"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."
instructed, she brought the cigarette to her mouth
Only that…
"Cough! Cough!"
and she began coughing in
fly out
lied
started coughing even more
"Hahah."
was having trouble keeping his composure, let out a
fuck are
change in expression and
trick me
'…Is this really her?'
Ren, now that he was directly interacting with her, he found her new behavior to be
she hiding her
something? Cant
different
twitch of his lips, Jin maintained
it properly. Try again, but this time try inhaling with your
not be playing with
at him fiercely. Then, bringing the cigarette
and Jin turned his head. They were quite
*Puff*
air, and Jin could very clearly hear her letting out a series of muffled coughs. Nevertheless, it was a marked improvement over the
it burns
staring at the cigarette. Then, bringing it to her mouth, she took another
in this manner for an ensuing couple of minutes, up
do I do with
She showed the butt.
looked at it before casting his gaze
"Throw it away."
"Mhm."
it disappeared out of
then extended her hand
"What?"
looked at her strangely. He somewhat had an idea of what she wanted but found himself rather taken aback when he
It couldn't be, right?
"…"
bobbed
out a cigarette and placed it on her hand. She glanced at it for a moment before looking back
"More?"
Now, this…
and placed
even bother looking at her hand before directly staring at Jin. Her gaze and expression were clear. She wanted
time in a long time, Jin
'Ah, whatever.'
head and placed the pack
"Very generous of you."
'Motherf—'
***
Duke Velmout. I'd like to discuss with you about a
Priscilla—]
"Interesting."
staring at the letter in his
black suit and holding a clear glass that was filled with a crimson liquid, his long black
the stone edge of the balcony, he
couldn't wait any
on the demon's face. Seemingly already
day had already made its way to his
an alliance. After all, by that point, the only
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 essentially two birds with one
"Alright, then."
flick of his finger, the letter vanished into
he mumbled
much I
*
you sure
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