VPSML | CH 05

Chapter 05

Pdea didn’t even realize how shocking her words had been and just waited for Elena’s answer.

Elena, still confused, couldn’t reply easily.

Pdea tilted her head, staring at Elena, and even lightly shook her face as if urging her to answer.

But Elena kept her mouth shut.

Just as Pdea was about to wave her hand in front of Elena’s face—

“You can sit anywhere you like.”

Jay appeared, finally snapping out of his daze, and grabbed Pdea’s wrist.

“So… would you please let go of Elena?”

Pdea looked down at the big hand holding her wrist.

It was strong and well-trained, but instead of scary, it looked… beautiful.

Maybe because of that, her strength left her hand naturally.

Her grip fell away with a thud.

Jay blinked in surprise.

He hadn’t expected her to let go so quickly.

He stared at her with disbelief.

Then Elena, finally recovering from her shock, tugged on Jay’s collar.

She glanced at Pdea’s wrist.

“…Ah.”

Jay realized he’d been holding her wrist too tightly.

It must have been from the heat of the moment.

He quickly let go, but it was already too late.

“Ah!”

Elena gasped.

The wrist Jay had been holding was red.

Jay was shocked—he didn’t expect someone like Pdea, who seemed strong, to bruise so easily.

He thought only delicate people like Elena would have marks like that.

He regretted acting too emotionally.

Even if he had a reason, hurting a Grand Duchess was unacceptable.

If she wanted to hold him accountable later, he’d have no choice but to accept it.

He even wondered if Pdea let go of Elena because her wrist hurt too much.

“…Your wrist—”

“Anywhere, you said?”

Jay stopped mid-apology when Pdea touched her wrist and repeated,

“Didn’t you say I could sit anywhere?”

She didn’t seem to care about her wrist at all—only the seat.

“…If you mean the seat, then yes.”

“Thanks.”

Hearing Pdea say “thanks” froze both Jay and Elena in surprise.

They never expected her to thank anyone.

The tense air broke when Pdea sat down.

Jay found the whole situation strange.

When he first approached her, she’d vaguely asked to join them.

He thought it was sarcasm, not a real request.

“…Shall we sit too?” Elena whispered.

“What…?”

“You saw the red mark on her wrist. If Jay gets in trouble because of me, what will we do? Let’s just do what she wants for now.”

Jay frowned—he didn’t like the reason.

“If that’s the only reason, I’ll take responsibility. You don’t have to agree to sit with her.”

“How can I not worry? If you don’t want to, I can stay here and handle her myself.”

Her stubbornness made Jay feel strangely useless, like he wasn’t someone Elena could rely on.

Still, he couldn’t just leave her alone.

So he sat down directly opposite Pdea.

* * *

‘Is this really okay?’ Jay thought, feeling awkward.

The table was full of sweets, but no one was eating.

Elena sat quietly, while Pdea only drank tea.

Finally, Jay put a piece of strawberry cake on a plate for Elena.

She flinched—it was the café’s special cake she’d been wanting.

But she didn’t eat because Pdea was watching.

Jay smiled as if to tell her not to worry.

Then he offered Pdea a slice too.

“This is the café’s most popular cake. Would you like some?”

Instead, Pdea took two chocolate madeleines and placed them on an empty plate.

Then she slid the plate… to Jay.

‘…For me?’

Jay blinked.

He’d never been given food before—especially not by Pdea.

She was now eating the strawberry cake he’d given her.

That made him curious—she hadn’t touched it earlier, but now she was eating it happily.

So Jay ate one of the madeleines.

‘Sweet,’ he thought—but in a good way.

Before he knew it, he’d eaten the whole thing.

* * *

Then Pdea suddenly said, “I’ll be going now.”

“Huh? Already?” Jay was surprised.

They’d barely done anything except share desserts.

Pdea’s face looked stiff, and she bit her lip.

In her mind, Jay was being “sly”—acting like he didn’t care about her, then being shocked when she left.

She was sure he didn’t want her to go.

But she really did have other things to do.

In fact, she’d only come to the café because she missed him so much.

Still, she wanted to stay.

Finally, she put a hand on his shoulder, leaned down, and whispered,

“Don’t tease me like that. I’m already barely holding back. I don’t want to be apart from you, not even for a moment.”