Dirty Heart - Chapter 28

The chill of dawn seeped in through the open window. Lionel stared down at Courtney, who lay asleep as if completely exhausted, for a long time.

Because the effects of the aphrodisiac hadn’t fully faded, her face was still flushed red. Her hair, clinging to her cheeks, was damp with sweat, making her look like someone suffering from a fever.

“….”

Suddenly, he recalled the first moment he had seen Courtney. When his father told him that he would inevitably have to share a bed with a lowly maid, Lionel truly didn’t want to live anymore.

A life already filled with despair just from the fact that he had driven his mother to death. What was the point of living while even being forced to sleep with a woman he didn’t want? But,

“My son. My lifelong wish has always been to transplant a healthy heart into you. At last, that moment has come.”

“Father. If I receive the maid’s heart and become healthy… will that make you the happiest?”

“Of course. It will feel as though I have the entire world beneath my feet.”

The moment he saw his father in tears, saying he had finally found a suitable donor after enduring a long period of hardship, Lionel changed his mind.

Because he had finally realized the only way to drag his father’s soul into hell.

The plan was simple. To obediently receive the heart transplant his father had long wished for, make him happier than anyone in the world, and then take his own life. It was both revenge for his dead mother and his one and only atonement.

Until now, Lionel’s plan had proceeded without a single error. At least until Courtney Balkan began stirring things up.

“My baby. To be honest, Mom wants to live too… I’m so tired of everything now.”

As his mother’s voice, pleading to live, suddenly echoed in his ears, he paused to steady his breath. At this very moment, the image of the lowly woman before him strangely overlapped with that of his mother.

His fingertips, reaching out carefully, touched her smooth forehead. Wiping away the beads of sweat and brushing aside her damp hair strand by strand, his touch was endlessly gentle.

“Mm.”

Perhaps sensing his presence, Courtney shifted her body and mumbled like a child.

Watching her defenseless state, the man suddenly placed his hand over his own heart.

Thump, thump. A heart that could stop at any moment pounded rapidly. It was a moment where he clearly felt that his life was running out.

“Courtney.”

Calling her name in a low voice, Lionel asked a meaningless question.

“Do you… want to live too?”

***

“Did you have a good time?”

Early in the morning, as Lionel and Courtney awkwardly came down the stairs, the innkeeper greeted them with a suggestive smile.

“You even made me heat up from listening all night. That wine really is something, isn’t it?”

The innkeeper, who had been running the place for twenty years, joked that it was the first time he had seen a couple drink all of La Vie en Rose in one go.

“The prostitute got furious about losing her business today, you know. Hoho.”

Last night, after confirming that the red wine had disappeared from the front of the door, the prostitute had confidently knocked on room 305. As always, she had taken it as a signal for solicitation. But in the end, the door never opened, and all she heard were lewd moans from inside. She returned after venting all her complaints to the innkeeper.

“Of course, I’ll only charge you honestly for the room and the wine, so please don’t worry too much.”

Until Lionel finished paying with an awkward expression, Courtney also kept her head lowered, staring only at the ground. The wave of shame made her want to crawl into a hole.

“Thank you! Please come again!”

As they turned away, still receiving the innkeeper’s enthusiastic send-off, Alex happened to be walking toward them from the opposite direction in the distance.

“Good morning.”

Despite the greeting, his face clearly showed signs of fatigue. It was only natural, considering he had spent the night in the stable.

“I’m the one who slept in the stable, so why do the two of you look more worn out?”

“Quiet.”

“Sh-should we get going? We still have a long way to travel!”

Using the excuse that they had a long journey ahead, Courtney hurried into the carriage and stared only out the window, avoiding even making eye contact with Lionel.

Peaceful scenery passed by beyond the carriage window, but her mind was anything but calm. The awkward tension hanging in the air made her even more uncomfortable.

‘…I’m insane, seriously.’

Like she’d been possessed by some lewd demon, the events of last night kept replaying in her mind, driving her even crazier. She’d heard the explanation that aphrodisiac had been mixed into the red wine, but the embarrassment refused to fade.

‘It was the first time I’d been caressed like that for so long….’

As she recalled the man’s handsome face buried between her thighs for so long, sucking at her sex, her heart began to pound wildly again.

His mouth and face had been completely smeared with her fluids, yet Lionel hadn’t shown even the slightest hint of disgust and had eagerly swallowed everything she gave him.

‘…It really was strange.’

How should she put it? Even while she was out of her mind from the aphrodisiac, it had felt as if she were genuinely being loved by her partner.

In truth, from Lionel’s perspective, there was absolutely no reason for him to go that far for Courtney. She had already been thoroughly aroused, so there was no need for foreplay at all, and they could have had sex right away.

Even so, Lionel made sure she fully felt everything with his hands and mouth before attempting to enter her. Even after they finished several times, he stayed by her side all night, soothing her as she struggled to come down from the lingering heat.

“Looks like you two… did quite a lot?”

“Pardon? A-A lot? It wasn’t that much!”

Startled by Alex’s sudden question, she raised her voice sharply. But Alex’s gaze was actually directed at Lionel.

“Really? The Young Duke looks extremely tired.”

“…Ah, right. He’s very tired.”

Only then did Courtney realize she had misunderstood Alex’s words, and her face flushed bright red.

Just as Alex observed, Lionel was sound asleep with his head resting against the window. Fortunately, his motion sickness didn’t seem as severe as yesterday, but his pale complexion remained unchanged.

“W-Well, he was so sick yesterday…! He went to sleep without even washing up as soon as we got to the room.”

As she hurriedly made excuses, a sudden question arose in her mind. How much did Alex Lanchester, Lionel’s closest aide, actually know?

After glancing at Lionel again to confirm he was completely asleep, she carefully spoke.

“By the way, is the Young Duke still not showing much improvement?”

At her probing question, Alex answered smoothly without any suspicion, “You didn’t know? The Young Duke is scheduled to have surgery on his upcoming birthday.”

“Surgery…?”

“Oh dear. You really didn’t hear about it?”

Alex blinked in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected that. It seemed he had assumed Courtney already knew as well.

“Could you tell me a bit more in detail? It seems the Young Duke didn’t tell me because he was worried I’d be concerned….”

“…I’m sorry. It’s not my place to speak about such matters carelessly.”

Alex wore an awkward expression. If the Young Duke hadn’t revealed this, he seemed to believe there must be a reason for it.

“I see…. After all, I’m just a lowly maid. I don’t have the right to get involved whether the man I love lives or dies.”

“Pardon? I-I didn’t mean it like that…!”

When Courtney put on a hurt expression, the flustered Alex waved his hands, trying to fix the situation. But what came back was an even colder voice from her.

“It’s alright. I understand what you meant. Please don’t worry about someone as lowly as me.”

“N-No! That’s really not what I meant…. Then you absolutely can’t say I told you this… okay?”

After fumbling through excuses, he finally nodded with a resolute expression. She thought he was surprisingly easy to handle.

“Of course! This is a secret just between you and me.”

‘A secret just between the two of us…?’

Alex’s innocent face flushed slightly in an instant. The thought that some special bond had formed between her and him made him feel unexpectedly happy.