YNSYM 13

Chapter 13

Fortunately, the heavy atmosphere did not last long.

With a quiet sigh, the man lifted his gaze for a moment before returning to the same impassive expression as before.

“So, Young Master. I would appreciate it if you refrained from meddling in matters that are none of your concern from now on. And please refrain from calling me ‘Eli,’ at least when you’re in front of me.”

Having issued his warning, the man turned around and calmly walked away.

But Lucian could not take his eyes off him.

It was because of the lingering impression left by that gaze. Yet it was not because the look in his eyes had been frighteningly vicious.

Rather, it was strangely familiar.

Why? There’s no way I’ve ever seen that look before….

In truth, he could not pinpoint exactly where he had seen it. And yet his eyes kept following the man.

There was something oddly familiar about that gaze that had flowed from those dark-red eyes, as though they had been stained with blood.

Lucian’s gaze remained fixed on the man for a long time.

After meeting Lucian, I returned to my room, my face somewhat flushed.

Honestly, I still wasn’t sure why I had answered Lucian that way.

‘No, I do like him. So, Lucian. Please cheer me on. So that I can be happy with him. You can trust me and cheer me on, right?’

I had said it.

That I… liked him.

Of course, it had also been a way to reassure Lucian. If I said that, he would feel relieved and go home.

But once I had actually said those words aloud, I began to wonder if they might not have meant only that.

Perhaps, deep down, I had actually wished for it.

Even though this relationship had started simply because I was physically drawn to him, perhaps I hoped that someday, we would truly become the kind of couple those words described.

Maybe it was because of those thoughts that my face grew even hotter.

I pressed my flushed cheeks with the backs of my hands and stood up.

“Why is it so hot? Anne, are you outside? If you are, could you bring me some water…?”

It was just as I opened the door with my face still bright red to look for Anne.

“Ah…!”

A small gasp escaped me.

My startled feet stopped short as well.

They had no choice.

The person standing in front of the door was not Anne.

It was him.

The man stood there, quietly gazing at me as he was bathed in the last rays of the setting sun filtering through the windows in the hallway.

And then he spoke.

“Did it work?”

With a smile as deep as the gradually darkening glow of the sunset, he once again effortlessly bewitched me.

“The two of us.”

By then, the sun had completely set.

The sunset that had painted the world in its warm colors disappeared, but the afterglow of it still lingered on my face.

‘He said, “the two of us.”’

All because of those two words the man had whispered.

Of course, I knew he hadn’t meant anything particularly significant by them. Even so, those two words pierced straight into my heart, making my already-flushed cheeks grow even redder before I could even realize it.

The man spoke to me at precisely the moment that the heat in my face reached its peak.

“Are you sick?”

“Ah, n-no. I’m not sick at all…”

When I hurriedly shook my head, he asked again.

“Then why is your face so red? You look like you have a fever.”

Ah.

Only then did I realize what he had been asking about.

Come to think of it, I could see my reflection in the window. My face was practically as red as a tomato by now.

But I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth, so I merely fanned myself with my hands and made an excuse.

“M-Maybe it’s because it’s gotten so much hotter lately. Haha.”

But then, the man looking at me suddenly said something completely unexpected.

“Or maybe it’s because of that friend.”

“What?”

“I happened to run into your friend in the garden a little while ago.”

At first, I wondered who he was talking about.

But no matter how I thought about it, there was only one person I had met in the garden today—or rather, the only person who could be called my friend.

“Are you talking about… Lucian?”

At my question, the man lightly nodded.

“That’s right. He seemed to have come to see you.”

“Oh, actually, I did meet Lucian for a little while earlier. It seems he only just heard about my engagement. He was so surprised by the news that he came rushing to find me, so we talked for a bit.”

I let out a small sigh before continuing.

“He seemed really shocked. Well, I suppose it must have been difficult for him to believe. Just a month ago, we hadn’t even talked about anything like this, and suddenly he hears that his closest friend of fifteen years is getting married. He probably felt a little betrayed, too…”

But as I continued talking, a question suddenly popped into my head.

