Try Begging Novel - Chapter 7

His father met a most dishonorable end at a young age, falling victim to a rebel spy. Afterward, the duty of reclaiming the title naturally fell to Leon, the eldest son.

He entered the military academy earlier than others. After commissioning, he traversed countless battlefields and rebel hideouts, earning both the titles of war hero and vampire.

Now, his next duty was to marry a young lady of a noble family who could help him reclaim the title.

He had been raised with military discipline from birth. He was now so accustomed to silently doing what he disliked that it no longer bothered him.

He was called the Vampire of Camden because of his reputation for leaving a bloody trail wherever he went, but perhaps the nickname “Loyal Military Dog of Camden” suited him better.

Should I call that woman the Grand Ducal family’s docile lamb?

Leon gazed at the Grand Duchess, who was looking out at the deck.

Compared to the Grand Duchess, the eldest son of the Winston family was significantly lower in rank. Yet, the Grand Duke was serious about this marriage proposal because the civil war had not yet ended.

It was a world where soldiers rose in prominence. Among the many young officers, Leon was the most promising.

The Grand Duke was using one of his remaining daughters to buy a stock that was just beginning to rise, one that carried great risk but also promised great returns. Thus, Rosalyn Aldrich was, in a sense, the Grand Duke’s sacrifice.

Leon spoke again to the woman, who wore a bored expression.

“Do you like this place?”

“…Yes.”

His intuition, honed over years of interrogating spies, told him that was a lie.

“That’s a relief. I was regretting a little bit entrusting the restaurant reservation to my mother.”

A faint smile flickered across the Grand Duchess’s face.

“Mrs. Winston has excellent taste.”

“Thank you. I’ll convey that to my mother.”

He offered a practiced, meaningless smile, and the Grand Duchess slowly mirrored it. Just as she was about to part her tightly sealed lips, as if she had something to say, the waiter brought their meal. After that, their conversation consisted of an occasional word or two about the dishes.

Finishing his plate quickly wouldn’t allow him to escape any faster. However, his body, eager to leave this place, impulsively devoured the meal in an instant.

As his plate emptied, the Grand Duchess also put down her fork and knife. Her plate was less than half-empty.

“My apologies. Being in the military, one tends to get used to the eating speed of men.”

Leon moved to the cafe on the same floor, looked at the menu, and then offered his belated apology. He intended to offer her at least a cake, as he couldn’t let his guest go hungry.

“No, not at all. In fact, it was quite a lot for me.”

The Grand Duchess politely declined dessert like a lady and ordered black tea. While waiting for the tea, his gaze kept clinging to her face as she stared out the window. Annoyed, Leon finally couldn’t hold back and asked,

“Is there something you wish to say?”

The Grand Duchess looked as if she had been caught. It was amusing, given how obvious her actions were. Then, for some reason, she chuckled softly to herself before speaking.

“You’re not as scary as the rumors say.”

Leon suppressed a sneer.

Foolish woman. Did you think I would whip you?

No matter how vicious the rumors were, they wouldn’t be wrong. It was simply that he would never show his true self to the Grand Duchess.

“Captain, you are truly generous and kind.”

What on earth was a woman who called him generous and kind even after seeing his true self?

Sally Bristol.

She didn’t seem foolish. Rather, she seemed like a fox pretending to be foolish.

The gap between her lips, which spoke of respect, and her eyes, which spoke of contempt, was fascinating. He wanted to push her into a corner until she shed her mask and fully revealed her true intentions.

Then, would he discover if this fox was a cunning vixen or a sly swindler?

For example…

A cruel impulse suddenly surged, and Leon took a deep breath.

Pulling up the hem of Sally’s black maid’s skirt and spreading her slender calves. Tearing open the center of her pristine white bloomers with a rip, then thrusting his pistol into the narrow, damp cavity that would be revealed.

Stirring the delicate flesh with the cold muzzle. Sally would let out a moan closer to pain than pleasure.

When he pulled the pistol from her twitching flesh, her lewd fluids would drip down the glistening muzzle, wetting his hand.

It’s hard to bear.

Leon tightened the leg he already had crossed. Why did merely imagining that insignificant woman make his trousers feel ready to burst?

