The change in Young Master Jericho was frightening enough to scare even me, who couldn’t see what was happening behind me.
“I’ll count to three. Before that, you’d better disappear from my sight.”
From his arrogant tone and mocking laughter, I could practically picture the haughty expression on his face without even looking.
Young Master Jericho immediately released the hand that had been gripping my arm tightly and hurriedly got to his feet.
“I-I apologize!”
Who on earth was he to make that man act like this? Watching him tuck his tail between his legs and flee only made it harder for me to breathe.
Footsteps approached.
I could sense the man walking straight toward me until he stopped right behind me. Thump, thump. It felt as though my heart might leap out of my chest if I opened my mouth. I kept repeating to myself.
‘Calm down. Calm down. Even if you get dragged into a tiger’s den, as long as you keep your wits about you…’
So what if I kept my wits about me? I’d just become dinner with my eyes wide open.
“How long are you planning to sit there?”
His voice came from behind me, as though he were trying to suppress a laugh. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Regardless of everything else, he had just helped me when Young Master Jericho was holding me captive. I desperately tried to convince myself that he couldn’t be a completely strange person.
I steadied my trembling body and carefully stood up. A shawl was draped over my shoulders.
It was the shawl that had fallen during my struggle with Young Master Jericho. My bare shoulders felt a little warmer beneath it.
“Th-thank…!”
I turned around to thank the man behind me. Whatever the circumstances, it was always better to be on good terms with someone, so perhaps I could explain everything properly.
But I couldn’t finish my sentence.
The man’s appearance standing before me left me completely speechless.
‘Silver hair and violet eyes. A handsome man whose presence could be recognized from ten kilometers away.’
His hair wasn’t silver, but platinum blonde. Even so, I recognized him instantly.
That man was Armin Gray.
Shasha’s voice, warning me never to cross paths with him, repeatedly echoed inside my head.
Perhaps my expression—staring at him with my mouth hanging open—looked amusing, because his expression became slightly peculiar.
“Do you need help closing your mouth too, Lady Roha?”
I couldn’t check without a mirror, but I was certain all the color had drained from my face. The fact that he knew who I was shocked me even more.
“You… know me? Ah, no… that’s not what I meant.”
This was bad.
In my confusion, I had just admitted my identity without even thinking.
I frowned. At that, Armin Gray’s smile deepened.
“Were you planning to deceive me?”
“No! That’s not it. I was just surprised that Young Master Gray knew me…”
Armin Gray’s violet eyes narrowed slightly beneath his eyelids. When he gave a faint chuckle, my mind began spinning rapidly.
He didn’t seem offended.
“Most central nobles know one another. Especially when someone has such an unusual feature as yours.”
“Me…?”
“The brown hair of the Roha Viscount family is quite distinctive.”
It was true. Among commoners, there was hardly anything more ordinary than brown hair. But among the central aristocracy, such an ordinary color was actually rare.
Still, no matter how unusual my hair color was, brown hair was just brown hair.
In other words, I was absolutely not someone who could be the protagonist. At best, I was suited to being a supporting character.
The more I thought about it, the more suspicious I became about him knowing me, so I continued watching Armin Gray carefully without letting my guard down.
I was relatively calm until Armin Gray bent down to pick up my book from the stone floor.
“Is this the book you were so excitedly reading?”
“E-Eek!!!”
Desperate at having my secret hobby discovered, I instinctively snatched the book out of the Armin Gray’s hands.
I moved quickly, but unfortunately, Armin Gray had already seen the title.
“The Demon Duke Is Obsessed with Me. So there really are people who actually buy and read books like this.”
With a dazzling smile, Armin closed the door.
Bang.
The sound of the door closing felt chilling, like a death sentence.
“Well, Lady. Shall we have a little chat?”
Inside the room with the door closed.
I glanced at the man sitting across from me.
Armin Gray had been casually reading my book for several dozen minutes already.
Watching him secretly made my face burn as though my deepest shame had been exposed.
I wanted to shamelessly tell myself that there was nothing wrong with my reading habits, but there was one problem.
The male lead of The Demon Duke Is Obsessed with Me looked almost exactly like Armin Gray.
His expression as he read was rather peculiar.
My fingers fidgeted unconsciously.
I had experienced a similar atmosphere in my previous life.
It reminded me very much of the day I’d brought a manga to school and gotten scolded by the student affairs office.
“This.”
“Yes?”
“Was this really so entertaining that you were singing about it?”
At Armin Gray’s words, I choked and coughed.
As expected, that man had heard everything I had been doing from beginning to end.
“What did you call yourself again? A… shut-in?”
Of course, people in this world, who didn’t know Romance of the Three Kingdoms, couldn’t possibly know the name Lü Bu, the notorious brute with three fathers.
I shook my head, forcing the most submissive smile I could manage onto my face.
