Chapter 4

Charlotte thought Chris was deliberately refusing to move aside even after seeing a lady make such an embarrassing spectacle of herself, all to humiliate her.

But when she raised her head and met his eyes, they were terribly blank.

His pitch-black eyes went beyond merely showing no thoughts at all; it was as if his whole train of thought had been burned away.

So much so that every argument felt meaningless.

Charlotte straightened her crouched legs and primly gave her refusal.

“It’s all right. I have money. You don’t need to buy me anything.”

She thought she had expressed herself clearly enough in her own way, but Chris did not back down.

Rather, he shamelessly turned it back on her.

“Why? Do I look like I don’t even have money to buy food?”

“No, that’s not what I….”

“Then let’s eat together. I’m hungry too. Because my meal got delayed helping someone whose bag was being pickpocketed.”

Charlotte was left speechless.

To think he would corner her like this.

With all escape routes blocked, she merely rolled her eyes around before reluctantly accepting.

“All right. Let’s eat together. Just this once.”

“Fine then, Miss Mary Robinson.”

At Chris’s leisurely reply, a faint crease formed between Charlotte’s brows.

She felt thoroughly uncomfortable, as though she had been swept up by the man.

On the other hand, a triumphant smile settled around Chris’s mouth, having finally gotten Charlotte’s permission.

It was such a faint smile that one would not notice it unless looking very closely.

Charlotte was about to move her stiff feet when a crackling announcement caught her ears.

[This passenger ship will shortly make a temporary stop at Biorettia Port.]

“Biorettia?”

At the unfamiliar place name, Charlotte’s mind grew complicated.

It was the first time she had heard anything about stopping at such a port.

Chris, who had been staring at her quietly, answered her question.

“Didn’t you hear this morning? They said the ship needed inspection, so it’d make a temporary stop at the nearest port city.”

Charlotte tilted her head as she searched her memory.

She had been so busy avoiding Chris all morning that she did not even remember hearing any announcement at all.

“I didn’t hear it. How long are we staying docked?”

“About a day? They said we could look around Biorettia during that time.”

“Ah….”

Charlotte’s gaze turned toward the bow.

Judging by the village packed with buildings topped by pure white dome-shaped roofs visible nearby, they seemed likely to reach the port in ten minutes.

Chris followed the white buildings reflected in Charlotte’s blue eyes and casually said,

“We’ll eat at the port.”

“What?”

“Don’t you want to go see the town?”

“I do, but…, why are you deciding that on your own?”

Her muttering full of dissatisfaction brushed against Chris’s ears.

Her voice itself was clear and pleasant to hear, but her tone was full of grievance.

“If you don’t want to, we can eat here. I won’t stop you if you’d rather eat a foul-smelling steak made from meat that’s been sitting for days by a poor cook, with a restaurant right in front of you where a proper chef cooks with fresh ingredients.”

“You talk like you’ve actually tried it.”

“I didn’t eat it, but I heard someone complain about it. To be precise, I heard someone cursing and demanding they bring out the cook halfway through eating the steak.”

“The one I order might taste good.”

“Then go and order it. I told you, I won’t stop you.”

Charlotte once again sensed that she had gotten herself caught in a fight she could not win.

Contrary to appearances, this man with his sharp tongue had a talent for making people feel unpleasant the longer he spoke.

It was even more irritating because he was right.

It was common sense that food ordered on a passenger ship like this was usually dreadful.

Charlotte felt embarrassed by herself for being stubborn like a child, and yet, strangely enough, she did not want to lose.

She was not usually like this, and Charlotte’s heart stirred uneasily as she discovered this unfamiliar side of herself.

“More stubborn than I expected.”

“…What?”

She was already distressed enough as it was.

When Chris poked at her again, her irritation flared up at once.

Trying her best to maintain the dignity of a lady, Charlotte calmly shot back,

“You’re more mischievous than I expected.”

It was her own carefully considered attempt at a decisive counterattack, but true to her naturally gentle temperament, it was soft to a fault.

With a relaxed expression, Chris shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and answered at leisure.

“‘You’? Calling me ‘you’ when you know my name, are you doing that on purpose?”

Charlotte’s small mouth fell open in disbelief.

She had not expected him to be embarrassed and correct his attitude, but to think he would seize on her wording.

“I’ll correct that. You’re the most mischievous man I’ve seen in my life.”

“What a shame.”

For a moment, Charlotte was speechless and simply glared at him.

To say that so shamelessly with a face that did not look sorry in the slightest.

Bwaaaaang!

At that moment, a loud horn blared, announcing that the ship was nearing the dock.

At the same time, the floor gave a light shake.

Unlike the man whose balance was perfect even with his hands in his pockets, Charlotte’s slender body could not endure even that tiny vibration, and she swayed to one side.

“Ah?!”

Charlotte flailed both arms, searching for something to grab.

But the only thing she could see to hold onto was Chris’s thick forearm.

Chris leisurely watched Charlotte scurrying about, then, just before she could fall, casually wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Eek!”

Her clear, fair face was buried straight into his broad chest.

Because of his shabby clothing, she had expected a strong smell of sweat, but Chris’s body was deeply infused with the scent of expensive perfume oil.

‘He said I smelled like flowers, but isn’t this the smell coming from him? Though it’s more of a musk scent than a floral one.’

But more surprising than the smell was his body, hard as rock, without a single soft place.

As though proving he was a soldier who had survived the Second War, his body itself was no different from a weapon.

With such a body wrapped around a woman like handcuffs, there was no way she could break free.

When Charlotte wriggled slightly, Chris’s broad hand came up and cradled the back of her head.

“Stay like this. I’ll let go when the ship has docked.”

“…Thank you.”

Because her lips were crushed against his chest muscles, her pronunciation came out muffled.

Even though Chris plainly knew that, he teasingly asked,

“I can’t tell what you’re saying?”

“I said thank you!”

“If you’re grateful, then come eat with me after we get off.”

At Chris’s fixation on the meal, Charlotte clenched both fists tightly.

Keeping her lips as far from his chest as possible, she answered clearly,

“You’re really strange.”

“And how did you forget my name again?”

“Ah, honestly!”

Chris let out a short laugh as if teasing Charlotte.

Naturally, that smile made Charlotte’s temper surge upward.

“Let’s go eat. It looks like people are getting off.”

Chris released the Charlotte who was trembling in anger, then strode ahead without even looking back.

As if he thought Charlotte would of course follow behind him.

But when he heard nothing from behind, his pace began slowing by just a little.

Charlotte blankly watched him growing farther away and brushed back her disheveled hair.

Ever since meeting that man yesterday, she had not been able to think straight at all.

Grrrrrrk-.

“Haah, I’m starving.”

Tap tap tap, the busy sound of shoes came from behind his head.

His feet, which had been moving steadily forward, stopped abruptly as if caught on a reef.

Soon, he could feel the woman’s breathing right behind him.

Without even turning his head, he leisurely asked,

“Anything you want to eat?”