If You're Being Held Hostage, Wiggle the Carrot! - Chapter 7
Though it might be hasty to judge after such a short time, he couldn’t deny that he no longer felt the cold he sensed every night since coming down from the mountains.
The same was true when he had the rabbit woman in his room. He had brought her home in the middle of the night, and he didn’t want to wake the butler, so he brought her to his room first. He gave her his bed and slept on the couch. Despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangement, for Ivan, who hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep due to the ghosts tormenting him every night, it was like a sweet reprieve.
Even as he sighed inexplicably, his face was more radiant than ever. With one of her most important needs, sleep, satisfied, his heart seemed to soften. She was suspicious, but there was an inexplicable attraction about her. Ivan hesitated to make a decision and continued to silently observe the still-sleeping Ruby.
“Hmm…”
At that moment, the woman, who had been sleeping peacefully, began to sob softly.
“Mom… Grandma…”
Although just two words, it was enough to predict why she had ended up here.
“Tsk.” Clicking his tongue, Ivan reached out and gently shook her awake. “Hey, wake up.”
“…Mmm.”
“The butler will be here in a few minutes, so get up, I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“Mm-hmm…”
His gentle shaking grew more forceful.
“At the very least, you should be able to introduce yourself. What’s your name?”
“Yeah…”
Under his continued prodding, Ruby grumbled as she reluctantly sat up. Still keeping her eyes tightly shut, she mumbled something incoherent.
Knock, knock.
Just then there was a knock at the door. Ivan let out a soft sigh before addressing whoever it was outside.
“Liam, just a moment…”
Ivan had intended to ask him to wait, but he couldn’t. Because Ruby, startled by the sound of his voice, opened her eyes, belatedly realizing his presence, and then squealed.
“Gah!”
“Ugh.”
He covered his ears with his hands at the piercing scream that assaulted his ears. At the same time, the door burst open without his permission.
“My Lord, what’s going on?!”
Liam, who had been in the service of the Black family for over thirty years, was well aware of his master’s charms. The mere sight of the Duke’s impassive face made the women of the Wolf Tribe’s eyes drip with honey and sparks fly. As the strongest male among the wolves, it was only natural for the females to covet him.
But sneaking into his master’s chambers was unacceptable. Liam had to see the face of whoever had dared to enter his master’s chambers.
“My Lord, are you alright? I’ll…”
Quickly passing through the private parlor, Liam flung open the bedroom door and tried to shout, but he couldn’t quite finish, for there was a man and a woman tangled in the center of the large bed.
If he’d looked closer, he’d have realized that Ivan was trying to cover Ruby’s screaming mouth and was being attacked in return. But, not daring to pry into his master’s private life, Liam simply slammed the door shut faster than the speed of light.
“Ahem, pardon my intrusion, my Lord,” Liam called out from outside the bedroom door.
“Come in,” Ivan said with a hint of annoyance.
“Ah, but…!”
“It’s okay, come in.”
“Well then, pardon me.”
Liam did as his master ordered and entered the bedroom, but he still couldn’t bring himself to look him in the eye.
Ivan, seeing Liam simply bowing his head sincerely, sighed again and called out, “It’s not what you’re thinking. You can look up.”
“But what if the lady…”
“Ahh!”
Ruby screamed violently once more as she swatted his hand away, taking advantage of the momentary lull in Ivan’s concentration to talk to Liam.
It was a scream that felt extremely urgent and desperate.
TN: I had accidentally skipped over posting the chapter that was supposed to come after this so please follow this link to read the next chapter. Consider it Chapter 7.5. Apologies for the oversight, and happy reading!
