He had been collecting all these high quality paintings, but… even in Liv’s opinion, someone ignorant in art herself, she couldn’t understand why such shabby nude paintings were in the midst of all this amazing artwork.

Worse, it was hanging in the most visible spot. She couldn’t think of any other reason he would place them in such a revealing location unless he was trying to make fun of her.

“I can’t figure out why you bought them in the first place.”

Liv’s murmur wasn’t meant to elicit an answer, but to her surprise, the Marquis responded.

“I was curious.”

His answer was simple.

“They were so bad, I was curious.”

Liv’s eyes widened in surprise as she expected the reason to be something along the lines of he bought them because they were nude artworks. She didn’t understand what he meant when he said he paid for them because they were bad.

Was he curious about who dared to submit these as artworks?

“What were you curious about?”

She thought the Marquis would answer nonchalantly like he did a while ago, but he paused for a moment. Then, he gave a short answer in a flat voice.

“The model.”

Liv’s eyes shook softly. Blinking slowly, Liv checked out her nude paintings. Nude paintings with only her back in sight. A back view that didn’t look particularly spectacular except for the fact that she was naked.

“… Did you recognize me from the beginning?”

The Marquis shifted his gaze to the painting instead of answering. She wanted to ask him how long he’d known her, if there was some of their encounter, which she assumed was accidental, intended, but she suspected he wouldn’t answer.

The painting the Marquis was looking at was the most recent, a painting with her side face revealed.

In Liv’s eyes, the woman in the painting was very shabby and pale. She looked so unattractive that she had no idea what had caught his attention.

Wait, he said it was the bad quality that made him curious. Did it mean that shabbiness caught the Marquis’ attention?

Had it because he found them fascinating because he’d been bossing people around all his life?

“If so, shouldn’t that give you more reason to not hang those paintings?”

This time, she got an answer.

“There is no safer place in Buerno than this gallery. If you want to hide a painting, this is the place to keep it.”

A basement that could only be accessed with the Marquis’ permission. In the first place, this basement was located in the mansion of the Marquis of Dietrion, whose gates were locked like a fortress. It was a place so closed off that it was hard to imagine anyone ever seeing beyond the gates.

The Marquis might be right. If he had purchased a nude painting, this basement would be the best place to hide it.

Still, Liv didn’t see a reason to hang them up.

“The model is in front of you, not in the paintings, my Lord.”

If the only reason he wanted the paintings was because of the “model.”

“You may undress me whenever you want.”

The Marquis, whose gaze was briefly drawn to the painting, turned back to Liv. His eyes, glazed with a particular color, bore into her intently.

“You have an uncanny way of spitting out vulgar words so decently.”

His words were vaguely insulting, but his tone was so flat and his eyes so serious that she didn’t feel insulted. The Marquis chuckled and muttered to himself as he looked straight at her.

“I’d have gotten tired of you quickly if you were vulgar.”

Liv felt her heart sink at his tone, which sounded like he was sad that he didn’t get tired of her.

She didn’t want him to get tired of her. At this point…

“I…”

All she wanted to do was get closer to him.

“I want you to see the real me, not the painting.”

She hoped he, who showed his thorns to others, would show more of himself in front of her. She wished he wouldn’t get tired of her in the future. She wanted him to take her with him on impulse like he did today, to show her the parts of him that others didn’t see.

She wanted to know his other sides, the ones no one else knew.

“So can you please get rid of those paintings?”

The Marquis took a step closer, staring into Liv’s eyes without blinking. He cupped her cheek, caressed it lightly, and then lowered his head.

His lips were softer than ever. The tip of his tongue, parting her lips and invading, tickled Liv’s tongue, then probed the inside of her mouth.

The Marquis’ teeth bit into her lip as painlessly as if he were biting into a soft cake. Liv’s heart fluttered at the tender, itchy contact.

After a couple of playful kisses, he pulled away his head slightly and whispered.

“As you wish, Teacher.”

Liv squeezed her eyes shut, barely suppressing a moan that rose to the top of her throat.

God, she could not even imagine the end of this relationship now.