Chapter 5

“Hey, Costance!”

“Major, can’t you see that look in his eyes? I’m talking about Costance’s eyes. That bastard is in a bad mood right now.”

“That’s why I said we shouldn’t come!”

The men’s voices could be heard clearly through the window.

One had dark, tanned skin and looked the oldest. Another was tall with blond hair. The remaining man seemed to be the youngest of the three and was speaking carefully.

“How have you been, Costance?”

“It’s been a long time, Costance!”

The men who entered the library raised their hands and smiled brightly at Lord Costance.

“Why are you here?”

Lord Costance spoke stiffly.

“A few of us from the Logistics Department have the day off today. We wanted to see the face of our lovely junior and check whether the rumors were true.”

“The rumor that you’re practically living in the library has already spread throughout the military unit, Costance.”

The blond-haired man, who had been speaking to Lord Costance, noticed me standing behind him and leaned his head to the side.

The dark-skinned man did the same.

Our eyes met.

“……Oh.”

“……This is crazy.”

They smiled as if they had just discovered extremely interesting prey.

At that, Lord Costance even stretched out an arm to shield me.

“You’ve confirmed it, so leave now.”

“Oh, my. I didn’t know you were such a romantic guy.”

The blond-haired man chuckled softly.

He examined my face carefully before giving Lord Costance a fierce look.

“You bastard. So the reason you never dated anyone was because your standards were insanely high!”

The men’s eyes lit up.

“Is your name Vivy? That’s a pretty name, too.”

“Hello, Miss Vivy. I’m from the Logistics Department of Fleet Command…… Ah, Costance!”

Lord Costance stepped between me and the man.

His broad back completely blocked the man’s face from my view.

“You’re in the way.”

“Such a stiff guy.”

I had no idea how to stop Lord Costance and the men from arguing.

But if I left them like this, my senior coworkers would notice the noise and come out of the reading room.

“Um……”

I carefully opened my mouth.

“Oh? She spoke.”

“She actually spoke.”

They reacted as though they had just discovered a person could talk.

“This is a library, so could you please keep your voices down?”

“Vivy. Because of these people…… I’m sorry.”

Lord Costance apologized on their behalf.

“No, you don’t have to apologize.”

“I’ll take them outside. But first, I’ll help you move the books to the storage room.”

Lord Costance tried to help me.

He bent down and began picking up the books that had fallen onto the floor one by one.

“Books? We’ll help too, Librarian.”

“Whatever else we may lack, we’re trained soldiers, so we’re pretty good at using our strength.”

The other men began picking up books as well.

Lord Costance, saying that they were only getting in the way, tried to chase them out, but by then their arms were already full of books.

“Miss? Where should we take the books?”

The blond-haired man took the opportunity to ask me.

“……To the storage room.”

I ended up leading them to the storage room almost without thinking.

“Your presence is nothing but a hindrance to Vivy.”

“And you’re not?”

“I’ve just been quietly reading books here.”

“With those lecherous eyes of yours, you were probably secretly staring at Miss Vivy.”

The men and Lord Costance continued bickering as they walked.

At first, I wondered if they didn’t get along.

But now that I looked at them, they clearly knew each other very well. They were almost like brothers.

“Miss Vivy.”

The blond-haired man called out to me in the middle of their conversation.

“……Yes?”

“You’re so beautiful. Of course you must have a lover, right?”

I was the one being asked the question, but Lord Costance, who was beside me, suddenly trembled.

Because of that, my body also flinched.

“Well, um…… I don’t.”

“Really? That’s quite surprising. Then do you have an ideal type? Or perhaps some characteristics of the men you’ve dated before……”

He asked a lot of personal questions.

And it wasn’t only the man who had asked them. Every man there was listening carefully to my answer.

Lord Costance wasn’t taking his eyes off me at all.

“I……”

“……”

“I think I like men whose foreheads are clearly visible.”

It was a lie.

Lord Costance wore his hair down over his forehead.

Knowing that, I deliberately said the opposite.

Lord Costance didn’t react or say anything.

I quickly added,

“Actually, I’m not thinking about dating anyone. Ah, we’ve arrived at the storage room.”

I unlocked the storage room door.

A cool, refreshing breeze brushed against my body.

The faint smell of old books filled the air.

I asked the men to put the books in their places and checked the numbers.

None of the books were missing.

