Chapter 38

Chapter 38

My stomach, which had been asking for something to digest for a while, had long calmed down. My exhausted mind was gradually giving up on rational thinking.

‘Did Lennox intentionally tell these people not to feed me?’

He might have been pissed that I tried to hide Ash’s identity and now he was trying to get revenge on me. Considering the temper of the handsome man, that was most likely so.

“Olivia, are you done yet?”

It was then that the voice of the criminal who caused this situation was heard.

I felt exhausted, like a dog stretched out in the yard of a country house in the middle of summer.

‘What do you think I’m doing…!’

I wanted to chase him out, but my survival instinct was ahead of him.

‘Now is the only chance to escape from here.’

Instinctively, I realized that he was my way out. Now that Lennox had come, it was a great opportunity to escape the clutches of the hideous boutique craftsmen.

“Oh, Lennox!” I shouted hastily, half-dressed beyond the partition. “Is it time already?”

I continued speaking in the same breath.

“Come to think of it, you said you had an important schedule tonight, right? Oh, my. I was so busy that I forgot about it.”

It was fortunate that I couldn’t see Lennox’s face at all thanks to a series of partitions higher than my height. If I had talked to him face to face, I wouldn’t have acted so brazenly.

He was faster than a nine-tailed fox. There was no way he wouldn’t have noticed my desperate need to get out of here. That was not the problem…

‘You’re not going to pretend you don’t know, right?’

Sure enough, Lennox’s blasphemous murmurs flowed over the partition.

“It is an important schedule…” He sounded like he was laughing. I took the initiative quickly.

“I’ll finish up soon, so please wait a little bit!”

If he left first, I wouldn’t forgive him.

Swallowing those words, I turned to the boutique craftsmen. They were just getting ready to put on a new dress for me when they heard our conversation and looked embarrassed. I tried to press down on the corners of my mouth, which were about to soar up, and looked as sorry as I could.

“As you may have heard, I have a very important appointment.”

I could get an award for ‘best actress’.

“I tried my best to consider your preparation and hard work, but this is what happened. You’ll forgive me, won’t you?”

The response was how I expected it to go.

“No, it’s not like that!”

“We’ve been very grateful to you for following our instructions.”

“It’s enough that you have tried on our designs. I’ve written them down.”

“You’ll definitely fall in love with the dress we’ll make. You have our word.”

A determined resolution came into their eyes. Should I say that it was an artist’s unique aura?

I smiled and nodded as nonchalantly as I could.

***

“Lennox!”

As soon as I changed into an indoor dress, I opened the partition and called him back. The appearance of this man was strangely on time, but it was the first time that I was so glad to see him.

“I didn’t keep you waiting long, did I?”

I approached him with a smile. He saw through my blatant lie, but he did a good job of going along with me.

“I had no time to be bored because I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“When did I make such a promise that I didn’t even-”

“Oh, Lennox! It’s so touching! You came to pick me up in person!”

I shouted exaggeratedly. It was purely for the purpose of stopping Lennox’s evil mouth. One of his straight eyebrows, interrupted by my nonsense, lifted up. Then, his smooth lips slowly melted into a smirk. His red eyes turned towards the craftsmen, who were just packing their bags.

“Come on!” I snapped my fingers at Lennox.

My unexpected behavior caused him to narrow his eyes but he pretended not to see me.

Humans could do anything for their survival. Now, I was on the verge of dying of hunger with muscle pain flooding all over my body, so I was very desperate. Even if it was empty words, I voluntarily folded my arms with my husband.

“What are you doing? Let’s go!”

I pulled Lennox’s unmoving arm with all my strength. He was looking down at me like a cat observing the situation, but then he stepped with a meaningful smile.

It was obvious that he was walking slowly on purpose.

‘I hate you so much.’

As soon as I left the room and got out of the eyes of others, I looked at Lennox. The smile on his lips became prominent. I put my hands on my waist as I questioned him.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“All of it!”

“Well, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lennox answered back casually. He even shrugged his shoulders as if he knew nothing.

“I wanted you to wear a pretty wedding dress. Did you not like any of it?”

“The dress isn’t the problem! Do you know how hard it was? I didn’t have a moment to rest.”

“Oh, no,” He looked pitiful as I rambled on in anger. “You must have had a hard time.”

“I wasn’t allowed to eat anything, and my heels were so tall, and I couldn’t breathe in those tight dresses…”

I was going to ask Lennox if it was intentional, but gradually, my words turned into complaints.

“I’m so exhausted that I can hardly walk.”

“That’s a problem. You can’t have a wedding safely if you’re not healthy.” It was then that Lennox, who looked worried, wrapped one of his arms around my waist.

“Kya…!”

Meanwhile, his other arm slipped behind my knees. And thus, he lifted me in a bridal style.

“Your Grace!”

“It’s Lennox. You were calling me by it perfectly fine before, and now ‘Your Grace’? Again?”

“That…”

The sense of this man, which was unnecessarily sharp, was admirable at this point. Being at a disadvantage, I quickly changed the subject.

“You won’t let me off if I tell you to, will you?”

“You should know better.”

“Don’t your arms hurt? I’m pretty heavy.”

“Are you?” Smiling, he suddenly uttered an eerie remark. “You said you had a hard time, but you feel lighter. How do you think I should punish those who overworked you?”

“Pardon?”

“Shall we lock them up in prison and keep them out of the sun forever? Now that your status is equivalent to the Imperial family’s, you have the right to punish people of status similar to the Imperial Family’s.”

“No, what are you…” My mouth gaped in astonishment.

So now this man was going to punish craftsmen who were only guilty of hard work. The person who caused this situation was Lennox himself!

“Oh, I didn’t know they gave you such a hard time. Would that be enough reason to ruin this useless boutique?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I shouted in a hundred decibels to the man who casually said scary things.

“They just did what they had to do. I can’t believe you’re going to punish them for doing what they’re supposed to do. Where did you sell your conscience?”

“Why would I need that?” he asked back confidently. I felt the terrible arrogance of the ‘had never bowed to anyone and had always lived with people under their feet’ aura from him.

“Anyway, don’t do anything. It wasn’t the craftsmen’s fault.”

“Isn’t it the fault of those who didn’t even understand their client’s condition?”

“Isn’t it your fault that you asked for a perfect dress?”

“Not at all. I don’t know why you’re covering up their incompetence like this.”

“I’m not covering up anything, this is common sense. I’m telling you-”

“I don’t think it’ll be enough for me to ruin their work. I’m going to have to order for them to be captured.”

“Lennox!” I couldn’t help but shout. But he grinned with satisfaction, rather than anger.

“It’s nice to hear. Say it again.”

“What?”

“Do you not know? If I feel better, I might change my mind.”

‘Wait, this…’

Did you protest until now because I called you ‘Your Grace’? When I looked at him with a doubt, the bright red eyes I encountered bent like a crescent moon.

“Whatever you’re thinking, perhaps it is true.”

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