Red Tape

The beads of sweat that had been on Liam’s forehead flowed down the lines of his face.

He felt a tightness around his pit of stomach, as if he had eaten something wrong for lunch.

A feeling like his intestines are churning. It is similar to the motion sickness he had experienced when he first got on a boat.

Slash.

Erwin soaked his naked body in the bathtub as water splashed around.

“Haa…”

A languid sigh escaped between his red lips.

The long journey had left an after-effect on his body. His muscles, stiff from days of riding the carriage, seemed to melt away in the hot water.

In the quiet bathroom, the only thing that can be heard is the soft gurgling sound of water.

To maintain that silence, Liam has to be careful even when swallowing.

Drip, drip.

Liam’s gaze, which had been fixed on the floor, is drawn upward like iron filings attracted to a magnet without his awareness. Erwin’s wing bones are barely visible, hidden by the bronze bathtub.

His golden hair is soaked and has turned a little darker than usual. It looked like the color of a chick’s feathers that had just hatched from an egg.

A drop of water hanging from the tip of his hair slid down his long, straight neckline to his shoulder.

Gulp.

Inevitably, a loud noise came from Liam’s throat.

“Ahem… .”

I try to cover up the sound I have already made by coughing, but it is no use.

Despite his efforts not to look at his master’s body, Liam’s gaze eventually turns to Erwin.

I can see Erwin’s arms stretched out into the air. His white forearms are thin but not unsightly. Unlike his arms, which are thick and muscled, they looked like delicate sculptures created by an artist.

Erwin rubbed his outstretched arms with yellow sponges and repeated the same movement on the other side.

As Liam stared blankly, he saw water droplets forming on the back of his hands.

Slide.

A round water droplet, like a dewdrop on a flower petal, flowed down his wrist, around his forearm, and down to his armpit.

Liam lifted one hand, which was holding the bag behind his back, and pressed his palm down on his lower abdomen.

I had been feeling uncomfortable since a while ago as if my stomach was going to burst. And, the pain slowly moved down. I Feel something is bubbling under my navel.

Along with the tingling sensation, the area between my legs became unbearably uncomfortable.

That isn’t the only uncomfortable thing.

I heard a thumping sound in my ears as my blood circulated rapidly. My vision turned bright red as if blood was pooling in my eyes, but after blinking my eyelids a few times, it returned to normal.

This isn’t normal. There must be something wrong.

Liam suddenly gets scared at the unusual state of his body.

Could it be that I caught a disease from somewhere? What if I spread the disease to a young master?

“Um… Master. If there’s nothing else for me to do, May I leave… .”

“Okay. Go.”

Usually, it is the servant’s job to wipe the master’s wet body with a towel after they finish bathing, but Erwin generously lets Liam go.

It is also because he has grown accustomed to living in a dormitory where he cannot keep a servant 24 hours a day and must do everything himself. Maybe it suited his personality better.

Growing up under a father who tried to restrain him in everything, he desperately wanted freedom.

Meanwhile, Liam came out from Erwin’s room and dashed down the stairs, skipping three or four steps at a time, disregarding all manner of etiquette.

Fortunately, no one sees him running down the stairs. If Jeffrey had seen him, he would have been severely scolded.

Liam, who came out through the side door at the back of the mansion, ran towards his cabin as if he were running away from a scary monster.

As soon as he arrived, he slammed the door shut and locked it even though he was living alone in this place.

Then he leaned back against the door and looked down, panting. His pants’ front is bulging, as if it is about to burst.

“Why… Why…?”

It is incomprehensible.

Liam shook his head as if denying reality, wondering who would know something like this.

At that moment, a face with red hair and freckles suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Luca…!”

Liam, who had left the hut again, quickly got on his bike and began pedaling. His old bike, which he had inherited from the gardener, quickly left the dukedom that was starting to get dark.

****

Luka is playing in a strange place again.

After being asked around if anyone had seen Luca, he went to the ‘North End Gentlemen’s Club’. However, there seemed to be no gentlemen there.

As soon as he opened the door to the club in the basement, the damp air and the pungent smell of cigarettes greeted Liam.

People holding glasses played cards and rolled dice at the tables placed throughout the area. The implications of the numerous coins placed in the middle of the tables are clear.

Gambling, which has now spread throughout the nation, is emerging as a social problem along with drugs. It is more than a little worrying that Luca is in such a place.

The further he went into the club, the more he saw it.

A man and a woman sit on a long chair against the wall, pressed together as if they were one body, kissing and caressing each other in front of others.

There is a place where two men are attached to one woman and a place where two women are involved with one man.

Liam searched around diligently for Luca. If Mr. Brody found out about this place, he would be furious.

While looking around, hoping that whoever saw Luca go there was mistaken, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Liam?”

When he turns around, he sees Luca, holding a woman on each side of his body.

Not knowing where to look as Luca was surrounded by women wearing clothes that exposed more than half of their chests, Liam fixed his gaze on Luca’s face, which seemed drunk and blushing.

“Luca.”

“Huh? Is it Liam? I can’t believe I see you here.”

“Let’s go out for a moment. I have something to talk about somewhere quiet.”

The woman on Luca’s right approached Liam and linked arms with him.

“You’re tall. Are your feet big too?”

“Huh?”

“Did you dye your hair black? That’s so cool. Does the carpet match the color of the curtains?”

Liam could not understand the direct question of whether his pubic hair was the same color as his hair. He just frowned slightly at the unexpected question.

He thought to himself, how strange it is for women to suddenly inquire about the size of his feet and the color of his carpet.

“There’s no carpet. It’s just a wooden floor.”

“Oh my. You’re being sarcastic.”

The woman laughed, arching her back as if she were about to fall over.

Liam just tilted his head, not realizing that he had answered with a darker joke about having a hard dick.

The brown-haired woman who kept linking arms with him no matter how many times he pushed her away smiled coquettishly.

“What do you want to talk about? Talk to us.”

“I have something to talk about with Luca.”

“I hold everything lightly and deeply. No matter what secret you reveal, it won’t come out between my legs.”

Isn’t the expression “not revealing secrets” supposed to be “between my lips” rather than “between my legs?” But I didn’t have time to point out her literary error.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I need to talk to Luca.”

Liam slipped the woman’s hand off his arm and approached Luca.

I couldn’t waste any more time.

Liam tightly linked arms with Luca, who was whispering something secretly to the woman next to him, and dragged him out as if he was taking him away.

Liam took a few steps and turned around, then after a little hesitation, spoke to the woman.

“And excuse me, it’s not ‘between the legs’ but ‘between the lips’. I’m a commoner, so it’s okay, but I’m afraid the lady will be embarrassed somewhere else… Anyway, thank you.”

The woman’s face turned red with embarrassment at the words she spoke, and she bowed her head slightly.

“Luka, hurry!”

“What’s wrong? Just do it here!”

Luka shouted and held on with both legs like a dog being dragged.

Liam looked at Luca as if he really had to go this far and then lifted him like a piece of luggage and carried him out. He put him down only after they reached a deserted alley.

“Ouch! It’s embarrassing!”

Luka glared at Liam while shaking off his wrinkled clothes.

“What’s wrong? It’s so important.

“My… that…, my cane… .”

Even as he begins to speak, he has doubts about whether it is right to ask Luca about this.

But he needed someone who knew about this kind of thing and would be honest with him. And right now, Luca is the only one around Liam.

“What? I can’t he

ar you.”

“The cane got bigger!”

“Huh? What the hell are you talking about…”

Luca tilted his head and his gaze fell on Liam’s groin.

“Ah…!”

Luca’s playful brown eyes sparkled with curiosity.