CH 50

“I must say, I’m pretty shy. It took a lot of courage to invite you to Nine.”

“…”

“Just by looking at my courage, can’t you respond to the invitation? I simply want to get to know you, Young master.”

Shy? It couldn’t be more laughable.

Although I could sense that rejecting him would make me seem like a bad person, I didn’t care. It was better than getting involved with Club Nine.

I persisted in refusing until the end. However…

“I also want to get to know Young master.”

My words were cut off by the appearance of Jed Bloche.

The fact that he wanted to get to know me came from Jed’s mouth. 

Jed Bloche, who I almost kissed in a dream after only meeting him once!

“Come to Nine. Young master of Flotina .”

I felt my body stiffen. I was tense, feeling a jerk, jerk. Any reaction would have seemed strange.

“Well, um…”

While it was easy to refuse Diego, it was difficult to refuse Jed. My mind was filled with conflicting thoughts.

Jed Bloche knew about my existence? No, more importantly, he wants to get to know me?

Why, why is that?

Trembling followed the fluttering feeling.

He knew about my existence. It would have been a sight that everyone knew I had fallen for him.

But my feelings for him and my desire not to get involved with Nine were separate.

I finally regained my senses and calmly opened my mouth.

“I’m sorry, but I-“

“It’s not just empty words. I really want to get to know you.”

So please don’t refuse.

“…”

Jed Bloche drove the wedge in, making it impossible for me to refuse any longer.

Because of that, my mind went blank, and I ended up accepting it.

“…Alright. If you invite me, I will attend.”

“That’s how it should be, young master. I would have been disappointed otherwise.”

Diego smirked as if he had expected it.

“I’ll have the carriage sent to Flotina on the weekend. Take the carriage and come. Oh, by the way, since you can’t have escorts or attendants in Nine, come alone.”

I hoped that his words about not being able to have escorts or attendants in Nine didn’t sound like he was going to do something frivolous.

“Well, see you on the weekend.”

After turning his back to me, Diego returned to where he was, and Jed followed, leaving his seat.

I let out a deep sigh and covered my face with my palm.

To go to Nine… It’s definitely crazy. Even if Jed didn’t say that me, I could have refused…

Does Zed really want to get to know me?

If so, is it okay to get closer…?

‘But… maybe it’s okay.’

It seemed that Floa heard my self-talk and responded.

“It will be fine if you go and come back. Besides, since the master is busy, he won’t pay much attention to May, and it’s not a bad thing to enter society early.”

Floa could say that because he didn’t know what Nine was like.

“I see.”

In fact, I didn’t pay any attention to Persis at all. Instead, I was concerned about Stella.

Is this okay?

It bothered me that I was going to Nine while having feelings, even if I didn’t have any feelings for Jed. I was worried that Stella might feel uncomfortable.

On top of everything, I have practically stolen the person who would have become Stella’s father. And now even the male lead character… 

What should I do now?

***

That night, Nazret… Stella was receiving a manicure from her maid, Anne. While doing her nails, Anne mentioned the numerous love letters Stella had received to keep her from being bored.

“Miss, another love letter arrived today.”

“Again? Are there so many nobles in the world?”

“It’s not that there are many nobles, but rather there are many people who admire you.”

“That’s how it is.”

“But Miss, even though the courtship never ends, don’t you have anyone you like?”

Stella answered without hesitation.

“No, I don’t.”

“What about Lord Fenzo who sent a letter today?”

“Fenzo? Fenzo also courted me?”

“You discarded the letter without reading it again, didn’t you? The letter that arrived today was from Lord Clovin Fenzo.”

Stella wrinkled her face as if she had seen something dirty.

“What… that’s disgusting.”

“Disgusting…? What does that mean?”

Anne asked because she didn’t know, but Stella couldn’t hear her as she was captivated by the fact that Clovin had sent her a love letter.

“Why would Fenzo from Fenzo House send me a letter? It feels dirty.”

“Well…?”

Stella looked genuinely disgusted as she spoke.

“Fenzo ? Fenzo courted you?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t like Lord Fenzo?”

“I find him extremely disgusting.”

“‘Extremely disgusting’? Does that mean you don’t like him?”

Unable to understand, Anne asked again, but Stella grimaced in response.

