Chapter 8: A Gift Between Enemies

Before returning to the mansion, I stopped by a dessert shop for a moment.

It wasn’t the shop where I had run into Mikeron last time.

It was my first time visiting this shop, but the taste here was quite good too.

I popped a piece of cake into my mouth.

As I ate the sweets, my mood, which had been dampened because of Count Export, improved slightly.

My trembling fingertips also regained their stability.

‘By the way, how am I supposed to hand that over?’

I sank into thought while staring at the jewelry case.

I had only thought about giving a gift, but hadn’t actually considered how to deliver it.

‘Should I just have a servant deliver it roughly?’

But sending a gift on its own felt even less sincere than doing nothing at all.

And I absolutely hated the idea of making an appointment just to hand this over and having to see his face for a prolonged time.

As I mulled it over repeatedly, I began to wonder why on earth I was stressing over this.

A sudden wave of irritation washed over me, and I stabbed the cake forcefully with my fork.

“Is that brooch a gift you bought for someone?”

The servant standing behind me asked.

I mumbled an evasive reply.

“Just, well.”

Letting out a slow breath, I turned my gaze toward the window.

Unlike the morning, the street at lunchtime was crowded with many people coming and going.

While watching the crowd and putting more cake in my mouth, extremely familiar faces caught my eye out of all those people.

I grimaced and hastily turned my head away from the window.

‘Why on earth are Mikeron and Mariel here again?’

‘I’m not even stalking Mariel anymore.’

Even if it was a coincidence, this was a bit too much of a coincidence.

Was this a trial sent by God, telling me to repent?

To prevent a suffocating encounter with them beforehand, I quickly got up from my seat and grabbed the gift I had placed on the table.

In that moment, a sudden thought flashed through my mind.

‘Since it turned out like this anyway, couldn’t I just hand him the gift here?’

‘Couldn’t I just give it to him and walk away without looking back?’

It was a fairly plausible idea.

Since I couldn’t show my face to Mariel, it seemed best to hand it over while Mariel temporarily stepped away.

***

Inside the carriage, I watched Mikeron and Mariel, waiting solely for the moment the two of them parted.

‘I’ll seize that gap to give him the gift and return immediately.’

I finished visualizing the plan several times, organizing it carefully in my head.

However, because Mariel remained stuck right by Mikeron’s side, I couldn’t approach them at all.

It was rather amusing.

Before my regression, I couldn’t get close to Mariel because Mikeron was guarding his side, but now it was the exact opposite.

But even so, I couldn’t just boldly appear before Mariel’s eyes.

Because he would be afraid of me.

In the end, I kept watching them, praying only for Mikeron to separate from Mariel.

“Count, wouldn’t it be better to head back now? I think the butler will be worried… and, well, you should also show your face to the doctor.”

The servant warily watched my expression and poured out his concerns.

Half-listening to his words, I narrowed my eyes.

Just then, I saw Mikeron, who had entered a shop, coming back outside alone, leaving Mariel behind.

He was finally alone.

Though it was puzzling why he left Mariel behind, this was undeniably a golden opportunity.

I quickly stepped out of the carriage.

“C-Count!?”

The servant hurried after me as I suddenly dashed out.

‘Hand over the gift, say hello, and flee just like that.’

I only thought of those three things in my head.

Prolonging the time I had to look at his face was unacceptable.

Since I had visualized it multiple times inside the carriage, I could definitely pull it off.

As I was walking gently toward him, the direction Mikeron was walking in was strange.

He was looking straight in my direction, marching over toward me with long strides.

In that moment, I realized I had made a massive mistake.

I had simply lacked any consciousness of stalking them, but as a result, I had ended up stalking them.

My brain began to predict the immediate future.

‘Will he grab me by the collar?’

‘He’ll probably glare at me fiercely and yell.’

Mikeron approached and reached his hand out to me.

Thinking I would truly be seized, I closed my eyes tightly, but then I felt the grip of hands on both of my forearms.

Realizing he hadn’t grabbed me by the collar, I slowly slid my eyes open.

I saw him standing there with his head slightly lowered.

While I stared blankly at the back of his platinum-blonde head, he lifted his gaze.

“Count, did you not promise on your honor that you would no longer engage in stalking?”

An inexplicable sorrow could be felt from his angry face.

A sorrow as if pleading with me to please stop.

He was distorting his angry face in a complex, subtle way.

Seeing that, the expression Mikeron had worn right before killing me flashed past my mind.

‘He was wearing that kind of expression back then too.’

I cried out in annoyance.

“Let go of me!”

When I shook my arms violently to fling off his hands, Mikeron let go of my forearms in surprise.

As I stumbled from the sudden recoil, he even reached out to steady me.

Though his expression still looked furious, of course.

“Have you come to stalk Mariel after all? Truly remarkable persistence. Since you were quiet lately, I had begun to trust you a little…”

He was completely barking up the wrong tree.

If one had to be precise, I was stalking Mikeron, not Mariel.

No, I hadn’t intentionally stalked him in the first place, but…

Sick of the situation turning out this way, I ruffled my hair in frustration.

“And what happened to your face…”

Mikeron’s face distorted strangely.

Gently covering my swollen cheek, I quickly explained to clear up the injustice.

“You probably won’t believe me, but it’s really not like that. I wasn’t stalking Baron Mariel.”

“Then why did you keep trailing behind us? If that’s not stalking, then explain what it is.”

Mikeron briefly withdrew his suspicious gaze and quietly looked down at me.

The moment he gave me room to explain myself, I felt as if my breath had caught.

I had thought that in a situation like this, he wouldn’t listen to anything I said.

Mikeron seemed to intend to listen and judge, waiting solely for my reply.