“It was just me talking to myself. Just talking to myself! Ahaha. But, Young Master Gray?”
His expression clearly said, If you have something to say, go ahead.
I swallowed nervously and glanced awkwardly toward the door.
“I think my brother will be looking for me, so I’d like to return now…”
Even I could tell that it was an obvious excuse, so I could only imagine what Armin thought of it.
Still, I stubbornly used my brother as an excuse.
“Lady Roha.”
“Yes?”
“I heard something rather interesting a few days ago.”
If I could, I would’ve preferred not to hear it.
Whatever it was, I was certain there would be absolutely nothing interesting about it.
But I couldn’t exactly say what I was thinking, so I nodded.
“What interesting story is it? Oh ho ho. I’m curious. Then I’ll just hear that and—”
“Have you ever heard of devil worshippers?”
Why were we suddenly talking about devil worshippers…?
Unable to understand his intentions, I tilted my head.
What on earth is he talking about?
“Devils? Like the ones in fairy tales?”
“No. Heretics who worship demons actually exist.”
Where in the world were there demons?
Even if there were people who worshipped demons, it certainly wasn’t me.
Still, perhaps Armin Gray believed in supernatural beings despite his appearance.
So I nodded along as though I were dealing with an elementary school student who still believed in Santa Claus.
I didn’t want to provoke Armin Gray, whose personality certainly didn’t seem particularly pleasant.
“I see. Wow! Demons. That’s really fascinating. What an interesting story! Well, then, may I leave now—”
“What I heard was…”
His smile made it clear that the conversation wasn’t over.
The expression on his face was almost heavenly.
For a moment, I nearly became lost staring at him.
I’d become so accustomed to Shasha’s good looks that most handsome men now looked like ordinary people to me.
Even so, Armin Gray’s appearance was on an entirely different level.
But why did those crescent-shaped eyes, curved as he looked at me, seem so frightening?
Holding onto my pounding heart, I cautiously watched his expression.
“I heard that devil worshippers can communicate with demons. Apparently, that’s why they have a habit of talking to themselves in ways that other people find difficult to understand.”
“Oh, really? They talk to themselves? That’s… huh?!”
“Apparently, they also chant spells through strange songs.”
His dazzling smile remained fixed on me.
That was when I finally realized.
Armin Gray wasn’t some elementary school kid who believed in Santa Claus and demons.
“If we discover a heretic, it would be our duty as central nobles to report them to the Inquisition.”
“W-Wait! A heretic? What do you mean, a heretic?!”
I frantically waved my hands.
Then I began defending myself just as desperately.
“The singing is just a habit of mine! And I only talked to myself because I thought there was no one around and I was so excited! I-I’m sorry!”
An Inquisitor?!
There were actually such people in this world too?
The word sounded like something straight out of a world history textbook. Terrified, I immediately began making excuses.
“You can’t call someone a devil worshipper just because they read a novel and sang while doing it! That’s ridiculous!”
Even as I said that, I became slightly uneasy.
No matter how absurd the accusation was, if the Gray ducal family were the ones making it, couldn’t a mere daughter of the Roha Viscount family be branded a devil worshipper without anyone ever finding out?
Perhaps my aggressive defense amused him, because Armin Gray rested his chin on the table and stared at me.
“Is that so?”
“Yes!”
I nodded enthusiastically.
But Armin Gray tapped the book maliciously and said,
“Not everything has been explained, though. That word you used earlier. The one about the… shut-in. I’d never heard it before. Can you explain that too?”
His eyes seemed to say, If you can’t, you’re a heretic.
I shuddered.
What kind of person was this?
Shasha had been right. I absolutely needed to stay away from him.
‘This guy really is a weird person!’
But I continued smiling and nodding enthusiastically.
I was only twenty-one.
I had so many things left to do while living my comfortable life as a reasonably privileged person. I had already done nothing but disappoint my parents over and over again.
I couldn’t die like this.
“That is…”
“That is?”
“Uh! Well, Yeopo means… um… I made it up! It absolutely isn’t some kind of demonic spell or anything!”
“What does it mean?”
My brain began spinning at full speed.
If I didn’t answer quickly, he would definitely become suspicious.
So I had no choice but to say whatever came to mind.
“Oh! Well, Yeopo means… there’s a Popori here. Something like that.”
Popori.
They were small animals in this world, somewhat similar to squirrels.
They were popular because of their adorable appearance.
Armin Gray’s eyes narrowed.
He had a strange, peculiar expression, as though he were trying to suppress his laughter.
But I enthusiastically nodded, insisting on my innocence.
With a strange tone in his voice, Armin Gray asked me,
“So you’re saying you just compared yourself to a Popori?”
“Yes! Exactly. It’s like… In this corner, I am a Popori… something like that.”
Pfft.
At the sudden sound, I looked at Armin Gray.
He could no longer hold it in.
He was laughing like a madman.
