CH 32

“Never again shall I play card games with Sig Turas!”

After suffering a crushing defeat, the furious Marquis of Lockheart tossed his cards away.

“That’s right. Those who throw their cards in frustration shouldn’t be playing card games.”

Britia gently teased, causing Crave to shoot her a fierce glance.

“Alright then, let’s quickly do the punishment. But hey, you seem a bit lacking in stamina lately. Can you handle it?”

Crave felt a touch of smugness at her hesitance, knowing that she owed her victory entirely to Sig. He wanted to press down on Britia’s now elevated shoulders, who was soaring to the heavens.

“You know it’s 10 times, right? If you stumble in the middle, you have to start over.”

As he pouted and mumbled with his chin resting on his hand, a thought crossed the Marquis’ mind.

“Tia, you lost to me in the archery contest, remember?”

“What? Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

“You still have two more commands to follow, you know?”

“Hold on, Crave!”

Britia hurriedly protested, but he was firm.

“It’s a command. Change it.”

In an instant, the tables turned. Britia had won the game, yet found herself at the mercy of the punishment without any say in the matter.

“Crave Lockheart, I really hate you!”

Crave chuckled, taunting her, asking why she was attacking him like that.

“Hailey.”

With a sigh, Britia called out to Hailey. Though she spoke to her twin brother in anger, she couldn’t help but feel that it might be better than spending a whole month calling him “oppa” which felt too cutesy and might even lead to her own demise. Fortunately, Hailey was quite a lightweight person, so it wasn’t too bad.

“No, I asked to switch with my darling.”

“What? So you’re going to hug me?”

Crave couldn’t possibly be so generous. Britia gave him a suspicious look, and he just grinned in response.

“No, you’re the one who has to hug me.”

“Why?”

“Because originally, my honey was going to hug me as punishment.”

Britia shook her head firmly, warning him not to lie.

“You know that if you stumble, you have to start from the beginning, right?”

“And how am I supposed to lift you while sitting down?”

“It’s always 10 times.”

Britia’s mouth hung open in protest, and at that moment, Sig, who had been observing quietly, approached her.

“If you can appoint a substitute, can I do it?”

All eyes turned to Sig simultaneously.

“I said you have to hug me 10 times.”

Crave furrowed his brows, looking at the large man approaching him.

“I don’t want to be hugged by some suspicious-looking man like you!”

“We’ll finish quickly.”

“I don’t want to! I don’t want this! It feels like I’m getting dirty!”

Crave resisted Sig’s grasp, but unfortunately, he couldn’t overpower him with strength alone.

“Tia! Switch with me again!”

“What? Switch again? What are you talking about?”

With Sig holding him tightly, Crave managed to extend his arm and grab Britia.

“Let me take the punishment for you!”

In the end, the complicated punishment was postponed, and it was decided that Sig would hug Britia.

“We won, so why is it like this!”

“It’s because of Sig-nim!”

“How is it because of Duke-nim? It’s because of you!”

“I don’t know. I can’t hear you. I don’t know.”

Crave covered his ears with his hands and shook his head.

“Just quickly do the 10 times sitting and standing.”

With Leon, it would have been 100 times or more, but asking Sig to do it!

As Britia hesitated with her lips tightly pressed together, Sig deftly wrapped a blanket around her lower body and swiftly hugged her.

“I’m sorry. We won, but…”

Feeling embarrassed by being hugged by Sig, Britia’s voice became smaller.

“It’s okay.”

Though his tail seemed slightly stiff, he appeared calm and composed, without any visible agitation.

“One~”

Sig hugged Britia and sat down before getting up again, and the Marquis counted the numbers. Just like when he held the cards in his hand, Sig showed no emotions on the surface, but in reality, he was fiercely determined to win.

“Isn’t it heavy for you?”

As Britia asked, her heart pounding, Sig was about to respond when his heart almost jumped out of his chest.

How can he handle it if his heart actually comes out? Despite such foolish concerns, Sig never let those thoughts escape his lips.

How can he express that he feels like he might die because of her?

“It’s okay.”

Watching him, Britia pressed her lips together as she noticed his body becoming warmer and sweat forming on his forehead.

“Sig Turas-nim didn’t have that much strength, right? Or is it because Tia was too heavy?”

Crave asked, looking at Sig, whose face turned red even up to his neck.

“I must have been too heavy.”

Britia replied with a concerned tone, making Sig widen his eyes.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then why is your face so red?”

Knowing Sig’s heart better than he did himself, Crave playfully teased him, although he could easily guess the reason. However, when faced with Britia, he deliberately acted as if he didn’t know.

“Because it’s hot.”

“Oh, is it because Sig-nim, who came from the north, finds the early summer in the capital too hot, making his face turn so red?”

“Yeah, it’s too hot.”

As Britia reached her tenth time and Sig gently set her down on the floor, he responded nonchalantly. Although he had improved from when he was holding her, the areas where he had touched her still felt warm, which was strange.

