Chapter 14
“…Duke?”
Except for the red eye color, Hiskin’s face looked exactly like Theron’s.
And the next moment, Aveline opened her eyes in her room.
She was still holding “The Tyrant is a Siscon” book in her arms.
“…What was that?”
What kind of dream did she have?
Why did she dream of the vampire Hiskin with Duke Ribes’ face?
“Did I see it wrong?”
That possibility was slim. There was no way she could have mistaken that face.
“Or maybe since dreams reflect the subconscious, it just appeared without any meaning…”
No, that’s not it.
Wouldn’t it be more problematic if she was dreaming of Duke Ribes subconsciously?
“Ouch.”
Suddenly, she felt pain in her wrist.
When she checked her wrist, the bite mark from her dream was still there.
“Aren’t you hot?”
Ares, who was already eating, asked sarcastically as Aveline entered the dining room.
“Mind your own business.”
Aveline was wearing long-sleeved clothes to hide the clear teeth marks on her wrist.
It was a bit too thick to wear in the increasingly warm weather these days.
“How rude. Who was it that got into such a misunderstanding yesterday while trying to find someone?”
Ares looked haggard, as if he hadn’t slept all night.
He seemed aware of this fact, as his plate was full of broccoli and salmon.
“But why do you look like you didn’t sleep either?”
In truth, Aveline had also tossed and turned all night.
Her mind was in turmoil due to Duke Ribes’ face she saw in her dream and the mark that remained on her wrist even after waking up.
“Don’t tell me… you felt bad for me?”
Ares interpreted Aveline’s condition in a way that suited him.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Aveline, too lazy to explain, quickly agreed with Ares’ words.
“Ah, what’s this? You were secretly worrying about me while pretending not to care.”
Ares, his mood slightly improved, generously scooped some broccoli onto Aveline’s plate.
“Here, eat up.”
“Give me some salmon too.”
Ares pulled his plate back as if to say that was off-limits.
“To think you’d repay my kindness with mere vegetables.”
Ares provocatively popped a piece of salmon into his mouth as Aveline glared at him.
Irritated by this sight, Aveline quickly reached for Ares’ plate.
“Not a chance.”
But Ares was faster.
Ares lifted his plate above his head and smiled triumphantly.
“You want to go?”
Aveline gripped her fork tighter.
The servants, accustomed to the twins getting competitive over trivial matters, calmly went about their business with composed expressions.
“I will eat your salmon no matter what.”
As Aveline was panting after swinging her fork around for a while, Count Herolds and the butler entered the dining room.
“…What is the meaning of this?”
Count Herolds spoke after alternately looking at the disheveled tablecloth, Ares holding his plate above his head, and Aveline gripping her fork threateningly.
Behind him, the butler quickly called a servant to assess the situation.
“It seems… it’s because of the salmon, sir.”
At those words, Count Herolds’ expression became even more bewildered.
“Is there no salmon in the kitchen?”
“We recently restocked, so there should be plenty.”
“…Serve Aveline new salmon, and bring my meal to my office.”
Count Herolds turned and left the dining room.
The butler brought Aveline a new plate with salmon.
“I asked the chef, and he said there’s plenty of fresh salmon. Please eat as much as you’d like, young miss.”
Then he disappeared with Count Herolds’ meal.
“Oh, how nice. Eat up.”
Ares smirked at Aveline spitefully.
But Aveline was in no mood to entertain Ares’ teasing.
‘Of all times to show such a sight.’
How hard had she been trying to get even a glance from her father, only to end up showing such a pathetic sight?
‘What must he think of me?’
He probably saw her as a pitiful daughter who, at twenty years old, still fought with her twin brother over mere salmon.
Her mood plummeted sharply.
At times like these, the absence of her mother, who had left for recovery right after giving birth to the twins, was keenly felt.
Although she received news through letters, when she felt down like this, she wanted to directly rub her cheek against her mother’s hand and throw a tantrum.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
Ares noticed that Aveline’s expression was off and tried to gauge the situation.
“You eat plenty.”
Aveline stood up, holding back tears that threatened to spill.
Perhaps it was because of her recent dreams about child-rearing.
Envy for the unconditional affection Klein showed his younger sister Chloe in the dream kept bubbling up.
She had already experienced such a warm gaze that left no room for any other emotion when she became Chloe in her dream.
She now knew how joyful and reassuring it was to receive such affection.
