CH 29.1

“!”

Surprised, Cherryl put her hand at her nape and looked back at Cade.

He was staring at her with his upper body tilted after biting her neck.

“Did you just kiss me on the neck, Your Grace?”

“It’s a sign of my affection.”

Suppressing her giggles, Cherryl pouted at the brazen response.

“Can’t you just give me a heads-up? It’s the same as before but it still surprised me.”

“You didn’t look at me.”

“I was busy thinking about something. Will you kiss me every time  you want, Your Grace?”

“Can’t I do it? We’re getting married soon.”

If he did this before their wedding, what else would he do without her permission afterward?

Cade leaned his cheek slightly over Cherryl’s shoulder, making her speechless.

His gestures were so natural despite pushing her boundaries however he deemed fit.

For a moment, she felt butterflies in her stomach when she laid eyes on the tall and large-built man secretly hitting on her.

A strange impulse captivated her to touch his smooth hair grazing against her skin.

“I have a present for you, Lady Cherryl.” Cade drawled as if in a good mood.

At the word ‘gift’, Cherryl’s eyes widened in anticipation.

“Me? Really?”

“You will like it. Do you want to come to my bedroom later?”

“Is my present in your bedroom?”

If one listened carefully, one would notice the slight tension in Cherryl’s voice.

Hearing the tremors at once, Cade raised the corners of his mouth.

Her bright smiles were nice to witness but he kept wanting to catch her off guard.

The flush on her cheeks was subtly addictive to watch.

Strangely enough, Cade was pleased with his nasty kink.

Not really. The gift will arrive late at night, but I want to stay with you until then.”

“Ah.”

“We can talk for a while as we wait. Can’t you?”

His conciliatory tone seemed to have a ‘double entendre’ attached to it.

After blinking for a while, Cherryl nodded.

“Alright. We can return together after Cole’s Coming-Of-Age Ceremony.”

“I want to be alone with you as soon as possible.”

“Oh, it’s… it’s a little… Everyone is watching us, so don’t get too close.”

“So it’s alright if it’s just the two of us?”

Pulling Cherryl into his arms, he kissed her briefly on her round forehead.

Wasn’t this contradictory to do if both of them were alone instead of having everyone else around.

Surprised, Cherryl elbowed him away and changed the subject.

“What is this gift like? I wonder what it is.”

“You can see it for yourself later. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Give me a hint.”

“It’s a gift Lecter would like.”

What’s that?

Cherryl tilted her chin.

Despite the hint, she still had no clue what it was.

She initially assumed it was a bouquet or an item a woman would wear, but that would never be the case if Lecter liked it as well.

Uh.

No way!

Maybe——

Cherryl cast Cade a wide-eyed glance.

She wanted to keep her expectations low so she’d rather think that Cade would be the original recipient of this gift.

Suddenly, Lecter jumped out of his seat, strode down the stairs, and stood in front of the podium with a grim countenance.

“I can’t just finish Cole’s Coming-Of-Age Ceremony with such a boring ending. After all, isn’t fighting each other the best part of this event?”

“Right. A proper Coming-Of-Age Ceremony must have several people injured.”

At some point, Cole, who took Lecter’s place after he sat back down, raised his fist in excitement.

The other men stamped their feet with great sympathy.

“Who do you want to fight with?”

Axel, who was eating beef jerky, asked without thought.

Upon seeing him, Lecter revealed his canines.

“You—-You, bastard!”

Axel stopped chewing from the sudden informal speech, abusive language, and the challenge for a duel.

His eyebrows, which had always been furrowed in mischief, were drawn together as if he was prepared for violence.

“I want to beat you up for teasing and playing around with me all the damn time!” Lecter added with a cold smile.

Axel spat the beef jerky to the side and raised himself up.

“This punk! Where did you get the audacity to tell me that?”

“How dare you have the audacity to release a rattlesnake in my bed yesterday? Come down. I’ll break your fingers one by one.”

“As if you could do that.”

Axel strode down the stairs as the subsiding tension in the atmosphere heightened even more.

Cherryl thought she should stop them but their fierce gazes were too interesting to pass up.

She sat down, anticipating what would happen next.

She heard that these two, who were the youngest of Cade’s subordinates, often fought due to their small age gap.

Rather than considering this as both parties’ fault, it just got to a point that Lecter had had enough of Axel’s antics.

The surroundings quickly turned loud and noisy due to the unexpected yet thrilling sight.

“I’ve been waiting for this day——”

The fighting began as soon as Axel came down the platform.

“——a day when I can beat you up without a reason!”

Lecter attempted to kick Axel in the face at a  tremendous speed.

Alarmed, Axel hurriedly turned to the side and avoided it.