Was it her eyes?

“It was a pleasant time.”

It was almost midnight when he dropped the Grand Duchess off at the villa.

“It was a very pleasant time for me as well.”

The Grand Duchess’s eyes widened in surprise at Leon’s fresh smile. She must have expected him to offer a polite lie, just as she had, but he had genuinely enjoyed himself. She seemed unable to believe it.

It had been quite a pleasant time.

The last two hours on the cruise ship had been so enjoyable that his trousers felt uncomfortably tight.

“Then, I’ll see you next time.”

He saw the Grand Duchess into the villa and was about to get into the car when the butler quickly walked out from the entrance.

“Captain Winston, the Grand Duke asks if you are not busy, would you care to repay today’s debt today?”

He was referring to Leon’s refusal of alcohol earlier that evening.

“Oh, dear…”

Leon rubbed his brow with a black-gloved index finger, feigning dismay.

“I already promised Her Grace, the Grand Duchess, that you wouldn’t smell alcohol today… If I tell His Grace that I don’t wish to become a man who loses his wife’s trust so soon, he will surely understand my generosity. Tell him I will repay the debt with ample interest.”

Leon got into the car, leaving the Grand Duchess and the butler staring at him with strange expressions. He refused any unproductive overtime.

In truth, a mountain of urgent matters awaited him, pressing against the front of his trousers.

In short, it had been a hellishly tough day.

Sally sighed, lying in bed and replaying the day’s events.

Creak.

The groan of the old bed echoed in the empty room. The maid’s room in the annex attic was large enough for four people. With Edel gone, she was the only one left in the annex, enjoying the luxury of having it all to herself.

“Ah, what on earth possessed them today?”

That’s why she could voice the complaints she would otherwise only keep to herself.

There had never been a day she was so annoyingly entangled with Winston. He was a capricious man by nature, but today he popped up here and there like a ghost, making her feel as if she would have a heart attack and become a ghost herself.

Had his beast-like intuition been activated?

“Have you ever been to Abington Beach when you were young?”

A long sigh crossed the silent room.

Damn my eyes.

A spy, above all, must have an ordinary appearance. Because people should find it difficult to describe them in detail when trying to draw a composite sketch in their minds.

In fact, she thought her appearance was quite ordinary. Common brown hair and a modest impression, utterly devoid of any seductive charm.

Except for these teal eyes.

While other aptitudes for a spy could be honed through effort, one’s innate appearance was unchangeable. There were limits to disguise.

She had been warned before being assigned to this mansion that a day like this might come, owing to her unique eye color. But he hadn’t listened.

“The leadership must set an example.”

James ‘Little Jimmy’ Blanchard Junior. The young leader of the Blanchard Revolutionary Army and her fiancé.

No matter what arduous mission he assigned his fiancée, Sally never complained.

She had never desired a conventional life, sitting quietly at home, raising children, flipping through kitchen appliance catalogs, and preparing elaborate meals for her husband’s return.

Rather than being loved as a woman by her fiancé, she wished to be recognized as an equal comrade, just as her mother had been by her father.

Therefore, her refusal of the infiltration mission into the Winston household was not because she was a coward. It was out of concern that her distinctive physical features, which Captain Winston might remember, would jeopardize the mission.

See? I told you so.

It might be better to quickly deploy someone else here and withdraw her. A small crack can lead to collapse. Just because they overlooked it today didn’t mean Winston had completely nipped the bud of suspicion.

I should call Jimmy…

The interrogation room was empty anyway, so there wouldn’t be much work tomorrow.

Should I go to the post office tomorrow? And use the phone…

Sally gazed at the dresser across the room. Tucked away in a rolled-up sock was the substantial sum she had inadvertently extorted from Winston today.

Should I send the money too?

Send it to headquarters as military funds, along with last week’s wages. Unlike her wages, this money was known to no one, so she could pocket it, but her conscience wouldn’t allow it. Besides, she didn’t particularly want to spend it on anything.

Well… a cup of cafe au lait and a slice of cake at Madame Benoit’s cafe would be a permissible luxury.

“Do you know what’s better than a slice of cake?”

I know. A whole cake.