Had they learned their manners from a fantasy novel or something? What kind of etiquette was it to laugh in front of someone like that?
The Confucian girl from Cheonghak-dong living inside me was deeply displeased by Armin Gray’s lack of manners.
But Vivian Roha couldn’t behave that way.
So I quietly waited until Armin Gray stopped laughing.
After a while, Armin Gray wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, apparently from laughing so much.
I wondered whether what I’d said was really that funny, but at least the terrifying atmosphere involving heretics and demons seemed to have passed, and I let out a relieved sigh.
“It’s true that Popori have brown fur too. I suppose there are some similarities.”
“…Yes. I, um… I’ve thought I looked like a Popori since I was little…”
As I said it myself, I could feel my face heating up like a ripe tomato.
If I died right now, the cause of death would undoubtedly be death from embarrassment.
Was there anyone who could casually promote themselves as cute without feeling embarrassed? At least, I certainly wasn’t one of them.
A brief silence followed.
Armin Gray stared at me as though carefully checking every detail to determine whether I really resembled a Popori.
I avoided his gaze and stared intently at the innocent wall instead.
Then Armin Gray spoke.
His voice wasn’t low and threatening like when he’d chased Young Master Jericho away. Instead, there was an oddly cheerful tone to it, as though he’d found something entertaining.
“I see. I’ll believe you.”
“Believe what?”
“That you called yourself ‘Bangusok Yeopo’ because you thought you were cute.”
“Cough! Cough. Yes! Th-that’s right. Of course.”
“But that doesn’t mean I can believe you’re not a devil worshipper.”
“What?”
After putting on this entire ridiculous performance, he still suspected me…?
I stared at him in disbelief.
If it had been Shasha, he would’ve probably given me some leeway in a situation like this.
But Armin Gray was different.
Without even blinking, he calmly said,
“You seem to treasure this book quite a lot.”
“Yes. I just bought it recently.”
“Lady Roha.”
At the way he called my name, I looked at Armin Gray.
He wore a crooked smile in which mischief and amusement seemed to coexist.
“An ordinary young lady wouldn’t hide a newly purchased book inside her dress and bring it to a ball.”
Then Armin Gray added,
“I’ve heard devil worshippers always carry grimoires on their person so they can summon demons.”
Tap.
He lightly tapped the black cover of the book with his long, pale fingers and smiled faintly.
“And coincidentally, the title of your book contains the words ‘Demon Duke.’”
His smiling face made it impossible to tell whether he was joking or threatening me, which only made things more difficult.
I had no idea what tune I was supposed to dance to, so I couldn’t answer at all.
Watching me, the Demon Duke… no, Armin Gray, spoke in a voice filled with amusement.
“So I’ll take this book with me and investigate it.”
“Ah… No!”
The words burst out before I could stop them.
Armin Gray looked me up and down suspiciously.
What are you going to do if you look at me like that? It’s mine!
“It’s a limited edition. It was really difficult to get.”
“Then…”
His expression seemed to ask, Shall we go see the Inquisitor right now?
My courage shriveled like fingers that had been soaking in a bath for two hours.
“No, I didn’t… mean it like that.”
“I’ll return it if I find nothing unusual after examining it.”
His tone left little room for argument.
I barely managed to nod.
He’ll give it back, right?
Maybe he’d read it and found it entertaining, which was why he was acting like this?
But I shook my head.
Right. He was the heir to the Gray ducal family, after all. Surely he wouldn’t stoop to something so petty.
“Now, go meet your brother. He may be worried since you haven’t been seen for so long.”
He’d kept me trapped in here all this time, and now he was pretending to care.
Still, I lowered my eyes demurely and nodded, trying my best to look calm.
The moment I closed the door behind me, however, I sprinted madly back toward the ballroom.
“Haa… haa!”
I ran through the dark corridor like a madwoman and finally reached the brightly lit ballroom, panting heavily.
Shasha must have been looking for me because I’d been gone for so long, because he immediately came over.
“Vivi! Where have you been?”
I wanted to tell Shasha everything that had happened, but I opened and closed my mouth several times before ultimately saying nothing.
I’d caused a major disaster less than a day after he’d warned me to be careful.
This was definitely enough material for a three-day, two-night lecture.
But the moment Shasha saw my expression, he realized something had happened.
“Why are you so pale? Did something happen? And what happened to your shawl?”
Only after hearing Shasha’s question did I realize that I’d left my shawl in the room where that demon was.
But I couldn’t tell him the truth, so I vaguely brushed it off.
