Chapter 18: It Won’t Turn Into That So Suddenly

As soon as we entered, the head butler said,

"I will bring tea shortly,"

and left the two of us alone. Suddenly it was just the two of us?

First, I had to greet her properly and make a good impression.

"Thank you very much for inviting me today. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you, Countess Rosette."

With a full ten-year-old smile, I approached her, took her hand, and kissed the back of it. Then I stared straight into her eyes — just like Cass had taught me. I gazed at her intently.

After a moment, Countess Rosette’s eyes seemed to grow slightly moist. Her cheeks flushed faintly (though it was hard to tell with her heavy makeup). She turned toward the door, but she didn’t let go of my hand.

"Please, have a seat over here. And could you please stop calling me ’Countess Rosette’? Just call me Jacqueline. Everyone in the mansion calls me by my first name."

"No, that would be too sudden and disrespectful..."

"Not at all. I wish to become much closer to you, Prince Robby, so please call me Jacqueline. All right?"

She leaned her face very close to mine as she asked. I was overwhelmed by the beauty right in front of me. Compared to Cass, she was overwhelmingly glamorous — like she was carrying roses on her back.

In the end, I ended up calling her Jacqueline.

Still holding my hand, she led me to the long sofa. I thought we would sit facing each other, but she sat right beside me. The scent of her perfume made my head spin. *This is dangerous... She didn’t use Mr. Plant’s aphrodisiac, did she?*

After that, she kept holding my left hand between both of hers the entire time we talked. The tea was taking a long time to arrive. What about the sweets? But I had heard you shouldn’t ask about such things.

I couldn’t help glancing at Jacqueline’s chest. Whenever I looked away, she would speak to me, and when I looked at her face, she stared at me so intensely I couldn’t look away. My mind was thirty years old, but being stared at so passionately by such a beautiful woman left me completely defenseless. She had the same gentle, enveloping aura as Liz Olsen — a perfect blend of femininity and motherliness.

She asked me all sorts of questions about myself, but I was so nervous and excited that I barely remembered what I said.

There was a knock at the door and the head butler entered. Instead of a maid, he personally brought the tea set. Was this some kind of consideration? With three people in the room now, I unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Both Jacqueline and the butler seemed to notice how tense I had been and smiled a little. Well, I was just a child, so they were probably overlooking it.

The atmosphere finally relaxed. I watched the head butler pour the tea.

---

Even while the butler was pouring the tea, Jacqueline kept holding my hand the entire time. Was this normal for her, or was today special? And more importantly — there was no chance her husband would suddenly come home and burst in angrily, right?

"U-Um... you’ve been holding my hand this whole time..." I finally asked.

"Oh dear, is that not allowed?" she said, squeezing my hand tighter. At the same time, she subtly shook her chest, and for a brief moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of her nipple. A light brown areola was almost visible. Just a little more and I’d see the nipple itself. My eyes were glued to her chest — I couldn’t look away. I desperately wanted to stare deeper!

Jacqueline noticed my gaze and covered her chest with her hand.

"Prince Robby, it’s embarrassing when you stare so intently... fufu."

She was clearly teasing me, right? If she didn’t want me to stare, she shouldn’t be wearing such a revealing dress! Of course, I couldn’t actually say that. And honestly, when the woman in question is this beautiful and overflowing with charm, the more revealing the dress, the better.

I forced my eyes away from her breasts with great effort and looked at her face. Even her mouth was beautiful. The small mole near the corner of her lips was cute too.

"Oh? Is there something on my mouth?" she asked.

"No... I was just thinking the little mole by your mouth is very cute."

I spoke without thinking. Jacqueline’s eyes widened for a moment, then she covered her mouth and smiled seductively.

"My, you’re quite smooth-tongued. I can hardly believe you’re only ten years old. Prince Robby, you shouldn’t say such things so casually. They make a woman’s heart flutter."

"Huh? Flutter? Did your heart flutter, Lady Jacqueline? Ah, I’m sorry if I was rude."

When I looked at her face, her eyes had grown serious for a second before returning to their usual gentle smile.

"This is bad... I feel like I’m the one being melted here," she whispered softly.

I decided to ask about another concern I had.

"When will the Count be returning? I’d like to greet him if possible."

She seemed slightly surprised by the question.

"Prince Robby, do you really know nothing about me? Hasn’t your maid told you anything? Not even rumors?"

I shook my head.

"I haven’t heard anything, and even if I did, I wouldn’t know if they were true or false. I believe the impression I get when I meet someone in person, and what they tell me themselves, is what matters. So if I have any questions, I thought it best to ask you directly."

Jacqueline let out a small sigh, looking astonished.

"You really are a frightening boy. There are many bad rumors about me, yet you pretend not to know any of them. Or perhaps you truly don’t know..."

She continued, "My husband, Count Rosette, is currently at our territory. He doesn’t come here. Even when he’s in the capital, he stays at his other residence, so he rarely visits this mansion." (In other words, he had a lover at the other residence.)

"This mansion is mine alone. I may use it as I wish. That said, I can’t do absolutely anything I want. The only ally I have here is the head butler you met earlier. All the maids are my husband’s spies. That’s why I can’t have young lovers coming and going like the rumors say."

She leaned closer and whispered with a smile, "Though... if Prince Robby were to sneak into my room at night, we could enjoy a secret rendezvous. I’d be looking forward to it. Will you come visit me at night?"

She placed her hand on my cheek as she spoke. This was getting quite difficult. But in isekai stories, you have to seize these flags when they appear. Still, it definitely wouldn’t be easy.

"I’ll do my best! But... could you give me some time?"

When I made my declaration, Jacqueline looked slightly troubled, but a serious light shone in her eyes.

"Then I’ll be waiting. My little thief. You’ve stolen my heart."

She kissed me.

It was a light, greeting-like kiss, but what exactly did it mean? With my extremely limited common sense in this world, I had no idea how to interpret it.

When Jacqueline pulled away, her cheeks were slightly flushed. We both fell silent. I felt a wordless pressure from her, as if she was saying, "Do something." In that case, I should take the initiative!

I leaned in and kissed her. While her kiss had been a quick *chu!*, I made mine longer. I didn’t try to use my tongue — that would have been too rude. After all, we hadn’t known each other for very long. Plus, the butler could walk in at any moment.

When I pulled back, Jacqueline had her eyes closed with a single tear rolling down her cheek. What did this mean? What was happening? What was I supposed to do? Hey, someone tell me! God, help me?

Then Jacqueline hugged me tightly. Was it okay for me to hug her back? Mentally, I wanted to push her down, but I knew I definitely shouldn’t do that.

My mind was in complete chaos, with all sorts of thoughts colliding. While I was still confused, Jacqueline pulled away, wiped the tear from the corner of her eye, and gave a small, charming smile. ℯℯ𝘭.

"I’m sorry. You must be confused. Being kissed by an old woman like me..."

"No, not at all! Besides, you’re so beautiful. I’m honored to receive a kiss from you."

"My, you really are smooth. It’s true — ever since you woke up from your long sleep, it really does feel like you’ve been reborn."

She looked into the distance with a slightly faraway gaze.

After that, there were no further erotic developments. We enjoyed the sweets, and she promised to find some magic books that might interest me. In short, she was saying "Please come again!" It made sense that we wouldn’t suddenly become close. We just needed to slowly close the distance!!