Bon Appétit

“What?”

“Take it out.”

‘What do you mean by something hard?’

Luana, who tilted her head in wonder, soon realized. The fact that she still had the poison bottle she got from the maid is in the pocket of her apron!

The Duke’s suspicious gaze reached Luana. 

‘I take it out or not will result in I ended up dead.’

“Don’t get me wrong. This is not mine.”

“I told you to take it out.”

“It’s really not mine.”

Luana, who said so, took out the purple bottle with trembling hands. As soon as he saw it, the Duke’s expression turned cold.

“Is it poison?”

As he said that, her hands trembled even more. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, the trembling never stopped.

“I-I don’t know.”

But it’s probably poison. Otherwise, what else can the captured King send to the abandoned princess? Luana was falsely accused.

If the King prepared poison to kill him, Luana wouldn’t feel wrong. She was trying to throw it away after all.

“I see. You’re part of the royal family, after all.”

The Duke’s voice grew colder. Luana thought she got used to it because she kept hearing his voice that sounded like a scratching iron plate, but it seemed to be she was mistaken. Luana had never heard a voice like this. Goosebumps rose from the cold sweat running down her back.

The Duke’s large hand took the poison from Luana’s hand. Then, without hesitation, he pulled out the stopper that was sealing the poison. The purple liquid, which looked suspicious to look at, was shaking in his hands. The Duke stared at it and took the bottle to his mouth.

“It’s dangerous!”

Luana freaked out and took the bottle, but it was too late. Some of the purple liquid got into the Duke’s mouth.

“Are you crazy? Why did you drink it?”

The bottle stopper has been opened from its seal.

‘Why on earth did you drink a liquid that you don’t even know? There’s even a high probability it is a poison!’

Luana’s heart was beating like crazy, and it felt like it would pop out of her throat. She doesn’t think she has ever been so surprised in her life. She was confused about whether she should call the knight or a doctor, but she heard a calm voice.

“I’m immune to most poisons. I’m afraid this won’t kill me.”

“Who drinks poison just because they have immunity?”

Luana shouted and cried. She felt like she wanted to punch out the Duke, who spoke calmly about this matter. But she couldn’t bear to do so, so she grabbed the hem of the Duke’s shirt. Then Luana shouted out loud.

“Why are you being so careless with your body?!”

“What?”

“You didn’t hear? Then I’ll tell you again. Who told you to treat your body so carelessly?!”

Luana shouted out loud and cleared. Perhaps the knight heard the sound, the door opened immediately, and the knights rushed in.

“What’s the matter?!”

But for a moment, they ran out faster than they came in.

They had no choice but to do so. The princess who had to sleep on the floor was on the bed. No, it wasn’t exactly the bed. She was on the Duke’s body.

Besides, Luana’s dress was messy, and her eyes were red. As she was clinging on to the Duke and sniffling, the knights had no choice but to misunderstand. Come to think of it, they heard a loud noise and came in, but the situation was strange.

“I’m sorry!”

All the knights disappeared in an instant.

“Sob. Sobs.”

Whether she realized it or not, Luana sobbed and grabbed the Duke’s hem tightly. The Duke clicked his tongue at the absurd appearance of his subordinates and then slowly closed his eyes. The effect of the purple liquid he had just drank was coming up. A harsh sound came out of the Duke’s mouth for a moment.

“Damn it.”

“W-Why?”

Luana, holding the Duke’s hem confidently just now, relaxed her hand. She was on the verge of running away in the opposite direction. It was because she remembered her situation only belatedly. As she slowly regretted her decision, the Duke raised one arm over his forehead and wrinkled his brows.

“This is not poison.”

“It isn’t?”

Luana stroked her chest unconsciously.

‘It’s not poison.’

It meant that the Duke would not die and that she would not have to go to a dungeon.

“Damn it.”

The Duke let out a deep sigh. The slow movement of the Duke’s fluttering chest and his wet lips caught Luana’s eye. The hand that she quietly gathered in front of her chest moved without realizing it.

Luana’s small palms touched the wide fluttering chest.

“Get away from me.”

The hoarse voice threatened Luana, but she didn’t feel like it. It was a strange feeling, but she was sure it was fine to touch the Duke.

Luana pondered for a moment at this point.

‘Should I keep touching him like this? Or should I fall off and run outside? What’s there to worry about? This is a great opportunity. When else would I touch such a handsome man?’

