ITIF Chapter 94

Just a Little More

Whatever the reason she held such thoughts, it didn’t really matter.

It even seemed acceptable for her to criticize him as a bad bastard out loud, not just in her thoughts.

More importantly, he didn’t dislike that slightly sulky yet bashful expression of hers.

With one eyebrow raised, Kavelaseth stared intently at Giselle Grante.

‘Far from disliking it, it’s rather… how should I put it……’

A wicked thought suddenly arose.

Watching Giselle Grante’s innocent-looking face, oblivious to what he was thinking, a snicker escaped him.

At his reaction, Giselle Grante blinked for a moment with a question mark on her face, then her brow furrowed slightly.

“You just insulted me in your head, didn’t you?”

“Do you really think so?”

At his amused tone, Giselle Grante’s brow furrowed even more as if she was indignant.

As if certain, Giselle Grante raised her voice slightly and glared at him again.

“I can tell by your eyes. You were badmouthing me in your head just now.”

Without much thought, Kavelaseth leaned toward her.

“……?”

And he pressed his lips against Giselle Grante’s lips, which had been chattering away just moments ago.

“……!”

Her pupils dilated greatly, as if quite startled by his sudden kiss.

‘Perhaps I’ve wanted to do this from the moment we were alone in the carriage.’

Having reached that conclusion, Kavelaseth greedily explored Giselle Grante’s soft and moist lips.

He had no intention of lightly touching lips and pulling away as before.

As the kiss deepened, Giselle Grante’s large eyes narrowed slightly.

Watching the blue irises in those narrowed eyes shake with confusion, Kavelaseth leaned more of his weight toward her.

Giselle Grante urgently placed her hand on Kavelaseth’s chest and pushed him away slightly.

Only then did Kavelaseth separate their joined lips and examined Giselle Grante’s expression.

“……Did you dislike it?”

Kavelaseth asked carefully, and Giselle Grante shook her head slightly.

“Then?”

Kavelaseth’s gaze was intense, asking what the reason for her refusal was.

Giselle Grante looked at his lips glistening with saliva and murmured softly.

“It’s not that…….”

Throughout the kiss, her spine tingled and her solar plexus tickled.

That strange and peculiar sensation wasn’t unpleasant, which was why she hadn’t rejected Kavelaseth either.

But until now, she had never liked anyone, nor did she have any dating experience to speak of.

Her first deep kiss was far too much stimulation for her.

At his gaze that seemed to urge her to speak quickly, Giselle Grante took a deep breath before opening her mouth again.

“……I, I couldn’t breathe.”

Kavelaseth blinked slowly with a defenseless expression, as if caught off guard.

Her answer seemed to be far beyond his expectations.

And such an expression from Kavelaseth, which was rarely seen, was enough to capture Giselle Grante’s attention.

He was always indifferent to worldly affairs, detached yet simultaneously arrogant-looking.

Such a raw expression from him stirred Giselle Grante’s curiosity.

“Just a little more, can we…… continue?”

With her cheeks flushed red, Giselle Grante looked at Kavelaseth and said this.

Kavelaseth’s black pupils dilated slightly, then his eyes curved into an elegant arc.

“Breathe through your nose. This time it will be longer.”

Even after hearing the coachman’s voice announcing they had arrived at their destination, Kavelaseth didn’t release Giselle Grante for quite some time.

****

Count Frederick, who had arrived a bit early at the meeting place he had arranged with Giselle Grante, kept kicking the innocent ground with the toe of his shoe.

It was an unconscious action to calm his anxious heart.

How much time had passed like that?

A carriage stopped not far from where he was standing.

The carriage bore the crest of the Cardia ducal house.

‘So the rumor that she’s staying at the Cardia ducal residence before the wedding was true after all.’

Count Frederick glared at the carriage.

Contrary to his expectation that Giselle Grante would soon emerge from that carriage, the carriage door wouldn’t open at all.

“……?”

Puzzled, Count Frederick approached the carriage.

And he asked the coachman.

“Who is inside?”

“Duke Cardia and Lady Amaterasu.”

The moment he heard those words, it felt as if his solar plexus was suffocatingly tight.

Without thinking, Count Frederick knocked on the carriage door, following the emotion that surged up.

“My lady, my lady?”

“…….”

But there was no answer.

Count Frederick knocked more forcefully on the carriage door and raised his voice.

“Aren’t you coming out? If something has happened…….”

