The guest room door suddenly burst open with a bang, and someone ran in.
It was Isaac Lindberg, the youngest of the ducal family.
Just like Felicia said, he had just returned to the ducal estate from his maternal relatives’ home.
“I heard you were here, so—”
But Isaac froze mid-step.
Elisha and Blaine were embracing each other on the bed.
And Blaine wasn’t even wearing a shirt.
“Gyaaaah!”
“…Ugh.”
“Y-Young Grand Duke! Are you okay?!”
Elisha was so shocked that she pressed down hard on Blaine’s chest as she scrambled up.
Blaine groaned from the impact, and Elisha panicked.
“I’m fine.”
Blaine raised a hand to calm her down, then stood up.
His gaze turned toward Isaac.
“Isaac, you should knock before entering someone else’s room.”
“I’m sorry. When I came back home, I remembered you promised you’d go catch stag beetles with me.”
Scolded by his much older brother, Isaac made a pitiful expression.
He looked exactly like an innocent ten-year-old boy.
Seeing that, Blaine couldn’t scold him anymore.
‘Wow…’
Elisha stared with round eyes, looking back and forth between Blaine and Isaac.
Actually seeing the youngest young master of the ducal house, whom she had only heard rumors about, felt strangely amazing.
‘As expected… he really is the ducal house’s treasure, just like people say.’
Isaac was a boy with jet-black hair like ebony and shining golden eyes.
His face still had soft baby-like features, but in high society, he was already known as a calm and polite young boy.
People were already praising him, looking forward to his future.
Blaine also seemed to cherish Isaac deeply.
“I see. You must have been really looking forward to it.”
All the scolding from earlier was gone as Blaine looked at Isaac with a gentle smile.
Standing up, he patted his younger brother’s head.
Of course, he still had no shirt on.
“But I can’t go out like this. I’ll change clothes and come back, so can you wait for me?”
“Yes! Of course!”
Isaac nodded brightly with a wide smile.
The young boy’s face was already red with happiness.
After smiling kindly at his brother, Blaine turned back to Elisha.
“Elisha, I should go now. I have an important promise with Isaac.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Alright, Isaac. Let’s go.”
Blaine tried to take Isaac’s hand and leave together.
But Isaac stopped and looked up at Blaine.
“Um… while you change clothes, can I greet Sister-in-law?”
“Right now?”
Blaine’s eyes narrowed slightly.
But Isaac had already walked over to Elisha.
“I was really curious. I won’t bother you at all, I’ll just say hello. Is that okay? Sister-in-law, is it okay for you too?”
“Huh? M-Me?”
Elisha flinched when Isaac suddenly looked at her.
But she couldn’t bring herself to refuse those sparkling eyes.
“I-I think greeting is… okay.”
“Waaah! Sister-in-law is the best!”
When Elisha nodded, Isaac bounced happily.
Seeing that, Blaine sighed like he couldn’t help it.
“…Alright then. Isaac, you must not bother Elisha. Understand?”
“Of course!”
Blaine looked back several times, then finally left the room.
When the door closed and only the two of them were left, Elisha spoke carefully.
“Um, excuse me…”
“What? You’re supposed to be the woman marrying my brother, but you’re just a total pumpkin.”
“…?”
Huh?
Elisha wondered if she had heard him wrong.
That was such a nasty thing to come out of an angel’s mouth.
When Elisha stared at him blankly, Isaac’s lips curled into a wicked grin.
“You thought you heard wrong just now, didn’t you? Nope. You idiot.”
Isaac stuck his tongue out.
Elisha felt like she’d been hit in the head.
Where did the innocent, angel-like boy from a moment ago go?
Blinking, Elisha finally snapped back to her senses.
“Y-You called me an idiot?! How could you say such rude things to a lady—!”
Elisha protested, but Isaac didn’t look intimidated at all.
“A lady, my foot. You’re just someone who chases after men.”
“I-I don’t chase after—!”
Elisha tried to argue, but her face burned hot.
Isaac was obviously talking about what happened with Blaine just now.
“Oh yeah? Then why is your face so red?”
Isaac giggled wickedly.
Elisha’s anger surged.
“N-No! And more importantly, why are you speaking rudely to an adult…!”
But her voice trailed off halfway.
No matter what, Isaac was a member of the ducal family.
Even if he was much younger than her, Elisha, who had no title, couldn’t scold him freely.
And Isaac seemed to know that very well.
“You’re even more of a mess than I thought.”
Isaac slowly circled around Elisha, scanning her up and down.
Mockery filled his expression.
“Hmph. How did my brother even fall for a woman like you? What did you even do?”
“Th-That’s… ahem…”
Sorry. It’s just because of the potion…
Elisha couldn’t correct the misunderstanding, so she only stared down at her feet.
Growing more confident, Isaac pressed Elisha harder.
“This is the Lindberg Ducal House. A stupid pumpkin like you doesn’t belong here. So you should step back nicely, okay? Before you embarrass yourself.”
Isaac stuck his tongue out again, then slammed the door and left.
Elisha stared at his back with a stunned face.
“…Unbelievable.”
Blaine was only like that because of the potion, but Isaac being this unexpected too…
According to Lila, Isaac was famous in high society for being polite, with an angelic smile.
That was completely wrong.
‘Everyone has been fooled by that innocent face!’
***
“What is something like that doing in our house?”
Isaac left the guest room and quickly walked down the hallway.
The woman Blaine had proposed to had been terrible from the very first impression.
Isaac complained to himself as he walked fast.
“Young Master!”
Just then, a familiar voice called from behind him.
When Isaac turned around, his face brightened right away.
