The Ugly Lady’s Secret Pouch

“How can such a thing happen.”

Over the commotion, Lila nervously inspected her dress.

And sure enough, underneath her gown, the waist of her skirt had burst open.

‘Oh my God…’

Lila felt tears of shame well up in her eyes. After letting go of her wide-eyed, helpless hand for a moment, Lucas took off his own jacket and covered the opening with it.

“It’s okay, calm down.”

Lucas said, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. Tears were already pooling in Lila’s eyes. The cobalt color of her tears reminded him of a clear blue ocean.

Looking at her, Lucas thought she was cute. No, she was adorable, all the freckles on her face, the reddened lips she’d chewed to keep from crying.

Lucas slipped his arms around her waist and under her knees and lifted her up, oblivious to the noisy chatter around him.

“Kyaa!”

Lila squealed softly at the feeling of being lifted, throwing her arms around his neck.

A flush rose to Lucas’s face as he smelled the sweet scent of their bodies pressed together.

“Don’t struggle.”

Meanwhile, Heinrich and Alfonso, who were by Charlotte’s side, had a very strange look on their faces. They looked as if they had seen something unseen, as if they had been hit in the head.

Theobald’s eyes followed them as they left. As they danced, he paid more attention to Lila than to his partner Monaca, and he couldn’t help but notice the way she was smiling.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Charlotte glanced betrayedly at Theobald, who clenched his fists so hard he could see the bones.

She glared at Lucas and Lila as they left, and then, forcing the corner of her lips to lift, she murmured softly.

“The caterpillar should eat pine needles1. There’s a girl who wants a place that doesn’t fit her place. Unfortunately…”

“What?”

Alfonso repeated, momentarily distracted by Lila and Lucas. Charlotte replied with her usual fake smile.

“Nothing. Oh, by the way, did you hear that?”

“Huh? What?”

Charlotte whispered to Alfonso, who was speaking in a slightly lower voice than usual. So that everyone around them could hear, of course.

“I heard that the Duke of Montefeltra enjoys sodomy, so Alfonso, you need to be careful.”

“What?”

“Because if you’re as cute as you are, the Duke is sure to like you.”

“Ew.”

Alfonso looked exaggeratedly offended by her words.

“Gee, young lady. Is that rumor true?”

One of the young ladies at Charlotte’s side approached with interest, and at the sight of him, she unfurled her fan to cover her face.

She didn’t want others to see her face, which was full of laughter.

“People are so stupid.”

The lady said to Charlotte, who seemed to be talking out of both sides of her mouth.

“Ah, how am I supposed to hear you when you’re talking so quietly? Please say it properly, okay? There must be many people other than me who are interested?”

“Hmm… what should I do?”

With a slight tilt of her head, the crowd gathered around her as she spoke, and Heinrich, who was right beside her, watched Charlotte with a curious glance.

Lila was walking out of the palace with Lucas in her arms. She could barely breathe because her heart was pounding in her chest.

Her heart fluttered, first because she was being carried by a man, and second because of Lucas’s generosity and caring nature.

Had she ever been treated like this since she had possessed? Her father had been kind and gentle, of course, but family and heterosexual relationships were very different.

Ah, really…

I’m so embarrassed… Why am I so excited?

For some reason, she felt like tears were coming, so she bit her lip and leaned her cheek against his shoulder.

“If you’re embarrassed, lean against me and hide your face.”

Lucas said bluntly, quickly noticing her little gesture. Lila didn’t dare open her mouth, already filled with tears.

She felt like if she moved her lips, tears would spill out.

Lucas, checking her mauve hair as she gently nodded over his shoulder, was surprised for a different reason.

Why is she so light?

He was confused because to the naked eye, she looked like she should weigh more than she did.

Are women lighter than they look?

Having never held another woman before, Lucas began to have reasonable suspicions.

What is this scent?

Is she wearing perfume?

Did she wear perfume when she was younger?

As they neared the carriage, Lucas’s thoughts became more complicated.

Had she always been treated like this in society?

The tail of his thoughts went back to before they’d left for the banquet.

Why did she neglect her own face? She knows how to apply enough makeup to cover her freckles.

The coachman, recognizing Lucas’s face, came running up.

“Duke?”

