My Beloved, Whom I Desire to Kill - 232

Giselle’s displeasure was clear on her face as she lashed out at the rude officer.

—Don’t you think it would be better for your own intellectual level to stop reading such trashy tabloids?

The officer, who had been treated like a fool for believing a gossip rumor, protested in unfairness.

—No, but when a guy gets a name tattooed on his body, you can’t help but think they’re in a relationship like that.

—When a man tattoos a woman’s name on his body, it’s either his mother or his lover.

—He just had the tattoo he got to comfort me when he went to war as a child redone because it had faded.

But why on earth did he get it redone? Especially after Giselle had said she was glad it was gone.

—Then… is the Director in love with you by himself?

Giselle was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t help but laugh.

—The Director would never do that. Absolutely not.

Why is everyone acting like this these days? There was a rumor that Konstanz had developed a colorless and odorless poison gas, and it must be true. They must have all inhaled some gas that exploded during an air raid and lost their minds.

As dinner time approached, the next shift of officers arrived one by one, and the officers who had been playing cards with them quickly left. With no reason to sit alone in the hall, Giselle moved to her desk in Room 303. The Director followed her and sat down in Lieutenant Latimer’s chair next to hers, asking, «What about dinner?»

—I don’t know? Can’t we just grab something from the movie theater snack bar?

—That’s just a snack.

—Are you hungry, sir?

Instead of answering, he placed an unidentifiable paper bag on her desk. Inside was a lunch box.

—You brought dinner? From your house?

—I asked the chef to prepare it. It was a rush job, so…

The moment she opened the box, Edwin was unable to tell her not to get her hopes up. Giselle’s eyes widened in admiration.

—Wow… even when they rush, the Duke’s estate is still the Duke’s estate.

He had thought that two sandwiches would be enough since they were short on time, but the box also included colorful canapés and rose-shaped chocolates for dessert. In that short amount of time, the chef had not only expanded the menu but had also painstakingly decorated it with fresh flowers and herbs like parsley. It was a work of art, too good to just be called a lunch box. The chefs who worked for the Duke’s estate had great passion and pride in their work, so they never served anything, not even a common fruit, without care.

Even so, he didn’t expect them to decorate it so obviously. The olives and cherry tomatoes on the canapés were cut and arranged to form a proud-looking heart shape. Edwin, who was not very immune to such cute gestures, couldn’t hide his embarrassed smile.

What would Giselle think? Even if she hadn’t suspected his feelings before, he had blatantly asked her on a date yesterday, so she must be catching on now. Seeing the hint of confusion on Giselle’s face, he picked up a canapé with a tomato heart on it and handed it to her, expressing his feelings once more.

—I told him I was having dinner with a woman.

—No wonder…

‘The chef must have misunderstood.’ He must have told the chef that he had finally found a woman, and the chef, filled with rosy expectations, must have prepared it with great care, only for it to be eaten by a poor soldier filling in for someone on duty on a weekend.

—It’s delicious. Is the chef at the townhouse the same as before?

As they ate dinner together, she talked about the well-being of the Duke’s employees she knew. Every time he moved his arm, her name kept getting in her line of sight.

—You got your tattoo redone.

—Yeah, this morning.

He extended his forearm and curved the corners of his mouth. His eyes seemed to be asking, «Doesn’t it look good?»

‘Absolutely not.’

—Why did you do it again?

—Because I need your luck.

—The future Duchess might not like it, you know?

—I want to marry a woman who will love this.

…Isn’t the only woman who would love that the one whose name is on it? That is… me?

A long-forgotten sense of revulsion slowly crept up from within. Giselle’s face unconsciously crumpled at the bitter taste.

—This is a bit early to talk about, but…

Giselle Bishop, why are you like this again? Snap out of it.

He must mean he wants to marry a woman who understands his relationship with Giselle. Or perhaps he’s just playfully saying that he has no intention of getting married at all. Or maybe the woman he dated today already said it was fine. She knew her interpretations were becoming more and more ridiculous, but they were all more convincing than the idea that Edwin Eccleston wanted to marry Giselle Bishop.

