2. So No Other Man Can Say Such Things

Catherine rushed up to Michael’s mansion almost at a run.

Huff, huff, her chest rose and fell rapidly as she caught her breath, swelling prominently above the deeply cut neckline. The tightly bound waistband felt constricting too.

She lowered her thick hood and roughly knocked on the door while unfastening the buttons of her cloak that covered her up to her neck.

Knock knock, knock knock knock!

‘On the way to our mansion, the carriage overturned. Who would have thought a child would run out there.’

‘Michael? Well… From what I could see, he didn’t have any major injuries, but with the carriage rolling like that, he must have been hurt too. Didn’t the doctor say something about broken ribs?’

‘Catherine? Didn’t you say you were going to a party? Catherine…!’

Broken ribs! My goodness, how painful that must have been!

“Michael, it’s me!”

Catherine felt so shocked that her head was spinning. She had been foolishly feeling hurt that he hadn’t come, not knowing he’d been in an accident.

‘Idiot. Fool. Ugh!’

The lack of response from inside the room made Catherine even more anxious.

Why did these few seconds feel so excruciatingly slow?

Just as her impatient hand reached for the doorknob, she heard footsteps approaching. Then the door swung open abruptly, making her earlier hesitation seem pointless.

“Catherine…?”

At Michael’s voice, thick with confusion, Catherine jerked her head up to look at him. Her voice trembled as she spoke.

“Are you, are you okay? My goodness! I heard you had an accident! They said the carriage flipped over several times? Are you hurt anywhere? Let me see. Are you really alright? Hm?”

In her urgency, she moved close to him without even waiting for his answer.

She firmly grabbed his clothes as he stepped back in surprise, and squinted her eyes to examine his stiffened face.

D*mn it, she’d left her glasses behind and couldn’t see clearly. Her mind was racing with worry.

Catherine’s urgent hands clutched his clothes and pulled him closer to her face.

“Your nose bridge is cut! Are you okay elsewhere?”

She examined his eyes, nose, forehead, cheeks, and chin in detail, but fortunately, apart from his nose bridge, there were no major injuries on his face.

He was standing steadily on both legs, his eyes were looking straight at her, and his breathing didn’t seem painful.

Her chest, which had been swollen with worry, deflated with relief at his seemingly unharmed appearance.

‘Ah, thank goodness. Thank goodness.’

Catherine ran her hand over her chest.

With that movement, the precariously fastened top button of her cloak came undone with a pop. Her full br*asts became visible through the fallen cloak.

“…You.”

Michael, who had been lowering his face at her pull, caught sight of Catherine’s face and the skin visible between her cloak.

His eyes narrowed coldly as they swept over her exposed flesh. Unaware of Michael’s changed expression, Catherine was busy examining him for injuries.

“Hm? What? …Oh, right! Come to think of it, I heard your ribs are broken. Are you okay? Let me see.”

“More than my injuries, you… Why are you dressed like this?”

“My clothes? What about them?”

Belatedly, Catherine followed Michael’s persistently fixed gaze to her chest and opened her eyes wide.

‘Oh my, when did this come undone?’

The revealing outfit that emphasized her full br*asts was now visible through the completely open cloak.

Not only her chest, which had swelled from running, but also her neck, damp with hot sweat, had a few strands of hair sticking to it like the lecherous touch of a man exploring a woman’s bare skin.

Both Michael and Catherine were taken aback by the provocative sight.

And just at that moment, a droplet of sweat slid down between Catherine’s full cleavage.

…Gulp.

Swallowing dry saliva in surprise, Catherine quickly stepped back and closed her cloak.

It had seemed fine in front of her mother and Laura, but strangely, showing it to Michael felt somewhat awkward.

Perhaps it was because of that gaze that made her feel guilty, as if caught doing something wrong behind her parents’ backs.

Catherine smiled awkwardly and took a small step backward.

“Ah, my clothes….. Do they look strange? I just wore what Laura dressed me in….. More importantly, are you really—”

“Where were you going? At this hour?”

Michael cut off Catherine’s words and asked again. Unlike his usual calm demeanor, his voice was somewhat hardened.

“You don’t usually go out at this hour, do you? And you promised to always tell me when you do…..”

“Oh, that….. Yes, because you didn’t come.”

“So?”

“I was just trying to lift my spirits a bit… but…. um.”

…Why was Michael’s expression so cold?

She had forgotten how overprotective he was about her affairs.

He would make a fuss even if she went out briefly on a cold day, so how much would he lecture her if he knew she was planning a suspicious night outing?

