Chapter 49

At the man’s sudden wink, Elena was taken aback for a moment.

But Leoter Hasnell was handsome, so even a wink was worth looking at.

“Ah, hello. I’m Elena Lespel.”

Elena calmly greeted back.

‘Leoter Hasnell.’

Elena had seen the name in the original.

He was a close friend of Hayes, who often gave him dating advice, and was quite popular with the ladies in the Empire because of his remarkable looks.

‘Moreover, similar to Hayes, he became a Marquis at a very young age.’

It was impossible not to be popular.

‘He is not a casanova like the second prince, but he is proud of himself for providing dating advice to his friend.’

While Elena was still recalling the original.

Leoter was still looking at her.

A little while ago, Elena wasn’t aware of how fast his heart was beating.

****

Elena and Jane, Hayes and Leoter.

After a brief chat in the parlor, the four began eating at the dinner table arranged by Count Oswald.

The chef of the Oswald family demonstrated his outstanding cooking skills as he served the special guests.

He dismantled the pig on the spot and baked it, and the vegetables were also shaped and trimmed in a sightly manner.

Seeing this, Elena suddenly remembered her past life.

‘This is just like a barbeque party.’

She smiled softly and put the meat and vegetables in her mouth.

Still, her eyes were on Jane and Hayes.

“Jane, here.”

Hayes handed the meat to Jane with his lips close to her ear.

“Hey, we are not alone.”

Jane was very shy, and gently pushed Hayes’ hand away.

“What do you mean? Everyone will understand.”

But as Hayes continued to push, Jane eventually opened her mouth.

Elena smiled warmly as she saw the two of them flirting.

‘They suit each other well.’

Jane, who had always cried in the original, was smiling brightly. Just looking at it made Elena happy.

‘Is this how it feels to be happy for my sister?’

Around the time Elena was staring at Jane and Hayes with twinkling eyes.

Leoter’s gaze turned to Elena.

As usual, he should have been upset over Hayes’s blatant show of affection, but today was different.

His heart was beating happily.

‘Good job following Hayes.’

Hearing that Hayes’ lover’s friend was a wizard, he accompanied him because she was at Count Oswald’s house.

Hayes disagreed at first, but Leoter was persistent.

Until finally, he met Elena Lespel, the wizard, who was also a fantastic woman.

Not only was she gorgeous, but she was not lacking – compared to other nobles. She was overflowing with dignity and has a gentle voice.

Leoter Hasnell fell in love with Elena at first sight.

To him, falling in love with someone was actually absurd.

The women who would often approach him would declare that they were in love with him, but it was a claim that did not resonate with him.

Did it make sense to pour out your love just because it was love at first sight?

But the moment he saw Elena, Leoter actually fell in love at first sight.

Thump, thump.

His heart kept beating hard.

Occasionally, he felt his hands become clammy, and his face flushed.

Even his thoughts were in a jumble and didn’t know what to say.

Like a boy who experienced his first puppy love, Leoter trembled at Elena’s side.

Then he plucked up the courage and called her.

“Lady Elena.”

Oops.

The voice was slightly cracked.

Leoter was dumbfounded

However, it seemed that Elena had not noticed it, and looked at him with a kind face.

“Yes, Marquis Hasnell.”

While he was bewildered by his voice, when he heard Elena’s voice, it was like he was hearing the voice of an angel.

But how could she use honorifics to him?

Yet she would call his friend, Hayes.

Leoter said, clearing his throat.

“You can call Hayes by his name comfortably. What about me?”

“Ah. Are you okay with ‘Leoter’ though?”

“Yes. That one is better.”

Leoter’s lips trembled slightly as he uttered the word “better.”

Elena nodded without noticing.

“Very well, Leoter.”

Leoter’s lips curved up to his ears like Hayes.

Leoter finally understood Hayes, who struggled after falling in love with Jane.

“Then why did you call me?”

Elena asked, putting the roasted cherry tomatoes into her mouth.

Leoter, who was just looking at her, was startled and became nervous.

“Ah, that’s…”

He forgot what he was about to say a while ago.

Just because Elena called out his name.

Then he said nervously, having a hard time remembering.

