The Creditor Is My Husband? - Chapter 63

The cat, which had found a spot in a sunny part of the study, could be seen yawning widely.

“Yaaawn…”

Does the tendency to yawn when seeing someone else yawn apply between animals and humans too?

Giselle covered her mouth and yawned, then rubbed her eyes.

“No, I can’t. The butler will bring the ledgers soon, I can’t be seen dozing off on my first day.”

She muttered to herself with determination, trying her best to fight off sleepiness. But despite her efforts, Giselle’s eyelids began to close.

The effects of being tormented by Lucas all night were finally showing.

* * *

“Bushin.”

“Ah, Master Lucas.”

Bushin hurriedly bowed as he saw Lucas approaching from the opposite corridor. It seemed the master, who had briefly left to attend to some morning business, had returned.

“I apologize. I didn’t receive prior notice of your return…”

“I deliberately told them not to inform you. It’s just a short outing, and I didn’t want any fuss.”

Lucas waved off Bushin’s words and then noticed the servant behind him. The servant’s hands were full of ledgers.

“Those aren’t going to my office, are they? Surely not to her?”

He asked incredulously, furrowing his brow as he looked at the ledgers. Bushin nodded with a smile.

“Yes. I was going to give a brief report on the overall finances, but Madam said she would look into it herself. She mentioned that she’s been working under you without getting fired all this time.”

Lucas let out a dry laugh at Bushin’s jokingly added words. Then he gestured to the servant standing behind.

“I’ll take those.”

“Pardon? But…”

The servant blinked in confusion at his master’s words. But Lucas flicked his hand again, unwilling to change his mind.

“Master Lucas, we can escort you to the study door.”

Bushin, unable to bear seeing the servant’s predicament, addressed Lucas again. His attitude was resolute, as if he couldn’t allow his master to carry such things himself.

“I was on my way to see my wife anyway. I don’t want our time together to be interrupted.”

“Oh my. I apologize. How thoughtless of me.”

The words he deliberately added to break the stubborn old man’s persistence were effective.

Bushin, who had seemed absolutely unyielding, quickly backed down at those words.

Lucas smirked, then took the ledgers from the servant and turned around. Seeing the number of ledgers, it seemed they had brought all the records since he became the head of the family.

“She intends to look through all of this…”

Is this really what a new bride would think of doing the day after her wedding?

He found it both absurd and, in a way, typical of her, which made him smile.

Of course, even as he thought this, his feet steadily headed towards her study. With a slight, unconscious excitement that was unlike him.

* * *

Knock knock.

At the sound of knocking, the cat, Elizabeth, quickly raised its head. At the same time, the study door opened and Lucas entered.

The cat, which had briefly shown wariness, relaxed upon seeing him and approached languidly.

“Meow.”

“Shh.”

Seeing Giselle nodding off, Lucas put his index finger to his lips, cautioning the cat.

The cat stared at Lucas as if it understood his words, then quietly returned to its place.

He smiled slightly as he turned his gaze from the cat and walked towards the desk. His movements were extremely careful as he set down the ledgers he had brought in both hands on the desk.

“Mmm…”

Just as Lucas turned to leave after putting down the ledgers, a small sound came from Giselle. He unconsciously stopped and turned his eyes to look at her.

“…Was that sleep-talking?”

He smiled at the sight of Giselle nodding off with her head down. Then he walked towards the bookshelf instead of the door.

The cat, which had been playing by itself, swatting at the air with its front paws, briefly showed interest in Lucas, but when he pulled out a book from the shelf, it turned its head as if losing interest.

Lucas passed by where the cat was and approached the sofa where Giselle was sitting. Suddenly, a book placed on one side of the sofa caught his attention.

“It seems she still likes Rutberd Enisel’s books.”

Given that she had taken out this book among the many on the shelves.

A smile spread across his face without him realizing it.

But Lucas approached the sofa with an impassive face, as if nothing had happened. Just as he was about to open the book he had brought, Giselle rubbed her eyes at the movement and slowly opened her eyelids.

“Yawn… Oh, huh?”

Her vision was still blurry from sleep when she caught sight of a man. It was Lucas, sitting with his legs crossed, a book open on his lap, looking at her.

“Did you sleep well? You were sleeping so soundly you didn’t even notice someone coming in. You were even snoring loudly.”

“I was snoring? No way. I’ve never had such a sleep habit…”

No, maybe she did.

