I Didn’t Mean to Get It Up - ✿ dusk blossoms ✿

2.4

‘Should I just accept the proposal and think about it later?’

As she mulled over her dilemma, she spotted Liz entering the banquet hall. Dressed in a pale pink gown, Liz scanned the room before noticing Clara waving at her. She hurried over.

“Clara!”

Liz ran straight to Clara and grabbed her hands, panting.

“Liz? What’s wrong?”

“We need to hide. Now.”

“What?”

Liz tried to pull Clara out of the hall, but before they could leave, a man entered the room.

Clara recognized him immediately.

“Baron Lucius?”

The moment she saw him, Liz pulled Clara into the crowd to hide. Lucius was quite popular among the nobles, and as soon as he appeared, the ladies swarmed toward the entrance.

Using the commotion as cover, Liz and Clara managed to avoid being seen.

“What’s going on?”

Hiding among the crowd, Clara whispered. Judging by Liz’s frantic behavior, she hadn’t known Lucius would be attending the party either.

“I was getting into the carriage when my brother suddenly climbed in.”

“Why? He doesn’t even like these social gatherings.”

“Exactly!”

He must have lost his mind. There was no other explanation.

Liz muttered this several times. Then, hearing the ladies’ cheers again, she peeked out to assess the situation. Lucius, who had been struggling to move through the crowd, was now walking toward them.

When Liz accidentally made eye contact with him, she quickly ducked.

“Run, Clara.”

“Why?”

“I just made eye contact with him.”

“How?”

Before Clara could raise her voice, Liz clamped a hand over her mouth. Then, she gave Clara a push toward the back exit.

“Since he made eye contact, he’s definitely coming this way. Clara, you should hide for now.”

“What about you, Liz?”

“I’ll hold him off as much as I can.”

At Liz’s reassuring gesture, Clara nodded and quickly left the spot. Before she exited, she glanced back to see Lucius looking annoyed as he glanced around.

It was clear that he was genuinely looking for her.

Clara ran straight down the hallway and into the lounge, catching her breath as it reached her throat. Fortunately, the lounge was empty. If anyone had been there, they might have found her behavior strange, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

She sank into the plush sofa, trying to calm her pounding heart.

Baron Lucius Tempe. His dazzling appearance stood out more than ever today. In a way, it was fortunate that he was so noticeable—it made it easier to avoid him.

“Who was he trying to impress, dressing up so handsomely?”

With his neatly combed hair and pristine white uniform, he looked even more dashing than before, making her heart race for a brief moment.

But she quickly shook her head.

‘This isn’t the time to think about that.’

Since this was a space reserved for the ladies, he wouldn’t dare enter. She decided to hide here until he left, after which she could have her conversation with Young Master Aiden.

As she organized her thoughts, Clara let out a sigh. She still hadn’t fully sorted through her feelings—what was she supposed to say?

Her parents approved of Aiden, and he seemed perfect on the surface. So why was she the only one struggling with this?

‘Love.’

Yes, the problem was that Clara didn’t love him.

But then again,she did not succeed in love with the man she had once adored. That relationship had ended after just one night.

No matter how much she tried to avoid it, her thoughts always circled back to Lucius. How long would it take for her feelings for him to fade? If it took as long as she had loved him, Clara might end up living alone for the rest of her life.

At that moment, she heard footsteps outside. The heavy, deliberate sound made her perk up her ears.

It wasn’t the sound of a woman’s shoes. Which meant it was a man.

Could it be…?

Lucius came to mind, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

‘No, it couldn’t be. After all, the Baron isn’t the type to act so recklessly.’

“But this seems to be the only place to hide.”

Clara’s eyes widened at the sound of Lucius’s voice outside the door.

‘What? Baron Lucius? He actually came here?’

In this hallway, there was only a terrace for stepping outside and the ladies’ lounge. Unless he was meeting someone secretly, there was no reason for him to come here.

She clutched her pounding chest tightly.

Of course, Liz had said she would hold him off, but it must have been too much for her to handle.

Clara felt a surge of frustration.

Sure, I had entered his bedroom first and even fed him that herb, but hadn’t we both enjoyed ourselves in bed? Moreover, wasn’t he the one who had held me close and continued when I said I couldn’t go on anymore?

Why was he pursuing me so relentlessly?

And hadn’t there been rumors of women coming and going from his bedroom until recently?

‘Did he get bored of them and now wants to be with me again?’

If he was only after my body…

‘What a bastard. A dog in heat.’

She had wanted to believe he wasn’t that kind of man, but unfortunately, Lucius seemed determined to prove otherwise. He started knocking on the lounge door.

“Open the door, Clara.”

“…”

“I know you’re in there.”

“…”

Clara held her breath and remained silent, hoping he would leave if he thought no one was inside.

But she underestimated Lucius.

Lucius, the man—not the kind older brother figure she had known—was not someone who backed down easily.

He shook the door violently, and with a loud ‘bang,’ the door swung open.

Lucius stormed in, his face filled with anger. Startled, Clara instinctively gripped the sofa’s armrest tightly.

“Baron…”

“So you were in here.”

Lucius entered without hesitation. Wanting privacy, he closed the door behind him, but the damaged door barely hung on its hinges.

Even in her shock, Clara couldn’t help but glance around nervously.

What if another lady walked in and saw this?

‘No, before that, is this even happening?’

Was he really breaking down doors and causing a scene at someone else’s party just to find me?

“Hide-and-seek is over. If you wanted to escape me, you should have left the Empire entirely.”

Despite his fierce approach, his hand was surprisingly gentle as he touched her hair.

He kissed the ends of her hair and scanned her face thoroughly with his sharp eyes.

She looked thinner than the last time he had seen her, during that night in his bedroom when she had moaned under him. Her once-plump cheeks were now hollow, and her jawline was sharper, giving her a more mature, feminine air.

But he didn’t like what he saw.

‘She dressed like this to impress Aiden?’

The jewelry that accentuated her beauty, the extravagant dress, even the light makeup—none of it pleased him.

“You come here dressed like this, looking so out of place…”

Lucius’s voice, filled with gritted teeth, made Clara shrink back. She had tried her best to look nice, but it seemed he wasn’t pleased.

Despite her plan to calm him and send him away, her words came out curtly.

“This is my first time dressing up. I’ll do better next time.”

Her sulky tone made one of Lucius’s eyebrows twitch.

‘What did she just say? She’ll dress up better next time…?’

“Ha! After leaving me impotent, Lady Clara, you plan to dress up and throw yourself into another man’s arms?”

“Impotent?”

The sarcastic tone of “Lady Clara” didn’t register with her. Instead, her ears caught on the word “impotent,” and her gaze instinctively dropped to his lower body.

Through his pants, she could see his er*ction straining as if it might pierce through the fabric.

Clara couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

‘Impotent? If he took it out, it could probably pierce the heavens.’

Whether or not he noticed her mocking gaze, Lucius stepped closer.

When their breaths were nearly mingling, Clara lowered her gaze to the floor.

This was dangerous.

The resolve she had built while avoiding him was crumbling in an instant.

‘This is why I didn’t want to face him for a while.’

“This lounge is for ladies only. Please leave before someone sees you.”

“Clara.”

“And I’m not a child anymore. I don’t play hide-and-seek for attention.”

Clara hardened her expression and glared at him. Her heart was still racing, but she maintained a calm facade.