"C-Cupcake?"
At the girl's innocent hesitance, Julien nearly choked on his own saliva.
He raised a hand to cover his mouth, his other supporting his stomach as he bent forward, holding back his laughter. It was only after he laughed to his satisfaction did he finally offer his suggestion, his eyes slightly teary.
"Honey will do the work." He muffled another laugh when he saw the girl turning stiff. "We shouldn't overdo it so as to not attract any unnecessary attention. You can try calling me that."
Ruby gulped, her pupils visibly shaking, "H-Honey?"
Julien pressed a hand against his forehead, looking utterly helpless with this new wife of his.
"A proper wife shouldn't be afraid of her husband," he lightly said. "Relax, I am not a monster. I won't eat you. Now try calling me properly."
'You may not eat me, but you just strangled and threatened to kill me a few minutes ago, Sir!! Look, the marks on my neck are still tingling!'
Ruby barely held herself from rolling her eyes at him right there and then.
Despite her inner self screaming and cursing at the man for his lack of consistency, on the surface, Ruby was calm and obedient, looking as docile as his personal domestic cat.
"Honey!"
Julien hummed in response, the smile of his acknowledgement so soft and doting that Ruby nearly mistook him for someone else.
He approached her in small steps. And just as Ruby closed her eyes to brace herself for something unpleasant, she felt a gentle pat against the crown of her head, the man's voice softly dabbing against her ear like cotton.
"Good girl."
Ruby froze, a strange sensation of heat creeping up her cheeks before flushing down her neck. 'What the hell was that supposed to mean?'
She scrambled a few steps back and lowered her head to hide the blush on her face, her movements stiff and broken.
"I–I will work hard and be useful," she blurted out. "I will not disappoint you, Sir! You can put your trust in me!"
Julien's smile widened as he returned to his desk. "Don't be so stiff. After all, we'll soon be husband and wife."
When he saw the girl standing there, all shivering and not daring to move as if he might pounce on her the moment she made another improper movement, Julien finally convinced himself to let her off.
Teasing her was fun and stress-relieving, but he didn't want to break her too fast. He still had a lot of use for her, after all.
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore." His smile disappeared as he continued, "Until the day we're officially engaged and married, I won't need you to act lovey dovey in front of others."
"I won't ask much." His gaze suddenly sharpened, "All I need is for you not to cross the line. Do you understand?"
'Crossing the line… as in…'
Ruby raised her eyes, just in time to see a dangerous glint flashing through the man's gaze as he snapped the pen in his hand into two.
"I understand."
Her small figure trembled like that of a frightened mouse as she quickly lowered her gaze to the floor, not daring to move another unnecessary inch.
"Good. You can go now."
Ruby was just about to flee the room as if she had grown some wings when Julien suddenly stopped her. "Wait."
Her heart nearly stopped. She glanced up instinctively to shoot the man a questioning look, only to quickly lower her gaze back to the floor when she felt that it would be improper.
After all, after Julien exposed her, the relationship between them had inevitably changed. They were no longer of the same standing.
As he put it, they were "husband and wife". But that was only for him to decide.
"This is for you."
Julien pulled out a box from his drawer and tossed it into the air. Ruby hadn't brought herself to react when the box landed accurately in her arms, her timid eyes widening when she recognized what it was.
'This is… a brand-new smartphone?'
"It's the latest model of the e-phone series." Julien started to explain, "Unauthorized communication devices aren't allowed in my territory. I've confiscated your previous phone for safety reasons."
"T-Thank you." Ruby softly said.
She had initially assumed that her old phone had long been destroyed in the car crash. However, judging from his words, it's far more likely that he had recovered it and confiscated it to pry into what's inside.
Lost in her thoughts, Ruby didn't even notice Mario when she exited the room.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She had only realized she had wandered toward another restricted area when Mario reminded her with his arms meanly folded.
"Oh, my apologies."
Ruby murmured absentmindedly, robotically turning around as her mind stayed above the clouds.
"What the hell is that mask?"
She didn't even react when the man poked her with a provocative tone. She simply walked past him as if he didn't exist.
Mario frowned as he watched the girl's retreating back. With his eyebrows scrunched, he knocked on the master's bedroom door and entered upon getting Julien's permission.
"Sir, has it been successful?"
Julien looked so satisfied that Mario's question sounded unnecessary.
"She was surprisingly easy to compromise. There shouldn't be any problems for now. What about the preparations?"
"I've submitted the application to the royal court. We'll be expecting their response within three days."
"What about the girl's phone?" Julien asked.
"We've recovered everything that's necessary. The phone was too clean, likely tampered beforehand. We failed to find anything useful."
"Petty tricks." Julien snorted. "It doesn't matter. I should thank the Montclairs instead for sending me such a resilient fraud to use. Had it been their precious daughter in her place, I reckon that she would've lost her pampered life in that car crash, what more escaping their mad pursuit."
Mario didn't say a thing in response.
Noticing his hesitation, Julien's face turned dark. "Speak. I don't like waiting. I despise being kept in the dark even more."
"We couldn't find anything about her, Sir." Mario finally said, "Not even as little as her name. I'm afraid that this matter may not be as simple as it looks."
Julien didn't seem worried at all. "What we didn't lack is time. As long as the girl stays with us, we can dig through her anytime."
"I don't trust her." Mario admitted.
"I don't either." Julien solemnly said. "But there's no one else better fit than her."
"I can keep her under control."
Julien revealed an arrogant smile. "What about the Nanny? Did you return the phone to her?"
"I did. However, there's still no movement at all. She seemed to have raised her guard against us."
"What an old loyal dog she was," Julien mused. "Keep watching. Don't let the girl get too close to her. We can't let that speck of dirt ruin our bowl of plain white porridge."
"Yes, sir." Mario solemnly nodded.