“Your hand.”

Constantine requested her hand and held it while simultaneously observing his inner state and keenly watching her expression.

Perhaps because he wore gloves, he felt no particular change.

— Master, why do you always ignore my words like this! I’m really hurt. How long have we been together? After all these years together, how could you do this? Master!

The closer he got to her, the more talkative Caligo became. To the point where he wanted to shout at him to shut up.

Worried that if he let his guard down he might actually yell ‘shut up’ out loud, he quietly clenched his teeth and slowly removed his gloves. While removing the gloves that he rarely took off even when alone, Constantine stared at Saena without blinking once.

He watched with such concentration that he wouldn’t miss a single breath or fleeting reaction from her.

Soon, he took out a potion bottle from his chest, opened the cap, and reached for her hand. Though the speed was frustratingly slow, he had no choice.

Would something be different? Would there be a secret in those soft hands?

He felt a mix of emotions—both wanting to know and not wanting to know.

— She’ll definitely feel bad! I’m telling you it’s better not to touch! Master, you…

Pop. The small hand finally landed in his.

Unlike his, her hand was warm and soft.

Constantine slowly rubbed and spread open her palm. While slowly stroking upward, he watched her.

When Saena briefly held her breath and trembled, when she bit her lower lip, his body stiffened.

‘…As expected?’

Yesterday, was she just too distracted by the people on the terrace to notice whether he was cold or not?

She had appeared quite frantic, as if she were fleeing from debt collectors, whatever the reason.

‘But…’

Even after confirming her reaction was no different from others, Constantine couldn’t let go of her hand.

He poured the medicine onto her palm and rubbed it to help it absorb. He was trying to make this moment last as long as possible by applying the medicine very slowly.

‘This silence is real.’

Caligo had shut up and gone into hiding.

For as long as he was touching her, Caligo couldn’t push a single whisper into him. His mind settled as calm as a lake on a windless day.

Ah, what should he do about this.

He didn’t want to let go of this hand.

But he knew he had to let go.

Caught between those two extremes, he felt like screaming somewhere.

With a touch of despair, he lifted his gaze from her fair palm to look at her face.

Her face with a slight flush on her cheeks…

‘…Flush?’

Constantine blinked several times and looked at her face again.

It did seem to be… a flush.

And thinking of it as a flush, that expression—biting her lip—didn’t seem like dislike but rather, how to put it, more like embarrassment.

He slowly rubbed the sensitive part of her palm more.

He saw her face redden as she flinched.

‘Hmm…?’

Not discomfort, but embarrassment?

Hope swelled up in his heart once again.

Though he had to let go of that hand as he no longer had any excuse to hold it, he felt such regret.

The process of leaving her warm hand and imprisoning his own hands back in gloves felt bitter.

He felt a strong possessiveness toward another person that he had never experienced before.

‘I want to… possess her.’

He couldn’t immediately define what he was feeling right now. But he was certain it was a ray of light he had discovered for the first time in his insufferable life.

‘A little more…’

He wanted to become close enough to touch her.

Constantine discovered himself thinking, for the first time in his life, that he wanted to get closer to a woman.

It was a desire he discovered within himself for the first time in his life.

* * *

However…

Despite his rarely manifested desire, Constantine kept getting bounced off her iron wall.

He marveled at House Debov’s historical items, which were displayed with such care they could rival a professional exhibition.

Just as he started to misunderstand—thinking they had gone to such lengths for him—

“…I don’t have any.”

She pushed him away, saying she had no interest in him.

Though she spoke gently, she made her point clear.

That wasn’t all.

Though he practically forced his way to be her partner at the closing banquet, she clearly showed signs of finding him burdensome. While everyone else gave her envious and admiring looks, she rather wanted to avoid it.

It was painfully obvious even during their obligatory first dance as partners. She’s just waiting for this time to end quickly…

Clearly, she had no interest in him.

‘Being a duke is completely useless.’

A duke’s title with obligations far outweighing the rights, with an absurd amount of work. Shouldn’t it at least be useful for appealing to women?

