Chapter 27: A Forest without Scent.

Afterward, the Duke ate the stew with much more relaxed movements. Eating stew from a tray on the floor with his upper body straight was admirable.

When I did it in the army, it looked exactly like punishment, but the Duke was simply elegant.

“I will reduce the amount of condensed milk next time.”

Seeing the cleanly emptied tray, I thought there was no need to maintain a sweetness level that was burdensome to drink.

When I looked up to check the Duke’s expression, I chuckled.

It was clearly written on the Duke’s face that he liked my suggestion.

“Shall I add cinnamon powder too? It might neutralize the sweetness a bit.”

“Good.”

The Duke nodding his head was enough to deepen my smile.

He soon squinted slightly.

“It was childish grumbling.”

Does the Duke know that using a distant expression as if talking about a third party makes him look even cuter?

He seemed to know. As if the word ‘cute’ was written on my face.

He looked at me and sighed.

“A real child would ask to take out the coffee. And hate cinnamon powder too.”

At my soothing words, the Duke scrunched his nose and turned the arrow toward me.

“What about you?”

“Pardon?”

“Food you are reluctant to eat… Sorry, that was my mistake.”

Certainly, the Duke wasn’t a child.

He was a noble who understood that a servant brought from the back alleys wasn’t in a position to be picky about food.

However, even without memories as Han Jay, wouldn’t I know my preferences by now?

The meals in this mansion weren’t bad. No, they were definitely good.

“I don’t particularly avoid any food ingredients. I eat sweet things well, and bitter things too.”

“Hmm…”

His gaze touched the cup with condensed milk at the bottom on the floor. I cleared that cup off the tray.

“However, food with a lot of spices is a bit hard to eat.”

More pity was added to the Duke’s eyes looking at me.

Because spices here are a measure of wealth.

The Duke prefers plain food, but spices are never missing.

The food left over from his table was a privilege that returned to the butler and me.

Sharing it with other servants was out of the question, and generally my tongue was enjoying luxury, but I had to force myself to eat some dishes.

But this was the same when I was Han Jay, who grew up affluent.

One of my worries when considering studying abroad was the spices in local food.

“I like pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Though cloves and anise are tough.”

“You seem weak to sweet things too?”

If pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg are characterized by a pungent taste, cloves and anise are on the sweet side.

A subtle expectation was in the Duke’s eyes, but I shook my head firmly.

“I like sugar.”

“Oh dear.”

Since he was genuinely pitiful, I felt like teasing him a bit more. Although it was disqualifying as a servant.

“I also like octopus, squid, and eel.”

The Duke frowned again, his brow barely smoothed.

Although he tried not to show a miserable expression, it was clear he pitied me.

Since the reaction was much deeper than expected, I hurried to add the rest.

“Octopus and squid are delicious if boiled slightly so they aren’t tough. Dried and torn ones are also tasty. It might smell a bit nasty to those not used to it, but to me, it was much better than some spices… Uh, eel is delicious if deboned well and grilled…”

Since the Duke didn’t show much interest in religion, I thought he wouldn’t show reactions like the fishing village people who believed in superstitions, saying scaleless fish are unholy or things caught in nets were driven out of their territory by the Sea God’s anger.

No, although his reaction was clearly different from theirs who were disgusted, the Duke’s distorted expression was enough to stop me from explaining.

“…Later.”

His voice was locked low. As if enduring something.

“Let’s eat together.”

“No, that’s.”

“Definitely.”

The Duke urged me with his eyes.

“Yes, if there’s a chance.”

I talked about an uncertain future with appropriate words. To soothe him.

Still, I thought there would be no occasion to eat things clearly more disgusting than mere poor people’s food with the Duke.

“It’s a promise.”

But the Duke spoke of a confirmed future. I had no choice but to give an ambiguous smile.

Silence replaced the conversation once it ended. I turned my head. I felt awkward. Probably because his attitude was overly serious.

The gems scattered after serving their purpose caught my eye. While the King’s necklace used a top-grade diamond of 20 carats as the main stone, the Duke’s magic circle centered on a ruby. One that easily exceeded 30 carats at a glance.

“It doesn’t seem to be from the Rubrum Mine.”

“Unfortunately for Count Umbra, a giant stone of that size has never come out of his mine.”

