Free Web NovelChapter 14: 12th day
On the fine morning after a few days, the busty red-haired maid stood outside Eren’s room holding a tray.
She knocked softly. "Young Master? I’ve brought your morning tea."
Silence.
She opened the door with a frown and spotted Eren, who hadn’t even made it to his bed. He was fast asleep right at his desk, his head resting on his crossed arms, surrounded by scattered papers and mana tools.
Mira let out a quiet sigh as she approached him with slow steps and placed the tray on the table.
With cat-like curiosity, she leaned in closer, looking at his sleeping face. Stripped of that devilish, playful smirk, his handsome features looked incredibly soft, almost cute for her.
An inexplicable urge took over her, as her finger hovered just an inch away from poking his cheek.
But before it could happen, Eren’s eyelids opened. He let out a long, dramatic yawn, stretching his aching shoulders.
His blurry blue eyes finally focused on a gorgeous red-haired hottie leaning over him, her massive chest practically hovering a few inches from his nose.
"Well, good morning to you," Eren muttered with a sleepy voice as he offered an unbothered grin. "Did an angel come from the heavens wearing a maid outfit just to serve me tea? Because if I’m dreaming, please don’t wake me up."
Mira’s face instantly turned brilliant red. She stood straight, pulling her hands behind her back as she took a panicked step backward.
"Y-Young Master! Please stop saying such embarrassing things!"
Eren let out a delighted chuckle as he watched her flustered reaction. Ever since her suspicious behaviour a few days ago, this girl has been acting incredibly friendly, throwing herself at him.
It was a massive red flag.
If a maid suddenly started treating him like a romantic lead, she was either aiming for a promotion or plotting something massive.
Mira quickly tried to salvage her professional persona, pouring a cup of tea and placing it near his hand. "Did... did you stay up all night working again, Young Master? "
"Yeah," Eren mumbled, his eyes shifting from her generous cleavage to the small wooden box resting on the desk.
He had sacrificed his precious beauty sleep for the past twelve days to complete the framework.
And finally, today was the day they would start testing the device.
"You really shouldn’t overwork yourself, Young Master," Mira chided sweetly, almost a domestic worry that would fold any guy.
As he finished tea, Mira offered a bow with her generous chest dipping dangerously low before she gathered the empty tray and hurried out of his room.
Once the busty maid left, the playful facade instantly dropped from Eren’s face. He stood up from the chair and spent a quick ten minutes in his washroom.
Returning to his room feeling brand-new, Eren grabbed the wooden box on the desk and carefully placed it beneath his bed.
After that, he stepped outside his room with a relaxed expression. He was ready to conquer the day, or at least conquer a very heavy breakfast.
"You’re late." A sharp, familiar voice grabbed his attention.
Eren saw Emma waiting for him outside his room, leaning casually against the wall. She’s wearing a white shirt and tight black trousers that did absolute wonders for her incredibly toned thighs.
She pinned him with a piercing gray gaze. "Do you only manage to wake up if a maid walks into your room with tea, Young Master?"
"Good morning to you, too, Captain," Eren apologized cheekily as he fell into step beside her. "Did I really make you wait that long? I’m touched you were counting the minutes."
"Yes, you did," Emma snapped, though she quickly turned around to hide the faint twitch of her lips.
"Where’s my father? I figured he’d be buried under a mountain of paperwork by this hour."
Eren asked as they began to walk side-by-side down the grand hallways.
"He is currently receiving guests in the grand foyer. He’s... taking them to Lady Liora’s room."
Eren’s playful expression dimmed for a moment. He didn’t even need to ask who the guests were.
Every few weeks, some self-proclaimed miraculous healer or eccentric high priest would show up at the duchy’s gates, claiming they had found a cure for the Duke’s comatose daughter. And every single time, the poor old guy would fall for it, pouring out a small fortune just to end up disappointed.
Eren let out a quiet sigh.
’Let him be. A desperate father is a blind father. We’ll handle the real cure on our end.’
He quickly shifted the topic. "Any suspicious activities?"
Emma nodded, turning back into her professional captain persona. "There’s been some unusual movement outside. Unmarked carriages passing by too frequently, and a few unfamiliar faces loitering near the eastern gates.
I’ve already mobilized a stealth unit to keep an eye on suspicious people in the local town, too. We’re tracking everything."
She paused her pace, her pink ponytail whipped slightly as she gave him a dangerous side-eye. "Though, if we’re being entirely honest, Young Master... you are currently the most suspicious entity in this entire estate."
Eren let out a dramatic gasp.
"Me? The innocent, law-abiding citizen? How could you say such a slanderous thing, Captain?"
Emma turned around and blocked his path.
She glared down at him, her arms crossed beneath her glorious chest. "What exactly have you been doing inside that shady workshop for the past twelve days? Also with massive shipments? It’s definitely suspicious."
"I told you, I’m just having a healthy, innocent hobby," Eren replied instantly, leaning back slightly against a decorative pillar.
"And what about that girl?" Emma pressed further, her gray eyes narrowing as her tone turned interrogative. "The new librarian. You’ve been locking yourself in there with her every single day. Are you... Are you doing something to her?"
"What exactly do you mean by something, Captain?" Eren asked innocently.
Emma gritted her teeth.
She couldn’t say it out loud without her dignity vaporizing into thin air.
"Shut up," she hissed, her face exploding into burning red.
Eren looked up at her with a devastatingly smug, villainous grin. Because she was a muscle mommy who stood a few inches taller than him, the view of her flushed, angry, yet intensely feminine face from this angle was a five-star theatrical experience.
"Tell me, Emma. Is it that you’re genuinely worried about my hobbies... or is it that you simply can’t forget what I did to you a few days ago?"
Emma’s face was a mix of conflicting emotions, looking like she couldn’t decide whether to jump his bones right there or smash his skull through the nearest stone pillar.
She stepped forward suddenly, slamming her hand onto Eren’s shoulder, which caused his smug grin to instantly freeze.
For the first time, his unbothered brain felt a genuine shock as she started leaning forward to his face.
