Chapter 48: I don’t want my girl looking like a maid
Lucas didn’t get to enjoy the peace for long.
Just as he was finally relaxing, savoring the warm food and the quiet comfort of Lira’s company, someone pulled out the empty chair across from them and sat down without so much as a word.
Lucas didn’t look up right away, but he felt the presence. It wasn’t just the sound of the chair scraping against the ground, it was the aura. Calm, confident, proud and entitled.
Lucas slowly lifted his gaze, his expression neutral, but his eyes already cold. The young man that sat before them had finely tailored robes, a polished emblem pinned to his chest, and the kind of well-groomed look that only nobles from the inner court could maintain. He smiled, not at Lucas, but at Lira.
Lira, who had just taken another spoonful of food, froze for a second. She noticed the stranger but didn’t acknowledge him. She simply resumed eating, though her posture had subtly shifted, shoulders a little more upright, jaw a little tighter.
"Pardon my interruption," the man said with a smooth, refined tone.
Lucas’s chopsticks paused mid-air. His expression didn’t change, but something in the air around him shifted. He didn’t speak. Not yet.
"I’m Marquess Scott," the young man continued, "Cousin to Prince Darius. I’ve seen your beauty, you’re truly beautiful and remarkable ."
Lucas’s jaw clenched, but he still didn’t say a word.
Lira looked up, her eyes calm and respectful, but cool. "Thank you, my lord," she said quietly, then returned to her meal without further comment. Her body language said it all: she wasn’t interested, and she wasn’t giving him an opening.
But Marquess Scott wasn’t done.