“Well, then you should hurry back to the cool North.”

“Oh, I was planning to return after my brother’s birthday celebration.”

“Ah.”

Britia couldn’t help but gasp in surprise without even realizing it. Instantly, everyone’s attention turned towards her, making her even more startled.

“Duke-nim.”

She couldn’t come up with any excuses and simply pressed her lips together. Just then, the butler came to her rescue and entered the drawing-room. He held Sig’s neatly folded pants in both hands and handed them to him.

Finally, Sig could escape from the suspicious attire that was hiding something beneath the bed sheet. While he changed, the people of the Lockheart household didn’t exchange a single word. However, the Lockheart couple exchanged glances while looking at the preoccupied Britia.

“The pants smell nice.”

After putting on the pants, Sig remarked. The scent seemed to be that of lavender. It could either be from the lavender-like thing he wore earlier or something the butler did.

“Congratulations on getting scented pants. Thanks to you, the time felt a bit awkward.”

“If you’re free, would you like to have a meal together?”

After finishing their snacks and even playing card games, and since they had dried the pants, Sig was about to say goodbye when the unexpected invitation from Crave caught him off guard. He glanced at Britia surreptitiously.

“How about it, Britia?”

“Huh?”

As Crave inquired, Britia, who had been absentminded, was startled back to her senses.

“Oh, uh, sure. I’d love to.”

Britia raised the corners of her lips. In the end, they started their lunch under the warm sunlight in the garden.

“Britia, is there anything uncomfortable?”

Sig asked Britia, who seemed absentminded and hardly touched her food.

“No, I’m okay.”

Britia’s mind was in turmoil because of the conversation from earlier.

It was only natural for him to return to the North. However, even though she knew that, her heart wavered for a moment.

That conversation, in other words, meant that she wouldn’t see that tail anymore.

“Is there something wrong with my tail?”

Sig asked Britia, looking at her tail with a sad expression.

“Do you want to touch it?”

It would be better to touch the tail before parting, as they wouldn’t have a chance to do so later. However, Britia strangely didn’t feel inclined to do that and shook her head.

“You can touch it if you want.”

“It’s okay.”

Britia declined. If she were to give her heart to the tail she wouldn’t see or touch anymore, parting would become even more difficult.

“Do you dislike it now?”

“What?”

“You said you liked all tails.”

The man’s eyes filled with betrayal were directed at Britia.

“Have you grown tired of mine too?”

Sig placed the fork and knife down on the plate. Suddenly, he couldn’t eat anything.

“You used to be so happy about it, but now your feelings seem to have changed.”

Britia’s lips slightly parted.

“It’s not that I dislike the Marquis’s tail.”

“Then why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not.”

“If you haven’t grown tired of it or dislike it, would you touch it then?”

*Cough.*

The sound of Crave’s cough caught the attention of the two.

“Both of you, don’t forget that we are in the middle of a meal.”

His eyes moved between the two like wooden blocks.

“Don’t make such awkward remarks about touching during the meal.”

“…I apologize. I let my emotions get the best of me.”

“Yeah, you tend to do that. It’s not just during the games.”

Lord Lockheart lightly chuckled as he used his fork to pick at the grilled onions.

“The same goes for you, Tia. Why are you so infatuated with tails but avoiding Sig’s?”

“When have I ever been infatuated?”

“You seem to enjoy them, yet you say you don’t like mine.”

As Sig uttered a bitter remark, Lord Rockheart raised both hands.

“Tia, you were in the wrong. Apologize.”

“What did I do?”

Though feeling unjustly accused, Britia’s gaze fell upon his deflated tail.

“Thank you for treating us to this meal today.”

Saying so, Sig got up from his seat.

“What? Are you leaving?”

Crave was surprised at Sig, but then noticing his dark expression, he turned to Britia and spoke.

“Tia, what’s going on? He’s your guest. You should see him off.”

“No, it’s okay. We haven’t finished the meal, there’s no need for that.”

The eyes of Crave and his wife turned towards Britia. She knew they were silently criticizing her.

“I appreciated you both for accompanying me in searching for my favorite tea.”

As he bid them farewell, his tail remained motionless, no longer flickering like before.

It was only now that Britia realized she had no reason to have tea with him in the future.

The purpose of these tea gatherings had been to search for lavender tea, and they had achieved that today. Therefore, this seemed like their final meeting.

Final? Was it truly the end? As the indecisive Britia’s foot was tapped by Crave under the table.

“Are you really going to leave like this?”

Though feeling unjustly accused by Crave’s scolding, Britia tightly closed her eyes and rose from her seat.

“Duke-nim!”

Sig’s footsteps were so quick that even though she chased after him immediately, Britia had to run almost breathlessly. Just before he was about to board the carriage, Britia successfully called out to him, struggling to swallow her emotions.

“About touching the tail, you said it was okay, right?”

Her heart pounded. If this was truly the last chance, now was the only opportunity.

“Not just touching, but can I hug it tightly, just once?”