Chapter 154
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‘It sounded like a pained groan.’
Before lody could hesitate further, a similar sound ca again.
“Ugh…..”
What could possibly be happening inside that room to produce such noises?
Concerned, lody skipped knocking and carefully turned the doorknob instead.
Pushing the door open slightly, the duke’s study desk imdiately ca into view.
The inkwells and pen holders arranged on top were neatly organized according to his ticulous character, kept in perfect order and spacing.
And around the center was a brightly lit lamp, surrounded by small items like a handheld mirror and tufts of cotton.
Who had brought the cotton there?
Looking around curiously, lody saw no one else present in the room at the mont.
‘Strange…?’
She was certain she had heard sothing like a groan just earlier.
Having been so close, there was no way she could have misheard.
‘But what was that sound…?’
Suddenly, her father’s words about ghosts clinging to shoulders if playing on the stairs flashed through lody’s mind.
‘No, that can’t be. Absolutely not….’
lody shook her head vigorously, trying to dismiss the thought.
“…Ah, more than I expected.”
Then, from beyond the desk, soone slowly rose while muttering to themselves.
“…?!”
lody was so startled that no sound escaped her mouth full of held breath.
“…?!”
It seed the other person was equally shocked as well.
The two of them simply stared at each other across the lamp in silence.
“…What are you doing here?”
Finally regaining her composure, lody released the tension in her chest as she asked the question.
“Lord Claude.”
As the one managing the duke’s affairs in his absence, Claude had free use of this study.
However, that still did not explain his peculiar behavior of being hunched behind the desk at this late hour.
“Ah, um…”
Furthermore, he seed unusually flustered, unlike his typical composed self.
The casual elegance he always carried like an ornant was nowhere to be seen.
What especially caught lody’s eye was how he kept awkwardly touching his ear with one hand.
“Is there so problem with your ear?”
Seeing him fidgeting restlessly, lody approached and asked.
“Hmm, no.”
He imdiately denied it while taking a step back, still not removing his hand from his ear.
“It seems there is an issue though.”
lody went right up to him and tilted her head up.
But he avoided eting her gaze, simply giving an awkward smile while shifting his eyes away.
“Well… it’s getting late, so you should head back and rest now, Miss lody.”
“Not until I find out what you’re doing.”
Having regained so composure in the anti, he responded with an overly bright smile that concealed his eyes.
“I appreciate your concern, but I’m not in a situation to… Ugh.”
However, his fake smile didn’t last long.
As he grimaced while unable to properly cover his ear, lody quickly grabbed his hand and pulled it away.
“M-Miss lody!”
“Stay still!”
lody responded rather firmly in the tone of a “young lady” she had learned in Kristonson.
Fortunately, he did not resist any further.
Finally, lody could examine his revealed left ear closely.
The reason for his pained groans beca evident – there were two small new
earrings that hadn’t been there before, one on his earlobe and another on the outer ear cartilage.
It seed they had just been pierced, with red blood oozing along the curved ridges.
“Goodness…”
While lody was stunned, he used sanitized cotton to wipe away the dripping blood.
“…Doesn’t it hurt?”
When lody asked with a pained expression, he gave a wry laugh.
“It hurts more than I expected, which is why I was so surprised.”
“But you pierced two at once?”
“The lower one didn’t hurt much. I thought the cartilage would be similar.”
He trailed off, unable to continue, implying the pain was too difficult to describe.
“So that’s what caused the groaning.”
“…Could it be heard from outside?”
“Unfortunately, yes. How is it now?”
“Horrible.”
He shook his head slowly before seemingly grimacing again from another twinge of pain.
“Should I fetch so dicine? I recall Master Jeremiah sending over a pain-relieving concoction he made.”
“No need, it’s not that bad.”
“But you said it was horribly painful.”
“I didn’t an the current pain was horrible.”
Then what was so horrible?
As lody peered at his ear inquisitively, she realized one crucial fact.
“Ah, humans have… two ears, don’t they?”
“Yes, we have a pair of ears.”
Which ant he would have to repeat the process he had just endured once more.
lody ca up with what she thought was a good idea to console him.
“It wouldn’t be that strange to just have one
earring though.”
But he shook his head.
