I Wasn't Trying to Seduce with the Male Lead - Episode 116

‘Here again…’

Eleanor narrowed her eyes, looking troubled. This place was too open. Seeing how meticulously clean it was, someone, likely a caretaker, must come and go often. What’s more, though a bit far away, the corridor was hung with numerous portraits of the Calabria ducal family’s ancestors. Could they really do such a thing in a hall where the ancestors were watching with wide-open eyes? Unlike the slender Roan, the ancestors looked like powerful knights, and their presence was even more intimidating.

“Are you nervous?”

Roan asked, kissing Eleanor’s cheek as her eyes darted around.

“Don’t worry. I made sure no one would come.”

Even with his words, she wasn’t completely at ease. To be engaging in such an intimate act in a place so vast… But the feel of his lips on her cheek was too sweet to push him away.

“Maybe a light…” she whispered softly.

Roan pulled his head back slightly. With a casual wave of his hand, the alchemist’s lights illuminating the walls grew dim. How did he do that? Her wonder quickly faded. She couldn’t tell when he’d undone it, but her dress was already beginning to part.

“Is this why… you wanted to come here?”

The large, inexplicably placed chair in the middle of the hall and his prior instruction to ensure no one would come seemed suspicious.

“Yes,” Roan admitted bluntly, not backing down at all. “I’ve also prepared a room upstairs. We can move there right away…”

His resolve to consummate their relationship was palpable. If everything was already prepared, wouldn’t it be better to just move to the room? But Roan showed no sign of moving. Instead, as he began to untie her sash, Eleanor flinched, trying to rise.

“First, we’ll do it once here,” he murmured softly, then held her cheek, making her look only at him. “Don’t look anywhere else. Only at me.”

The soft lips that then overlapped hers made it hard to think straight. She exhaled a hot breath, and he lifted his head slightly, moving his hand back to her waist. Was he so impatient that he couldn’t even wait to go to the room? A sudden thought crossed her mind.

“You said you wanted a child…”

Her thoughts slipped out as words without her meaning to. Hearing her murmur, Roan, who had his eyes half-closed, looked up. He gripped Eleanor’s wrist, which had been pushing him away in a fit of playful passion.

“Because I can’t be with anyone but you.”

Roan’s touch invaded the folds of her dress. But instead of pushing forward roughly, he moved tantalizingly at the edge, making Eleanor yearn for more. As she gasped at his wayward fingertips and lips, his own clothes fell to the floor one by one. She could feel his body through the thin layer of her clothes. He was already fully aroused.

“I’ll be much gentler than the first time,” Roan whispered in her ear, coaxing her instead of pressuring her. Then, he slowly ground his body against hers.

“Mmm?”

Eleanor looked up at him with a pout as he pressed down, urging her on. He wasn’t going to back down if she said no, so why did he keep asking for her consent? He was so bad. She wanted to bite him, but suddenly, Roan’s eyes softened into a crescent shape.

“Good.”

‘What’s so good?’ Eleanor wondered, and he chuckled, watching her bewildered expression.

“Your eyes changed.”

“My eyes?” she asked blankly. He nodded proudly.

“They’re sultry.”

She wanted to protest, to ask when she’d ever looked like that, but Roan’s grip on her body made her swallow her words.

“Ah… Count…”

A heated breath she couldn’t control escaped her parted lips. He whispered in her ear as if he were hypnotizing her, as she twisted her body.

“I’ll imprint my shape inside you… and make you remember it.”

The hand that had been pushing him away no longer had any strength.

“So you can never be apart from me again.”

His usually indifferent eyes held a rare, intense will. The tongue that appeared between his heaving, red lips looked sensual. Was this really the same Roan Calabria who was so quiet in the novel? He was completely different, even from when he was in love before. These thoughts, however, were gradually erased from her mind. Roan had already positioned himself, and she could no longer wait. The sounds of their breathing, echoing off the walls, no longer seemed so loud. The two shadows became one. The lovers’ sounds filled the Calabria ducal castle.

Blaine stepped out of the carriage and looked up at the sign hanging above the entrance.

Rosewood Park, the best auction house in the Empire.

