Since the day Armin and I met, this was the longest we had gone without contacting each other. I, who used to go out almost every day, was now staying home just like before I met him, which worried everyone in the household.
About a week had passed. No matter how many romance novels I read, none of them felt enjoyable, and I was spending a dull afternoon when suddenly, I sensed a commotion from the first floor. I heard the sound of hurried footsteps before Michelle came running.
“My lady!”
“Michelle, why are you running like that?”
“Lord Armin is here!”
“Armin?”
At the mention of his name, my ears perked up like a rabbit’s. However, I kept my eyes fixed on my book, pretending not to care, and responded nonchalantly.
“He must be here to see Sasha.”
“No, my lady. He’s here to see you.”
“Me?”
A battle raged within me—the urge to rush downstairs immediately versus the desire to let him suffer a little longer. While I felt relieved that he had come first, I still tried to maintain my composure.
Feigning indifference, I said coolly, “Tell the guest to wait. I need some time to prepare.”
* * *
With a trembling heart, I opened the parlor door. Inside, Armin and Sasha were seated. The moment I saw him again after a week of dark clouds hanging over my mood, my heart lightened. However, as soon as I noticed what was placed on the table in front of the sofa, my mood soured again.
A cake. And not just any cake—it was an earl grey tea cake.
“…What is this?”
“You’re here.”
Armin smiled at me and gestured for me to sit. Once I settled on the opposite sofa, he spoke.
“You’re not eating the cake? Don’t you like it?”
I looked at the cake on the table. His coming here first was an obvious gesture of reconciliation, yet bringing the exact earl grey tea cake that had started our fight—what was he thinking?
I alternated between staring at the cake and him. Sasha, sitting beside me, frantically signaled with his eyes.
‘Just eat it and get this over with! Quickly!’
Being twins, I could read my brother’s expressions perfectly. But I stubbornly shook my head and even let out a deliberate ‘hmph!’ sound.
“I don’t want to eat it, Your Grace.”
At my response, Armin’s face turned red—not from anger, but from holding back laughter. He knew that if he laughed now, any chance of reconciliation would vanish.
While I scowled, feeling treated like a child, Armin was trying his best to stifle his amusement. Meanwhile, poor Sasha, caught between us, looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here.
“’Your Grace’? It’s been a while since you called me that.”
Armin played along with my act.
“You’re such a strange lady.”
Was he trying to fight or make up? I glared at him in defiance and nodded.
“If you say so, then it must be true, Lord Armin.”
“Ha. First ‘Your Grace,’ and now ‘Lord Armin’?”
“Can either of you stop? It’s exhausting being stuck between you two.”
Unfortunately, Sasha’s muttering went ignored.
“Sasha, I’d love to stop, but Lady Roha is just too stubborn—just like when we first met.”
And with that, Armin won this battle.
He brought up the day we first met, which was filled with embarrassing moments I wished to erase. Sasha, on the other hand, was now burning with curiosity. If he ever found out, I’d be teased about it for the next ten years.
“Oh, wow! This earl grey tea cake looks absolutely delicious. How did you know this was my favorite?”
I dramatically exclaimed, playing up my reaction. It was my declaration of surrender. After all, I had no real intention of continuing this argument over something as trivial as cake flavors.
But the moment I took a big bite, a strange sense of familiarity hit me.
“Huh?”
My eyes must have wavered because Armin casually ran a hand through his platinum blond hair and said kindly,
“Tastes good, right? I got it from a popular dessert shop in the capital.”
“Oh, absolutely! Absolutely delicious. So good, the three of us could drop dead from it!”
Armin looked pleased. And most importantly, I had managed to keep our first meeting story from Sasha’s ears.
Thank goodness. If he ever found out about how I had hidden a book in my chest that day or how I insisted that I looked like a popori, I might have just died of embarrassment on the spot.
“Does eating it bring back memories? You mentioned that you enjoyed it with my mother.”
At Armin’s words, I suddenly recalled a forgotten memory. It was indeed the same cake I had eaten while having tea with the duchess.