—What did you want to talk about today?

Giselle quickly made up her mind and changed her plan. She would just listen to what he had to say and then cancel the movie. That would be the smart thing to do.

—Can’t you just tell me here? We’re alone.

Despite Giselle’s urging, he didn’t answer. The man who was staring at Giselle’s lips as if possessed was not Lorentz. Her heart started to pound so loudly she could hear it in her ears, and she felt anxious. Yesterday, she had felt comfortable calling him «Ajussi» again, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it now.

—…Director?

—You have cream on your lip.

—Oh.

Giselle quickly licked her lips, top and bottom, with her tongue. The Director’s brow furrowed as he watched, and a small groan escaped his tightly-pressed lips, causing Giselle’s face to heat up instantly.

Licking her lips with her tongue was an easy way to clean them, but it was also a very undignified act. She thought the embodiment of etiquette, the Duke of Eccleston, would open his straight-pressed lips and start nagging her, asking, «Is that how I taught you?»

—There’s still some left.

—Oh… where…

Giselle was about to pull out a handkerchief, but she stopped when the Director’s hand reached toward her face. He could have just told her where it was, or at least used a handkerchief to wipe it for her, but for him to use his thumb to sweep from the corner of her mouth to the center of her lower lip was a bit dangerous, wasn’t it?

He stared at his thumb for a moment, then brought it to his own lips. His tongue licked up the cream and Giselle’s lipstick that had been left on his fingertip. He did it while making eye contact with Giselle. Then he smiled, his eyes curving.

—It’s delicious, but it’s not enough.

This was a fatally dangerous act. No, who was she to blame? Wasn’t she, the foolish one whose heart was racing from a meaningless act, the dangerous person here?

‘Just stop it, can’t you?’

Giselle chastised her relentless heart. She felt as if she had been stabbed in the back by the very self who had been so proud of escaping that hellish one-sided love. It was a cunning and foolish enemy.

—This isn’t a conversation for here. We’ll go to the movie first, and then talk over a drink.

Please, please let the story be a confession that he’s found another woman.

—I have something to tell you, too.

Even if it wasn’t that, or rather, no matter what he had to say today, Giselle was going to put some distance between herself and this man.

—Do we still have time? Let’s stop by Magnolia Terrace for a moment.

When the car the Director was driving stopped in front of Magnolia Terrace, Giselle got out, leaving him with one last message.

—Please wait for me for a moment.

Her business wouldn’t take very long. But then he got out of the car, too. When she saw him open the back door, it seemed he had something he needed to get.

He was still standing in front of the car as Giselle passed the fence and opened the front door. So she went inside alone. She was about to scratch Rody’s chin, who had come out to greet her, and then head to the kitchen when there was a knock on the door behind her.

When she opened it, Giselle couldn’t close her mouth at the sight of an unexpected bouquet, one that was rarely seen in October. The elegant dignity of luscious, fresh apricot roses and creamy peony buds was sensuously provoked by the subtle blend of deep blue and purple hydrangeas.

Why is the Director giving me such an elegant and enchanting bouquet? She took it, but her head tilted in confusion.

—Is there something I should be congratulated for? Did the Personnel Command change their mind and decide to promote me to captain, counting me as a lieutenant before my promotion?

—Do you have nothing but work on your mind?

Giselle burst into laughter. For him to say that, when he himself delayed his marriage because of work? Our youngest colonel has no conscience.

—Then why are you giving me this?

Was he congratulating her in advance because he had found a girlfriend? If so, Lorenz wouldn’t have stood for it.

—Did Lorenz tell you to give it to me?

—Do I look like his errand boy?

—True, if it were Lorenz, he would have given it to me himself.

—You are the first woman to be given flowers and then only talk about another man.

—…So, why are you giving me this? Just because? Because the flowers are pretty?

—Guess. Why do you think I’m giving you this bouquet?

Cruel Ajussi, please stop making me so confused.