“But why would my face turn red because of him?”

I was genuinely curious.

No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for my face to turn red because of Lucian.

‘It’s not like Lucian is a fireplace, so why would I…?’

Just then, the man, who had been leaning casually against the wall, crossed his arms and answered indifferently.

“I wonder. Maybe because you like that friend?”

For a moment, I wondered if I had heard him correctly.

“Like him? Me? Surely you don’t mean that I like him as a man or anything, do you?”

I naturally assumed he couldn’t possibly mean that.

But my expectation was wrong.

“That’s exactly what I meant. I saw him in person, and he really is as handsome as the rumors say. A man like that might have started out as a friend, but it would be more than enough for feelings to develop. And if you were telling a friend you secretly had feelings for that you were engaged, it could certainly leave you flustered enough to turn red.”

Thankfully, I hadn’t been drinking anything.

If I had been drinking even water, I probably would have sprayed it right into the man’s face.

I was so dumbfounded that I spoke with an incredulous expression.

“I think you’ve got the wrong idea. Lucian and I are absolutely not like that! We’ve been genuine friends since we were little. We’ve seen each other at our absolute worst! Whew. Even saying it out loud is ridiculous. How could I possibly be with Lucian…”

I was innocent.

We really had seen every embarrassing side of each other.

I had seen him trip while playing, sob with tears and snot all over his face, and even—of all things—seen Lucian wet his pants.

After seeing all that, there was no way I could possibly see him as a man.

‘And Lucian obviously feels the same way.’

Yet the man still looked completely unconvinced.

He even went on to say something even more absurd.

“You’ve discussed that with your friend too, haven’t you?”

“Discussed…?”

“There’s no such thing as friendship between a man and a woman. If you’ve managed to maintain a friendship despite that…”

The man uncrossed himself slightly from the wall, then continued.

“Then one of them must be hiding their true feelings. For fifteen whole…”

Because he had moved closer, I could clearly see the sharply crooked brow above his eyes.

“Fifteen years?”

It was unfair.

If I had ever thought of Lucian as a man even once in my life, I might have felt a little less wronged.

But I genuinely never had.

That was why I felt even more indignant.

“We really aren’t like that! I could literally take a bath with him right now, for goodness’ sake! Not just take a bath—I could even scrub his back and everything…”

At that moment, a firm statement escaped the man’s lips as his brow furrowed slightly.

“I don’t like that.”

With that decisive tone, he immediately cut off my hypothetical scenario before straightening his posture a little more.

“Anyway, I’m glad you two aren’t in that kind of relationship. Even if you did have feelings for each other, I have no intention of giving you up to the Young Master.”

Honestly, I liked hearing that.

The man’s decisiveness made it sound as though he wanted me just as desperately as I wanted him.

But at the same time, that only made me more curious.

Why was this man like this?

Why did he want me so desperately?

Actually, this wasn’t a thought that had just occurred to me.

I had been thinking about it every single day for the past week.

‘At first, I thought he wanted to marry me because I’m the daughter of a baron, but…’

Even that didn’t really make sense.

Of course, as the Marquis had demonstrated, it was true that nobles tended to look down on the newly wealthy bourgeoisie.

But that didn’t mean every noble thought that way.

Especially with wealth and circumstances like this man’s, there must have been countless noble families eager to form a connection with him.

Among those noble daughters, there were surely women prettier than me who could also bring enormous dowries into the marriage.

So why had this man chosen me?

‘Me, who in every possible way hardly seems like an ideal bride…’

Just then, perhaps he had read the expression on my face.

The man, who had been staring intently at me, asked bluntly,

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but if you’re going to look that deep in thought, just tell me. I can’t know if you don’t say anything.”

His words made me flinch.

After some hesitation, I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Then, since we’re already talking about this, I’ll just ask you honestly.”

I eased my nervousness by gripping the hem of my skirt tightly before finally getting to the point.

“Why me?”