YNSYM 4

Chapter 4

‘We spent the night together…?’

I unconsciously replayed the whisper the man had murmured into my ear, desperately trying to find some other meaning hidden within his words. But the more I thought about it, the only meaning that remained in my mind was one thing.

‘Surely he doesn’t mean that we slept together, does he?’

No, that couldn’t be it. There was no way. Then did he simply mean that we’d stayed up together all night?

But even that didn’t make sense. I’d never even held hands with a strange man before, let alone a man who gave off such a sensual scent.

‘Then perhaps…’

Yes! Now I understood. He had mistaken me for someone else!

‘Well, I suppose that’s possible since my face isn’t clearly visible because of the mask.’

Once I arrived at that fairly reasonable conclusion, everything finally made sense. And I also realized what I needed to do next.

Tell him the truth.

Tell him that he must have mistaken me for someone else. That I wasn’t the woman he knew—the woman with whom he’d supposedly ‘spent the night.’

To be honest, I was a little disappointed. When the man had approached me and whispered into my ear just moments ago, I really had felt my heart flutter. Of course, I’d quickly discovered that the person who had inspired those feelings was someone else entirely.

Anyway, I was just about to return those feelings to their rightful owner when a sharp voice suddenly cut in.

“Perhaps it’s because you’re wearing a mask, but I don’t recognize you. Who might you be?”

The unpleasant suspicion was unmistakable in the way he twisted the ending of his words. There was no way the Marquis could have heard what the man had whispered to me. Yet he was clearly displeased simply by the man’s sudden appearance.

Even so, the Marquis had at least shown the man the minimum courtesy by asking his identity. Perhaps that was because of the strange sense of intimidation this man gave off.

Of course, there was no way the Marquis had been captivated by the man’s scent as I had been. But even putting that aside, there was something special about him. He hadn’t even revealed his entire face, yet somehow, the rest of his features only made everyone more curious about what lay behind that mask. He had been drawing everyone’s attention ever since he arrived.

Then, a voice as cool as his scent quietly drifted through the air.

“You couldn’t possibly recognize me. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kyle Sutton.”

His introduction was as flat and emotionless as his voice. As a result, it was up to the rest of us, myself included, to figure out anything we could about him.

Kyle Sutton?

The name sounded strangely familiar. I couldn’t remember exactly where I’d heard it, but I was certain I’d encountered it somewhere…

However, the Marquis wasn’t a particularly patient man.

“Sutton, you say. How strange. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard that family name before. Perhaps you could tell me your father’s name?”

The Marquis’s eyes, which had been scrutinizing the man as persistently as they had when he’d first seen me twenty-five days ago, swept over him once again.

But there was one difference this time.

The man’s response.

“I don’t believe I can do that, Marquis Crowley.”

Unlike me, who had only managed to escape by crashing into a cake, the man’s voice was firm and unwavering.

His tone was so decisive that for a moment, I wondered whether he didn’t know that the man questioning him was Marquis Crowley, one of the most powerful nobles in the empire.

Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

The Marquis’s eyes narrowed even further, stretching like those of a flounder.

“I don’t know my father’s name myself. And even if I did, I doubt it’s a name that would mean anything to you, Marquis.”

Despite his indifferent gaze, the man tilted his lips into a slight smile and handed the Marquis a business card.

“This business card should at least help introduce me. I’m Kyle Sutton, the owner of ‘Sutton Readywear.’”

On the business card the man handed over was a portrait of a woman in the shape of a black silhouette, accompanied by the words ‘Sutton Readywear’ in small letters.

And then I finally remembered the vague memory that had been lingering at the edge of my mind.

That’s right! That picture on the business card! I’d seen it in a newspaper advertisement once.

‘With Sutton Readywear, anyone can become beautiful. And at a very reasonable price.’

It was the advertising slogan of a company called ‘Sutton Readywear,’ which sold ready-made clothing.

And if this man was the owner of that company, then he was…

Once again, the Marquis was the one to say aloud what I had been thinking.

“Then surely you must be that famous shoeshine—”

Although it was Kyle Sutton himself who finished the thought.

“Yes. The shoeshine millionaire.”

The man paused for a moment before the corners of his lips curled up slightly once more.

“I didn’t expect that nickname to be more widely known here than my actual name, though.”

A brief silence followed.

It was understandable.

Just as he said, he was a man whose nickname was more famous than his actual name. And that was probably because of the unusual story behind it.

