Chapter 103 - A Stifling Dinner

By the time I had finished preparing for the tea tasting party with Max’s help, it was already evening. “Time flies, doesn’t it?” I grinned at Max as he vacantly gazed at me. “It’ll be time for dinner soon.”

“Alright, I’ll get going then.” He responded quietly as if he thought I was kicking him out.

Although it wasn’t my intention, I had made Max work hard for me the whole day. There was no way I could in good conscience tell him to leave without inviting him to dinner, so I hurriedly grabbed his arm.

He looked at me with wide eyes. “What is it?” he asked.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

He seemed a little reluctant at my words. Since it was his nature to appear briefly and vanish, I locked my arm with his to prevent him from doing so. “Let’s go,” I said, then turned to Merilyn and asked, “Could you go to the kitchen and inform the chef that there’ll be a guest today?”

“Yes, my lady,” Merilyn answered and left. Only then did I realize that there was a problem.

‘Oh, come to think of it, my father is home… Will it be okay?’ I was used to dining with my father, but I thought Max might feel uncomfortable. Even though we were in a contractual relationship to show my father I was dating someone, I wanted to prioritize his feelings since he had helped me today.

“By the way… my father will be home. Will that be okay with you? We can eat outside if you’re not comfortable—”

 

“It doesn’t matter.” He cut me off firmly.

Rather than relief, I started feeling anxious at his compliant words. ‘I hope nothing bad will happen.’

* * *

In all honesty, Max didn’t want to join Jubelian for dinner if his master was going to be there, but he couldn’t refuse. ‘If she asks like that, there’s no way I can refuse. It’s annoying, but I should be nice to her.’ Max justified his actions then looked at Jubelian. Remembering the dizzying situation she was in earlier today, he sighed. ‘Does she have no sense of danger?’

She was trying to cut a thorny rose with her bare hands and was running around dangerously while holding a pair of scissors. Max couldn’t leave her alone since she was defenseless and clumsy in everything she did. Even now…

“Max, the dining room isn’t that way. It’s over here… Ah!” Jubelian started stumbling after she lost her footing.

‘Why is she so careless?’ Max hurriedly caught Jubelian to stop her from falling.

“Oh, thank you,” she said. He didn’t know why, but Max could vividly feel the sensation of his arms wrapped around Jubelian’s thin waist. Her red lips also stood out more today. As if he were possessed, Max couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He started feeling lightheaded as a strange impulse started rising inside of him. Max unconsciously leaned his head forward, Jubelian’s face becoming closer and closer. When he could feel her breath on his face, something caught his eyes.

“Max?”

Max pulled back in surprise when he saw a pair of periwinkle eyes watching him in wonder. ‘What did I just…!’ He frantically distanced himself from Jubelian.

 

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“Max, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”

He could hear her voice, but there was no way he could answer her truthfully. It was the first time he felt something like this and the more he dwelled on it, the more embarrassed and ashamed he became. Afraid that Jubelian might see his reddened face and wanting to hide it from her, Max turned his head away.

“Stop being so clumsy from now on.”

He actually wanted to tell her to be more careful, but a curt voice came out of his mouth instead. Nonetheless, he couldn’t take it back now since he was worried she would find out about his strange state if he said something sweet. Suddenly, he felt a soft touch on his arm. Before he knew it, Jubelian had locked her arm with his while wearing a pout on her face.

“You’re the one who’s walking too fast in the first place. I was just trying to follow you.”

If it were anyone else who had said something like that, they would’ve had their heads cut off for being arrogant. But interestingly enough, Max didn’t mind when Jubelian said such things.

“Alright. I’ll make sure to walk slowly.”

 

Jubelian nodded at Max’s words. “Don’t forget that, okay?”

Normally, Max found it unimaginable for himself to adjust to others. He naturally thought those who were slow or lagged behind were a burden and should be abandoned. But now that he was walking slowly, he unexpectedly started thinking that it was okay to walk slowly sometimes.

* * *

 

As usual, I sucked in a breath when I saw my father’s elegant figure sitting at the table. ‘As expected, he’s here.’ It’s true that I had many concerns about my relationship with Max since it had developed differently from what I had imagined, but I had no intention to back down since I had already come this far. ‘My top priority is to avoid getting engaged to the crown prince.’

I looked straight into my father’s cold, blue eyes and said, “Father, as the butler should have announced, Max will be dining with us today.”

I wasn’t sure whether a second or a minute had passed after I spoke, but it felt like both a short and a long time. During the silence, my father had glared at us with sharp eyes.

‘He already hates me anyway. Instead of being conscious about him, should I just sit down?’ I thought impulsively when my father opened his mouth.

“Sit down,” he said.

Relief washed through me at my father’s permission. “Sit next to me,” I said to Max.

Typically, the proper thing for him to do would be to sit across from me, but I thought it would be better to sit next to him so I could teach him table manners since he was probably not familiar with them. When Max and I sat down, the maids and servants served us soup and appetizers to start with.

“You can eat it using the spoon furthest to the right.” I quietly told him thinking that he wouldn’t know.

He sighed at me. “I know how to… Alright. I understand.” He began to grumble as usual, but suddenly changed his tone. As I expected, it seemed that he didn’t know how to use the silverware.

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