“I heard that Lady Elena is a wizard. That’s great.”

“Ah. Haha, is that so?”

Elena just laughed.

After entering the Magic Tower.

Most of the people she had met a few times have usually reacted like this.

A great wizard.

As they said, it was true that she was great, so she wasn’t very impressed.

Rather, she got tired of hearing it too often.

“Thank you.”

Elena, nevertheless, answered kindly and continued eating.

Her only concern was the flirting session between Jane and Hayes.

Leoter wasn’t blind either. He knew that she wasn’t interested in him.

The more it went on, the more childish it got.

But somehow, he just wanted Elena to look at him once more.

But she hasn’t turned her attention to him again.

Having met numerous women, it was a rare sight that Leoter could not believe.

“Lady Elena.”

After pondering for several minutes, Leoter called her again with difficulty.

“Yes?”

After taking a sip of wine, Elena turned to look at him.

The scent of flowers followed the motion of her hair.

Thump, thump.

Leoter was nervous and did not know what to do.

As the tension grew, he suddenly spat out a question without realizing what it was.

“By any chance, are you dating someone?”

At Leoter’s question, Elena’s eyes widened.

‘I thought he was drunk because he was strangely looking at my face….’

When seen from Elena’s perspective.

Up until now, Leoter was just a drunk person.

She recalled his flushed cheeks, slightly rough breathing, and sometimes even stuttering words.

But a while ago, Leoter’s remarks were different.

‘He is interested in me.’

In fact, Elena was pretty dull in this area.

After she came into this world, many people were interested in her.

However, since she mostly kept to herself in her laboratory in the Magic Tower and was focused on her experiments, very few people would come and talk to Elena.

Some of the wizards in the tower had a crush on her, but they would eventually give up after witnessing Elena’s kindness to everyone.

Moreover, she was only there with research in her head.

Thus, she was not aware of the other person’s feelings. Unless they confessed to her directly.

However, the fact that she noticed Leoter’s heart meant that Leoter’s actions were quite obvious.

Even Hayes, who was busy flirting with Jane, quickly felt that something was odd.

Eventually, the attention at the dinner party which was focused on Jane and Hayes was now on Elena and Leoter.

The pair didn’t even notice.

Elena looked at Leoter, whose fingertips were trembling, and said cautiously.

“Yes.”

“… Yes?”

Leoter was shocked by her answer.

It was natural. There must have been a lot of people – other than him – who have a crush on such a beautiful person.

When he heard her answer, he felt like his heart was sinking.

Elena smiled awkwardly at Leoter and continued.

“Sorry.”

Even though she and Lexion were only lovers for three months.

It was still true that she has a lover right now.

In response to Elena’s answer, Leoter was silent for a moment.

Rather, after being rejected by her, the tense situation finally eased.

He felt that his mind became clearer, and he tried to return to his usual self.

“No. You don’t have to apologize to me. It’s just a little sad. The fact that I was late.”

Leoter smiled bitterly.

But he didn’t give up.

“But you’re not engaged yet, are you?”

Leoter asked with the slightest hope in his voice.

“Ah yes. Well….”

Elena answered honestly.

Lexion did push her to sign an engagement contract, but she thought they were just playing house.

In addition, there was a possibility that the relationship between the two would end after three months.

So Elena answered honestly.

“That’s nice. I guess I still have a chance.”

Leoter did not continue to speak, but his intentions were clearly conveyed to Elena.

She smiled awkwardly, feeling strange in her heart.

****

The uncomfortable feeling Elena felt did not go away easily even until the next day.

After dinner, Hayes and Leoter left. Elena chatted with Jane, then they went to go to sleep, and woke up the following day.

Elena had a light breakfast with Jane and then washed up.

She then decided to change clothes.

‘Let’s not act embarrassed. It’s not like I’m having an affair.’

And she properly rejected Leoter.

‘Besides, it’s true that we’re not engaged.’

However, there was still a bit of anguish in her heart.

Even more so when she thought of Lexion, who would always smile whenever he looked at her.

“Hah…”

Eventually, she sighed.

‘Why am I behaving like this when I haven’t committed any crimes?’

Elena slammed to the bed.

That was then.

“Duke Halos is here!”