The duchess loved earl grey tea cake and always wanted to share what she liked with others. I never wanted to disappoint her or let her see me as a picky eater, so I had pretended to enjoy it. That was all.
So, Armin’s misunderstanding that I liked earl grey tea cake wasn’t entirely baseless. If he had heard it from the duchess, his assumption made sense.
Seeing that our argument was more or less resolved, Sasha excused himself, saying he was tired. But I knew the truth—he was giving us space to talk alone.
“So, that ridiculous misunderstanding is finally cleared up?”
“Ridiculous? That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
“Who else would I even confuse you with to make such a mistake?”
The way he said it made the cake feel like it was stuck in my throat. My fingers started fidgeting on their own as a strange tension filled the air. Even someone completely oblivious wouldn’t be able to ignore this atmosphere.
“A girl? But… we’re friends, aren’t we?”
I forced a smile and pretended not to understand.
It wasn’t that I disliked Armin. The problem was that I wasn’t ready.
I liked Armin—a lot. Being with him was comfortable, enjoyable, and fun. I liked his parents too. But I didn’t have the courage to disrupt the stable relationship we had built with a flimsy resolve.
“Friends?”
The bright light in Armin’s violet eyes flickered and dimmed. The sight of his sinking expression pained me, but I still forced an awkward smile and nodded.
“Yes. Friends. Does gender matter between friends?”
I admitted it—I was being incredibly selfish. I had thrown a fit just imagining another girl by his side, yet the mere thought of becoming a duchess suffocated me.
A duchess? Me?
I wasn’t a great beauty like a duchess should be, nor was I from an impressive noble family. Wanting to stay by Armin’s side meant becoming a duchess.
The Duchess of House Grey was always busy. Every move she made was scrutinized by the public eye.
I wasn’t confident. I couldn’t say with certainty that I was the best fit for that role.
“So, you and I… are just friends?”
Armin’s voice held an unfamiliar edge as he repeated my words. I forced myself to nod, even though I knew I was being cowardly.
His expression hardened. He was clearly upset, struggling to contain his emotions.
Then, in a quiet but firm voice, he finally said:
“I’ve never once thought of you as just a friend.”
“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
“Mistaken?”
His restrained anger cracked, and his voice became rougher. I averted my gaze and continued.
“You’ve never even met other noble ladies properly. How can you be so sure? It could be a mistake. If you seriously meet someone else, your feelings might change.”
“Do you really think that?”
His voice dropped low, and I could feel his piercing gaze on me. I clenched my hands together, trying to ignore the pounding in my chest.
I couldn’t answer easily, but once the words had left my mouth, I had to see them through.
“Take this opportunity to seriously meet other people. I heard from Sasha that the ducal house has been flooded with marriage proposals lately.”
“Vivi, I’ve never been interested in those proposals. You know that. I only—”
“Try being interested. Don’t just decide so hastily.”
I knew this would hurt him, but I had to say it.
I liked him. I loved the way his violet eyes sparkled, his playful teasing that always carried warmth. But if loving those things meant trading away my peaceful life… I couldn’t say I would do so willingly.
“I’ll help you find someone.”
“What?” His voice was sharp. “Are you saying you’ll help me find a fiancée?”
He let out a dry laugh, utterly incredulous. I didn’t have to look at him to know he was staring at me, searching my face.
Armin stayed silent for a long moment before slowly rising from his seat.
“If that’s what you want, let’s do it.”
His voice was low, subdued.
“I’ll be counting on you. Since it’s your friend’s future wife, I’m sure you’ll take it seriously. I heard the Viscount Roha’s family also received a lot of invitations. If you find a good woman, be sure to introduce me. Just as you said, I’ll meet her with sincerity.”
The windows were closed, yet his words cut through the air like a bitter wind. They carried something else, too—something that sounded just a little hurt.
Without waiting for my response, Armin turned and left. The door slammed behind him with a loud bang, as if it might shatter.
I shut my eyes tightly.
