Portrait of An Arrogant Master - Chapter 93
Rubens stared at Macy without saying a word. Her eyes, filled with hurt and bitterness, gave her a crazed look.
“Should I keep going? Should I call you by ‘that’ name here?”
“Enough.”
As she approached the point of no return, Rubens cut her off.
She knew. Macy had figured out the true identity of Duke Krygen. She knew that the head of the Krygen family, the Duke, was actually her name master, Eren Wood.
“Go back. I’ll be there soon.”
Rubens massaged his forehead as if the situation had become too much of a headache.
He wanted to interrogate her right away to find out how she had learned the truth, but this wasn’t the right place for that. Even within the thick walls of the Duke’s mansion, anything involving that name required the utmost caution.
“I said, go.”
The quiet acceptance in Rubens’s voice left a hollow look in Macy’s eyes. Her tattered clothes, practically hanging off her like rags, suddenly irritated him.
“I’ll have a change of clothes brought to you. Don’t go out in that state.”
“I don’t need it.”
As Rubens moved to place his coat over her shoulders, Macy slapped it away. But Rubens forcibly wrapped it around her, his voice dropping into a low warning.
“Do as you’re told. Don’t make me angrier.”
This time, Macy didn’t have the strength to refuse. Her eyes glistened with tears, as if a single touch could cause them to spill over.
Rubens instinctively reached out to pat her head, but his hand stopped mid-air. His white glove, stained with red paint, still clung firmly to his hand.
The unspoken warning pressured Rubens.
‘I can’t even do something as simple as this here.’
Not only the wound beneath the glove, but the scars scattered across his body throbbed painfully. Clenching his fist, Rubens turned and left the room.
He felt dirty as if he’d been smeared with filth.
* * *
Revealing to the Duke that she knew his true identity had been a rash, emotional decision.
Last night, Eren had taken things with Macy dangerously close to the edge, even warning her that they would sleep together the next time.
But now, here he was, the head of a grand noble family, telling her that nobles like him would sleep with her and discard her like nothing. His words weren’t just to cut her down; they felt like an undeniable truth from someone who understood that world.
If she hadn’t known that Eren and Rubens were the same person, she might have just brushed it off, like when the other painters gossiped behind her back…..
But now, she couldn’t. Her heart felt like it was collapsing in on itself.
Eren had always been someone far beyond Macy’s reach. The thought that she had been painting a portrait for his engagement ceremony, without even knowing, felt maddeningly pathetic.
What had Eren been thinking, watching her so calmly from a distance, knowing everything all along?
“You… don’t have a lover, do you, Eren?”
“There’s no such person.”
That lie… Why had he gone to such lengths to deceive her, to keep her in the dark?
One thing was clear—it must have been amusing for him. Watching her be so relieved, so happy when he said there was no one else. A young girl who blushed at the slightest sign of affection.
Macy’s world felt like it was flipping upside down.
“Welcome back. Shall I prepare dinner?”
Dia greeted Macy as she entered the cabin.
“No, it’s fine. Eren will be here soon, so I’ll just wait in the room.”
“What? How do you know that…?”
Morgan, who had followed behind, gave Dia a small shake of his head as a silent signal.
‘Phillips had mentioned we’d all dine together at the Duke’s estate next time, didn’t he?’
It was becoming clearer. Dia and Morgan were likely connected to the Duke’s household as well. They probably knew everything from the beginning. And she had been so foolish…
“I’ll be using the cloth, so don’t come in.”
Even though Macy had realized they were all in on it, she didn’t have the strength to confront them. What good would it do even if she was upset?
After all, they were just employees hired by Eren. She went into the room, took the cloth from the silver tray, and blindfolded herself. As soon as she covered her eyes, tears began to well up.
“Don’t cry… You don’t have the right to…”
Even at this moment, the clause in the contract came to mind—the one that said the agreement would be void if she didn’t cover her eyes.
The thought of her dutifully following that rule, even now, was humiliating. Even after being deceived, she still needed Eren.
But her efforts seemed pathetic when, the moment Eren stepped into the cabin, he roughly ripped the cloth from her eyes.
“Is this some kind of joke?”
“The only one playing games here is you, Duke.”
Tears that had yet to dry clung to her lashes, making them glisten. Eren frowned slightly as he observed her.
Unlike his usual neat appearance, his hair hung loosely, nearly touching his eyes. He wasn’t dressed in his typical high-collared shirt with a cravat tightly fastened.
Instead, he wore a loose poet’s shirt, without even an outer coat. Just this small change in his appearance made him seem like a different person—like a young, vibrant man one might casually encounter, full of life and charm.
