A Shield That Cuts Both Ways

"Ask me something definite, and I'll answer you sincerely, with no lies."

About then, Enya noticed that his platinum hair was slightly damp. The red marks dotted across his nape, visible between his disheveled clothes, did not escape her either.

The rumors she'd seen in the gossip rags — rumors whose truth she'd never been able to confirm — suddenly gained a great deal of credibility.

Enya recognized, anew, that the man before her was a notorious rake, famous for his wanton ways.

'Looking like that, of all places — within the Academy.'

Come to think of it, he might have come straight from somewhere far more discreet than a salon. By the time that suspicion had fully formed in her mind, her ears had helplessly flushed a little red.

Green eyes glinting with amusement stole a quick glance at that fresh color. Avoiding the curve of his smile, she spoke slowly.

"…I was asking whether you actually intend to become engaged to me."

"A difficult question. It isn't one that can be settled by my will alone."

Enya, who had been carefully parsing the Marquis's evasive posture, hesitated mid-nod. Even so, she opened her mouth to add,

"Even so, every single match has fallen through at the Young Lord's whim. Why would this time be any different?"

At that, Lucas gave a small nod.

"It is different, in that interests are now entangled. But — understood."

Understood what, exactly? Just as the question left Enya bewildered, he went on.

"If I do end up taking a real marriage meeting with you, you and I will be the only ones at that table. That is my will."

It was a statement that left Enya flustered.

Lucas gazed steadily into her widened eyes. He observed long enough to see them tremble, and savored her agitation to his heart's content.

"For the record, I've been quite demure ever since that resolve took root."

"…Saying that with that face really does inspire confidence."

"You don't believe me. I went hunting, and rushed to wash up in case I reeked of sweat."

Shouldn't you be hiding the marks on your neck before saying something like that?

Faster than the thought could finish, he undid another button of his shirt. Enya instinctively glanced around them.

Since a man and woman meeting in the afternoon could hardly occupy an enclosed space, the two of them were seated on a bench in front of the library building.

Not that being alone together wasn't already a problem in itself….

Wearing an uncomfortable expression, Enya inched slyly away from him. A faint contempt had surfaced in her eyes.

Watching her, Lucas burst out laughing.

"I was only trying to assert my innocence."

"In a state where a slap across the face would have been entirely deserved?"

"While hunting, I picked up a kitten that had lost its mother. Holding the little thing is how I ended up like this."

As he spoke, he showed her the wound just below his collarbone. The claw marks of a small beast were plainly visible.

Having confirmed it, Enya let out a small sound in her throat.

"Oh…."

"I'm glad the misunderstanding seems resolved. Being mistaken for a libertine by my fiancée-to-be would be rather more than I asked for."

Fiancée-to-be.

That casually dropped form of address announced his will all over again. Enya's expression dimmed slightly. She apologized first for her own rudeness, then fixed Lucas with a resolute look.

Her eyes, steeped in the evening sunset, swayed a deep orange. Just as Lucas found his gaze pointlessly captured by that color, she parted her lips with a determined set to her face.

"I don't want to get engaged."

At such a blunt declaration, Lucas couldn't help laughing a little. It was the first time anyone had refused him in this fashion, and he found the novelty of it almost refreshing.

"So I want to make use of you."

The words that followed were more intriguing still.

"That's very frank of you."

"It's thanks to what you told me about kisses. I reasoned that there could be no better partner than a man who attends marriage meetings for the sole purpose of being turned down."

Partner. It was a rather dangerous word. At least, it was for the Lucas of this moment.

Knowing he would earn her outright contempt if he voiced what lay beneath, he concealed the thought behind a smiling gaze.

And even as he did, those eyes that had lifted the sunset's color straight from the sky held his own without flinching.

"What if we become each other's shields?"

You want your matches refused just as much as I want mine refused, don't you?

The woman, dropping her voice as though proposing a secret bargain, pressed on in a tone more confident still.

"In the unlikely event that we truly do end up engaged — and no matter what happens along the way — the ending is to be a broken engagement, without exception. Regardless of whose fault it is."

"That sounds to me like you're promising to become engaged to me and then kiss other men."

"If such a situation proves necessary, then so be it."

At that point, she smiled.

It was nothing like the deliberate, constructed smile Lucas wore.

"Because I will not marry a man of Darkel."

It was a smile that bloomed naturally from picturing the future she wanted.

That bright face goaded the sullenness curdling in the man's heart. Watching the face of a woman who yearned for freedom — or who might already be free — Lucas swallowed a hollow laugh and spat out his spiteful heart without restraint.

"Would you have said the same, if the other party were someone else?"

At the quietly probing voice, Enya stiffened mid-motion. Seeing her eyes waver, the man, helpless before his surging delight, added more.

"Enya, I'm sorry, but I refuse your offer. I've come to want everything there is to want with you."

"What do you—"

"I consider the exchange between Whitmore and Campbell entirely a matter for our two families. But if my father commands me to become engaged to you, I intend to accept gladly."

"……."

"And marriage would suit me perfectly well, too."

With an easy smile, he drove the wedge home.

"Because I like you."

Those words were not meant for Enya. They were aimed at the friend who had no doubt trailed after him shamelessly the moment he'd announced he was going to see her.

'Listen well and burn, Raphael.'

The man, murmuring it inwardly, looked into the trembling eyes of the woman before him and spoke with deliberate force.

"Enough that I have no intention of letting anyone take you from me."

"……."

It felt as though she had gone to forge an alliance and come home with a new enemy instead.

Back in her dormitory room, Enya heaved one sigh after another.

"When you make that kind of face, it does rather hurt, you know."

"…Then why not put that hurt to use and erase whatever fondness you hold for me? If you'd like, I'd be happy to treat you to a thorough round of vulgar insults — until every last trace of affection is gone."

"Haha, I find that side of you delightful."

"Go looking for a spouse, not a court jester."

"Don't shove me away too hard. If Marquis Whitmore's heart holds where it stands today, then I will remain your perfect shield."

He meant that even if some fondness existed, he would not defy his family's opposition to marry. Lucas conveyed that intention with perfect clarity, then told Enya to make use of him as she pleased.

For now, he said, she would find no shield half so good as himself.

Enya had thought so too — yet looking at it now, it seemed she had acquired not a shield but a double-edged sword.

All the more so because she could feel no sincerity in his confession of liking her.

From the man who had asserted his innocence with the claw marks of a baby beast, there had been an unmistakable scent of women's perfume. His lips, more swollen than usual, had been rather conspicuous as well.

Lucas was surely well aware of his own condition. And knowing it, he had chosen to lie anyway.

Besides….

'He had the face of a child who'd just been handed a new toy.'

It was not a face that inspired confidence. The problem began with the very fact that he looked at people that way at all.

Could she truly make use of such a man? The doubt surfaced unbidden, but Enya forced the thought away. As Lucas himself had said, if the Marquis's will held as it did today, there would be nothing to fear.

And so she could only pray that the process of extracting the oil would drag on slowly.

But regrettably, a few days later, the first meaningful field report came in from Campbell's north.