If You're Being Held Hostage, Wiggle the Carrot! - Chapter 112
The fact that Alex was frail was well-known among the Wolf Tribe, but Ruby, being an outsider, wouldn’t have known that. He appeared perfectly fine on the surface.
“Thank you for the compliment, but… I think it’s a bit forced,”
The count’s voice, which had been so friendly earlier, suddenly turned cold. Ivan stopped cutting his steak and glared at Count Morado.
But the count couldn’t let it go. No matter how much a guest of the Alpha,, he couldn’t stand being mocked, especially when he was a guest himself.
“What’s so forced about it?”
Ruby, having just received another glass of wine from Liam, tilted her head and asked.
“Of course, my Lady, since this is the first time you’ve met my son, you wouldn’t know, but Alex isn’t in good health right now. It’s dangerous to give false hope to a sick child, thinking they will get better just like that.”
She put down her wine glass and, clearly confused, tilted her head again before responding,
“It’s only natural that I don’t know since it’s my first time meeting him.”
“Then, you shouldn’t have spoken as if you knew something for sure.”
Count Morado bit back his irritation. It also bothered him that he had to continue speaking with Ruby, despite clearly knowing her social standing but still not having been introduced properly.
“Haha!”
Suddenly, Ruby burst into laughter. She covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking as she laughed at what she found amusing. She then looked up and alternated her gaze between Count Morado and Ivan.
Her gaze, strangely unsettling to Ivan, made him frown, but Ruby continued to find it amusing. Ah, I actually feel kind of good?
“What’s so funny, Ruby?”
Despite his displeased expression, his voice was filled with warmth, which once again surprised the attendants.
Isabelle, however, felt something beyond surprise—betrayal.
“Well, your reaction is exactly the same as the Duke’s.”
“…Ah.”
He couldn’t hide his awkwardness. He had already anticipated what Ruby might say next.
“At first, the Duke couldn’t believe it either and tried to intimidate me. Well, I guess it’s hard to believe in things you can’t see. But I can see it, so it’s different for me.”
The attendants’ eyes suddenly gleamed as they noticed the flaw in her natural-sounding words. Count Morado felt the same.
Ivan hesitated for a moment. The slightly tipsy rabbit’s constant smiling was cute, but he worried about her revealing her abilities in this setting.
Though he made excuses, the truth was that the main reason he wanted to keep her abilities a secret was because he didn’t want to share them with anyone else.
The more he got to know her, the more brilliant she seemed, and he became anxious at the thought of someone else taking an interest in her.
But her abilities couldn’t be hidden forever, not with how much more evident they would become in the future.
Then Ruby gestured for Ivan to come closer. He smiled and leaned in, allowing her to whisper in his ear.
“May I?”
Though her sentence was incomplete, he understood exactly what she meant. He immediately realized that his moment of hesitation had been pointless. How could he possibly refuse her when she was whispering for permission like this?
In the end, Ivan briefly nodded and lazily leaned back in his chair.
“What are you seeing?”
Count Morado impatiently asked, but Ruby answered honestly, her voice still tinged with amusement.
“Oh, earlier. I noticed that the cute young master’s shoulders were covered in the traces of spirits.”
“…What?”
“Well, spirits are drawn to those with strong yang energy. Seeing the traces of spirits all over his shoulders, I couldn’t help but feel excited about his future!”
“Wh-what do you mean by that…?”
Count Morado, usually not easily flustered, looked around to confirm whether he had heard correctly. The expressions of the vassals around him confirmed that he had indeed heard what he thought he had.