“Huh? Maybe I dropped it somewhere. I just went for a little walk in the garden.”
Shasha seemed to find my answer strange and slightly furrowed his brows.
“You said you were cold. Why would you go for a walk in the garden?”
“I just felt a little stuffy. Then I suddenly heard something behind me and got scared, so I ran. I guess I must’ve dropped it then.”
“Where? I’ll go get it.”
“No! It’s fine!”
I desperately stopped Shasha.
There was no way the shawl would actually be in the garden, and I didn’t think it would be a good idea for Shasha to run into Armin Gray near that room either.
While I was talking with Shasha, I suddenly sensed a commotion behind me.
I knew without even looking.
Armin Gray had arrived.
Before Shasha could become suspicious about the timing of our appearances, I quickly pushed my brother’s back.
“O-Oppa! It’s suddenly so hot in here, isn’t it? I think I need some fresh air.”
“What? You were singing about how cold you were just a moment ago, and now you’re hot? You said you’d been in the garden this whole time.”
“I got hot from running! I think I’ll go stand on the balcony for a bit.”
A wallflower’s greatest fear was having everyone’s attention focused on them.
I didn’t think Armin Gray would openly acknowledge me in front of all these people, but even the slightest possibility felt dangerous today.
What if he started talking about romance novels or heretics in front of everyone?
My head began spinning.
I carefully made my way toward the balcony.
The air outside, without even a shawl to cover me, was chilly enough to make the fine hairs on my skin stand on end, but I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about that.
‘What is he really thinking?’
I was utterly exasperated by the way he’d casually thrown around the word ‘Inquisitor’ as though he were talking about the neighborhood police station.
I’d never encountered a character like him in my life, so I was more than a little flustered.
For a comfortable homebody like me, Armin Gray was simply too intense.
Wasn’t this whole situation ridiculous to begin with?
I mean, it was just an ordinary romance novel.
I’d merely brought it to a ball.
I’d sung a little while reading it.
And talked to myself a bit.
So what?
Could someone really be branded a devil worshipper over that?
It was absurd, but I couldn’t be certain.
With the kind of power the Gray ducal family possessed, perhaps something that ridiculous really was possible.
Shasha had been absolutely right.
I should’ve listened when he told me never to cross paths with Armin Gray.
‘No, but seriously, why was he even hiding in that room in the first place?’
I kicked the innocent balcony railing several times.
The toe of my shoe felt like it had become slightly dented, but I couldn’t seem to release my frustration any other way.
‘How am I supposed to clean up this mess?!’
My mind raced frantically.
But no solution came to me.
‘I’ll return it if I find nothing unusual.’
We weren’t even supposed to meet again, so how exactly was he planning to return it?
In the end, I decided I had to give up on The Demon Duke Is Obsessed with Me.
‘It was the best book I’d read all year…’
My eyes filled slightly with tears of injustice.
Still, I decided that losing one book from my collection was better than having to meet that troublesome man again.
‘At least I finished reading it before he took it.’
If he’d taken it while I was still reading, I wouldn’t have been able to get another copy.
I might have been bedridden for days from the heartbreak.
Since things had already turned out this way, I decided it would be better for my mental health to think of it as simply having some money extorted by a thug because of bad luck.
I’d managed to come up with a halfway decent excuse for the whole “Bangusok Yeopo” thing, but Armin Gray definitely knew it had been a hastily fabricated explanation.
‘What if I really get taken away by the Inquisitor?’
I shuddered.
I might be good at pretending to be demure, but I was terrible at lying.
And there was no way people with such a terrifying profession would simply accept some half-baked excuse.
The moment I was captured, I’d probably end up blurting out everything about my previous life and everything else.
That alone would be enough to prove I was a devil worshipper.
‘Am I worrying for nothing?’
Armin Gray’s face came to mind—the way he’d looked at me with an amused smile.
Would he really report me?
Just because I’d read a book?
Today was the first time I’d ever met Armin Gray.
Since I didn’t know what kind of person he was, there was no way I could predict what he’d do.
I had come to the ball for a clear reason, but I no longer had the slightest motivation to pursue it.
A prospective husband, my foot.
I shouldn’t have come here in the first place.
Even if it meant going without my allowance for a few months, I should’ve stayed home as usual, pretending to be sick.
All that escaped me were sighs, and all that filled me was regret.
“A-choo!”
I sniffled and rubbed my bare shoulders.
The autumn wind seeped coldly into my exposed shoulders because of the off-shoulder dress.
From the cheap son of the Jericho family to that handsome thug, today was the most cursed day Vivian Roha had ever experienced.