At the immediate answer, I nodded unconsciously.

Count Umbra’s red mine boasting massive ruby output. Although it’s Rubrum Mine, surprisingly, famous giant stones have never come out. I heard famous rubies are from Petan, which should be called Henia’s enemy nation now. Even the ruby embedded in the King’s crown, called the ‘King’s Heart.’

“May I touch it?”

“Sure.”

At the ready permission, I approached the blackened ruby.

The fact that the ruby representing fire attribute confines the Duke’s pheromones, which smell of forest, approached meaningfully. I reached out as if drawn.

“Wait, Jay!”

The Duke stopped me urgently. As if foreshadowing something.

But just before his restraint, my hand had already touched the ruby.

What color did this ruby originally have? Before contamination, wouldn’t it have been a vivid Pigeon Blood? Like the color of the Duke’s eyes when using pheromones.

Thinking I want to see that beautiful appearance.

Something tried to rush into me. It was an unfamiliar yet familiar feeling.

It was mana.

It had a much stickier and heavier texture than when doing mana breathing, but it was definitely mana.

The moment I realized the identity of the energy, I suddenly got scared. Instinctively feeling repulsion, I tried to push it away, but the mana trying to permeate me felt like it was begging.

Where was the origin of this mana? I recalled with a feeling hazy as if excited.

Right. This was made with the Duke’s magical power. To confine his pheromones.

Remembering the source of mana, I simultaneously saw the Duke’s face looking at me with worried eyes. At that moment, I felt relieved.

The mana obtaining my permission rushed in like a tide. It was an amount far greater than what I originally possessed. From toes to hair tips, mana seemed to fill every corner of my body.

“Jay!”

My ears were muffled. My name echoed very slowly and dully. I saw worry, concern, and astonishment appearing sequentially on the Duke’s face. Time seemed to slow down.

Ah, it’s red again. A color coming in clearly even in blurred vision. The Duke’s eyes, red like blood, shone bewitchingly. Like the ruby in my hand.

My eyes were about to close. It was regrettable that my vision was being blocked. In deep regret, I struggled to open my eyes again, but my body didn’t move according to my will. Eyelids fell down, covering the red light.

“Jay—.”

The voice calling my name sounded faint. Also the hands holding my collapsing body firmly.

The thought crossed my mind that I still hadn’t asked his name. The name marked only by initials even on documents.

I heard the sound of a heart beating. It was the heartbeat of the Duke hugging me. The warmth wrapping my cooling body was also the Duke’s.

Did he say it smells like a forest? Soil smell and moss smell too.

It was regrettable that I couldn’t smell his pheromones.

Eventually, I won’t be able to know. His scent.

I let go of my thoughts just like that. The fading red light disappeared completely.

****

I was lying in the middle of a forest.

Dew-covered leaves, wet bark, piled up humus, low-lying fog. Densely towering trees cast deep shadows and surrounded me, but strangely, I wasn’t scared. I didn’t feel like I would get lost either.

Fog rising from the ground wet the forest, and I, too, got wet with those murky water droplets. Somehow, my heart felt at ease.

Only when water droplets gathered in my palm did I realize. That this forest was the Duke’s pheromones themselves. I couldn’t smell the forest. Neither the wet soil smell nor the scent of fallen leaves.

Water droplets became a small stream flowing between my fingers. The water rose gradually and swallowed me. No, it felt like I fell into the water. Into a deep, deep lake.

I suddenly got scared. Even while realizing it wasn’t reality, I swam urgently. How desperately did I push away the all-blue water? I could finally rise above the surface.

Strong sunlight, which couldn’t be seen in the forest, welcomed me. Only then, feeling relieved, I looked around. In the distance, there was a forest surrounding the lake.

Before I knew it, I was standing by the lake. My soaked body was drying under the hot sunlight. My steps trying to return to the trees stretching so high their height couldn’t be gauged were blocked by low shrubs.

The shrubs, which I thought were just grass, had small flower buds on them. There were countless flower buds, but not a single one was blooming.

I bent down and put my nose on the flower bud. But as expected, I couldn’t smell any scent. Not even a flower scent, not even the faint grass smell. The bud that failed to bloom clearly showed my limitations.