CH 1.13

“You need to be careful.”

He uttered the words full of worry in a cold tone. Of course, the arms that hugged me were shaking.

But it’s not because I’m heavy, I’m sure I was like a sheet of paper for him. Rather it’s because he doesn’t like it. I quickly removed my hand on his chest and raised my head.

“I’m alright thanks to you. Thank you, Lashin.”

‘Lashin.’

It was a nickname that had not been discussed. He raised his eyebrows when he heard it, but what else can he do? People who have seen the splendid carriage of the Archduke are already sending interesting gazes here and there.

“… Yeah, Nia.”

Titania Oberon. 

It was a fake name given to me. If he had called me Titan, I’m sure everyone would have ended up thinking of a huge giant, so I’m glad he picked Nia which was on the cuter side. I patted his chest a couple of times, a way of complimenting his senses.

And that’s when it happened.

‘Oh, my back’s burning.’

Are they already seething just after seeing this much? Ghastly glares hit the back of my head. To interpret it, it would be something like, ‘What the hell? How dare you touch our Oppa’s chest!’.

But I knew this well…

Of course, being a super fan¹, at first they will feel a wave of unbearable anger toward me who’s standing next to their Oppa, but when they realise that we are an inseparable heavenly couple, they will soon turn into a one plus one fan².

¹(덕질/Deokjil/Super fan: When someone likes something, cares about it, and wanna know everything about it, it’s called Deokjil.)

²(Literally become a fan of a love team/ couple.)

‘Of course, there will still be people who will want to send me a knife, write bloody letters or even kill me…’

‘That’s how much I’ll have to endure for committing the sin of hogging a popular person.’

I stepped into the art store with him. I kept my back straight while receiving all the gazes that were judging and measuring me.

‘She’s amazing.’ 

Meanwhile, Lacius looked at Shay and once again admired her. He already knew that she wasn’t a person who cared about other people’s attention but to genuinely not care about it…

From the moment his carriage left the mansion, three horses were already following him.

Five reporters from newspapers and weekly magazines appeared as soon as they got off as if they had been waiting.

Aside from that, countless women were hiding, as if waiting for the right time to ambush them.  And now, some of them were even pretending to be customers and also entered this huge art store, stealing glances at them.

“Do not worry about it.”

At that time, a small but determined voice directed at him resounded. It was Shay.

Looking down, he saw her handing him 48 colours of paint. 

“Please hold this for me, Lashin.”

She’s talking informally when whispering only to him, but talks elegantly and formally in front of other people.  

She was a perfect noble lady.

‘She must have grown up in a noble family.’

He doesn’t know anything about her past, but Lacius had concluded it to be that way; considering the way she chose expensive painting tools without any qualms, she could not possibly be regarded as a commoner.

“Do you need brushes too?”

“Well, yes. I want to buy a lot at once.”

“Please choose comfortably.”

Lacius deliberately stood behind Shay, pretending to look at the brushes. Fortunately, she was small enough to be covered by his stature.

‘Small.’

That’s what he was thinking. She was tall for a woman but short compared to him who’s 6 and a half feet tall. She’s about 5’6”.

‘She has slender wrists… but she’s strong.’

Because he is a knight, he categorised people who can hold swords as useful. 

Of course, there was no reason for her to learn swordsmanship, but if she tried hard enough, she would be able to handle a rapier* easily.

*(A rapier or Espada ropera is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use and as a military sidearm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.)

“The brushes were sorted meticulously. I love it.”

A delicate wrist. White slender fingers with slightly protruding bones. It would look quite beautiful to hold a brush and draw with that kind of hand.

“Lashin?”

Lacius, who was watching her like that, heard her call belatedly.

And that’s how the accident happened. She turned her body to look up at him and at the same time, Lacius slightly bowed his head to ask what she had said.

“….!”

A soft as a bird feather’s touch fell on Lacius’ cheek. It was near his lips.

Lacius’ blue-grey eyes widened in surprise and the sound of angry gasps made the space tremble.

It was a pose that made people think they kissed.

The god of angles had descended.

At that moment, the audience fell into silence. Anger, fear, and astonishment altogether created a terrible stillness. She was also quite surprised, because she didn’t mean to show a kiss scene this fast.

Oh, how can I fix this?

This went beyond the carefully planned levels 1, 2, and 3 of my project: “Shaking Off Crazy Fans.” Isn’t this at the level of making the metre explode? 

‘T-There won’t be any assassination attempts starting today, right?’

I’m a little nervous, but fortunately, I’ve been good at dealing with crises since I was young. After thinking as hard as I could, I grabbed him by his collar.

Yeah, if I’m going to die anyway, then let’s turn everything upside down and die….!

“Sorry.”

I whispered then pulled Lacius straight to me. Then I pressed my mouth…

On his good-looking lips.

And with overflowing force even added a smacking sound!