As I shelved the books according to their classification, I could feel the men’s eyes on me from behind.

Their gazes followed every little thing I did as if they were watching some fascinating show.

It made me uncomfortable.

I moved my hands quickly and finished the work as fast as possible.

“Are you finished?”

Costance asked.

Perhaps they had expected some grand task.

“Yes, I’m done. Let’s get out.”

The men left the storage room with somewhat dissatisfied expressions.

Even while I locked the storage room door, I could feel their gazes on my back.

I couldn’t even properly lock a door without being watched.

“Vivy?”

A familiar voice came from behind me.

“……Julia?”

Julia was staring at me with her eyes wide open.

“It was lunchtime…… I was going to ask you to eat together.”

Julia glanced at the men.

Then the youngest-looking man among them stepped in front of Julia with a smooth smile.

“Ahem. I’m sorry, miss. We were helping Miss Vivy here. Did we disturb you?”

“Not at all! Not at all. Rather, I’m grateful.”

Julia spoke with her face slightly flushed.

Even though this was only a hallway, they were getting excited and raising their voices……

If the director saw this, he would definitely lecture us.

“Though it seems the hiring requirements for librarians have changed these days.”

The blond-haired man added.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Both Miss Vivy and you are very beautiful. So I wondered if having beautiful women had become one of the requirements for employment.”

This man was extremely skilled at flirting with women.

“Really? Haha.”

Julia, who had complained that noble-born men were arrogant, seemed to have completely forgotten those words.

Her face was already filled with a smile.

I was worried that Julia might completely fall for this man.

“Ju-Julia! Let’s go eat lunch. Which restaurant should we go to? Hmm?”

I grabbed Julia’s arm.

But Julia didn’t move an inch.

Her eyes were already fixed on the men in front of her.

“You said you were going out for lunch, right? How about having lunch with us?”

The blond-haired man made the suggestion while looking at Julia.

Lord Costance, unable to stand by and watch, tried to stop him, but the man quickly jabbed him in the side.

“Oh, what should I do? We already promised to eat with the director today.”

Julia spoke with obvious disappointment.

“Oh, that’s unfortunate.”

“But dinner would work! I get off work at six today, so anytime after that is fine. Of course, Vivy can come too.”

What?

Julia dragged me into it as well.

“It’s the same for us. Of course, Costance here too.”

The men weren’t about to lose either, and they pulled Lord Costance into the arrangement.

“We heard there’s a new jazz café nearby. Major Lance went there and said the atmosphere was quite nice. How about having dinner there?”

The men made the suggestion.

Julia’s face immediately lit up.

“I’d love that. Ah, should we make the numbers even? There are four of you, so we’ll bring two more people.”

“We’d be happy to have them. Right, Major?”

The blond-haired man looked at his superior as if asking for agreement.

Although he seemed to be asking permission, it was practically already decided.

Dinner.

A jazz café.

“Of course. That sounds good. And that jazz café is supposed to be a wonderful place. Then we’ll come pick you up at six, when you get off work.”

“What on earth were you thinking? You made a dinner date with people you’ve never even met!”

After the plans had been made, I glared at Julia beside me and spoke quietly.

“People you’ve never met? Is Lord Costance someone you’ve never met?”

“I’m talking about the other men, not Lord Costance.”

“More importantly, how could you not say a single word to me when there were such handsome men right there?”

Why had the subject somehow turned against me again?

I rubbed my dry face and let out a long sigh.

I was worried about this exact situation.

I hadn’t wanted anyone to find out that I had been alone with Lord Costance!

“They just helped me because I was in trouble. I told you!”

“Hmm. Did they?”

“But how do you know who those men are to make a dinner appointment with them?”

“You really can’t read people at all. Do those men look like ordinary soldiers to you? They’re all military officers working at headquarters. They’re all quite impressive men. How could you pretend not to notice? And did they say he was a major? He was exactly my type!”

“You said you didn’t like arrogant men, even if they were nobles.”

“Vivy. He wasn’t arrogant.”

Julia didn’t back down even an inch.

“……And you already have people in mind to bring? Two people, at that!”

“Vivy, you’re really foolish. Very, very foolish.”

Julia grinned and continued.

“There are plenty of people I can bring. And I mean plenty.”

“What?”

“I have a feeling there’ll be an incredible battle of nerves tonight.”

She smiled meaningfully.

“All for the sake of claiming those two seats.”