Chapter 20

In the blink of an eye, he stepped inside the curtain, standing on the platform with the chandelier light behind him.

“Excuse me.”

Edmund slowly lifted his eyelids, revealing his shadowed eyes. The deep shadows on his well-defined features made his cold beauty stand out even more. While I was still flustered by the rapid turn of events, he held up the brooch.

“Where should I pin this?”

“…Are you really going to do it for me?”

“Where is it?”

His urging tone made it seem like he wanted to get this over with quickly. I was about to answer immediately but hesitated. Hmm, this won’t be easy. Feeling a mix of tension and strange excitement, I slowly tapped just below my collarbone.

“Here.”

Edmund instinctively followed my hand with his eyes and immediately widened them.

“…”

His unsettled gaze flickered between me, the air, and back to me again.

In the end, he rubbed his forehead slowly with an awkward expression.

“Damn it…”

A low curse escaped his lips. If he wasn’t careful, his hand might accidentally touch my chest. Embarrassed, my face heated up. I quickly turned my head and reached out my hand.

“Give it to me. I’ll do it myself.”

“No, just stay still.”

“…I’ve been staying still this whole time.”

“I meant keep your mouth shut.”

“…Alright.”

Annoyed by his growling tone, I made a show of pressing my lips tightly together.

Seeing that, he let out a deep sigh as if trying to suppress his frustration.

How long had passed like that?

His hands fumbled multiple times while trying to pin the brooch. Thanks to that, the nervousness I had felt when he first stepped onto the platform gradually faded.

The sight of a huge man, as big as a bear, getting flustered over a woman’s collarbone was strangely amusing.

Then, as he focused on attaching the brooch, Edmund glanced at me and clenched his teeth.

“…Don’t laugh.”

Oops. He must have noticed the corners of my mouth twitching.

“I wasn’t laughing, Count.”

“You have a terrible personality. Do you know that?”

“Oh my, me? That’s the first time anyone’s said that to me.”

Edmund let out a groan, lowering his eyelids. Gradually, his neck turned red as if it had been burned.

But this wasn’t my fault.

Think about it. This was the same man who once coldly and mercilessly killed me in the original story. Now, here he was, flustered over pinning a brooch on a woman’s chest. How could I not find this amusing?

Edmund, struggling with the task, let out another sigh and withdrew his hand.

“This won’t work. Close your eyes.”

“Oh dear, what are you planning to do while my eyes are closed—Fine, fine, I’ll close them.”

I had been teasing him playfully, but the dangerous look in his eyes made me shut my mouth and close my eyes.

Then, I felt the ruffles of my dress rustling. Being so close to him, my senses sharpened, and tension surged back.

His quiet breathing fell near my head, making my body stiffen.

Whenever his rough skin barely brushed against my chest, I flinched, and he would pause, moving more carefully afterward.

When I regained my senses, I realized I was gripping my dress tightly and even holding my breath.

This tension was completely different from before.

“…Is it done?”

My voice trembled slightly.

No answer came. Only the sound of the red curtain swaying in the air reached my ears.

Slowly lowering my gaze, I looked around the empty room and then down at my chest. The brooch, hanging slightly askew, was evidence of his struggle. I let out a helpless laugh.

‘I never saw this adorable side of him in the original story.’

I continued chuckling, tapping the brooch with my fingertips, until another staff member entered the room.

Edmund stormed out of the dressing room as if fleeing, his long legs carrying him swiftly down the corridor.

By the time he regained his senses, he realized he had no idea where he was.

Unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, he ran a hand through his hair. Yet, even that didn’t cool the heat rising to his face.

Feeling the gazes of passersby, he turned to look at his reflection in the store window across the street.

There, in the blurred glass, was a man with furrowed brows, his ears and neck embarrassingly red.

If his subordinates saw this, they would probably collapse in shock. Even he didn’t recognize his own face.

‘Damn it. Why am I…?’

Edmund scrubbed his face roughly, as if trying to erase his reflection.

He didn’t like this. Why had he let himself be flustered and teased by that woman? Why had his face turned red with embarrassment?

And to that shameless woman, of all people.

Yes, he wasn’t exactly experienced with women, but he hadn’t spent the last nine years completely isolated from them.

The women he knew were either gentle and reserved or timid like his own sister.

So why was he being thrown off by a bold, teasing woman?

A woman’s body was simply different from his own. Pale skin, delicate collarbones, and beneath them…

Damn it. Edmund clenched his eyes shut, the memory of that moment rushing back.

The heat rising to his face must be due to stress caused by Etricia.

He had also been spending too much time doing paperwork instead of physical training lately.

Yes, he needed training—to discipline his mind.

That way, he wouldn’t let that woman toy with him again.

Irritated, Edmund rubbed the back of his tense neck roughly before striding away.

After changing outfits, Etricia waited for Lilien. However, no matter how long she waited, Lilien didn’t come, so she stepped out of the room to look for her.

As she scanned the hall, something caught her foot.

A male mannequin, hanging off a thin metal rod.

‘Why is this here?’

It seemed a staff member had knocked it over and left it behind.

Looking around in confusion, Etricia picked up the mannequin and carried it back into the room.

She set it against the wall near the entrance, dusted off her hands, and turned to head back to the sofa—then stopped.

The mannequin was incredibly well-made, with detailed muscles and smooth skin, just like the ones from her previous world.

Drawn in, she placed a hand on the mannequin’s firm chest.

As an idea flashed through her mind, she unconsciously stroked the hard, cold surface, a sly smile forming on her lips.

‘If I get divorced, I can’t just sit around doing nothing. Maybe I should start a knight-exclusive jewelry business using Lebron ore?’