CH 7.8

“I think you should go home for now, your cheeks are still red.”

Lila said, searching Jessie’s face with a sympathetic expression. At her words, Jessie’s face, which had been red on one cheek, burned like it was on fire all over.

“Well… It’s even redder now, maybe I should put more medicine on it…”

“I’m sorry! Well, let’s put them back then.”

She laughed at Jessie as she scrambled away with her belongings in her arms, then Lila stood up.

“I’ll have to get permission from the Duke right away, so they won’t do anything else.”

Leaving the room quickly, Lila headed for the second floor, where the office was located.

A thought occurred to her, and she gritted her teeth and muttered.

“How dare they steal the young master’s treats? That’s unforgivable. The young master loves dessert, and they’re taking it away from him?”

Huffing and puffing, Lila reached the office. Connor spotted her at the door and frowned.

“Put in a word for the Duke that I’m here.”

“You shouldn’t come carelessly like this during work.”

Connor told her with a frustrated look. He flicked his hand as if to shoo away an insect.

Lila twisted her lips as she watched Connor’s increasingly rude demeanor. The more she looked at him, the more he was an asshole.

“Are you saying no on behalf of the Duke? It’s almost as if you’re the Duke.”

Instead of being surprised by her words, Connor smirked and whispered in a low voice.

“I’m better than that ugly duke. And if I were the duke, I wouldn’t have the likes of you for a wife.”

Lila’s expression hardened at the unexpectedly condescending remark. Misreading her expression as one of fear, Connor let his guard down.

“Stay in your room and drink your tea with dignity, my lady.”

Connor, who had never called her my lady before, leaned in close to call her.

“So when I’m saying nice things, go away. My lady.”

Lila’s hands shook with the insult that washed over her. She was sick to death. The look of disgust and mockery on Connor’s face made her feel nauseous.

Her brief moment of happiness seemed to fade to black. Unable to speak, she pulled her foot back and felt a hand grab her.

“Where are you going?”

Michael asked, grabbing her around the waist. Lila tried to smile, forcing her expression to relax.

Michael’s appearance startled Connor for a moment, but he deftly wiped the expression off his face and responded.

“Young master, what can I do for you?”

“You do what you want.”

“What?”

Michael grabbed Lila’s hand hard and yanked the door to his office open.

“Uncle!”

Lila tried to keep a straight face as she was pulled into the office by the boy’s hand.

Turning to Connor, who was staring at her in disbelief from the doorway, Michael said.

“You go and get the tea and refreshments. If you don’t bring it quickly, I’m going to throw you out.”

A pair of uncharacteristically cold eyes glared at him. Connor was embarrassed, but he bowed his head respectfully, knowing he was being watched.

“Yes, my lord, I understand.”

Bang-!

Michael slammed the door shut. Lucas jumped to his feet and approached.

“Michael, what kind of behavior is this?”

Owen, who was with him, also looked at Michael with a surprised expression. Holding the basket in one hand and Lila’s hand tightly in the other, Michael turned to Lucas.

“Uncle, what would you do with someone who disrespected my people?”

Lucas’s eyes sank low at the sight of his nephew who seems so different from his usual self.

“Sit down first, young master, and give me that.”

It was too large a basket for a child to hold. He glared at Lila as she reached for it.

“Like an idiot, you…”

“What?”

Looking up at Lila, who hadn’t heard him because he was mumbling, Michael let go of her hand and walked toward the couch with a loud thump.

Sitting down on the couch first, Michael turned toward her and said.

“What are you doing, can’t you come over?”

“What? I’ll go.”

Lila, who had been standing there dumbfounded, quickly walked over and sat down next to him. Lucas narrowed his eyes, studying his nephew’s expression, then sat down across from him.

Owen sat in his seat and watched them for a moment, and since he hadn’t been ordered to leave, he picked up the papers he’d set down.

“So, young master, what’s that?”

Lila asked, pointing to the basket on the table.

“I picked it up on the way here. You can have it.”

Michael blushed and looked away. Lila laughed at the same tone as last time.

“It’s mine?”

“I picked it up. It’s not a gift for you at all, okay.”

Lila was pleased. Her tone was chilly, but it was easy to tell by the way she blushed all the way to her ears that she didn’t mean it.

Lucas was stunned by his nephew’s behavior. He knew his nephew liked Lila, but he hadn’t expected him to like her this much.

And somehow, he didn’t like it.

Lucas’s head tilted to the side as he looked at the delighted Lila and the blushing nephew sitting across from him.

“Can I open it, then?”

“Why would you ask? I gave it to you, so it’s yours.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Opening the basket with a smirk, Lila rubbed her eyes with her fingers, wondering if she was seeing things.

The basket, which looked like it should have contained sandwiches and fruit, was filled with gleaming gemstones.

They weren’t just any gemstones, they were enormous, and her eyes widened.

“This, this…”

Lila’s lips curled in surprise, and Michael, who had turned his head in the opposite direction, snapped it back into place.

“What, you don’t like it?”

Michael asked, looking as if he could replace it with something else if she didn’t like it.

Lila shook her head quickly.

“No… It’s too beautiful.”

Lucas wondered what the heck was in the basket, but his interest quickly faded as Lila pulled out the gemstones one by one. Then she blurted out.

“What if I just give you a rough stone as a gift?”

“I’d like them, Duke!”

“You say you like ugly things.”

Lucas raised one eyebrow as he watched Lila examine the gem, smiling brightly. He felt a pang of sadness that she was so pleased with the gemstone.

On the other hand, he was glad that the stern expression on her face when she entered his office seemed to have brightened.

Lila exclaimed as she pulled out an amethyst, a diamond, a blue sapphire, a ruby, an emerald, and an opal.

Just then, Connor, who had brought tea and refreshments, entered the office, and Lucas looked him up and down, noticing Lila and Michael’s expressions change as he entered.

“It’s a new dessert the pastry chef has developed. It’s called dacquoise, and it’s made with cheese and blueberries, strawberries, and cranberries mixed with cream.”

With that explanation, Connor set down the tea and dessert, bowed politely to the Duke, and left the office.

It was a fleeting moment, but Lucas’s mouth twisted at the sneer on Connor’s face.

He looked from Michael, who seemed to be holding back his anger, to Lila, whose face was contorted in frustration.