Chapter 42.1

He had to be pulling her legs.

“What do you mean I smell nothing?”

That wasn’t possible. Lia lifted her stained and rumpled shirt to her nose, sniffing it briefly. The unmistakable stench of dried sweat hit her nose rudely. After running around all day, the smell of her perfume bag had long been overridden by the smell of her sweat. She had been dripping buckets of it earlier, anyway, and if you couldn’t smell it from a mile away, something was wrong with your nose.

“I’d wager something’s wrong with your nose. It’s best you see a doctor if you can’t smell the sweat,” Lia said almost adamantly.

Claude didn’t care much for the serious look she had on her face. Instead, he threw his head back and laughed. Quietly and much to Lia’s playful annoyance.

After a moment, Claude put Lia’s head on his shoulder and cackled some more. She entertained the thought of whacking his pretty face with the folded napkin on the small stool by their feet.

Since they were sitting together, Lia comfortably turned, trying to smell him. Even before she got her nose too close to the base of his neck, the soft and sweet smell of lavender wafted up to her nose.

The laughter stopped.

Lia’s bang fell free from its place across her forehead, lightly tickling Claude’s neck. Although he was leaning on the sofa, eyes fixed on the ceiling, his stillness was evidence enough that he was paying attention to what she was doing.

Being in the dark like this… Lia decided to blame the darkness on her unusual sort of courage.

Lia didn’t pay that tiny detail any attention though. She buried her nose even deeper. As deeper as she could without actually touching him. The light lavender from his neck tickled her nose, a world of difference from her sweaty smell. Almost tempted to stay buried in the crook of his neck soaking in his warmth and manly smell entwined with lavender tones, Lia pulled back.

“You see? My nose is working perfectly fine. Yours, on the other hand, I doubt that very much,” she wasn’t sure if she should be this close to Claude, feeling his warm breath on her cheek.

Claude stayed quiet as Lia straightened her shirt.

A frown graced her face as she noticed the bright red tinge on Claude’s ears. Save for the darkness shrouding everything, Lia could have sworn the tips of Claude’s ears were red. It had to be the light streaming in through the curtains, casting that shade on them.

“Let’s just say it is,” Claude’s voice pierced the silence. It was more serious this time, more than it had been when he’d been laughing just a moment ago. Lia briefly wondered if she had somehow angered him. Claude didn’t say anything else. Instead, he closed his eyes, resting his head on the sofa.

Seemingly eager to fill the stretching silence, Claude said “It seems like things have gotten quite outside.”

Claude still said nothing else, keeping his eyes closed. Lia watched his lean, taut muscles strain beneath his thin shirt as he clasped his fingers behind his head. She swallowed, audibly, she could have sworn.

Awkwardly, Lia picked herself off the sofa and walked to the curtains, lifting them to confirm his statement. True to his guess, the numerous people who had been standing around not so long ago were all gone. The only sounds cutting through the silence were the sounds of the horses ungracefully chewing their food.

Lia didn’t know what to do now.

“Well, then. I’d best be off now. Thanks for..uh…hiding me,” her voice was unsure and she didn’t like that at all. Claude did not seem to notice or he didn’t bother to point it out even if he did.

“Don’t wrap the bandage too hard. You don’t want to cut off your blood circulation and end up dead,” he advised, this time his piercing gaze settling on her. With those eyes, Lia worried that Claude could right through her and her secret.

“Alright, thank you.”

By now, it wasn’t the bandage that most conveniently tightened around her body, but her underwear instead, holding her bruised ribs in place.

“And, I’d best inform you. I’ll be coming to read the book I didn’t finish the last time. Be ready,” Claude said as Lia made her way to the door. “Yes, Sir Claude…but…” she paused.

Hand already on the doorknob, Lia turned slightly. “What happened that day… you didn’t ask. Why? Things like what happened on the boat. The police are quiet and Sir Bryton hasn’t said anything either.

Lia could feel Claude’s stare on the side of her face. “That’s because… It’s not something that’s important to me. It’s just bothersome,” he said matter-of-factly, proceeding to cross his legs the other way. “I only moved to protect you. I don’t think of what happens otherwise.”

His answer gave nothing away but didn’t stop heat from crawling up Lia’s neck and settling in her face. Here she was blushing like a schoolgirl. Silly. She quickly turned around and grabbed the doorknob again.

“Then, you won’t be patrolling Louvre again?”

“Probably. Why do you ask?”

“That’s because… You might get hurt. It’s a dangerous place.”

Lia stepped out of the room, leaving Claude and his loud laugh. The open scenery sprawling around her with light took a moment to get adjusted to. She greedily inhaled fresh air into her lungs as though there hadn’t been any while she was inside with Claude.

Right now she was a man. And the Duke was also a man. Panic seized Lias throat as she frantically ransacked her memory, searching for any signs of trouble throughout her time with Claude.

Had she somehow slipped up and unknowingly revealed that she was a woman? Or had he somehow found something out while attending to her wound?

Lia’s heart started to race. “Maybe…”

She didn’t let the thought form completely, launching into a wild sprint immediately. Lia ran towards the direction of the building, barely noticing that her chest was becoming stiffer than normal.

The heat that assuaged her face and neck did not subside. At some point, someone called after Lia but she didn’t hear it. Or maybe she did and barely registered the sound.

Lia’s legs continued carrying her further, with the skies darkening with clouds and the promise of a vicious rain. Still, the sun remained, too stubborn to yield the skies for the rain to take over. Before she finally entered the building, Lia took in a steadying gulp of hair, her hands rapidly flapping to cool down her blushing cheeks.

Shock coursed through her briefly as someone grabbed her wrist before a scream tore out of her throat, the wrist-grabbing assailant spoke, “Not too long ago, you were so hurt that you couldn’t walk. Now you’re running like a happy pony.”

Ian. It was Ian.

Ian, who Lia hadn’t seen for days since he went into hiding, had been a reason for her worry. He looked pretty normal. Nothing terrible had happened to him as far as she could see.

“How did you get in here? This is the academy…”

Ian gestured vaguely at the field Lia had just run across minutes ago. Her eyes fell on a horse tied up at the stable.

“Did you… climb over the mountain?”

Ian laughed at the look of bewilderment on Lia’s face.

“I wanted to see you… but someone wouldn’t let me.”

“Who?”

“Some devil,” he replied. Lia could guess vaguely who it was.