Chapter 1 – Part 11

‘The pistol.’

The duke’s hand slid up her ankle-length dress, his fingers skimming over her skirt with more ease than when she stood against the wall. The non-consensual touch was still unpleasant and humiliating.

But strangely, his gesture was not tinged with vulgarity.

He ran his hands down both thighs and around her waist, searching for something. His gestures never touched or grabbed at her sensitive areas.

For some reason, the behavior was not much different from that of the maids who searched her when she first entered the ducal residence. It’s an indifferent hand, not attentive, but dutifully doing its job like a machine.

Could it be that he’s looking for something?

Perhaps something he witnessed when the maid conducted a body search on him when he first entered the mansion?

‘A pistol.’

The word that had crossed her mind earlier now resurfaced more clearly. The weapon she had inadvertently pulled out after witnessing the Duke emerge from the forest lake. Even as she stood and watched him swim away, Liese clutched the gun in her arms.

Now, she could finally understand the origin of this bizarre situation.

‘He saw me in the forest.’

Marcus doesn’t know when he realized she was there—maybe when he stepped onto the lake shore, or maybe after he jumped into the water.

What is certain is that Liese’s attention was drawn to the Duke, who was gliding through the water with no cover and a ragged pouch with the barrel of a gun sticking out of it.

‘Yes…. He saw a gun, to be precise.’

Marcus couldn’t help but notice Liese’s subsequent scurrying away. It wasn’t clear whether she meant him harm or not.

But when he saw her reappear at the manor today, he may have had his suspicions. She was the granddaughter of a viscount who claimed to be a maid, and she might have been going undercover to assassinate him.

The thought process finally led to an obvious answer.

‘But even so…’

A woman born with a body left untouched by others found it unsettling to be groped by a man. The posture, like that of an animal cowering, was humiliating. Despite Liese’s legs trembling, she decided to stop the meaningless thoughts.

As long as the misunderstanding was cleared, he would not humiliate Liese further, as long as no forced violence followed. She could endure it.

She hoped her speculation was correct, as she had no strength left after resisting with all her might.

Liese’s squirming body went limp, and she took a deep breath. Marcus, who had gripped her wrists so tightly that her knuckles were red, immediately noticed her change in demeanor.

“You acted so upright until now.”

He said this, clicking his tongue.

“It seems you need to see something dirty to get your act together.”

As the resistance ceased, surprisingly, his touch became much gentler. Liese prayed for this hellish time to end quickly.

“It happened during my overseas deployment.”

“…”

“There was this subordinate of mine who brought a woman into my barracks without permission. She was a wandering musician who sang and laughed for money, and I allowed him to put her in without permission, thinking she would satisfy my tastes.”

Marcus, who had released her wrists, mechanically swept his hand over the side of Liese’s chest. She had to bear with it, given the situation.

“It turned out she was a woman who had lost her husband on the front lines we swept through. He was shot by a blond commander’s bullet and died on the spot. It hit right between the eyes, and her body, with open eyes, was returned to her family.”

Liese’s legs trembled from strong embarrassment. Marcus’s hand, which had been roaming under her dress, finally slipped out. Marcus grabbed Liese’s forearm, pulled her up, and made her face him.

“She probably sought revenge. The moment she saw me in the barracks, she couldn’t control her expression properly, but when she pretended to take off her dress, she smoothly took out a gun.”

At a distance close enough for their breaths to touch, the Duke looked down at Liese, his mouth slightly raised.

“If it had been a man who just wanted to see any lady in a skirt, he would have died on the spot.”

There was a ferocious madness in his beautiful eyes. Liese turned her face away with a stiff expression.

“That woman had been aiming at me from the beginning when she entered the army as a maid. She sang and laughed in front of dirty soldiers for a long time.”

Marcus, holding Liese’s chin, forced her to meet his gaze. His voice was calm, as if he were narrating someone else’s story.

“It’s not surprising that someone harbors resentment against me. The status of a war hero eventually goes to the one who takes the most lives, after all.”

Liese, with a stiff posture, alternated her gaze between Marcus’s eyes. His golden hair was tousled by the wind that entered through the open window.

“…I didn’t apply for a job as a maid to assassinate the Duke.”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

“I completed the body search at the entrance of the annex. I have no weapons with me.”

“But you didn’t do it even when I was n*ked.”

“Were you looking for a gun?”

“Yes. I confirmed that it’s not there.”

Marcus released his grip on Liese’s chin. He then sat back in the chair in front of the desk, taking out a new cigarette from the case. While he lit it, Liese quickly adjusted her disheveled clothes.

Due to the unspoken shame, her hands were still shaking, and her breathing was still labored. The impulse to turn around and slap the Duke’s cheek was incredibly strong.

‘Think about your position.’

She reminded herself, taking a deep breath. There was nothing else Liese could do. She had to suppress her emotions and turn around to face Marcus.

“There are still unresolved suspicions.”

“…”

“Now tell me.”

With a snap, Marcus lit the end of the cigarette and looked at Liese.

“What led the woman who spied on me with a pistol in the woods to strut into my mansion?”

“I have already explained my situation.”

“I am giving you a chance to speak honestly. Did some lunatic hire you to assassinate me?”

“No one. I would do nothing unethical or anything that threatens the safety of my family. I have never lied to the Duke, that much I can assure you.”

Marcus turned his head at an angle, his gaze fixed on Liese, and blew out a puff of smoke. Liese continued.

“I was at that lake before the Duke came. I didn’t know who was coming, so I hid in a panic. It was a complete coincidence. If I’d known it was the Duke I’d run into that day, I wouldn’t have even considered coming here to work in the first place. Never.”

“So you’re saying that the reason you posed as a maid was really just to make a few money.”

Marcus frowned.

“What level of poverty does it take to push a lady from a noble family to make a decision like that? ”

He didn’t seem to be asking for an answer, so Liese remained silent.

“The gun.”

“It’s a tool for self-defense given to me by my grandfather.”

“Why did you draw it when you saw me?”

Liese, who had been answering without interruption, paused. Marcus glared at her, trying to take another drag from the cigarette he had stuck in his fingers.

“Answer me.”

“I-I was surprised…”

As if trying to understand the truth, Marcus scrutinized her intensely. Liese quickly blinked her lowered eyes.

“It’s true. It was the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that, so… I didn’t know I’d… react like that.”

“You’re surprised because it’s the first time you’ve ever seen a n*ked male body?”
Her shoulders shook at the question from an area he had no immunity to.

That, and the fact that the Duke was so, so….

The words were on the tip of her tongue. A blush rose to her cheeks against her will.

Watching her like that, Marcus smirked.

“For someone surprised, you seemed to be enjoying it in detail.”

“…That wasn’t my intention. I’m truly sorry.”

“Believe me, it saves me the trouble of throwing you in jail for attempted murder.”

“I’m relieved the misunderstanding has been cleared up.”

“Then the reason you were watching me so closely was because of my body.”

Now her entire face, even her ears, turned hot. Liese felt like she wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

It wasn’t exactly his body. She’d watched the Duke with fascination because he looked so picturesque as he swam in the green and blue lake.

She didn’t say anything back, thinking that it was better to be misunderstood than to give away her feelings. But….

“But you seemed quite casual, swimming towards me, even though you knew I was watching.”