"Has he always been like that?"
The Duchess inquired as she turned her head and faced the window of the room she was in, admiring the view outside.
Sitting opposite from her was Jin. Similarly looking at the window, he inwardly sighed.
"Yeah…"
They were currently talking about Ren.
He may have changed a little over the years, but thinking back at all the times he had been with him, he couldn't find a way to deny her words.
"Must've been tough."
"Tell me about it."
Thankfully, the Duchess was quite hospitable. Else he really would've been cursing Ren till the end of his life.
He reached out for his pocket and took out a cigarette.
…It was a habit he picked up due to all the stress he'd been facing recently. It wasn't harmful to him anyways, so it didn't really matter.
"What's that?"
"This?"
He lifted the cigarette.
"Yeah."
The Duchess nodded, her eyes carrying a hint of interest.
After noticing how interested the Duchess was, he lifted his index finger to light the cigarette and then took a brief drag from it.
*Puff*
The Duchess's gaze followed the smoke that raised in the air.
"It's called a cigarette, and it's something that helps me manage my stress."
"…There's such a thing?"
"Mhm"
He took another puff before handing the Duchess his pack.
"Want to have a go?"
"Can I?"
"Yeah. Go ahead."
She reached out with caution. Sliding the cigarette out with the tips of her slim fingers, she brought it in close to her mouth and placed it in between her lips before taking it out.
For a good minute, she examined it with wonder.
"What do I do now?"
"Light the tip."
He pointed at the white side.
A blue flame flickered over the Duchess's finger.
Alternating her gaze between Jin and the stick, she brought the finger close to the tip.
"Like this?"
"Yuh."
The cigarette lit, and an orange ring formed.
"Bring it to your mouth and inhale."
Jin explained before she could ask further.
"…Okay."
brought the cigarette to her
Only that…
"Cough! Cough!"
red, and she began coughing in
fly out
You lied to m—Cough!
coughing even
"Hahah."
who was having trouble keeping his composure, let out a muffled chuckle.
fuck are
change in expression and her words left
you trick me on purpose,
'…Is this really her?'
seen glimpses before when she was talking with Ren, now that he was directly interacting with her, he
she hiding her true
dead or something? Cant you
no different than
his lips, Jin maintained
again, but this time try inhaling with your
not be playing
him fiercely. Then, bringing the cigarette close to
chest heaved up, and Jin turned his head. They were quite
*Puff*
Duchess's exhalations caused a cloud of smoke to float in the air, and Jin could very clearly hear her
burns
massaged her chest while staring at the cigarette. Then, bringing it to her mouth, she took
continued to draw on the cigarette in this manner for an ensuing couple of
do I
She showed the butt.
looked at it before casting his
"Throw it away."
"Mhm."
light flick, it
her hand in Jin's
"What?"
strangely. He somewhat had an idea of what she wanted but found himself rather taken
It couldn't be, right?
"…"
reply and bobbed her
a cigarette and placed it on her hand. She glanced at it for a moment before
"More?"
Now, this…
and placed it on her
before directly staring at Jin. Her gaze and
Jin was left speechless. Was
'Ah, whatever.'
his head and placed
"Very generous of you."
'Motherf—'
***
Red Peak, Duke Velmout. I'd
Priscilla—]
"Interesting."
staring at the letter
there wearing a flawless black suit and holding a clear glass that was filled with a crimson liquid, his long black hair reached the back
against the stone edge of the balcony, he twirled
finally couldn't
on the demon's face. Seemingly already having predicted such
her earlier in the day had already made its way to his ears,
he been in her portion, he too would've resorted to an alliance. After all, by that point, the only thing on his mind would be revenge rather
mean he could leverage as much as he could from Priscilla, granted that he would help her get revenge which was also within his interest since Duke Ukhan was also a
two birds with one
"Alright, then."
flick of his finger, the letter vanished into thin air, and
suit, he mumbled with
much I can squeeze from
*
you sure it's not
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
The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!