Appetency

SEVEN

Laurent gazes through the curtains of the carriage, his arms crossed and fidgeting every so often.

He's uncomfortable. All because of the man sitting across from him, smiling at him with a tender gaze that's too much for him to handle.

If he could, Laurent would lunge forward and gouge out his eyes. There's still a simmer of anger running through his bones when he thinks of the horrid death the OG Laurent had gone through.

That could be him if he isn't careful.

"You don't seem too excited," Grand Duke Clemonte says. "I'm sorry, perhaps this was too early to come and get you. I was afraid your brother might have argued with me if I had come at a later time when he was back from his meeting."

Laurent only tilted his head, smiling.

How the hell did he even know Seamus went to a meeting this morning?

Laurent had hoped to stay away from that awful man a while longer, but it seemed the grand duke took advantage of Seamus's leave from the estate.

He had to give applause to the head butler for completely denying the grand duke any entry whatsoever, and for Miss Belinda doing her best to cover it up so Laurent wouldn't know he was here.

Laurent even went along with it for a while until the grand duke's presence became too much for Boris to handle. It was inappropriate to keep someone like him waiting outside for long periods of time, and despite Boris doing all he could, Laurent felt bad about it and ended up coming out anyways.

For a "simple" date.

Honestly, Laurent could've been doing anything else that would've been worth more of his time than entertain this man.

"I'm surprised you came to the estate today. I recalled you being busy with your own matters."

"I managed to finish up a good portion of it. But even if I had work, that's no reason why I shouldn't make time aside to come and see you."

Laurent beamed. The grand duke mirrored his expression.

Grand Duke Clemonte wasn't one to make small talk, nor were the other BOSS villains or male lead, but he went out of his way to converse with Laurent.

It was difficult to keep up with the grand duke though. Not that the topics were hard or anything. In fact, all the topics were related to Laurent or the things Laurent liked.

Which is the problem because he's not the real Laurent and couldn't find it in himself to relate to the conversations whatsoever. Plus, whatever the old Laurent liked from before was rather distasteful to the transmigrator.

Still, he simply smiled and nodded to whatever the grand duke said.

His smile faded away quickly though when he suddenly found himself standing in front of the impressive estate belonging to the BOSS villain.

It's different seeing the large manor in front of his eyes than recalling the place in his memories.

It's more grand than his home, and if he remembers correctly, the inside of the place was even more so. Almost like the palace.

"I thought it would be a good idea to come here first before heading out into the capital. You'll be spending the night here as well," the grand duke murmurs, coming up from behind Laurent. "I've already arranged everything to your liking, but I know that you also have your own ideas of comfort. Just make sure to let the servants know if you need anything to be changed."

"... How thoughtful."

Laurent doesn't remember agreeing to spend the night or anything of the sort. In fact, he shouldn't even be here in this place right now. He thought they'd have a small, boring date!