Armin Grey’s smiling face was truly charming. However, I felt a strange sensation of sweat trickling down my spine.
“Vivian Roha.”
“Y-yes?”
I instinctively reverted to polite language, which made Armin Grey’s smile deepen.
‘Oh no. Is he angry? I don’t know.’
I thought I had smoothly moved past it, but the image of Armin Grey’s surprised face kept coming back to me. Right, how often would a duke’s son hear someone say ‘Hey!’ to him? It must have been quite a shock.
As I tried to gather my thoughts and salvage the situation, Armin Grey’s pleasant, low voice reached my ears.
“I hear you’re looking for a husband these days?”
“Wh-what?”
Caught off guard by the sudden topic, I stammered like an idiot.
“I hear many suitors are interested in you.”
“Y-yes?”
“They say you’re a virtuous woman.”
Why was he suddenly bringing this up? I didn’t know the reason, but something felt off. Especially with that crescent-shaped smile of his.
Who would have imagined that Armin Grey and I would be sitting here in my family’s drawing room, smiling together?
The idea of having tea and conversation with a handsome man wasn’t bad. But my reality was far from it. Very far.
“W-well… I wouldn’t say it myself, but that’s what people say. That I’m virtuous.”
I decided to play dumb.
“Do you really think of yourself that way? Like how you thought you resembled a popori?”
It was a subtle jab, but I nodded, pretending not to notice.
“I don’t understand why you’re saying this, Lord Armin. Did I… did I do something wrong? Oh…”
I turned my head away pitifully and pretended to dab at my eyes with a handkerchief. Crying, sleeping—skills I had honed to avoid scoldings from my parents.
“You don’t know the reason?”
“Yes. I was already surprised by your sudden visit, and now you’re saying such scary things. Why are you doing this?”
From his perspective, it might seem incredibly annoying. But why should I care? Today will pass, and we’ll never see each other again. I don’t need to listen to these threatening words.
“Which noble family would consider a lady who calls her guest ‘Hey’ to be virtuous?”
“Me? When did I do that?”
Do you have evidence? Huh? If not, forget it!
I widened my eyes and retorted to Armin Grey, but he didn’t seem particularly flustered.
“Lady Roha.”
His voice, calling me calmly, held a hint of laughter. He showed me the ring on his right hand.
“Do you know what this is?”
“Um… a ring?”
“Unfortunately for you, this is not just a ring.”
“What?”
“It wasn’t intentional, but…”
“What?”
“You’ve said ‘What’ quite a lot today.”
On Armin Grey’s hand was a ring with a red gemstone in the center. He grasped the gemstone and twisted it slightly, as if rewinding something.
Just as I was starting to feel something was off, a voice emerged from the ring. It was a familiar voice I had heard many times before.
– Hey!
– Hey?
– Yeah! You jerk!
There was no mirror, but my expression must have been hilarious. I stared blankly at the ring, my jaw dropped in shock. As if to mock me further, Armin Grey twisted the gemstone again.
– Hey!
– Hey?
– Yeah! You jerk!
The phrases repeated continuously.
I was dumbfounded. This world had recording functionality too? I felt completely blindsided.
“I’m sorry, but the Grey family is very cautious.”
After playing the voice about ten times, I couldn’t take it anymore and screamed.
“I… I can apologize!”
“Apologize?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. Isn’t that enough?”
“No. You asked for my apology, and I gave it. But I don’t want your apology.”
“Then what do you want!” I shouted desperately.
“If I tell you what I want, can you give it to me?” he asked, his voice teasing.
I nodded, trying to keep my composure. “Y-yes. Just tell me what you want. I’ll give you anything.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Anything?”
“Yes! Anything!” I repeated, trying to keep my patience.
“There’s nothing.”
“What?”
“There’s nothing I want from you. Too bad.”
With a smile, Armin Grey stood up. Wait, he’s just going to leave like this?
I stared at him in disbelief as he casually started to walk away. Without thinking, I jumped up and grabbed his arm. Now was not the time to be polite. If he left with that ring, he could spread rumors everywhere. I couldn’t let that happen.
Armin Grey looked surprised, his smirk disappearing. “What are you doing?”
I closed my eyes tightly. This was not how a viscount’s daughter should behave, but I had no other choice.
“I’ll do anything! Just please, don’t go like this!”
“Let go of me.”
“No! I can’t let go! If I do, you’ll leave!”
Armin Grey could easily shake me off if he wanted to, but fortunately, he wasn’t that rude. I kept my eyes closed tightly and spoke, feeling humiliated but desperate.
“…First, let go.”
“If I let go, you’ll leave!”
“I won’t leave. Just let go first.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Only then did I release my tight grip on Armin Grey’s arm.
I cautiously opened my eyes to look at Armin Grey, and his face was completely flushed.
‘What should I do? He must be really angry.’
I quickly returned to the sofa and sat down demurely. Then, I glanced up at Armin Grey, trying to look as pitiful as possible, hoping he might take pity on me despite his anger.
Armin Grey sighed. I felt a chill, but I pretended not to notice.
After a brief silence, I heard Armin Grey’s footsteps approaching the sofa again.
“Usually,” he said.
“Yes?”
“Do you usually cling to someone’s arm like that? The rumors about you being virtuous must be false.”
With his face still red, Armin Grey asked. I quickly shook my head.
“Never! Absolutely never.”
“Then why… never mind, forget it.”
“Yes, sir.”
I replied quickly, not wanting to upset him further, and carefully watched his face. Silence fell again.
“Um…” I started.
“I’ll send a carriage tomorrow.”
“A carriage?”
It was an unexpected topic, but I nodded eagerly. As long as my true nature wasn’t revealed to others, anything was fine.
“But where are we going with the carriage…?”
“Why? Do you want to know before you decide?”
Armin Grey’s face had returned to normal, which was a relief. His anger had subsided.
“No, I was just curious.”
“You’ll find out tomorrow.”
“What about the ring…” I asked cautiously.
Armin Grey chuckled. He crossed his legs arrogantly and looked at me, the very image of the demon duke from the novel.
“You don’t trust me, do you?”
As if!
“No, of course I trust you!”
If there was ever a person whose outer appearance didn’t match their inner thoughts, it was Vivian Roha.
“Then let’s meet tomorrow.”
Armin Grey stood up again, his facial muscles twitching slightly. His stern expression made it clear that I couldn’t cling to his arm again like before.
‘Is he really that upset? I took a shower and everything… I’m pretty clean.’
I felt a bit hurt, but since I had already decided to appease him, I stood up as well to see him off.
As I opened the door, Sasha was waiting in the hallway with a worried expression. He must have been shocked that Armin Grey, whom I had barely known, had not only given me a book but also visited my house.
I bit my lip. I regretted not listening to my brother, but it was too late now. It felt like I had lost everything in a gamble.
I shouldn’t have done it. I should have listened to Sasha. The regret repeated in my mind like a parrot. I signaled Sasha not to follow and escorted Armin Grey to the entrance alone.
“Please come again,” I said, with all the professionalism of my 21 years as Vivian Roha, plus the memories from my past life.
Until Armin Grey rode away on his horse, I smiled brightly, my facial muscles aching.