“Hey, no, sister. What’s wrong?”
Ares, noticing that Aveline’s mood was off, stood up.
He then grabbed Aveline’s hand as she was about to leave the dining room.
“I’m sor- Wait.”
As Aveline twisted her wrist to pull her captured hand free, Ares’ expression turned serious, as if he had discovered something.
“What’s this?”
It was the bite mark that Aveline had been trying to hide.
“Did you hit yourself in your sleep or something?”
A man with long, deep blood-red hair loosely braided and thrown over one shoulder spoke up.
He was a handsome man with strong features, slightly tanned skin, and eyes as red as his hair.
He was sitting on the reception room sofa with his legs stretched out when he casually threw out the question to the person approaching him.
“…It was successful.”
The one who answered was Theron.
Theron, dressed in comfortable indoor attire of a white silk shirt, had a red scratch on one cheek.
“What was? Don’t tell me, the dream?”
The man immediately showed interest.
The man’s identity was Barom, the one who had dragged Ares into the alley before, and Theron’s closest confidant.
Originally a slave, Theron had recognized his abilities and created a false identity for him.
Thanks to this, Barom could pose as the son of a wealthy merchant from a distant foreign country.
“Then that mark on your face isn’t from scratching yourself in your sleep.”
Barom spoke as if that would have been even more absurd.
“Let’s hear how you got hit.”
After listening to Theron’s explanation, Barom summarized what he had heard so far.
“So you succeeded in entering the young lady’s dream by following the traces of your magic, but you couldn’t change your face?”
“That’s right.”
“So what did you do?”
“I covered my face with a mask and only changed my eye color. Then I tried to imitate the speech and behavior I saw in the book.”
As he listened to the story and examined Theron’s face, a strange smile appeared on Barom’s face.
“But it seems you managed to read it all. Yesterday, as soon as you opened the book, you left the library.”
Theron flinched at Barom’s words but quickly composed himself.
“I needed to understand the young lady’s tastes first.”
He answered nonchalantly, but honestly, he was a bit surprised.
No wonder the clerk’s expression was odd when he found and purchased the book Aveline had hidden.
It was far too embarrassing a book for Theron, who had been ignorant about love and the opposite sex his entire life.
Although Aveline’s taste was quite shocking, he read the book thoroughly, treating it as if he were exploring a new field of study.
And he succeeded in entering Aveline’s dream by following the traces of his magic.
But the problem came after that.
“Look, see here? This is where you bite.”
She thrust out her neck as if frustrated by his hesitation to act.
“It hurts!”
When he bit her wrist, pretending to drink blood because she seemed suspicious, she even swung her fist at him.
She was a young lady he couldn’t make heads or tails of.
However, what was most difficult to understand was his own reaction when he bit Aveline’s arm yesterday.
Unlike his intention to merely pretend to bite, the moment he smelled Aveline, it became hard to control himself, as if he had really become a vampire.
If Aveline hadn’t punched him, he might not have been able to stop.
Tossing and turning for a while after waking from the dream due to this unprecedented confusion, Theron soon came to a conclusion.
It must be because of his magic stone in Aveline.
After all, magic is naturally most tempting to its owner.
“Still, it’s impressive that you actually thought to track it down after hearing such an absurd story about entering a dream from a novel.”
Barom broke Theron’s reverie, expressing genuine admiration.
“But the young lady said something strange.”
“She already seems like quite a strange person, but what did she say?”
“She said she wanted to wake up quickly and have a different dream.”
That meant she had already experienced something like this several times before.
“Seems like she’s enjoying herself.”
Barom burst out laughing.
He had thought she was strange from the moment he heard she had touched Theron’s magic stone thinking it was jelly, but the more he heard, the more she exceeded his expectations.
He felt somewhat regretful that he had only seen her in that shabby robe.
“But what does that young lady look like? You said she’s twins with that pink-haired young man. Do they look alike?”
“…Why do you ask?”
When Theron responded guardedly, Barom’s lips curved into a deep smile.
See?
Barom’s eyes sparkled with interest as he quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, what are you going to do now?”
“I’ll have to keep tracking for a while.”
“You mean you’ll keep chasing after her?”
“Tracking.”
Theron deliberately corrected Barom’s words.
That’s the same thing.
Barom swallowed his laughter as he looked at Theron, who was frowning his handsome brow.
