Lukas stood frozen by the bedside, his white fox ears twitching erratically while he stared in sheer, helpless panic at the tears streaming down Blair’s pale, bruised face.
Thomas stepped closer, leaning down slightly toward the white-haired pureblood. "Master Lukas," Thomas whispered in a barely audible tone, keeping his voice subdued for his sensitive ears. "You might want to be a bit more gentle with the lady... and try to comfort her."
Lukas snapped his head toward the butler, his golden eyes wide with total bewilderment.
Comfort her? he thought, his mind going completely blank. How the hell am I supposed to do that?!
He was a fox beastman—an elite pureblood who spent his days in boardrooms and isolated sensory rooms. He had never held a woman, never consoled anyone, and certainly had zero experience dealing with a fragile, crying human wife who looked like she might shatter if he breathed too loudly.
His white fox tail swayed behind him in awkward, nervous flicks. Panic rising, he racked his brain for anything he had ever seen people do when someone was crying.
Stepping hesitantly closer to the bed, Lukas awkwardly raised a hand toward her head.
The moment his arm moved, Blair’s eyes went wide with sheer terror. She flinched violently, pulling her head down into her shoulders as her whole body began to shiver uncontrollably.
"D-Don’t hit me!" she gasped out, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and bracing her frail frame for the blow. "Please... I’m sorry... I’ll be good! I won’t ruin the family’s reputation, please..."
Lukas froze, his hand hovering inches from her face.
A sharp, unexpected pang stabbed directly through his chest—a sudden, dull ache that made his breath catch in his throat. His sharp claws were already retracted completely; he wasn’t going to hit her. He was just trying to... comfort her.
So why did she flinch like that?
More importantly, why did the sight of her shivering frame, shutting her eyes in helpless preparation to be struck, hurt his heart so deeply?
He was a fox pureblood, an arrogant tycoon who rarely cared for anyone. Yet seeing this fragile human automatically expect violence from him—from anyone—left a bitter, foul taste in his mouth.
His ears flattened tight against his head, not from sensory overload this time, but from an unsettling wave of guilt and quiet fury at whoever had taught her to fear a gentle hand.
Sliding his hand down slowly, he gently, awkwardly patted her head with stiff, mechanical movements—like a person carefully touching a dangerous explosive.
"There... there?" Lukas muttered awkwardly, his voice flat, tense, and completely out of his comfort zone. "I’m not... going to hit you, idiot. Stop... leaking water from your eyes. It’s annoying."
When Blair didn’t stop shaking, Lukas ground his teeth, his ears flattening in flustered embarrassment. Desperate to fix the situation, his fox instincts took over before he could overthink it.
He leaned over the edge of the bed and pressed the side of his cheek against her forehead, letting the fluffy, ultra-soft fur of his twitching white fox ears rest directly against her brow.
"Look," Lukas grumbled softly, his face flushing a deep pink beneath his pale skin as he turned his head away so she couldn’t see his expression. "My fur is soft. People say it calms them down or whatever. You can... rub it if you want. Just don’t pull it."
Blair froze.
The cold terror that had locked her lungs instantly went still. She didn’t move an inch, holding her breath as the gentle, soothing warmth of his fur radiated against her cold, sweat-slicked forehead.
He wasn’t going to strike her. He was standing over her—a high-ranking pureblood beastman whose single glare made high-society beastmen tremble—blushing furiously and offering his prized, sensitive ears just to stop her tears.
Her shivering slowly began to subside, her ragged breathing evening out against the soft rhythm of his pulse.
As the terror faded, the sheer, absurd warmth of the gesture sank in. A tiny, wet sound escaped her throat—not a sob this time, but a soft, breathy huff of disbelief that melted into a faint, shaky smile.
"It... it really is soft," Blair whispered, her voice trembling slightly, though the terror in her clear eyes was gone.
Lukas snapped his head back slightly, his golden eyes narrowing, though his ears remained bright red. "Of course it is. I groom it every day. Now stop crying."
Blair covered her mouth with her uninjured hand, a tiny, genuine laugh finally bubbling past her lips—a quiet sound of pure relief that cut straight through the heavy tension in the room.
"I’m sorry..." she murmured softly, her eyes sparkling with leftover tears as she looked up at him. "Thank you, Master Lukas."
"Blair," he called, his voice dropping into a stern, frustrated rumble. "Stop saying sorry."
She flinched slightly at the sharp tone, her shoulders drawing inward as she lowered her head, staring down at the dark duvet. "I’m just... used to apologizing."
"Why do you need to be used to apologizing?" Lukas asked, his golden eyes narrowing as he watched her small, bandaged hand trembling.
Blair didn’t answer right away. She bit her lower lip, her pale fingers tightly gripping the fabric of the blanket as the silence stretched thin between them.
When the words finally slipped past her lips, they came out slowly, barely louder than a fragile whisper. "Because then... they would feel less angry... and won’t punish me too harshly."
Lukas froze.
The quiet confession hung heavy in the air, cold and suffocating. His white fox ears twitched back, flattening hard against his head as a dark, uncomfortable weight settled in the pit of his stomach.
It wasn’t a play for pity. It wasn’t an exaggeration. It was simply the survival logic she had carried with her into his home—a habit built from years of being treated like something broken and easily discarded.
"Nobody in this house is going to punish you," Lukas growled, his voice rough as he turned his face away, unable to look at her quiet, bowed head any longer. "So stop acting like you’re waiting for a blow that’s not coming. It’s annoying."
He stepped back from the bed, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, though his golden eyes lingered on her pale face, his white fox tail lashing in a low, flustered rhythm.
Suddenly, a faint, iridescent light flickered in Blair’s front vision.
The translucent Heart Capital interface materialized quietly in front of her eyes, completely invisible to Lukas and Thomas standing beside the bed.
[System Alert: Emotional Dynamic Shift Detected]
[Target: Lukas Deruno]
[Current Affection Gauge: 15% (▲ +5%)]
[Note: System monitors affection fluctuation logs only. Target indicators are non-visual in real-space.]
Blair stared at the floating, glowing text, her breath catching softly in her throat.
Fifteen percent...?
Blair didn’t know how she was able to make his affection towards her increase, but seeing that tiny increase made a faint, warm prickle bloom in her chest.
Does this mean... he likes me a little bit? Even just a tiny, microscopic fraction?