“The artisans of the duchy make
earrings in pairs for both ears.”
“Ah.”
Only now did lody understand why he was tornting himself at this late hour.
It seed he intended to personally use the creations from the duchy’s artisans, willingly becoming a promotional tool for them.
“Did you ntion that orders would soon flood in like a storm?”
“Not yet. That’s for when I pierce the other ear.”
“I see…”
lody shrugged before gesturing towards the large study
chair with a nod.
“Have a seat, I’ll assist you.”
“…Huh?”
“It’s just a matter of pushing the
earring through in a similar location to the left side, right?”
“Well, yes, but…”
For so reason, he didn’t seem too keen on the idea.
“Is there a particular reason you must do it yourself?”
Co to think of it, the ducal household had many servants who could lend a hand for such tasks.
Rather than struggling alone this late at night.
“Well… it feels a bit off. Since it’s piercing a hole in my own body and all.”
“But this is usually sothing others help with.”
“Even so, I didn’t really want soone else’s hands involved.”
After saying that, he added honestly to avoid any misunderstanding from lody.
“Of course, you’re an exception, Miss lody.”
“I know, because I’m a Higgins, right? Just wait a mont then. I should wash my hands thoroughly first.”
She shrugged and briefly exited the room, returning after washing her hands.
“Are you really going to do it? Do you have experience?”
“No, but I’ll likely manage if you guide
through the process.”
lody smiled, adding, “At least better than you doing it yourself.”
That was an undeniable point. As a right-handed person, it would be awkward for Claude to pierce his own right ear himself.
Moreover, he didn’t seem to have proper control over his hands at the mont either.
“Hmm, actually there’s not much of a process per se.”
He handed lody the pre-sharpened
earring, positioning himself in front of her.
“Just position it precisely and push it through in one go. Can you do that?”
His question did not an to doubt her, but simply showed concern if she might feel averse to piercing soone’s body with a sharp object.
“Probably.”
lody slowly nodded as she sanitized the pointed
earring tip, her expression resolutely determined as if bracing herself.
Seeing that, Claude couldn’t help but smile a little.
“No need to push yourself.”
“No, I want to try. I might need to do this for Loretta later on.”
“Using my ear for practice, I see. Alright then.”
After finishing the sanitization, lody gripped his chin with her hand, tilting his head up at a suitable angle.
From that distance, she examined the left ear that was already pierced and his intact right ear alternately.
“I should keep them balanced so it doesn’t look strange, right?”
“Mmm, I suppose so.”
After scrutinizing each side repeatedly, lody bent down slightly for a closer look at his right ear.
He remained utterly still, leaning his head and body fully against the
chair’s backrest.
“How about… around here?”
lody positioned the sharpened
earring tip against a spot on his earlobe and asked for his opinion.
“I’m not sure.”
There was a hint of tension in his responding voice.
“I’ll leave the positioning entirely up to you, Miss lody.”
“Entirely up to ? That makes
feel quite responsible sohow. This is going to take a while…”
lody whispered with an awkward expression, prompting the corners of Claude’s lips to quirk up slightly.
“I suppose so. Even when I’m an old graybeard, Miss lody’s work from today may still remain.”
Well… if she kept the pierced ear continuously adorned with
earrings, that would naturally occur.
It was an obvious and natural prospect, yet lody felt an odd sensation nonetheless.
But she soon brushed it off with a light smile, asking teasingly,
“Does that an if I pierce it strangely, the old graybeard will keep complaining until the end?”
“Of course not.”
He straightened his head that had been tilted slightly to the left as he responded.
“It ans I will cherish it for a lifeti.”
Giving a brief smile, he fell silent after that, likely to allow her to focus.
“Alright then… here I go.”
lody took a step closer to perfectly concentrate her strength through her fingertips.
Their knees ended up brushing against each other, so he shifted his posture to accommodate her preferred proximity.
Once more, lody positioned the sharp tip against his earlobe.
Claude’s face twitched briefly, seemingly anticipating the impending pain.
His rare display of trepidation felt oddly fresh and intriguing to lody.
Enough to make her unconsciously study his face intently.
‘…Now that I think about it.’
She recalled sothing she usually tried not to be aware of.
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