An strange, indefinable sensation stabbed my chest for an instant.

But I couldn’t remain lost in thought for long.

Because I had to answer him right this second.

‘Ah, I hadn’t originally intended to give it to him like this.’

My plan had been completely ruined due to a critical mistake.

But it was too late for regrets.

I let out a deep sigh, reached inside my clothes, and tossed the gift over to Mikeron.

Mikeron stared blankly at me, who was suddenly handing over a small box when asked for an explanation.

I spoke up bluntly.

“I was biding my time to give you this.”

“What?”

“Ah, damn it. I was going to just have a servant deliver the gift, but then I felt I should hand it over in person… I was biding my time to quickly give it to you and leave.”

It was clearly a gift prepared to express my gratitude, but talking about it only added to my irritation.

‘If I knew it would be like this, I should have just had someone deliver it to the Duke’s estate.’

Giving it insincerely would have been better.

“…”

Mikeron shut his mouth, stared intently at the case, and then turned his gaze back to me.

“Does it contain a hazardous substance…”

“Ah, fine. Just go ahead and throw it away.”

Why on earth did I go through all this trouble just to give him a gift?

I tried to snatch the jewelry case back from his hands and toss it into the fountain, but Mikeron blocked me by lifting the hand holding the case high.

‘Is he bragging about being taller than me right now?’

Since I couldn’t put strain on my ankle, it was difficult to even stand on my tiptoes.

Frowning as I looked up at him, Mikeron smiled with a much more relaxed face.

‘What… He knows how to smile like that?’

Because it was my first time seeing him smile like that, my heart fluttered.

Only a tiny bit, of course.

“I am truly sorry for doubting you. I naturally assumed you had come to stalk Mariel.”

“No, there is no need to go out of your way to apologize. Honestly, I don’t feel anything about it.”

Since I had never once expected Mikeron to believe me, I wasn’t hurt or disappointed.

I was just annoyed by the situation turning out this way.

“In the future, I will absolutely never jump to conclusions and will listen to what you have to say first. I promise on my honor.”

What kind of person would try to listen to my words seriously in a situation like the one just now?

If I were Mikeron, I wouldn’t have even listened to an excuse.

Because it wasn’t worth listening to.

I had no choice but to admit, even reluctantly, that Mikeron Leilight was a better guy than I thought.

Pouting my lips, I rubbed the back of my neck.

That brooch had originally been a gift purchased to convey my gratitude.

Though embarrassed, I decided to deliver the words I had intended to say.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you when you helped me back then. …Thank you.”

Because I was so mortified, I tried to leave immediately after finishing my greeting, but since my ankle hadn’t fully healed yet, walking quickly was not easy.

While I was cursing internally and stammering, Mikeron approached and easily lifted me up with one hand.

‘Wait. Hold on…’

I froze solid like a stone.

“It must be uncomfortable for you, so I will carry you to your carriage.”

“Put me down this instant, will you?”

“If you don’t wish to fall, it would be best to stay quiet.”

Mikeron smiled playfully.

Ah, seriously, no matter how much I thought about it, I hated this guy so incredibly much.

Despite my loud, angry demands to be let down, Mikeron turned a completely deaf ear, only setting me down once we reached the front of the carriage.

I glared at him with smoldering eyes, but he didn’t even blink.

Instead, he quietly gazed at my face, then brushed his cool hand down my cheek.

I let out a soft groan instinctively.

“Ugh.”

“I have been wondering since earlier, what happened to you? Did you get into a fight with someone?”

‘Does he think I just run around picking fights?’

I slowly dropped my gaze.

“It’s none of your business, Duke.”

There was no reason to confide such things to Mikeron.

And anyway, compared to what my older brothers had put me through in the past, this was mere child’s play, so I was completely unfazed.

Mikeron slowly withdrew his hand upon hearing my reply.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

“Pardon?”

Without even explaining why I had to wait, Mikeron turned his back on me.

Staring blankly at his retreating back, I watched him blend into the crowd and vanish, falling into deep thought.

‘Is there any reason to do as he says?’

‘My business here is finished anyway.’

Debating what to do, I boarded the carriage first with the assistance of the servant beside me.

“So that brooch was a gift you bought for the Duke.”

The servant babbled on with a relieved expression.

But I didn’t know why he kept striking up conversations with me.

I wondered if he was the same kid who had been utterly terrified beside me just a few hours ago.

“The butler will be so pleased!”

I didn’t know what kind of misunderstanding he had made, but it was unpleasant.

‘Should I just leave after all?’

Just as I finished the thought, Mikeron returned, rendering my hesitation completely pointless.

“Count, take this.”

What Mikeron handed me was an ointment.

“If you apply it consistently, the swelling will go down.”

Staring at his outstretched hand, a strange sensation washed over me.

While my pride was wounded by having my weakness exposed to Mikeron—whom I hated to death—and by receiving his goodwill, a tempest of emotions churned inside my chest.

I wondered if the sudden rush of heat was irritation, but it felt oddly ticklish to my fingertips for it to be mere annoyance.

It was a delicate emotion I had never experienced before.

“I don’t need it.”

When I refused, completely unsure of how to process this awkward feeling, Mikeron pushed the ointment directly into my hand, closing my fingers over it.

“I said I don’t—!”

“It is merely a return favor for the gift you gave me, Count. Do not decline.”

Mikeron smiled softly at me.

When I knitted my brows because I disliked his smile, his eyes crinkled as he flashed an even more playful grin.

Mikeron Leilight… He was a man I simply couldn’t bring myself to like, even if I tried.

As I closed the carriage door irritably, a voice from outside wished me a safe journey home.

I whipped my head away from the window.

Even after he vanished from my sight, that strange sensation continued to linger in my chest.

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