Damn! Damn! Chapter 34

When Michael’s hand finally dropped away, Achim brushed his own nape with one hand and gave a small nod.

“…Thank you, sir.”

Michael didn’t answer despite Achim’s gratitude.

He didn’t tell him to leave, yet he didn’t move away either. Just as Achim tilted his head in confusion and looked up, a large hand suddenly seemed to cup his cheek and the back of his head all at once, his fingertips sweeping past the lower part of his ear.

“…!”

Achim, who had nearly let out another sound this time as well, endured the unfamiliar sensation and parted his lips.

“Why…”

“…”

“…Ah.”

But things didn’t go according to his will. Achim ultimately let the sound he had been holding back slip through his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

His shoulders twitched and shuddered involuntarily. I’d rather have him tickle the soles of my feet. He hadn’t tried it before, but regardless, anything seemed better than this.

A moment later, Michael’s thumb seemed to touch his earlobe before tracing along the rim of his ear and heading upward. He hadn’t even tickled the soles of his feet, yet Achim felt as if his entire body—from his soles to his palms to the very top of his head—was completely ticklish.

…Does this bastard find amusement in tickling people, too?

Weighing the horrific speculation, Achim’s patience finally ran out, and he firmly grabbed Michael’s wrist.

“…Stop…”

“…”

At that, Michael’s eyes dropped down to Achim’s hand, which was gripping his wrist.

Realizing his mistake, Achim instantly loosened his grip.

The moment their eyes met, Achim immediately averted his gaze and wiped his burning cheek.

“Hmm…”

Michael let out a low groan and lightly cupped the tip of Achim’s chin. As he pressed his thumb firmly right beneath the lower lip, Achim’s closed lips parted on their own. After staring blankly at that shape, Michael finally threw out a comment.

“I quite like the sound you make, though.”

“…”

“Make sure you only make it in front of me.”

“…”

It was a demand that didn’t make much sense. He couldn’t understand why the guy had such a strange obsession with a sound like this, nor why he had to accept that demand, but the answer was already decided anyway. Furthermore, since there would be no reason for anyone else to tickle him like this guy did, he wouldn’t be letting out such sounds anyway.

“Yes, sir.”

Because he wasn’t in a position to argue with the bastard, Achim had no choice but to nod his head this time as well.

Stepping out of the bedroom ahead of Michael, Achim immediately took off walking.

He was startled to find Wolfgang standing right behind the door, but thankfully, the man didn’t follow him. He was likely there to assist Michael, who would be coming out shortly.

Achim brushed down his neck wrapped in the scarf once and stepped onto the stairs leading downstairs.

“Oh my, it really is you!”

Achim finally snapped out of his thoughts at the voice that cut in while he was briefly recalling the morning’s events.

“He really must cherish you. I heard you told people you two aren’t dating?”

Cherish, huh… If that were true, the bastard’s standard for cherishing someone was definitely different from that of ordinary people.

Then again, one shouldn’t expect ‘normal’ or ‘average’ from that guy. He was someone who leaned extremely far toward the absolute edge, away from the middle ground.

“Since he cherishes you that much, why don’t you accept him? I think you two would look rather good together.”

The maid laughed as if she were the embarrassed one and lightly nudged Achim’s forearm.

Achim stared blankly at the maid before asking, “What’s your name?”

“Me?”

As the maid pointed at herself with her index finger, Achim nodded. Shrugging her shoulders slightly, the maid spoke.

“Anna Börner.”

Anna. Achim muttered, chewing over the name.

Until now, Achim knew absolutely none of the other maids’ names except for Dora and Martina. Even with Martina, he had only found out by chance because they got tangled up in a bad incident; otherwise, he clearly would have never known.

Since the mission came first and he hadn’t particularly felt curious, Achim had never properly exchanged names with anyone besides Dora until now.

This time, it was a half-impulsive question.

And for good reason—she was the first person who wasn’t praising Michael. In contrast to the maids who had swarmed him like crazy after seeing his scarf yesterday, Achim actually felt a spark of goodwill toward Anna, whom he was meeting for the first time.

