CH 6.3

It was an impulsive remark.

She liked Lucas’s freckles; they weren’t unsightly freckles, but evenly distributed, like someone who wore freckle makeup on purpose.

“…I don’t know what to make of that.”

Seeing his brow furrow slightly in displeasure, Lila hastened to add.

“There’s no way I’d disrespect the Duke. We’re in the same boat, after all.”

Lila’s words brought Lucas’s eyes back to normal. But his gaze remained sharp, as if he were prying into her intentions.

“Is that so?”

“If you would sit down at the vanity for a minute, you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

“Hmm…”

Lucas stared at a flustered Lila for a moment, then shuffled over. He sat down on the vanity stool.

Lila grabbed the hem of her skirt and moved quickly toward the vanity.

“Can you close your eyes for a second?”

He looked at her in the mirror, his eyes unreadable.

“Just for a moment, really, just a moment.”

The look in her eyes in the mirror seemed to be of pure good will, so he said nothing more and closed his eyes.

Rich, long eyelashes, almost shadowy, fluttered downward. Lila pulled a few cosmetics out of her pouch.

She prepped his skin with a clear pad and applied lotion, then a tinted sunscreen instead of a makeup base.

After a thorough application of pore primer, she pulled out a creamy concealer and studied his face.

Lucas’s face was as white as a star in the night sky, dotted with freckles.

She applied concealer over the freckles and spread it thin with a brush. She lightly applied a foundation that matched his complexion and set the oiliness with powder.

While she took a moment to put her cosmetics in her purse, Lucas asked.

“I don’t know what the hell you were doing, but can I open my eyes now?”

“Wait!”

Lila hurriedly pulled out a brown eyeshadow and lightly lined her eyes. Just light enough to be barely noticeable.

With a final spray of makeup fixer, Lila hastily stuffed the makeup into her pouch.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

She was nervous. It had been a long time since she had applied makeup on someone else’s face, and her heart was racing.

Her fingers tingled, a sensation she hadn’t felt in so long.

Lucas opened his eyes as if he’d been waiting. He was surprised to see his face in the mirror in front of him.

The wide-open eyes and expression seemed to tell him that it was his face. But the missing freckles made it awkward.

“What the hell…”

He’s no stranger to women’s makeup, but he had never seen makeup that so subtly erases freckles.

He expected the makeup to feel soft on his face, but he wasn’t expecting the results.

He wondered why she was doing this to him, if she was embarrassing herself, and all sorts of other things.

“If you’re offended, I’ll put it back to its original state. I just wanted to give you a little something for your coming of age today.”

Lila didn’t think there was anything she could give him, but she was glad she could at least do his makeup.

Looking at her flushed cheeks, Lucas felt an indescribable rush of emotion.

Strangely… She looked so cute. Even the mole next to the nose that stood out today looked cute.

“Ha!”

Lucas chuckled to himself.

“Haha…”

A chuckle escaped him.

Lila stared at Lucas as he laughed coolly.

The dimple at one end of his full lips and the tear mole at the corner of his smiling eye caught her sight.

Thump thump.

Lila pressed her fingertips to her upper chest against her racing heart. She only got rid of freckles, but he look like a completely different person, so it might be even more so.

“Great, ha…”

Lucas crossed his legs, stifling the laughter he couldn’t seem to stop. Resting his hands on one knee, he looked up at Lila with an amused expression.

“Wife.”

Lila’s shoulders shook at the gentle call. Her trembling lips parted as she regained control of her consciousness that ran away for a moment.

“Yes?”

“If you know how to wear makeup like this, why doesn’t my wife do it on herself?”

Lila was speechless at the suddenness of the question.

“What?”

“Isn’t it strange, how come you have this skills but you’ve never done it…”

Mint-colored eyes held Lila’s gaze and wouldn’t let go. They looked directly at her intensely, as if demanding an answer.

Lila couldn’t bring herself to say anything. It was an impulsive decision, and maybe she was caught off guard because no one had ever asked her why she didn’t wear makeup.

Looking at his wife’s freckled face, colored with embarrassment, Lucas genuinely wondered.

Why?

Lila turned her head away, avoiding his unblinking mint-colored eyes.

She needed to say something, but she was so flustered that her thinking had come to a standstill.

Lucas recalled all the details of his wife’s personal life he’d heard through Owen. He looked at the tiny woman in front of him, remembering the most recent one, her coming of age last year.

‘She fell and no one helped her…’

Sarcasm leaked out of him at the constant socialite routines. He didn’t consider himself a good person, but he was tired of the socialites and aristocrats of the Vassium Empire who judged by appearances alone.

‘You couldn’t have done this for me because you thought I’d go through the same thing…’

Lucas stood up from his stool as Lila continued to blush, unable to answer.

“Hmm, the lady hadn’t forgotten what I said about us being in the same boat, have you?”

Lila, who hadn’t seen him looking at her with a grim expression, screamed inwardly.

“…Of course, I remember, so, I mean…”

Feeling the need to make a belated excuse, Lila was about to speak when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Lucas answered, and the door opened. Vincent walked in.

“I’m up here because I thought it was past your time to leave, Duke.”

Lucas had left the room to get ready, and he had left Vincent to prepare the carriage. He had forgotten about it, and had been watching Lila in panic.

He was surprised at himself for forgetting. Lucas smiled wryly and held out his hand to Lila.

“Shall we go, then?”

Lila looked at his hand and inwardly sighed with relief. Even though she knew it would only get them through the immediate crisis, she grasped his hand eagerly, glad to get out of this situation.

Lucas glanced at his wife, who held his hand without putting it on his hand. Seeing the embarrassment on her face, he tightened his grip on her hand.

“Hmm… this isn’t so bad.”

Lila squealed inwardly again as she realized her mistake. It was funny how she showed emotion all over her face. Lucas felt much better about her low mood.

“You’re cute, really.”

Unable to hear his low muttered words, Lila continued to stumble along with a sullen face.