Her mistake was forgetting about her attire in her rush to get to him after hearing he was injured.

“Trying to lift your spirits at this hour in that outfit…..”

Hmm.

Michael lowered his head askew while making a sound in his throat.

“Even without your glasses…?”

Being stared at with such a peculiarly cold gaze while he crossed his arms made the hair on the back of Catherine’s neck stand up.

Rationally, she hadn’t done anything wrong, but psychologically, she felt a strange pressure.

As Catherine retreated step by step under Michael’s intimidating presence, she suddenly felt indignant.

‘Wait, I haven’t done anything seriously wrong. I’m clearly an adult, and I didn’t leave without telling my family, so why am I being interrogated with such a look from Michael?’

Michael was always like this.

He subtly tried to control Catherine’s every move. Despite claiming to be busy, he visited at least twice a week to thoroughly check on her condition.

If she so much as coughed or stumbled, she was absolutely forbidden from leaving the mansion. He would stay by her side until her condition met his standards.

It wasn’t as if he was good at conversation and kept her company with chatter either.

Well… not that she hated Michael being that way.

‘Anyway, to glare at someone who rushed over, worried about him.’

Catherine, who had been pouting her lips, decided to counterattack.

“Because someone who was supposed to come didn’t show up, I thought that was your answer. So I was trying to find my own way, exploring my own options.”

“What…?”

“Fortunately, you don’t seem to have any visible injuries. Then, can I hear the answer I was supposed to get today, right here and now, Michael?”

Catherine put strength into her retreating steps and moved forward.

She could see Michael’s face subtly hardening as she got closer. It was somewhat satisfying to see this wooden fellow flustered.

When he rubbed his lips against hers that day, his face hadn’t been this rigid and strict. Where was that completely lustful face that looked as if it would devour her?

Catherine let go of the front of her cloak that she had been holding tightly.

As the cloak loosened, a glimpse of sensual skin was revealed. She could see the tension in Michael’s jaw as he stood rigidly.

Catherine quickly grabbed his clothes to prevent him from backing away and asked again.

“Your answer?”

“……”

“Hm?”

Under his silent gaze looking down at her, Catherine suddenly became conscious.

Had he always been this big?

His shoulders broad enough to cover her entire body, his tall height, and his ample, sturdy physique became particularly noticeable.

The exceptionally thin Catherine seemed so fragile that she might tumble backward if Michael merely pushed her.

Though thinking ‘He wouldn’t push me, would he?’, Catherine tightened her grip on his clothes near his chest.

Her hand occasionally brushed against his skin beneath the clothes she was clutching. Michael’s excessively static appearance resembled a marble sculpture carved by a master’s hand.

‘…Why is he like this?’

Seeing him glaring at her with such a fierce gaze, he seemed angry.

Could it be that Michael hadn’t enjoyed that kiss as much as she had?

With this belated thought, Catherine unconsciously sucked on her dry lips. It was a bad habit that emerged without awareness when she was anxious.

At this, Michael’s previously motionless gaze moved. His piercing, persistent stare fixed on Catherine’s lips.

Oops.

It was something Michael had told her not to do several times because it made her lips chapped.

Just as she flinched, expecting another lecture, Catherine suddenly felt defiant.

‘Is Michael my guardian or what? Why should I be so conscious of him like this?’

She maintained eye contact with Michael and deliberately sucked and licked her lips again.

Michael didn’t take his eyes off Catherine’s lips, which were starting to swell red from saliva and teeth marks.

Then Michael’s eyes narrowed, and his blue eyes turned as dark as the deep sea.

She could see his smooth jaw tensing up as if he was restraining himself from something.

Seeing that expression—lips tightly closed, glaring at her, seemingly trying to suppress himself—Catherine somehow felt all her strength drain away.

‘What am I doing? Clinging to someone who doesn’t have feelings for me…. Well, as long as he’s not hurt, that’s enough.’

She dejectedly muttered to herself and slowly released Michael’s clothes that she had been desperately clutching.

“Never mind, Michael, I just—”

That’s when it happened.

“Alright.”

Michael blurted out in a hoarse, dull voice.

“Hm? What did you just—”

Before she could ask again, Michael grabbed Catherine’s wrist as she was moving away. His grip was as firm as iron shackles.

“I said alright, Catherine.”

Catherine stared at the strong hand holding her and unconsciously raised her gaze toward him.

His upturned lips looked unfamiliar. His eyes were twisted as if he was deliberately being spiteful to her.

“Let’s do what you suggested. I’ll give in to you.”