HMDBUY 26

CHAPTER 26……………………………..

Peredil flinched in shock and hurriedly covered his eyes with both hands.
I couldn’t understand why he was acting so flustered, so I asked,

“What’s wrong? I told you, I wore something underneath.”

At my words, Peredil slowly lowered his hands and peeked through his fingers, squinting at me.
Once he confirmed that I was wearing workout clothes under my dress, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“You shouldn’t talk back to your teacher. You haven’t forgotten why you’re taking this lesson in the first place, have you?”

Realizing that he was doing this as repayment to me, he picked up the clothes with a sulky look, like an office worker trudging off to work on a Monday morning, and headed into the adjoining room connected to his office.

If you’re going to do it anyway, can’t you just do it right away instead of grumbling?

As I was silently complaining about his prickly personality, he soon came back — now wearing loose, comfortable workout clothes.

“Ridiculous,” he muttered.

Contrary to his embarrassed expression, I thought he looked perfect — his flawless face and fit body pulled off the athletic look effortlessly.
But I decided not to tell him that. Complimenting him would just make things awkward.

“All right! Then let’s see how flexible the confident Duke really is!”

“Hmph. Just don’t be disappointed when I finish too quickly.”

His competitive eyes blazed with determination — the kind of look that said he was dead set on doing well and ending this as soon as possible.

“Okay, follow me.”

He stood beside me and nodded.
I slowly bent my body forward until my palms touched the floor.

Then I turned my head slightly to check on Peredil…

As expected.

His hands hovered around his knees — and even that seemed excruciatingly painful for him.

Look at that stiff body. Has he never stretched in his life?

Watching him hold that awkward, wooden-puppet-like pose with a serious face as if he were facing a final boss made me burst out laughing.

“Pffthaha—ahahahaha!”

Seeing me rolling on the floor, he looked even more humiliated than when he’d first put on the workout clothes.

“Will you stop laughing?”

I tried to stop out of pity, but the laughter wouldn’t die down.

“Hahaha! The street trees on Coventin Street are more flexible than you, Duke!”

“W-well… muscles tend to make you a little stiff, that’s all.”

“Sure, sure. Then shall we try another move?”

Feeling slightly guilty for laughing too much, I picked a simpler stretching pose.

To his credit, he didn’t slack off and followed my instructions earnestly.

“Good! That’s much better than before.”

Still, it wouldn’t do to just finish the lesson — my real goal was to seduce this man, after all.

“Now, stand on one leg and grab your other foot with one hand.”

I deliberately chose a pose that required balance.
I’d used this move once during the emperor’s birthday banquet — if I added a shy little act this time, he’d never suspect I was doing it on purpose.

While balancing on one leg, I pretended to lose my balance, tilting toward him.

“Oh… oh…?”

Pretending to struggle, I leaned closer and closer to him — and just as planned, his large hands caught me by the waist to steady me.

Our faces were only a centimeter apart — close enough that a single movement could have brought our lips together. But it was still too soon for that.

My hands, pressed against his chest, could feel the firm strength beneath.

He wasn’t lying about having a lot of muscle — solid as a rock… ah, no! Focus, I need to act!

I widened my eyes in feigned surprise and looked up at him.

A long silence followed.

I opened my eyes like a startled rabbit, blinking slowly — then sent him a deep, smoldering gaze, deliberately trying to captivate him.

He didn’t look away, nor did he move back.
We just stood there, frozen, staring into each other’s eyes like time itself had stopped.

“Oh my! I’m so sorry!”

After a sufficient pause, I pretended to suddenly realize the situation and pulled away hastily.

“I-it’s fine.”

His formal tone had returned — he must have been really flustered.

Being close like that worked well — the forced skinship added tension.
Now, what should I try next?

Excited by the thought of new tactics, I moved the lesson along.

“All right, let’s wrap up stretching here. From now on, we’ll start with the basic training.”

Unlike my world, Coventin didn’t have modern technology like microphones — which meant an actor’s voice projection and pronunciation were crucial.

Since my ultimate goal was to get Peredil on stage, I needed to train him until he could handle that.

I decided we should focus on breathing, vocal projection, and articulation — enough for his voice to reach even the farthest audience member without a mic.

“Would you try reading this short passage?”

“Isn’t acting just reading lines? This is the speech the emperor gave after our victory against the Astel Empire.”

“You recognized it right away.”

“Of course. I wrote it myself.”

He could have had one of his subordinates write it, but Peredil always penned his speeches personally. Even his father had praised his writing skills.

“Instead of a script, we’ll use something you’re familiar with to practice speaking. You can handle that, right?”

I was curious — his speech delivery had never been described before.

“We endured a cold season — not only in body, but in heart. Yet, just as the snow melts away, the warmth of our warriors has thawed Coventin once again. Now spring has come. Coventin’s spring shall last forever. We will protect the peace our people deserve.”

Standing tall and dignified, he delivered the speech flawlessly.

Especially his eyes — when he focused, that gaze of his completely captivated me.

“Honestly, I’m amazed. You did far better than I expected.”

That praise was completely sincere.

Perhaps it was the blood of his father — known as the ‘God of Speech’ — running through him. If so, it wasn’t surprising he had the talent to stand on a stage himself.