It made him lean even more toward his contemplation of ending his lineage in this generation.

He desperately racked his brain.

She didn’t seem particularly interested in his status (so she probably wasn’t interested in becoming a duchess), and she didn’t seem very moved by his appearance either… What else was there?

Searching through the information he knew, one remaining option emerged—that she was a fan of the <Arles-Promesa> era.

He cast out bait.

“Did you know?”

“…What?”

“There’s still an undiscovered ruin in Kramer territory?”

“…What?”

“It’s from the <Arles-Promesa> era.”

“…Really?!”

…Oh? Her reaction was different.

Her purple eyes sparkled as she looked straight at him, suddenly making his heart throb.

“If you’re interested, I could show you.”

Please, take the bait, my lady.

He anxiously waited for her reaction. But as expected, it wasn’t easy.

“It’s… interesting… but it’s too far…”

“If you wish, I’ll send a carriage and full escort.”

“…And I’m scared of rumors too…”

“……”

Again, she quickly pulled back.

‘The music is ending…!’

Finally, unable to let her go, he continued dancing with her.

“Would you not like to see… Morev?”

“…Pardon?”

“Up close.”

He cast another bait.

She also had great interest in Guardian Spirits. Who else could see and touch a Guardian Spirit up close?

Come on, my lady… Just nod your head. Hmm?

“If you’d show me, I would really be… grateful and happy, but…”

The curiosity that had flared up brightly quickly died down again, and she once more put up walls against him.

Why does this woman have such strong wariness?

‘Has she noticed my ulterior motives?’

While feeling somewhat guilty inside, he didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t think of any better bait.

Though he had decided to try getting closer to Saena, he realized something.

Ridiculously enough… he had never seduced a woman before, so he didn’t know how to do it.

He was a duke. He was unmarried and handsome. His family was wealthy.

Women flocked to him even when he did nothing. He never needed to make special efforts. He had been very busy just fending off the women who approached him. And that busy experience wasn’t helping him one bit now.

‘But I can’t give up just because I don’t know how.’

Perhaps because he had thrown out his bait too obviously, seeing her wariness only increase, he sighed inwardly after some contemplation.

“You must wonder why I’m acting like this.”

“To be honest… yes.”

He decided to be honest instead.

“Mm. I want to look good to you.”

He wanted her to think well of him. This was sincere.

“Please, think well of me.”

After expressing his romantic interest in her, Constantine let her go.

There was no need to increase her wariness further, so it would be better to give her some space at this point.

Making that judgment, he withdrew somewhat to the outside.

But…

‘Why are there so many d*mn flies around.’

Whether all people’s eyes worked the same way, all sorts of riffraff gathered trying to get just one dance with her.

‘Good thing I gave her those gloves.’

Though it was purely out of personal selfishness, fortunately Saena kept wearing the gloves he had gifted without taking them off.

— Master! From what I see, you’re the fly!

“……”

— That woman dislikes you. Can’t you see she’s desperate to get away every time? Poor master. Let’s let her go and find another woman, okay?

Trying hard to ignore the damned voice buzzing and drilling into his head again, Constantine was following her every movement from afar with his gaze.

Having perhaps gone to the restroom, she had briefly left the hall, but as soon as she returned, she danced with some guy, showing a much brighter and more comfortable expression than when dancing with him.

‘…Isn’t that the young guy who was her partner at the debutante ball?’

— Master! Look! They look so good together! They even seem similar in age!

“……”

This really makes me want to materialize him right now and beat him to death…

— Did I say anything wrong!

“That bastard……”

A curse quietly escaped Constantine’s lips.

— M-Master! Though what I said wasn’t wrong…

Though Caligo lowered his tail at Constantine’s suddenly murderous aura, his attention was elsewhere.

Prince Gillian had grabbed Saena’s wrist and was pulling her toward the floor. What’s more, Gillian deliberately sent a splitting smile toward Constantine’s direction, which was highly suspicious.

He watched the prince and Saena dance with an absolutely frigid expression.

So cold that people around couldn’t even dare to speak to him.