How would one know if they snore or grind their teeth while sleeping?

Giselle’s eyes began to waver as she tried to deny Lucas’s words. The remaining drowsiness had completely disappeared.

“That can’t be true. I’ve never heard from my nanny that I have bad sleep habits.”

Giselle belatedly denied his words, shaking her head. But contrary to her words, her ears turned bright red.

“…Did I really snore?”

She carefully asked him, covering her hot ears with both hands. Lucas nodded lightly as if she was asking something obvious.

“Of course.”

“…No way.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I snored… What? What did you say?”

Giselle, who was about to pull her hair with the hands that were covering her ears, looked at him. She had heard something just now, but needed to confirm if she had heard correctly.

“I said you didn’t. Did you really believe that?”

“……!”

One corner of Lucas’s mouth turned up crookedly. It was the very smile he always wore when making mischievous jokes.

“What, you were just joking?”

Giselle clenched her fists and glared at him. Lucas shrugged and opened the book he was holding.

“Wow, really… I can’t believe this.”

Seeing the man reading the book so nonchalantly, she could only open and close her mouth, unable even to laugh dryly.

Who could have imagined?

‘Lucas Taylor’ making such childish jokes to his wife.

‘Somehow, I feel like I’ve been conned.’

As Giselle glared at Lucas while muttering inwardly, he spoke in a calm tone while turning a page.

“What is my wife so displeased about that she’s glaring at me? You woke up well after a good sleep.”

“I didn’t sleep, you know? I just dozed off for a moment.”

“It wasn’t just dozing off. You were nodding off so deeply you didn’t even notice me coming in.”

“That’s because… Tch, whose fault is that? It’s because I couldn’t sleep because of you!”

She retorted angrily to his words. Lucas raised one eyebrow upon hearing this.

“Ah, you couldn’t sleep because of me?”

Thud.

He closed the book he had barely read a few pages of. At that sound, Giselle’s body involuntarily flinched.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that her body reacted involuntarily to his gaze fixed on her after closing the book, rather than flinching at the sound of the book being closed.

“Was that so, Giselle? Did I torment you all night like that?”

Lucas’s gaze on Giselle became deeply immersed. She couldn’t move, seemingly captivated by that gaze.

Even when he reached out to tuck her hair that had fallen over her shoulder behind her ear.

Thump thump.

‘Wh-what! Why is my heart pounding like this!’

Her heart was beating so wildly she thought it might burst. She tightly gripped the hem of her dress with both hands and swallowed hard.

Lucas’s gaze briefly lingered her lips before moving away, then fixed on her eyes again.

Just like the previous night when his gaze never left her while he was desiring her.

“Um…”

Giselle, who had been quietly looking at Lucas without being able to avoid his gaze, parted her lips with difficulty.

She spoke without knowing what to say.

At that moment, Lucas smirked and withdrew his hand from her. Then, as if nothing had happened, he leaned back against the sofa and changed the subject.

“By the way, aren’t you disappointed?”

“…Huh? About what?”

She caught her breath, calmed her wildly beating heart, and then belatedly asked about his question.

“About the honeymoon. Everyone’s saying I went too far, skipping the once-in-a-lifetime trip.”

“Ah… It’s fine.”

Giselle immediately shook her head upon hearing Lucas’s words. But he furrowed his brow as if he couldn’t believe her words.

“Are you really not disappointed?”

“No, not at all. We didn’t marry because we truly love each other, so there’s no reason for me to seek such romance. Instead, I need to earn my keep. You’ve invested quite a sum in me, after all.”

Of course, her added comment about earning her keep was just a joke.

But for some reason, Lucas’s expression momentarily turned displeased upon hearing Giselle’s words. She tilted her head at his change.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

“No. It’s just… I see you understand our transaction very well.”

He firmly closed his mouth after saying that.

‘What’s this? He clearly seems upset.’

Giselle glanced at Lucas, trying to gauge his mood. But she had no way of knowing why he had suddenly become upset.

‘Ah! Is it because I just talked smoothly about earning my keep?’

After all, she had been nodding off despite her grand words.

Thinking she had found the answer, she abruptly stood up and approached the desk. Ledgers that he seemed to have bbeen rought were piled high on the desk.

‘Geez, how petty… He could have just told me to earn my keep.’

Giselle grumbled inwardly as she sat at the desk and opened one of the ledgers.

Unaware that the man watching her was clicking his tongue with an even more displeased expression.