The Ugly Lady’s Secret Pouch

It was just that.

But he couldn’t help but be surprised by the words that came out of her mouth. The sweet scent was not unique to him.

He couldn’t understand why she was following the scent.

“Scent?”

Lucas hadn’t thought of himself as scented. Though it was a strange sensation.

The strangeness of being able to bend something intangible to your will.

“… You didn’t know?”

Lila asked, pulling his large hand away from the one covering her mouth.

His scent was too subtle to be cologne. It was a scent she’d never smelled before, and it wrapped around her like a finished, living thing.

But there was no explanation other than cologne, or body odor. Lila lifted his hand to her nose and sniffed.

A thick scent wafted from his pulsing wrist.

“I smell a scent, aren’t you wearing perfume? Why, alchemists can make a deceptive perfume… I know it’s illegal, of course.”

“Who told you that? I thought there was a strict code of silence about deceptive perfumes.”

Lucas was puzzled. The sale of deceptive perfumes had been banned thirty years ago.

The romance-minded aristocracy of the empire had been disrupted by barrels of deceitful perfume being used to seduce lovers.

It was the Emperor who outlawed it.

Lucas was imperial, and even if he had known about it because of his position as a duke, it was not something the average nobleman would have known about.

“No, I just heard about it in a dream…”

Seeing the mint-colored eyes fill with wonder, Lila confessed. Because she really did.

“A dream?”

“I heard someone talking to it in my dream, and that’s when I asked… Was there really a deception perfume?”

“Yes, there was.”

“That’s interesting… Well, do you think Lucas wears that perfume…”

Before she could finish, he hastened to answer.

“Definitely not me.”

“Then why does it smell so good?”

Lucas felt a twinge of déjà vu as he watched Lila bring her nose to his wrist and sniff it.

At his own behavior.

“It’s weird, really.”

“I think so, too.”

Lila confirmed.

“But why do we have to pay the imperial family with magic crystals? Isn’t that too one-sided? I mean, it’s not like it’s a trade, it’s a payment…”

Lila asked, forcing her eyes to open, but she didn’t let go of his grip.

Lucas stiffened, and his mouth fell open at the sight of her.

“That’s because there’s a leash on.”

“… A leash?”

“Yes, it’s like a very strong chain made of iron. The reason why I brought up that day’s incident is because it has something to do with me. You know that the beginning of the noble families is Lupus, right?”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“I don’t know if that’s why, exactly, but each male member of the royal family is born with an extraordinary ability, and a curse that runs counter to that ability.”

Lucas felt a sudden surge of fear. He wondered if she would despise him if he told Lila about his heat.

But he couldn’t lie to her.

I love you and I will love you again.

As Lupus had said, his way of loving her did not include lying.

“At the age of fourteen or fifteen, imperial males go into heat. Their cycles are usually twice a year, and without a potion provided by the imperial family, it’s impossible to be sane when in heat. It’s a complete absence of reason. It is to be exposed in a state that is no different from a beast.”

Lila’s eyes widened at the slightly melancholy tone in his voice. She couldn’t help but gape in amazement at this revelation, a secret that had never been revealed in the original.

Lucas pulled his hand away from Lila’s grip and covered her eyes as she stared up at him in disbelief.

He couldn’t bear to look at her expression. For the first time in his life, he felt embarrassed by her.

Lila froze for a moment, shocked as if she’d been slapped across the back of the head, then let go of his hand.

His face gradually came into focus as her darkened vision cleared, and she could see that he was biting his lip slightly and frowning.

He wasn’t crying, but the moisture in his eyes was pitiful. The Emperor was using the potion to hold him, or Montefeltra, captive.

She could see why he hadn’t risen to the surface, despite his wealth and magic crystals.

“Don’t you think I’m disgusting, that a man called your husband could turn into an animal?”

Lucas asked, impatient with her silence, wanting to hear any answer.

Lila pursed her lips again and again before she finally answered.

“No.”

“… Lie.”

Even though he knew she couldn’t be lying, Lucas said it anyway.

Maybe he wanted to be sure.

Or maybe he wanted to feel a confirmation.

With trembling eyes, he looked her in the eye.

“I’m not lying, I really don’t think so, I just…”

After a moment of stuttering, Lucas relaxed his grip on her hand.

“Ouch.”

Lila let out a small moan of surprise, and Lucas let go of her hand in embarrassment.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize.”

He calmed himself, loosened his grip, squeezed, and repeated.

Lila quickly grabbed his hand and replied, her voice strong.

“I’m just surprised, that’s not how I would think of you, Lucas. You’re family to me, you’re my husband, and that’s not going to change. I don’t want it to change.”

Lucas swallowed hard at her words. His mouth was unnecessarily dry. His eyes seemed to be turning white with unbearable loveliness.

Despite his concern, Lila’s eyes didn’t change at all.

As always, they were warm and gentle.

He loved the way she looked at him, as affectionate as a sun-drenched ocean.

Unbearable, uncontrollable, his heart grew without limits.

“When you say things like that… I can’t stand it anymore.”

I love you and I will love you again, but the remaining doubts and boundaries have completely collapsed.

Lucas wrapped his arms around the back of her head and tugged. He swallowed her lips, roughly.

He nibbled on her lower lip, released it, and exhaled slowly. He looked deeply into her dark blue eyes as they fluttered before his nose.

“I’ll never let you go.”

His pleading tone made Lila’s heart leap uncontrollably.

Throwing her arms around his neck, she brought her lips to his.

Then she whispered.

“Don’t let go, never.”

As if her words were a trigger, his lips crashed down on hers. No sticky saliva, no hot breath, no words spoke of their aching hearts.

Their unfathomable love melded together like a tangled scent.