Even I, who had absolutely no interest in business, had heard of him. For quite some time, newspapers had competed to publish articles about his rags-to-riches story.

It was undeniably a good story.

An orphan born a commoner who had worked as a shoeshine boy in the New Continent, only to overcome his miserable circumstances, build a business from nothing, and become a millionaire.

It was exactly the sort of story everyone would be interested in.

Especially about three months ago, when he expanded his business beyond his original base in the New Continent and into Arlen, the capital of the Ardelia Empire. I remembered seeing even more articles about him around that time.

And now, the protagonist of that success story I’d only ever seen in newspaper articles was standing right in front of me.

My mouth fell open before I even realized it.

But not everyone was thinking the same thing as I was.

The Marquis, in particular, was the sort of person who insisted on making his thoughts known.

“I wondered why it smelled so strongly of shoe polish around here. Now I see there was a reason.”

The Marquis ostentatiously covered his nose with one hand, then pulled a small cosmetic jar from his inner pocket with the other.

The moment he opened the elaborately decorated jar, adorned with gold leaf and enamel, I finally understood the source of the overpowering scent that had been coming from him.

‘The smell was so strong that I assumed he was wearing perfume! So it was coming from that cosmetic instead!’

Sure enough, the Marquis deliberately scooped up a generous amount of cream and began spreading it across the back of his hand as though he were applying layers of oil paint.

“Hmm. Now I can finally cover up some of that vulgar smell.”

I had no idea how he could possibly have covered up the smell of shoe polish when there hadn’t been any in the first place, but apparently that wasn’t important to the Marquis.

Instead, he stared straight at the man and got to the point.

“But tell me. No matter how much the world has changed, is it really appropriate for someone who used to polish shoes on the street to attend a gathering like this? Of course, no matter how fine his clothes are or how expensive his perfume may be, it seems he still can’t hide that vulgar smell. Wouldn’t you agree, Baron Belfon?”

“Indeed, I would. And judging by the way he tried to act familiar with a lady he’d never even met before, it seems that dressing oneself up convincingly doesn’t make someone a noble after all.”

My uncle immediately chimed in as though he’d been waiting for the opportunity, then shot me a sharp look.

He was clearly worried that, because the man had whispered to me earlier, it might appear as though this man and I knew each other. His eyes were silently ordering me to agree with him at once.

Technically, he wasn’t wrong.

I definitely didn’t know this man.

So, as a lady, drawing a clear line between us at this point was indeed the only way to preserve my dignity.

But why?

‘…I don’t want to.’

Once this man left, all that would remain for me was the Marquis.

I’d been preparing myself to confess what had happened on the night of the twenty-fifth in order to escape the Marquis. And perhaps this was an opportunity heaven itself had sent me.

Perhaps that was why…

“…We do know each other.”

“W-what did you say?”

Perhaps caught off guard by my completely unexpected answer, my uncle stammered as he asked again.

I looked at him and spoke firmly once more.

“I said I know this gentleman.”

His eyes widened fiercely.

I knew it was a threatening warning, but I couldn’t back down now.

“I apologize, Mr. Sutton. I couldn’t recognize you right away because of your mask. If you don’t mind, would you like to step outside for a moment and talk? It’s been so long since we last met, and I’m so happy to see you again.”

After saying that, I looked into the man’s eyes.

I couldn’t make it too obvious, but my gaze carried a more desperate message than ever before.

‘Please, take me out of here!’

But then…

Had my message not gotten through?

The man didn’t answer.

He simply looked at me.

That was all.

‘As I thought. Was that too much of a gamble?’

It was true that the man had been the one to approach me first, and judging by that, he really did seem to have mistaken me for someone he knew.

But that didn’t necessarily mean he intended to leave this room with me, did it?

No.

Perhaps the situation was even worse than that.

‘Could he have already realized that he mistook me for someone else?’

Oh, no.

I should have just kept my mouth shut instead of making such a reckless move. Why did I have to interfere and…

That was when it happened.

A large, knuckled hand suddenly stopped in front of me.

At the same time, a calm voice slipped through the man’s firmly closed lips.

“Let’s do that.”

Concise.

Yet there was nothing lacking in those three words.

Even though it was only a few words, his answer contained everything I’d been hoping for.

His hand was the same.

There was absolutely no reason for me to reject the hand of salvation he had extended toward me.

However, the road to salvation was anything but easy.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

It was my uncle who abruptly seized my wrist as I was making my way toward salvation.

“How dare you try to take my niece away without my permission!”