2.1 – A Reversed Game of Hide-and-Seek in Love

The scorching sunlight crept through the window, casting its rays under his eyes. Lucius, hugging his pillow, furrowed his brows as he slept peacefully.  

“Mm.”  

His eyelids fluttered slightly, as though he might wake up at any moment. But before opening his eyes, Lucius instinctively reached out with his palm to the space on his right, where Clara should have been lying.  

‘Did I push her until dawn?’  

Exhausted to the point where no more seed would come out, Lucius had fallen asleep with Clara in his arms. It had been the most satisfying encounter of his life. Because of that, he was already thinking of rolling around with her again as soon as he woke up.  

How would her body feel after a day of rest?  

Just imagining it made his lower half twitch in response.  

But instead of Clara’s soft body, all his hand touched was the plush fabric of the blanket.  

“Belle…?”  

He called her name cautiously, but there was no response. Only after realizing that the space beside him was completely empty did Lucius open his heavy eyelids.  

He lifted his head slightly, scanning the room. But Clara was nowhere to be seen.  

Could she have run away?  

No, that couldn’t be. There’s no way she would leave after spending the night she had longed for so desperately. And considering how much she had enjoyed herself beneath me all night long…  

“Clara Belle!”  

He called her name louder this time, but the only sound echoing through the large room was his own voice. Lucius turned over with a look of disbelief.  

‘She ran away. Clara Belle ran away.’  

Despite having shared such a passionate night in this very bed, Clara had long since fled. Since he had torn her dress to shreds, she wouldn’t have had much to wear when she left. 

What could she have possibly put on to leave this room? 

He dreaded even imagining it.  

‘Surely, she didn’t leave the mansion n*ked.’  

The thought of her walking out, unable to cover her large chest, and possibly being caught by someone, sent a chill down his spine. Lucius sat upright in bed, his sleep completely gone. His entire body ached, and his head throbbed.  

And the first thing he felt was an unbearable hunger.  

How much seed had I spilled throughout the night to feel this kind of hunger? 

Judging by the scent that permeated the room, it was understandable.  

Having rampaged like a beast all night, it was no wonder his stomach was growling.  

Though he wanted to shove anything into his mouth to quell the hunger, finding Clara took precedence.  

“She kept trying to escape even while I was holding her, and now she’s vanished completely from my sight.”  

At first, he found it absurd, but for some reason, anger began to boil. Perhaps it was the rage of being abandoned.  

Thoughts of Clara filled his mind, pushing aside even his hunger.  

Lucius clicked his tongue and casually wrapped a cloth around his lower half. Then, he grabbed the bell on the bedside table and rang it a few times.  

Before the sound of the bell rang out three times, there was a knock at the door, and a servant entered his room.  

“Master, did you call for me?”  

“Have you seen the woman who left my room?”  

Instead of mentioning Clara directly, he naturally referred to the ever-changing women who frequented his room. The servant tilted his head slightly, then shook it.  

“I haven’t seen any woman.”  

“Not even someone leaving n*ked in the early morning?”  

“n*ked, you say?”  

Lucius waved his hand dismissively before the servant could inquire further. Despite his questioning, the servant seemed to have no clue whom he was referring to.  

It appeared Clara had managed to slip away unnoticed by anyone.  

“Never mind. Just bring me some clothes.”  

“Yes, Master.”  

At his command, the servant promptly left the room. Lucius also got up to wash himself. He couldn’t visit the Earl’s residence looking like this.  

“What a world we live in.”  

He muttered as he brushed back his disheveled bangs. He had thought he would never set foot near the Earl’s household again, yet here he was, about to visit because of one woman.  

“No, calling Clara just a woman doesn’t feel right.”  

Lucius stopped himself mid-sentence. If not for what happened last night, Clara could have remained his adorable youngest sibling figure forever.  

Even though he disliked the Earl’s household, Clara had always seemed endearing to him, even to his picky eyes. But now, there was no going back to the days when they could laugh together over childhood memories.  

His words about never seeing her again had merely been an attempt to intimidate her. He had thought she was treating sleeping together as just a light thing. He hadn’t expected her to take things so seriously as to throw herself at him.  

“I’ll have to meet her and talk it out. See what she plans to do next. No matter how much of an accident it was, she has to take responsibility.”  

If it had been any other woman, this wouldn’t even be a consideration.  

But because it was Clara, it was possible.  

“Yes, I’ll do as she wishes. That’s the right thing to do.”  

Even if that meant marriage.  

Marriage.  

The thought of that word made a faint sigh escape Lucius’ lips.  

***

“Is she refusing to meet me?”

This, he hadn’t anticipated.

He had thought she would come running out and grab him by the collar, shaking him in anger. But instead, the Countess, who greeted him in Clara’s place, informed him that Clara was refusing to see him.

The Countess observed Lucius, who, taken aback, could only sip his tea. Her daughter, who had claimed she would spend the night at the Baron’s residence with Liz, had returned at dawn, locking herself in her room and refusing to come out. And now, Baron Lucius had appeared early in the morning. This was no ordinary situation.

‘Could it be that something happened between Clara and Baron Lucius?’

But the Countess quickly shook her head, dismissing the thought. What was she even imagining? This was Lucius they were talking about.

No matter how much of a philanderer he was, he wouldn’t harbor such intentions toward Clara. Besides, he detested their Earldom family. Not only the Earl’s rigid family traditions but also the fact that he believed his parents’ deaths were somehow connected to them.

“I believe she had a big fight with Liz. After coming home at dawn, she locked herself in her room and hasn’t come out since.”

“…”

Was the shock too much for her?

It wasn’t right. From the beginning, Clara was the one who fed him the herb enhancing s*xual desire and then attacked him. 

So why was she the one in shock, avoiding me? Was it because it was her first time?

“Did something happen between the two of you Baron?”  

At the Countess’s words, the hand holding Lucius’s teacup trembled slightly. However, he calmly placed it down and gave a faint smile.  

“Well, what could possibly happen between us?”  

“I heard you rejected her proposal not long ago. I thought it might have been a good match…”  

At those words, Lucius abruptly stood up. If he had to hear such talk, it should have been from Clara herself. A good match, she said. He never expected the Countess to say such a thing to him.  

“Could you entrust your daughter to a scoundrel like me?”  

“Baron Lucius.”  

“I’ll visit again. Please send my regards to Clara.”  

Leaving those words behind, Lucius hurriedly left the room. The expression on her face, which he caught a glimpse of, seemed quite dark. For a moment, her image overlapped with Clara’s, and he almost turned back. Despite the wrinkles on her face, the Countess bore a striking resemblance to Clara.  

Well, in her youth, she was quite a beauty.  

Lucius still couldn’t forget the image of her warmly embracing him during the days when the Barony and his family had close relations with them. However, after the Baron and Baroness tragically passed away during a joint business venture, the blame fell on the Earldom, and personal ties between Lucius and the Earl’s family were severed.

“Anyway, Clara Belle. You’re not planning to avoid me forever, are you?”  

What on earth could be going through her mind?

He had thought that if he visited a few more times, she would eventually show her face. That was the naive assumption Lucius had made at the time.

Little did he know that he would never see Clara’s face again after that day.