“did you get hurt?”

    baron noticed immediately why she had cut and licked his lips clean of his blood.

    “yes,” seira smiled and looked at his lower lip, “thanks to you, i am alive and well now.”

    she seemed to have bitten it quite severely, but it already started to heal cleanly, leaving no trace behind. the only thing left behind was probably her saliva that soaked his lips.

    “are you okay now?”

    “as you can see, i am fine,” seira replied, “by the way, you can come and visit me anytime you want. you weren’t able to stand it and came first, see?”

    “i didn’t know either that my patience was so poor,” baron sighed softly and leaned his chin against the scruff of her neck, “the moment you came into view, you were already escaping.”

    “did you know this building belongs to franto? it would be very difficult if we got caught.”

    “does it matter? i needed to meet you,” came baron’s indignant response.

    seira couldn’t help but stifle her laughter, “well, who in their right mind would even dare to stop our commander-in-chief?”

    “don’t call me that.”

    “it’s just a nickname.”

    it was the only way for baron and her to be somehow bound together. of course, at first, she just called him commander-in-chief because found his reaction hilarious.

    baron groaned, unable to stop her from calling him by that nickname.

    “seira. are you going to keep hanging out with that fox?” he asked.

    “well…” she glanced sideways, as if a bit embarrassed, “yes. that’s my plan.”

    she didn’t deny it. baron was also included in the list of people she had to deceive according to their contract. aven was the only exception.

    “there must be a reason why right?”

    “don’t you see it? we look good together.”

    “…”

    baron looked like he didn’t believe what seira said, she couldn’t help but to quickly add further explanation.

    “as you might have noticed, askan needs an alliance now. i can’t keep getting swayed by calrad,” she said, “it’s best to join hands with franto, who isn’t pro-emperor but has a lot of political influence.”

    baron also spent a lot of time with seira, if not as much as aven had. if she claimed that she was already into louis franto as much as he knew her, he was bound to become suspicious. it was much better to mix lies and truth to trick him.

    “…is that so?”

    “but i will keep my promise to you,” seira said as she looked into his eyes, “of course, that’s if you haven’t changed your mind.”

    she was referring to the promise they made on the first night she spent in jeff. baron had asked her to date him at least three times in exchange for giving up her rights to any child she might have with him.

    “of course, i still want to.”

    “alright, then i’ll get back to you tomorrow.”

    baron, who looked up at her, said in a sad voice, “you’re already going?”

    “i should. if i take too long, he’ll be suspicious,” seira said as she glanced towards the dining area, “this is a restaurant owned by franto in the first place.”

    the tips of his sharp eyebrows dipped into a disappointed frown.

    “you can bite harder, so won’t you kiss me one more time?” he asked.

    now, what kind of healing power was he trying to trade for a kiss? seira could only shake her head in amusement.

    ‘he’s being serious too.’

    to be honest, it was a ridiculously losing deal. if he had been one of askan’s family members, seira would’ve grabbed his collar and shaken him to his senses.

    ‘what are you going to do, you stupid man?’

    seira stared at him as if she was in deep thought, put her forehead over his forehead gently.

    “if you promise not to smear me with your pheromones,” she said.

    “i promise.”

    seira laughed again at his instant reply.

    he was a man she couldn’t hate. even though jeff’s elders trampled on seira and askan’s honor, she couldn’t dare to bear resentment against baron jeff. considering the help she had received from him up to now and in the near future, she was confused if what she felt was merely because she felt indebted.

    ‘besides, baron likes me…’

    she wanted to be fair in a sense. to him, the head of a large family, who gave his heart without any calculation and even proposed. even if there was nothing else she could offer him, perhaps this was enough until a fleeting fever passed.

    ‘up until the day he admits to himself it’s impossible.’

    cupping his cheeks, seira gently reached for a kiss. as she licked his lower lip as if to comfort the wound she made earlier, she could feel the strength in his hand that supported her bottoms.

    as he promised, baron’s pheromones didn’t spill. but he was still out of breath, and even his skin was so hot it might as well be literally on fire.