Portrait of An Arrogant Master - Chapter 100
Suddenly, Anna switched the topic as if she just remembered something. Macy forced a smile, her stiff lips curling up slightly.
“I’m almost done. Just a little finishing touch left.”
“Impressive! The canvas is enormous! As expected from Macy!”
Anna beamed with pride.
But Macy couldn’t help but wonder if Anna would still smile at her if their relationship with Eren was exposed. Would she treat Macy warmly if she became Duke Krygen’s mistress?
A wave of fear washed over her. It would be hard enough to be pointed at by strangers, but if someone close to her looked at her with disdain…
What if Anna looked at her with disgust….Just the thought of it made her heart sink.
* * *
A humid warmth rose in the dim room. The reddish shadows of the lantern subtly illuminated the face of the relaxed man.
‘Why didn’t I think to use it this way from the beginning?’
The library of the Duke’s residence, with layers of imperial history, felt too vast and lofty for mere reading and indulgence.
His hands moved lazily over his e-ect member, straining against the luxurious silk robe. The squelching sounds of skin rubbing together and muffled groans echoed softly in the spacious room, filling him with a satisfying thrill.
The already heated s***t was desperate to be stuffed somewhere. Yet, only one face occupied his thoughts—Macy’s, looking at him with a resentful gaze even as she offered her tongue.
The touch that desperately clung to him, but trembling sensitively…
‘Ha. Damn it.’
Recalling her soft skin made him ache, his thighs tightened as he stroked himself. He pulled on the tip hard enough to make the head throb. A crack appeared on his sculpture like brows.
A raw scent filled the air, and he felt a twinge in his lower abdomen. His c-m even splattered onto the antique book on the table, but he didn’t want to wipe it away. If they had given the position of Duke, they should have expected such behavior. It was clear that Rubens had been unusually composed all this time.
‘It feels like I’m going through a late puberty.’
He recognized it as a childish sulk.
Knock.
“It’s Kronen. May I come in for a moment?”
At that moment, a clear voice broke the languid atmosphere. Rubens, without even bothering to tidy his disheveled appearance, replied absentmindedly.
“Come in.”
Kronen paused briefly as he took in the scene in the study, but quickly regained his composure and spoke.
“I have information regarding Yannick Horton.”
He placed the report on the table. It detailed how Yannick Horton, while intoxicated and returning home, was attacked by an assailant and sustained injuries requiring four weeks of recovery.
“Things should quiet down for a while.”
This was the price for leaving a bright red handprint on Macy’s cheek. While he felt an urge to inflict pain severe enough to warrant a plea for death and to cast him into the distant sea of a foreign land, he knew that wasn’t an option.
He recalled Macy’s face, which had shown reluctance when soldiers asked about the fugitive’s appearance. Even after all that, she still referred to him as family. He couldn’t fathom what she hoped to gain from that pathetic connection.
Of course, he could have dismissed her thoughts and eliminated Yannick without a second thought. However, he had spared him due to a slim possibility.
There was a chance he might want to restore Macy’s name. If that day ever came, it would be troublesome if Yannick Horton were not alive.
That was obviously a distant future, one that might never come to pass. Once people’s interest in Yannick Horton waned, and Rubens and Macy’s relationship became mundane gossip, he would be willing to clear her name.
He could see that Macy’s painting, even without any personal attachment to it, would be a masterpiece that would echo through history.
No, in truth, he just didn’t want her work to be remembered under another man’s name.
“By the way, Your Grace,”
Kronen, who had been examining the report, finally addressed Rubens.
“Speak.”
Had there been an incident that wasn’t recorded in the report? Rubens kept his gaze on the paper but opened his ears to listen. After a long pause, Kronen finally spoke cautiously.
“Do you intend to take Macy as your mistress?”
Instantly, Rubens’s gaze turned to Kronen.