“Anne… You think Clovin is handsome compared to me? Am I an octopus compared to him?”

“Well, no… Of course, you’re not as handsome as Miss… It’s just that someone with looks like yours is not common. Since it’s not common, Lord Fenzo is considered handsome.”

“You know, Anne. I-!”

She wanted to tell Anne that according to the original, she would marry a man far more wonderful than Clovin. However, knowing that it would only cause a headache, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Ugh, frustrating.”

“Why?”

Stella looked at the naive Anne.

“…He’s a reliable man. So, don’t bring up Fenzo in front of me.”

“I understand… Please don’t get angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

Though she said she wasn’t angry, she was indeed upset. And Stella had a reason to be angry.

Lord Fenzo Bacchus had a son and a daughter.

The eldest son was Clovin Fenzo, the one who sent Stella love letters. He was a member of Nine, known for having the worst reputation among the members.

‘There is usually a reason behind a bad reputation.’

And the daughter…

‘The crazy woman who killed May for stress relief in the original.’

“When a letter arrives from Fenzo House, don’t pass it on to me. Just burn it immediately.”

“Really… Burn it too?”

“Yes, burn it for sure.”

Anne couldn’t understand why Stella was acting like this, but it was an order, so she didn’t ask and simply replied, “I understand.”

“Miss, your nails are done.”

“Oh, they’re beautiful.”

Stella looked at her neatly manicured red nails and felt satisfied.

“They still need more time to completely dry, so be careful.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Anne left the room, Stella hummed a tune and sat in front of the dressing table. She admired her pretty face reflected in the mirror.

‘I’m truly something. The original setting says that I’m supposed to be lovely, but am I not too beautiful?’

Hmm… Stella cleared her throat and murmured to herself.

“Mirror, mirror, who is the fairest of them all?”

Just as she was about to say, “It’s me, of course,” there was a knock on the door, and the butler’s voice was heard.

“Miss, Lord Flotina has arrived.”

“Did May come?”

May at this hour?

It was 9 p.m., a late hour to visit even if they were friends.

“What’s going on?”

Stella quickly prepared to meet May.

***

Sitting quietly and waiting for Stella, the parlor door opened, and Stella entered. As soon as the door closed, Stella opened her mouth.

“What’s going on? You’ve never come at night before.”

“I came because I have something to tell you. I’m sorry for coming suddenly.”

“Something to tell me?”

“Today… I met the Second Prince at Iris’s birthday party.”

“The Second Prince? That scoundrel?”

“Yeah. He told me to come to Nine this weekend.”

“What? That crazy person?”

Stella, too, had read the original and knew who the Second Prince was. She seemed excited at the fact that I had to meet the prince.

I asked calmly, hiding my emotions.

“Well… since Jed Bloche is also coming to Nine, should I step aside?”

“Step aside? Suddenly?”

“I’ll create an opportunity for the two of you to meet.”

“Why would you do that?”

Stella asked why I would go through all that trouble, but I replied that it was only natural.

“Well, you and Jed Bloche are the original female lead and male lead, after all.”

There was no trace of personal feelings in my voice. It was as if I was reciting lines from a role I played in a play. There was no indication of any personal emotions.

“Besides, you’ll eventually fall in love with each other. What’s the point of meeting late? It’s better to meet as soon as possible.”

I spat out insincere words.

“And because of the changes I made in the plot, you might not be able to meet.”

Stella looked puzzled by my words, as if wondering why I would care so much about someone else’s love.

“…”

She glanced at me for a moment and then suddenly seemed to realize something.

“Wait, you don’t…?”

“…”

“Do you… by any chance, like Jed Bloche?”

“Uh…?”

I was extremely flustered and my eyes trembled.

My plan was to neatly put away my affection for Jed by seeing Stella and Jed fall in love.

I had experienced unrequited love multiple times in my previous life. And what I realized was that the most effective way to put away my feelings was to see the person I liked fall in love with someone else.

So, since I was going to Nine anyway, I tried to arrange a meeting between Jed and Stella…

How did she catch on to it?

I didn’t show any signs of liking Jed, and I even said I would step aside. How did Stella realize it?

“…No.”

“Are you sure it’s not?”

She stared into my eyes, and it seemed like she was already convinced of my feelings. Because of that, the words “I’m really not” got stuck in my throat.