Chapter 46: If You’re Overheated, Don’t You Need to Cool Off?
“...?”
Even though Armand was a real virgin, he still understood what that kind of sentence meant. He looked up at Evelia and saw that even after saying something like that, her face didn’t turn red or show any embarrassment at all.
“Do you need me to help you?”
Evelia asked again, as if she wanted to make sure about Armand’s answer.
“Eve... do you even know what that sentence means?”
Armand started to feel awkward again, because when Evelia spoke, she leaned toward him. The way she bent forward just happened to give Armand a clear view of her plump, snow-white chest. He didn’t want to look, but his uncooperative eyes kept glancing in that direction.
Congratulations to Armand for achieving a perfect score of zero seconds in the “Don’t Look There” challenge.
“If you’re overheated, don’t you need to cool off?”
“Ah, well—yes, that’s not wrong.” Armand pressed his lips together. “But... that sentence also has another meaning...”
“Then can you explain it to me?”
Evelia looked at Armand with innocent curiosity in her golden eyes, like someone eager to learn.
“......”
Armand had always thought Evelia was a mysterious woman. She seemed to know everything, but at the same time, it felt like she didn’t really know.
“Well, that one’s... hard to explain.”
“If it’s not convenient for you, I can just ask someone else—”
“Wait!!”
Armand quickly stopped her. This girl would absolutely turn the whole situation into something like, ‘Armand wants me to help him cool down, so I’m just going to ask others how I should do that.’ If that kind of rumor spread… that would be a nightmare.
“Hm? What’s wrong, Mr. Armand?”
Evelia had already taken half a step toward the door, and she really looked like she was about to go ask someone about the deeper meaning of that sentence.
“Well... ‘cooling off’ just means... it’s...”
Armand didn’t plan on doing anything inappropriate, but just thinking about having to explain this to Evelia made him rub his ears in embarrassment. He only wanted to tell her the real meaning behind the words, but for some reason, his brain started showing him all kinds of inappropriate scenes—
Evelia’s soft and skillful tongue, her warm and tight mouth, her slim and pale fingers… If she used those...
“Do your ears need me to help relax them too?”
Evelia noticed that Armand was rubbing his ears and kindly asked if he needed help with that as well.
“No, no need!” Armand quickly let go of his ears, trying to stop the ridiculous thoughts in his head. “Just, don’t ask around, and don’t go saying weird stuff. Got it?”
“Okay. If you say so, I understand.”
As always, she agreed to his request without any resistance.
But every time this happened, while Armand felt relieved thinking, ‘It’s a good thing she doesn’t ask too much.’ There was also a strange feeling he couldn’t quite shake.
He always assumed Evelia worked for the Second Prince. That’s why he thought she followed his orders so obediently, probably because she was ordered to.
Kind of ironic, isn’t it? A loyal dog of the Second Prince, now wagging her tail at him... but who knows when she’ll turn around and bite?
If only she were really this obedient from the heart, then maybe... his fantasies wouldn’t have to stay just fantasies.
Armand thought about that and gave a little laugh to himself.
He had never been someone who liked following strict rules, so how could he expect others to “always obey” him? That would make him exactly like the kind of people he hated.
Still, no matter how easygoing Armand was, he wasn’t okay with people spreading weird rumors about him. So, after reminding Evelia again and again not to ask anyone else about the “cooling down” thing, and not to say such things to others, only then did he feel safe enough to leave the estate and head out to work.
But from Evelia’s point of view, it sounded more like he was saying, “Only you can help me cool off.” Even though she didn’t really understand the full meaning behind that phrase, she still remembered it and kept it in her mind.
Armand didn’t like carriages, so if he wasn’t in a hurry, he would walk. He strolled along at his own pace all the way to the knights’ headquarters. Although he didn’t bring any attendants with him, he was walking on the main road of the capital, and every few steps he would pass a patrolling knight from the order. Of course, they all knew who Armand was, so he had to nod here, smile there. It actually felt even more tiring than going into battle.
“You’re here, huh.”
When he opened the door to his office, Vice-Captain Carle was, as usual, sitting in Armand’s seat, helping him deal with the paperwork Armand didn’t want to touch.
“How’s the work for the celebration going?”
Armand threw his coat onto the sofa, rubbed his face that had gone stiff from smiling too much, and poured himself a cup of plain water from the kettle on the table.
“The celebration is going to be more like a fun event now. They’ve removed a lot of the complicated stuff. It’s not so formal anymore.”
“No speech?”
“Nope. I canceled that for you.”
“That’s great. You really are the best. I don’t have to write some crappy speech now.”
That was what Armand cared about the most. He really didn’t want to stand on a stage and “thank the Second Prince for recognizing his talents.” He’d rather dig the Second Prince’s eyes out and feed them to the fish.
Actually, after what happened this morning, Armand even imagined a scene where he dug out the Second Prince’s eyes and gave them to Evelia as a gift. He figured Evelia’s reaction would definitely be interesting. If he ever got the chance, he really wanted to see it. Maybe it would be fun to make that a goal.
“Maybe cutting off his head and tossing it at her would be even more fun?”
The thought was so entertaining that Armand accidentally said it out loud.
“What are you thinking about now?”
Carle wasn’t even surprised. The two of them didn’t go to war together as much as they used to since they got promoted, but they had been close comrades. Carle knew how Armand behaved in battle. Armand enjoyed messing with people, whether it was the enemy or some young soldier under his command, he always found fun in it.
Of course, the way he messed with enemies and his own people was different. With his subordinates, it was mostly just harmless teasing.
“Nothing,” Armand replied with a smile, shaking his head. Then he sat down on the edge of Carle’s desk. “Has the Second Prince made any moves lately?”
“I knew you were just thinking about that guy.”
“Come on, we both know what’s what.”
Armand’s hatred for the Second Prince wasn’t anything new. Sometimes he would curse him when he was in a good mood. Other times, when he was in a bad mood, he would still curse him. And occasionally, he would blurt out some random sentence without even mentioning a name, but Carle always knew it was about the Second Prince.
Carle didn’t know the full story about Armand’s past with the Second Prince. All he knew was that the Second Prince had tried really hard to get rid of Armand before. So, Carle figured it made perfect sense that Armand would hate the guy. He never asked too many questions about it.
“The Second Prince hasn’t done anything major lately. Oh, by the way, did you take care of that thing from last time?”
Carle put down the stack of half-finished documents, stretched like he was taking a break, and looked at Armand.
“Last time’s... what thing?”
“You know, that woman you quarreled with. Did you apologize to her?”