Of course, he didn’t like being linked with that bastard, but regardless.

“I’m…”

“Yvonne Rasch.”

“…”

“I know your name. There’s even a rumor going around the mansion that anyone who doesn’t know you must be a spy.”

He had expected it to some extent, but as thought, it wasn’t good news.

Left speechless, Achim merely nodded his head slowly.

“Well, I should hurry up and go find Greta just like you said. See you next time, Yvonne.”

Anna threw out the words cheerfully and turned around without a hint of lingering attachment.

Watching Anna’s retreating back for a brief moment, Achim picked up the feather duster he had set down.

🖤🥀

“Yvonne!”

Achim, who was making his way from the main building of the mansion toward the servants’ quarters, paused in his tracks at the familiar voice.

Looking back, Nils, who possessed a pretty decent build though not quite matching a certain someone, was approaching him at a near-run.

“Where did—ugh.”

Seeing Nils come to a sudden halt as he drew near, Achim quirked an eyebrow. Following that, Achim’s brow furrowed at the blatant attitude of Nils quickly masking his nose and mouth with the back of his forearm.

“You came back with a filthy scent all over you.”

Recalling what Michael had said before, Achim alternately raised his arms once again to sniff his own scent.

But this time too, no distinct smell stood out.

Both back then and today, he had definitely washed up and hadn’t even broken a sweat, so he had no clue what kind of smell they were talking about. Do Alphas possess the ability to smell all the way down to a person’s insides or something?

“It’s Mr. Michael… right?” Nils suddenly asked, lowering the arm that had been masking his nose.

Why was that bastard suddenly being brought up here? Unable to understand his words, Achim tilted his head.

“Pardon?”

At that, Nils closed the distance between them with a troubled face.

“Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know since you’re a Beta, Yvonne.”

“…”

“Mr. Michael’s pheromones are smeared all over you, Yvonne.”

“…”

Staring quietly at him following the kind explanation, Achim offered an awkward smile.

Since he had slept in the guy’s bedroom, and on the same bed at that, it was impossible for the pheromones not to rub off. But since he couldn’t mention that part, Achim decided to make up a vague excuse.

“I had some business, so I saw him this morning. It’s probably because of that.”

Achim countered smoothly, to a degree that felt shameless even to himself. At his reply, Nils dropped his eyebrows slightly and put on a sullen face.

“It’s not just a matter of it rubbing off, Yvonne.”

“…”

“It feels like you’ve been given a pheromone shower.”

Achim’s face twisted oddly at Nils’s words.

A pheromone… what?

While he was chewing over the words, Nils scratched his short sideburns and spoke.

“I guess you really didn’t know, Yvonne.”

“…”

Achim didn’t answer. Because of that, Nils also had to carefully choose the words he was about to utter. Why would that ‘Michael Bernhard’ of all people, and to someone he wasn’t even dating, give them a pheromone shower? Furthermore…

“A pheromone shower without the other person’s consent is illegal…” Nils muttered while looking at the ground, repeating his thoughts. No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t seem like an action Michael Bernhard, who was practically a symbol of ethics and benevolence, would commit.

Then, suddenly realizing the surroundings were dead silent, Nils carefully raised his eyes.

“Nils.”

At the firm call, Nils nodded his head rapidly.

“Yes.”

Achim raised the gaze he had kept lowered for a moment and flashed a bright smile. The face that had been slightly twisted a moment ago was nowhere to be seen.

Right around the time Nils was losing his wits to that smiling gaze, Achim placed his hands behind his back and asked sweetly:

“Could you tell me about that in just a little more detail?”

🖤🥀

Achim retraced his steps while keeping his fists tightly clenched.

“Crazy bastard.”

Walking with heavy, stomping steps, he suddenly let out a curse.

A pheromone shower. He had heard of the term once before, but since it was a distant story to him, it was one of those things he had just brushed off carelessly.

So what this meant was that right now, his body was in a state where that guy’s pheromones were thickly layered all over him. Nils had carefully added a moment ago that to anyone else, it was to the degree that he might even be mistaken for an Alpha.