It had been a while since he last visited, when he came with Roan for a land auction. Today, unlike that time, it was bustling with a significant crowd. It was clear that people had flocked there after hearing rumors that various treasures were up for auction. The new emperor, Minaz, had been diligently investigating the corruption of the old imperial family and confiscated the unjustly amassed treasures of the princess. These were to be auctioned off and the proceeds would go to the state treasury to compensate victims and support the public.

Blaine took the unusually thick pamphlet, handed it to the Duchess, and asked, “Where would you like to go?”

“Hmm.”

The Duchess studied the pamphlet carefully. She had said she was going to the auction house early that morning, but it wasn’t clear what she was looking for. Blaine had only intended to guide the Duchess, who wasn’t familiar with the capital, but Bianca Star and Adrian also insisted on joining. That was fine, but there was one other person with them whom he didn’t feel comfortable with.

“So many people,” the Duke of Calabria grumbled, frowning as usual. His expression hadn’t improved since they set out. “You could buy items at the Pamlico Avenue, couldn’t you?”

“I only give the best gifts. I won’t do with just anything you can get anywhere,” the Duchess said in a firm voice.

The Duke pouted and asked Blaine, “Is that child extravagant?”

He was clearly referring to Eleanor. Blaine mulled over her character for a moment to give a proper answer. She certainly had a modest side, but when he thought of Eleanor, what came to mind were lavish parties, luxurious dresses, expensive champagne, and jewels. Especially the way she spent money decorating the Count of Calabria’s mansion was extraordinary. Even with the Duchess’s permission, he couldn’t imagine doing something like that himself.

“I don’t believe she is the type to be frugal.” Blaine answered as objectively as possible.

The Duchess laughed heartily. “A talent like that is needed in the best and wealthiest families. You have to know how to spend money to earn it.”

“Even so, to hand over a title to a stranger you’ve just met. Isn’t that too hasty?”

“There’s no one more suitable than her,” the Duchess said, dismissing the Duke’s grumbling as she began to walk. “Nobles despise commerce and try to be lofty. But just because you’re a noble doesn’t mean you can look brilliant without wearing jewels or feel full without eating.”

“Not all nobles are like that. There are plenty who are obsessed with money.”

“That’s true. But most of them have dignity. To be that graceful and calculating is an incredibly rare talent.”

The Duchess’s eyes shone with delight. “If she knows how to spend money, I hope she can drink a bit too.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Blaine interjected, answering for her. At the last banquet, he was drinking with Eleanor, but he was the only one who blacked out at some point.

“It sounds like you’re just weak,” the Duke remarked.

“I’ve never been called weak anywhere else!” Blaine protested indignantly, but the Duchess didn’t seem to believe him. Instead of a losing battle, Blaine decided to change the subject.

“By the way, what are you planning to buy her?”

“Something she needs right now, something I’m sure Roan hasn’t gotten for her.”

Even with her hint, nothing specific came to mind. Rosewood Park was a place where you could buy anything from the beak of a wyvern to the bone dust of a 300-year-old centenarian, so the range was too broad.

The Duchess glanced at the Duke and muttered, “This man only ever bought me one thing: a painting by Baron Carita.”

“What? Wasn’t that incredibly expensive?”

Baron Carita was an artist known as the best painter in the history of the Empire. But the Duchess frowned.

“It was so big there was nowhere in the hall to hang it. A gift bought without any thought, just based on price, is meaningless.”

That was certainly true. As Blaine nodded in agreement, the Duchess stopped walking. Looking at the sign of the auction house she was standing in front of, Blaine understood.

[Tears of the Goddess Auction House]

It was the largest jewelry auction house in the world. The Duchess looked at Blaine and asked, “Does Roan know anything about jewelry?”

“…He probably knows a diamond is transparent and a ruby is red.” He wasn’t even sure about that.

“Then I have to take matters into my own hands,” she said.

“Is there a specific item you’re after?” Blaine asked.

The Duchess nodded. “I hear a lot of people are after it.”

Her words made sense. An unusually large number of high-ranking nobles dressed in fine clothes were entering the auction house.

“I don’t let anyone take what I’m after. I’ll get it and make sure that upstart Grand Duke from the boonies can never open his mouth again.”

When the head of the world’s wealthiest family’s eyes lit up, Blaine felt a bead of sweat trickle down his back.

“Now, let’s go in.”

Blaine followed the Duchess in a hurry.

Support