When Count Frederick got that far, the carriage door burst open.

He nearly collided with the carriage door because of it, but Count Frederick demonstrated excellent reflexes and stepped aside.

And soon he faced Kavelaseth, whose straight brow was creased.

Without even trying to hide his displeasure, Count Frederick glared at Kavelaseth and said.

“I hadn’t anticipated that the lady would have a companion?”

“What a coincidence that you have the same thought as me, Count Frederick.”

Count Frederick’s eyebrow rose at a crooked angle.

At his gaze asking what that meant, Kavelaseth continued.

“Because I just had the same thought as the Count. I hadn’t anticipated that the person my fiancée came to meet would be a man.”

It was the moment Count Frederick was about to express his deepening displeasure.

A white hand extending from behind Kavelaseth tapped his shoulder.

“I want to get out, so could you move aside?”

With an expressionless face, Kavelaseth briefly turned back to look at Giselle Grante, then soon descended from the carriage.

And he escorted Giselle Grante as she got out of the carriage.

Watching this, Count Frederick clicked his tongue.

The thought that they were truly a well-matched pair lasted only a moment.

‘It’s probably just a fake marriage for the union between families anyway.’

Count Frederick knew well the nature of nobles.

And Duke Cardia was particularly calculating among them.

So the two’s engagement was clearly without any emotional entanglement.

However, thinking that didn’t improve his thoroughly uncomfortable mood.

Count Frederick glanced at Giselle Grante and then turned his gaze toward Kavelaseth.

Though he seemed no different from usual at first glance, he could clearly feel that Kavelaseth was displeased.

The proof was that the aura he was emitting was quite ominous.

At Kavelaseth’s gaze looking at him with arms crossed, Count Frederick was inwardly flustered.

All the more so because he had never easily been intimidated in front of men.

But unable to show weakness, Count Frederick deliberately cleared his throat threateningly and spoke curtly.

“You’re quite late?”

****

Kavelaseth, who had been staring beyond the carriage window, slowly ran his thumb over his lower lip.

Soon the image of Giselle Grante’s delectable lips, slightly swollen after their deep kiss, came to mind.

His body, which had cooled for just a moment, began to heat up again.

Kavelaseth quickly shook his head to shake off the thought that had arisen.

The next destination was just ahead.

If he got out of the carriage like this and walked the streets, scandalous rumors would surely spread throughout high society by tomorrow.

Though it would be difficult to easily calm his heated body once warmed.

Kavelaseth diverted his attention by reviewing his earlier conversation with Giselle Grante.

‘How curious indeed.’

They got along so well it seemed almost impossible.

Her way of handling it when their opinions differed was also quite excellent.

It was a better choice than immediately criticizing or ignoring the other’s opinion.

While it was enjoyable throughout the conversation thanks to their good communication, what he liked most was her attitude of respecting the other person.

‘It was quite a fruitful exchange.’

His lips, which had curved up satisfyingly while reflecting on his conversation with Giselle Grante, pressed into a straight line when he recalled the timing of Count Frederick’s appearance.

He could read hostility in his sullen attitude and wary gaze.

His only interaction with Count Frederick had been brief greetings at secretly held social gatherings.

The reaction earlier was somewhat excessive.

What was certain was that Kavelaseth also felt an inexplicable displeasure toward Count Frederick.

Even while thinking about the cause, the deep kiss with Giselle Grante kept intruding.

‘Why am I being like this?’

Kavelaseth began contemplating his recent psychological state, unable to concentrate on anything and busy floating around like a drifting cloud.

****

At the time when Kavelaseth’s mind was filled with thoughts of Giselle Grante.

Giselle Grante was likewise unable to concentrate on her conversation with Count Frederick and was thinking of Kavelaseth instead.

‘Why did I do that?’

As she recalled what had happened in the carriage just before, Giselle Grante’s brow furrowed.

She hadn’t realized it when swept up in the momentary impulse, but now she was suddenly aware.

The fact that she had committed a bold act with Kavelaseth!

As she reflected on that fact, her cheeks heated up.

It was when she was cooling her flushed cheeks with the back of her hand and lowering her gaze to her feet.

“……My lady, my lady? Are you listening to me right now?”

At Count Frederick’s somewhat irritated and sullen voice, Giselle Grante hastily raised her gaze to look at him.

And said confidently.

“Of course. I heard everything. Where did you leave off?”

Watching her brazen reaction, Count Frederick let out a hollow laugh.