The Creditor Is My Husband? - Chapter 36

“…Mother.”

“After you get married, everything of the Taylor family will be yours, so you’re saying you can’t do even this much for us? Anyone would think we’re asking for something outrageous.”

While Giselle was at a loss for words, her stepmother clicked her tongue and criticized her.

She looked at her stepmother and half-brother before turning away. It seemed pointless to continue the conversation as there was no common ground to be found.

“Tsk tsk, how can she be so selfish and only think of herself? Not even recognizing the grace of being raised all this time.”

She could hear her stepmother muttering and clicking her tongue behind her back. But Giselle left the reception room without saying anything.

“Miss!”

The nanny, who had been lingering outside the reception room until then, approached with a worried expression. She seemed to have heard all the conversation from inside.

“First, calm down, miss. I’ll prepare a bath for you. First, wash your body in warm water and…”

“No. There’s no need for that, nanny.”

Giselle held the nanny’s hand and shook her head. Then she turned her steps towards the entrance, not the stairs.

Realizing that she was about to go out again, the nanny’s eyes widened.

“Miss! The sun will set soon, where are you going?”

“I’m going to see Senior. Don’t worry.”

“The President at this hour? Did you make an appointment? No, if that were the case, the President’s driver would have come here with the car…”

The nanny muttered with a confused expression. Giselle gently patted the back of the nanny’s hand, smiled, and then moved her steps with her lips tightly closed.

* * *

Lucas signed at the end of the document he was reviewing and put down his pen. Seeing that the lamplight looked hazy, he must have strained his eyes quite a bit.

Well, he had been cooped up in his study doing paperwork ever since he got home…

He took off the glasses he was wearing and put them down on one side of the desk, then pressed his forehead with his hand and tilted his head back.

“…I wonder if she felt disappointed today.”

Lucas, leaning back in his chair and looking at the ceiling, inadvertently muttered to himself and then chuckled.

She wasn’t the kind of woman who would feel disappointed over such a thing.

The Giselle Anticia he knew.

Of course, the butler, the head maid, and even Fernan had made a fuss, saying there’s no case where the groom doesn’t go to see the wedding dress together, but still.

‘Well, that’s because they don’t know the inside story of our marriage.’

He chuckled again, then straightened up to look over the remaining documents. And just as he was about to reach for his glasses to put them on, there was a knock on the door.

Knocking on the door at regular intervals was a habit of the butler, Bushin.

“Come in, Bushin.”

As Lucas picked up his glasses, the door opened and Bushin entered.

“What is it?”

“Miss Anticia has visited, Master Lucas.”

“…What?”

At this hour?

He put down the glasses he was about to wear and turned his head to look out the window.

The sky had already darkened.

‘The driver said he took her home and came back…’

Lucas furrowed his brow, remembering the driver who had reported to him and returned to his quarters. The driver wouldn’t lie to him, so Giselle must have gone home and come out again.

‘But why?’

As he stood up, the chair pushed back. Bushin, who had been standing by the door, stepped aside.

“Is she in the reception room?”

“Yes, Master Lucas.”

Bushin politely answered his master leaving the study and followed behind him.

He was suppressing a smile as he watched his master’s steps gradually quicken as he headed towards the reception room.

* * *

“Ah, Senior.”

As soon as Lucas entered the reception room, he saw Giselle standing up from her seat upon seeing him. Her appearance was disheveled enough to tell at a glance that she had come in a hurry.

“What’s the matter…”

He opened his mouth towards her with a hardened expression. But before his question could finish, Giselle spoke first.

“I have something to ask you, Senior. By any chance, did we…”

Giselle was about to continue speaking but stopped and glanced aside. It was evident that she was conscious of the head maid who was preparing tea.

“Uh, that is… Ah, right. The cat. I was wondering if Elizabeth is doing well.”

“You came at this late hour because you were curious about that?”

It was an unbelievable story to anyone who heard it. She had clearly changed her words because she was conscious of the head maid.

However, instead of pressing her further, Lucas turned to look at the butler standing near the door without saying anything.

“Bring her, Bushin.”

“Yes.”

Bushin bowed his head at his order and then turned and left. Then Lucas strode over, sat down on the sofa, and gestured to Giselle.

“Sit down, Giselle.”

“…Yes.”

She sat quietly across from him and fidgeted with her hands. The head maid quickly placed a teacup in front of Lucas as well.

“Ah!”

Perhaps calmed by the subtle aroma of tea, Giselle, who had been looking down and fiddling with her hands, suddenly raised her eyes as if she had just remembered something. Lucas, who was in the middle of taking a sip of tea, met her gaze.

“I’m sorry, Senior. For coming at such a late hour… You weren’t about to go to bed, were you?”

“Surely you don’t think of me as an old man who goes to bed early?”

Lucas chuckled incredulously at Giselle’s hesitant additional question. Then he gestured for her to drink her tea, as she was mumbling something to herself with a bright red face.

For a moment, only the sound of drinking tea continued.

Although it would have been natural to touch the dessert the head maid had prepared along with the tea, Giselle was focused solely on drinking tea, holding the cup with both hands.

No, she wasn’t even drinking the tea.

Lucas glanced down at the teacup she had put down, and realizing that the tea level hadn’t decreased at all, he furrowed his brow.

Just then, the reception room door opened and Bushin entered again, holding a cat in his arms.

“Master Lucas, I’ve brought the cat…”

“Meow.”

The cat, which had been nestled in the old butler’s arms with an indifferent expression, saw Giselle and immediately slipped out.

“Meooow.”

“Kitty! No, Elizabeth!”

Giselle’s face brightened for the first time. She smiled as she stroked the cat that had quickly climbed onto her lap.

It seemed that her words about being curious about how the cat was doing weren’t entirely untrue.

Lucas made a small gesture towards the butler and head maid, telling them to leave. The two, receiving their master’s order, quietly left the reception room without making a sound.

Whether she knew this or not, Giselle continued to stroke the cat with a complex expression.

Something was clearly wrong.

He rested his elbow on the sofa armrest and stroked his chin before casually asking a question.

“Did you run away from home again?”

“…Pardon?”

“I guess I’m right. Seeing how startled you are.”

Lucas gestured towards Giselle’s hand, which was trembling slightly as she stroked the cat.

She tightly clenched her fingertips where his gaze had landed, hiding them, and then pressed her lips together.

Seeing this, Lucas added in a languid tone.

“At least you came wearing shoes today.”

“…Senior.”

Giselle’s face turned bright red at his teasing words. However, thanks to that, her tense expression relaxed a little.

At that moment, Lucas lowered the hand that had been supporting his chin and leaned slightly towards her.

His gaze was as serious as if he had never made a joke. Giselle also hardened her expression, which had momentarily relaxed, and looked back at him.

“So what’s the matter?”

“……”

“You wouldn’t have risked running away just because you missed that cat.”

The man’s voice, now devoid of humor, was low. Giselle briefly bent down to put the cat she had been holding onto the floor.

“Meooow.”

The cat, which had been lying on her lap and was suddenly banished to the floor, meowed in displeasure.

But Giselle didn’t have the energy to hold the cat and comfort it. She had to answer his question.

No, it was time to state the reason she had come here in the first place.

“Senior.”

She took a deep breath and called out to him.

“I… I don’t want to start with a feeling of indebtedness to you.”

“……?”

Lucas slightly furrowed his brow as he listened to Giselle’s words. It was because he didn’t understand what she meant. Seeing his expression, she hurriedly added more words.