“….”
At my words, Felix fell silent for the first time.
What…? Why that reaction?
The shift was sharper than I expected, and somehow I ended up more flustered than him.
“Don’t tell me…”
Did he… fall for me?
Was all that irritation actually a sign of interest or something like that—
“Because you’re annoying.”
…Yeah. No. That wasn’t it at all.
Relief should’ve come first, but instead my toes curled awkwardly.
I bit down lightly on my tongue to suppress my embarrassment and swallowed a sigh.
But still… that answer was strange, wasn’t it?
“Because I’m annoying?”
Me? Seriously?
“Yeah.”
Felix replied flatly, as if telling me not to ask further.
Wow. That was sudden.
I lost my words for a moment and instinctively looked toward Meital.
“……I’m not really sure either.”
Meital also looked completely unable to understand what his unpredictable master was thinking.
Unable to hold back, I asked again.
“If I’m annoying… then why did you call me here?”
He was a young duke, wasn’t he? He must be busy. And with that kind of personality, he probably hated wasting time even more.
Yet here he was, keeping me for thirty minutes over coffee.
Honestly, it felt like torture.
“Can I… go back now?”
At my words, Felix slowly lifted his lashes. When I saw the violet eyes beneath them, it strangely felt like my ankles had been grabbed.
A subtle tension crept into my voice.
“I still have work to do—and I’m sure you have things to attend to as well, Your Grace.”
“….”
“And it seems like you don’t have anything else to say.”
The more I spoke, the less sense this situation made.
There was no reason for me to still be here.
But the moment I stood up, Felix set his cup down.
“No.”
Each syllable landed clean and precise.
“Stay here. Quietly. Because you’re annoying.”
Hey—there has to be a reason for this, right? You maniac!
And about an hour later, the part that Amelia had been curious about was finally asked by Meital.
“What exactly are you thinking?”
Felix, who had just risen from his seat, answered bluntly.
“What.”
“…Are you seriously asking because you don’t know?”
He was strange today.
Well, he was always strange—but today was on another level.
Felix normally had no interest in other people at all. He only picked fights or lost his temper when it involved himself. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even blink if someone died in front of him.
And yet today, he spoke to a lady he’d barely met. He even suggested having tea together out of nowhere.
In over ten years of serving him, Meital had never seen anything like it.
“Tell me honestly… are you in love?”
“…?”
Felix, who had already stepped toward the exit, turned back.
His gaze clearly said, “What nonsense is that?” which made Meital feel a little wronged.
“No, think about it! You’ve refused every tea party invitation for years. At imperial events, you always ran off saying it was bothersome!”
“….”
He couldn’t deny it, so he pressed his lips together and started walking again.
“If you really are in love, I can speak to Lord Roten and—”
“Stop saying useless things.”
“Then what is it, my lord?!”
“You don’t need to know.”
“MY LORD!”
“Walk faster. We’re already behind schedule.”
Behind schedule because you were enjoying tea with that lady, aren’t you…!
Meital shot a resentful glare at his master’s back. Felix ignored it completely and narrowed his eyes slightly.
Something was strange.
Meital kept saying nonsense about “falling in love,” but that wasn’t it.
“She was pretty.”
That much was true.
But the feeling he had wasn’t really attraction.
It was closer to—
“stability.”
A strange calmness, as if the chaotic mana inside his body had briefly settled.
That was what it felt like.
But that raised an even bigger question.
Why would he feel something like that from a woman he had just met?
Felix hated change.
Change usually meant deterioration, not improvement. At least for him.
So this situation was both confusing and irritating.
Which was why he said he was annoyed—and he truly meant it.
Feeling like his own body didn’t belong to him was nauseating.
Still, he could conclude one thing.
“Meital.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Investigate that woman I just met.”
“Understood…”
Meital sighed in resignation and trudged forward.
Felix pressed a hand to his chest, where the strange sensation had slightly eased, and smirked.
‘Can I go back now?’
If she naturally said she was going upstairs, that meant her workshop was above the fourth floor.
Above the fourth floor… that left only the fifth and sixth floors.
And access to those areas was extremely restricted.
Only a handful of people could enter freely.
‘Gilbert brought her.’
And if she had been brought in under strict secrecy, then she must be someone valuable.
“Interesting.”
Who exactly was this woman who stirred up this damn feeling?
“Meital.”
“Yes, Your Grace. Another command—”
“I think you might be right.”
“…Pardon?”
Meital stopped abruptly.
But Felix didn’t stop walking.
“I keep wanting to know more about her.”
“Hah… damn it.”
My life is officially ruined.
“Are you alright?”
Roten gently placed a slice of cake in front of me.
I dragged the plate closer and muttered,
“Am I… being targeted?”
Roten smiled awkwardly, as if he understood the question even without context—but couldn’t give a straight answer.
‘Damn it.’
I should run away and cancel the contract right now… but then again, the money would be way too precious!
“Don’t worry. He is a bit temperamental, yes, but he’s not actually a bad person.”
“Why?”
“He just… has a lot of money.”
“…That’s not the duke being good. That’s capitalism being good.”
“Ah.”
Roten let out a small gasp, as if struck by the truth.
“Haa…”
I sighed deeply and poked the cake with my fork.
I couldn’t even focus properly on making it.
Sure, I was faster than before, but my concentration was completely wrecked.
“What is he thinking?”
He kept me sitting there for over an hour.
It wasn’t like he had anything else to do either.
He just watched me eat cake quietly… then suddenly told me to leave.
‘This is insane.’
It didn’t feel like he had fallen for me like in the original story.
If anything, it felt more like… discomfort.
