Chapter 23
Lies? I flinched for a moment—after all, I hadn’t lied to the man in front of me just once or twice.
I frantically tried to figure out what lie he thought I had told.
“‘My elder brother wishes for me to find a lifelong partner and start a family, but I am not ready for that yet.’ That’s what Miss Christener said yesterday.”
Oh, right. That’s what I said. Wow, he remembered it word for word. That’s… scary.
But why does he think that was a lie? That was completely sincere.
When I shot him a confused look, Rixion Luhanes raised one eyebrow and expressed his dissatisfaction again.
“But contrary to your words, you’ve been spending a lot of time with that priest Jade.”
Huh? What? Why is Jade being mentioned here?
I stared at him with a baffled expression, then realized with a sinking feeling—
He’s viewing my relationship with Jade that way?
Immediately, I shouted, full of irritation:
“Jade is just a friend!”
“That doesn’t seem to be the case at all from my perspective.”
Huh?
But he was clearly misunderstanding things. I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even respond.
Trying to correct this ridiculous misunderstanding, I opened my mouth again.
“Jade is just a friend I’ve known since childhood. There’s nothing romantic between us, at all.”
“Then… does that mean I shouldn’t have ‘that intention’ either?”
A string of question marks popped up in my mind. I couldn’t understand what he was talking about, and it was frustrating.
“I also want to be close with Miss Christener.”
Weird. Why is he suddenly being so stubborn? Last time, he understood me perfectly.
I looked at him, exposing my bewilderment, while Rixion Luhanes calmly met my gaze with an almost shameless expression.
“But still, it’s not allowed.”
Of course, I wasn’t going to back down easily either. While he might be casually teasing, this was a matter of life and death for me.
After all, with the Red Rat incident recently, there were already enough things weighing on me. I had no desire to rebuild intimacy with the original male lead so soon.
Soon enough, the original female lead would appear, so there was no need to stir up unnecessary trouble in the meantime.
“This is discrimination.”
Unlike his shameless attitude earlier, this time he reacted differently.
Rixion Luhanes uncrossed his arms and drooped the corners of his eyes, wearing a sulky expression. It was oddly endearing, though it shouldn’t have been.
“No, it doesn’t even make sense to put Jade and Your Grace the Duke on the same level.”
I tried to soften my tone slightly and persuade him. Rixion Luhanes raised an eyebrow again, making a “Hmm” sound as before.
“Why? Why is that?”
“I thought it might be okay to announce a little earlier about the holy water.”
Surprisingly, he sounded genuinely thoughtful.
This guy had figured out I was avoiding it and was using that as leverage. Who wouldn’t recognize his cleverness?
I stared at him in shock, narrowing my eyes.
“Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not. How could I dare, Miss…”
His denial came with a smiling face, which ironically made it even less believable.
I was both irritated and amused at how he could even act like this over such a trivial matter. I silently glared at Rixion Luhanes.
Sigh…
Then, for some reason, I felt oddly fascinated and relaxed my gaze.
Just yesterday, I never imagined I could glare at this man like this.
It really was a strange twist of fate. The line “There must be a reason for your behavior” popped into my head. Indeed, I was genuinely curious why he was acting like this, even going so far as to contradict his previous words. Surely he wasn’t just doing this because he wanted to be close to me.
“What exactly do you want me to do?”
After a short sigh, I asked in a drained voice. He turned away as if pretending not to know, but his eyes rolled to meet mine.
Even that subtle gesture, cinematic as it was, made me even more frustrated.
Whether I was annoyed or not, he seemed pleased that the situation was tilting in his favor.
Rixion Luhanes, wearing the same bright smile as when we first met in the parlor, said:
“First… could you give me some of your time today, Miss?”
The carriage ride was incredibly smooth, barely feeling any bumps. Perhaps the roads in the capital were well-maintained, but the carriage itself was of excellent quality.
It even seemed more comfortable than the carriage my brother Michael had provided me. Resting my arms on my lap and looking out the window, I felt no discomfort.
I fixed my gaze outside to hide my sour expression and clicked my tongue in annoyance, thinking about the man sitting elegantly across from me.
It turned out Rixion Luhanes’ invitation for a “date” was actually to invite me to his residence.
More specifically, he wanted me to meet the children I had saved, along with himself.
“Why couldn’t he have just said that from the start? Why make things so confusing?”
I was told the children had regained consciousness and returned to normal life since last evening—cleaned, dressed in new clothes, and eating well in a warm room.
The children were grateful to Rixion Luhanes, even though his noble presence made them tremble and avoid eye contact. They had only one request: they wanted to see me again—the one who had protected them when they had no way to act during the incident in the restricted area.
So Rixion Luhanes came to check on me and arrange a meeting with the children.
If the children were ordinary, he might have brought them here sooner, but given the circumstances, he planned to quietly bring me to them.
“Ah, why didn’t he just say that from the start?”
His cryptic words had made me overreact and respond sensitively. Had he just said it was for the children, I would have agreed immediately. I couldn’t understand why he brought up Jade and claimed he wanted to be closer to me.
So now, I was silently protesting with my whole body, though he seemed completely unfazed.
As I glanced sideways, Rixion Luhanes calmly stared out the window, smiling faintly as if I didn’t exist.
Not that I wanted him to pay attention to me!
Still, my protest went unnoticed, which annoyed me further. I rolled my eyes and looked out the window again.
The Christener estate and Luhanes estate were not far from the royal palace, making the two residences quite close.
As the Luhanes estate came into view, I forced a neutral expression. While I was displeased with him, I also wanted to personally check on the children I had saved. I decided to forgive this situation for now.
It might be best to avoid Rixion Luhanes and the children as much as possible, but I wanted to see if the children I had risked everything for were doing well.
Soon, the carriage stopped in front of the Luhanes estate. I ignored Rixion Luhanes’ hand and jumped out by myself.
He didn’t flinch and politely guided me inside with a composed, courteous demeanor.
We walked through the spacious garden into the mansion. The overall size was similar to the Christener estate, but the atmosphere was completely different, making it interesting to look around.
While the Christener family favored a modern, elegant feel, the Luhanes family exuded a heavier, more classical aura.
“I’ll handle everything, no one needs to follow. Don’t even bring tea.”
Rixion Luhanes dismissed the butlers and servants who had followed us. The staff, glancing at me awkwardly, quietly obeyed their master’s orders.
“I apologize for not being able to treat you specially. I want to eliminate any potential risks.”
He spoke apologetically as we walked toward the farthest room on the south side of the mansion, where the children were staying.
