For Lucas, waiting less than an hour was nothing. He was a man who would not complain if told to wait a week.

Silence and patience.

No one in the real world, in the upper world, in the middle world, or the underworld is better at it.

But when the outcome of waiting was less than favorable, it was unpleasant, to say the least.

Lucas noticed the moment Elise entered the dining room in Blake’s arms, why did Blake go to pick her up himself, and why it took so long.

The nape of her neck, which had been fine until recently, was mottled. Even her collarbone was the same. If it was her exposed skin, it was obvious what her inner body would be like. And that wasn’t all.

‘This smell… .’

The scent of her body, imprinted on his senses, was overpowered by the smell of male s*men. It was blatant enough for any knight with a keen sense of smell to pick up on.

‘Did they even have s*x during that time?’

Lucas looked at Elise across from him while eating his food. Even though she had been in the dining room for some time, her face was still flushed. Her eyes were w*t and her breathing was restless.

With a look of utmost satisfaction, Blake served her meal. He carefully filleted the fish and placed it on her plate, then cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and set the plate in front of her.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s what I like to do.”

“Thank you, Blake.”

Lucas looked at the smile on her lips and lowered his gaze to his hands holding the fork and knife. The feeling of the soft, warm flesh that remained in his hand after quite some time was strange to him, but he flatly ignored it.

Instead, he thought about the reason for his bad mood, which coincided with the reason he’d gone after Blake instead of staying at the palace to keep an eye on the demons.

There’s no telling how Blake’s unhealthy monopolistic tendencies, unseen in the original story, will cause problems down the road. The more unpredictable the variables, the less likely it is that the mission will be perfect.

‘Yes. That’s why.’

That’s why I feel so bad.

Lucas pretended to eat and watched Blake closely.

‘I’ve never seen that kind of monopoly even in demons.’

I could clearly read his intentions of trying to show off as if Elise was his own.

‘Not like this, anyway.’

There was something so animalistic about the way he covered her in c*m and brought her in front of another man. Blake’s behavior was no different from males marking their territories or females to protect what was his.

With a sudden surge of disgust, Lucas imagined pulling out Elise’s s*men-soaked handkerchief and throwing it in Blake’s face. He gasped in disbelief.

‘What? Does mental illness contagious?’

He put down his fork and knife and recited a prayer to ward off evil spirits. Slowly, his mind cleared, and the evil impulses in his head faded.

Lucas’s eyes turned to Blake. If he could shake him this badly, Blake was no ordinary being. He must find out his identity as soon as possible.

“I have a request for the Grand Duke.”

Lucas and Blake’s eyes met.

“A request. What is it?”

“Would you grant me the opportunity to observe the swordsmanship of Freizen? When I visited Freizen not long ago, the pride of the knights toward the Grand Duke was great.”

“You’re asking for a duel?”

Blake’s mouth went up at an angle. Whatever Lucas’s original intentions, the timing was coincidental.

“That’s right.”

“Good.”

Blake readily accepted Lucas’ request for sparring. For an instant, the air froze. The tension between the two men, who were not on good terms, was as sharp as a knife.

It was then.

“Wow, that sounds like fun.”

At Elise’s outburst, Lucas and Blake turned to look at her at the same time. She was smiling brightly with an innocent face.

“I want to try it too.”

“What do you mean?”

Blake asked, doubting his ears.

“Dueling. Oh, but I’d have to learn swordsmanship first.”

Lucas blinked slowly, wondering what the hell she was talking about.

“The light coming out of the sword.”

Elise’s eyes curved beautifully in an arc.

“Can I do it if I learn?”

“Elise… .”

Blake’s pupils shook.

“You really want to learn that.”

“Yes. Why not?”

“No. It’s not that you can’t, it’s just that I think it might be dangerous….”

Blake trailed off and kept his mouth shut.

“You just have to be careful.”

Lucas pointed at her wrist at Elise’s insistence.

“I don’t know what you’re going to do with an arm like that without a single muscle.”

“Lord Clanton, I think you are talking too much.”

“This is just realistic advice.”

Elise looked at her wrist. She definitely needed to build up her muscle mass.

“I suppose I could do that with some hard exercise….”

“At what age? It would be quicker to plant apple tree seeds in the ground and wait for them to bear fruit.”

Blake also had a troubled expression.

“Elise, how about learning something other than swordsmanship?”

Seeing their unanimous negative reaction, Elise sighed.

“All right. If you both think so, it can’t be helped.”

Lucas and Blake kept their mouths shut and studied her carefully. Elise was busy slicing the apple pie on the plate with her fork, whether they were looking at her or not. Her appearance was very gloomy.

‘Is she upset?’

As she was doing that, Lucas and Blake couldn’t go on talking about dueling.