Luana drew up the corners of her mouth and gently touched the Duke’s chest.

“Are you sure you’re going to let me go?”

Luana said so and lowered her head a little more. Her flowing hair tickled the back of the Duke’s hand. After holding her breath for a moment, he removed her arm and looked up at Luana.

His red eyes reminiscent of rubies were darker than usual. As if holding back something from her, his gaze looked down on her and scanned the nape of her neck.

Luana got goosebumps on her spine.

“I warn you one last time. Get away from me.”

The low voice felt only sweet. Instead of answering, Luana raised the corners of her mouth and laughed.

“It’s too late now.”

The Duke’s large hands holding his sword, suddenly held Luana’s waist. His hands hugged her waist. The only thing that blocked the skin that started to get hot was their clothes.

Luana was a little scared to make intimate contact with a man’s body for the first time in her life.

‘I-I think… I made a big mistake.’

Luana thought of that belatedly, but it was already too late, as the Duke said. She couldn’t get out of his hand. Her physical strength was different compared to the Duke, as Luana had never exercised properly since birth.

The Duke’s lips came closer and touched Luana’s ear. Her ears tickled at the sensation she felt between his gaping lips. The subtle feeling made her want to put her hand up and rub her ears.

“Sir Legion?”

Luana’s heart was pounding. However, due to their chests being closed to each other, she couldn’t tell if it was her heartbeat or the Duke’s. The body heat seemed to be transferring from his strangely hot body to hers. She felt like there was a fire in the depths of her body.

When she looked up at the Duke slowly, she saw bright red eyes half-closed.

‘Beautiful.’

As Luana lost her mind for a moment and stared at him blankly, the Duke’s red eyes curved.

‘He is smiling.’

Luana smiled at him without realizing it. Then a voice that still felt sweet whispered,

“I don’t know if you’re a fool or not.”

“I’m not a fool!”

‘What are you talking about to break the atmosphere?’

She tried to protest fervently but to no avail.

“No, you’re stupid. That’s why you’re doing this.”

Although he was called the Emperor’s Sword in his home country, he knew that people called him differently in other countries, such as The Emperor’s Dog or Legion The Slaughter.

However, it was only funny when he thought about the names.

“I’m not a fool!”

“Yes, then you’ll be one.”

“No!”

“Well, that’s not what’s important right now.”

“Then what is?”

“You don’t know?”

The Duke pointed to the bottle that Luana had snatched.

“We have to deal with the phenomenon caused by this.”

The Duke, who said so, was still trying hard to breathe.

“Oh, my God.”

Luana only belatedly realized what kind of drug it was. After realizing it, she had no choice but to cry out for God and clench her fist. All the curses she knew ran through her mind.

‘You damned King!’

It wasn’t poison, but it was just as troublesome as that. Even though Luana is an adult and the Duke is an adult, the King gave this kind of drug of his own will! This situation made it impossible to attack the Duke. She will be a confirmed criminal with no excuse if she goes further from here.

Luana groaned and pushed the Duke’s chest.

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

So Luana had to get out of this situation first.

“Everyone says it’s a misunderstanding.”

The Duke ran his hand through her narrow back.

“Ah!”

Luana covered her mouth with one hand as the sound leaked from her mouth unknowingly.

“It really is a misunderstanding!”

She tried to explain it again, but she fell over the Duke’s chest again by his touch. It was the first time she knew the weak part of her body.

“Everyone says it’s a real misunderstanding.”

“It really is.”

Even as she claimed her innocence with tears in her eyes, he showed no sign of believing it. Fortunately, however, the Duke didn’t seem to intend to do anything to Luana. He slowly loosened his grip on Luana, and she got up and straightened up her messy clothes.

Luana’s face had sunk so deep that she could not believe what had happened just now.

“I’ll remember that for now.”

It was not usually scary because the Duke, not anyone else, said he would remember it as a misunderstanding. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do anything Luana could do right now.

“Go outside.”

“Yes, yes!”

Luana quickly rose from her seat and ran out of the room. Her face flushed red from the embarrassment that came after her belatedly.

‘What did I do?’

Looking at her, the knight who was guarding the door asked,

“Why are you running out all of a sudden?”

“I want to sleep outside!”

“Outside?”

The knight looked at Luana suspiciously.