The banquet wasn’t over yet, and he was nervous, not because he was worried that something untoward had happened, but because he was afraid he would lose his temper.

Lucas had never done anything of the sort, and yet the coachman sounded smug.

“Open the door.”

“Yes!”

The coachman opened the carriage door. Lucas climbed into the carriage with Lila in his arms.

“We’ll set out for the manor right away.”

“Yes, I understand!”

The coachman closed the door. Lucas, who’s still holding Lila in his arms, spoke.

“My lady.”

“…”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to call a seamstress.”

“…Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry, It’s because of me…”

Lila replied, thinking it was only natural for Lucas to be angry at this absurdity. But his reaction wasn’t what she expected.

“I’m going to bring her in and beat her.”

“…Yes?”

A small blush crept up her face as she slid off his shoulder in embarrassment. Lucas turned to face her face full of bewilderment and added.

“How dare she use the term ‘best in the north’ when she’s so bad at it.”

“Well, maybe it’s because I’m fat…”

Her words sounded like a good joke, and Lucas burst out laughing.

“Ahaha!”

Lucas, who had been chuckling to himself for a while with her on his lap, raised one lip in a smirk.

“That’s very strange, my lady.”

Lucas didn’t look the same in front of her. Lila blinked slowly, feeling her heart beat even faster than before.

“Hmm, that’s very strange, what is it you’re hiding?”

Umm… The way he’s speaking…

Lila stared at him with a dumbfounded expression, unable to adjust to the sudden change in tone, behavior, and mood.

“I’ve been touching the flesh of your waist since earlier… and you don’t have any reaction, why?”

Lila’s eyes rolled down as she finally realized what was going on. A large hand was gripping the fluffy material around her waist in a tight grip.

He was even moving his hands around, as if to touch her.

As she sat on his lap, unable to lift her head, Lucas brought his lips to her ear.

“Do you want to be the first to tell, or should I find out first?”

“…”

Lucas slipped a finger beneath Lila’s chin as she bit her lip, unable to speak, and tilted her chin up.

The mint-colored eyes shining right in front of him were filled with amusement. The tear mole at the corner of his long eyes glistened.

Lucas circled Lila’s stony face with a single finger and spoke with a hint of amusement.

“Do you know what? The fact that the number of freckles before and now are different.”

‘Ah,’ Lila spat out only one syllable, but unable to respond.

No, someone sat down and counted her freckles!

As if he could hear her thoughts, Lucas replied.

“In fact, if I told you I’ve been counting since we first met… would you look at me weird?”

Yes, very.

Lila replied inwardly, dropping her eyes in disbelief.

I’m screwed.

I’m screwed.

She felt like she was rolling into a puddle, a puddle that she was quickly digging out of by casting a forward roll of her own.

“Don’t be so scared, I’m just being honest with you because you weren’t honest with me first.”

Lila, who had been unable to say anything for a while, opened her lips tremblingly.

“…That means… what I look like now…”

Lucas, ghostly aware of her slow stuttering, replied, his voice filled with joy.

“Yes, it is. I’m glad I can be honest with you.”

Lucas smiled, his lips parting in a wide grin. Then revealed snaggletooth that greeted her cutely. It was a fresh smile that didn’t match the situation.

A pair eyes with only one double eyelid on one eye, dimples, light brown freckles, a crooked tooth protruding from between the curved lips and neat white teeth, a tear mole at the corner of the eye, and finally…

A half-formal tone that you cut off strangely…

These listed features were the characteristics of the men Lila had liked as Cho Yoon Seol, or her ideal.

She’d always known he had an attractive face that matched her ideal type, but she hadn’t expected… to be so perfectly in her style.

Lila leaned her forehead against his shoulder, unable to say a word in defeat.

Lucas pressed his fingers into the soft mound of flesh at her waist and spoke nonchalantly.

“Let’s stop by the mansion and then head straight north. The air is really dirty in the capital. It’s because of the dirty humans who breathe in and out… Well, there are dirty people in the north, too. If we get tired, we can sleep in the carriage, so don’t worry about it too much. We’re going to be husband and wife now, and I don’t think we’re strangers…”

Lila muttered softly as Lucas, who hadn’t said a word even when they ate together, talked nonstop.

“Give it back, my heartbeat.”1

an advise not to do something beyond one’s capacity or reach