SDA 03

Chapter: 03

Rian’s striking looks and exceptional physique.

And his black hair and red eyes.

Just from his appearance alone, he was definitely not a game NPC.

“Even from 500 meters away, doing a handstand, you could tell he’s one of the main male leads.”

But the strange thing was, whether it was Rian’s looks or his name… I couldn’t remember seeing him anywhere.

“I know most million-seller romance fantasy novels, but I’ve never heard of a male lead named Rian de Vichel.”

His name wasn’t so common that I would forget it easily…

Or maybe I had just read too many novels and forgot him?

That could be it.

“Rian isn’t the type I like anyway.”

My taste was firm.

“Always a kind male lead!”

That’s why I had made Yohan, who was both kind and considerate and also handsome, my favorite.

Because of that, the male leads I disliked were obvious.

#CunningMaleLead, #DirtyTalk, #BadBoy, #RegretfulMaleLead…

I filtered out all of these keywords like a picky eater.

“Still, if he were a male lead from a million-seller romance fantasy, I should’ve known him.”

I glanced up at Rian.

No matter how much I studied that butter-faced expression, the mystery showed no sign of solving itself.

After wrestling with Rian for quite a while, I eventually gave up.

“Wow, what kind of human is like a Dol hareubang statue?”

If we kept up this strength contest, I felt I’d completely drain my stamina.

“Ha…”

Finally resigned, I began walking.

Rian followed closely like a puppy.

“So, the center director decided to take on two jobs? Truly diligent as expected.”

I should emphasize again: I dislike people like Chase Orabni.

It was currently 1 p.m.

I was sitting at an outdoor table of the tea salon with Rian.

Even though it was early summer, I had wrapped a scarf around my head.

It was a sort of disguise.

“I can’t have anyone noticing me.”

I wasn’t particularly close to Violet, but I had to be careful because she might recognize my face.

Right now, Violet was inside the salon having tea with her friends.

“…By the way!”

“Oh my…”

Through the thin glass, I could faintly hear their laughter.

I glanced at Violet and scribbled down some notes.

[+ Violet is a regular customer of <Aisa Salon>. According to the salon owner, she visits every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Her favorite tea is ‘Darjeeling’.

-> Not suitable as our first meeting spot… She comes with friends, so it’s not appropriate.

• Violet’s friends: Dalia Gerhenstone, Flora Mayen]

As I diligently took notes, I felt an intense gaze.

“Huh…?”

I tilted my head slightly and saw Rian’s sharp nose just in front of me.

I quickly pulled my face back.

“W-What is it?”

When did he get this close?

“I was sitting right across from you just a moment ago.”

Rian rested his chin on his hand and wiggled his feet under the table.

“I came to see the center director wearing glasses for the first time.”

As he said, I was wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses along with the scarf.

I answered reluctantly.

“You could’ve just looked from your seat.”

“My eyesight isn’t good. I like seeing things up close.”

“….”

“Good things should be seen big and clearly, don’t you know?”

Poor eyesight? What nonsense.

“I saw you three days ago sitting on the sofa, reading the addresses on the packages piled by the door.”

That’s practically Mongolian-level vision.

Meanwhile, Rian’s gaze fixed on my notes.

He examined what I had written and spoke.

“Hey, center director. You dislike Miss Violet?”

My eyes widened involuntarily.

He’d suddenly hit the mark.

“You dislike Violet?”

Of course I did.

She had the audacity to steal my favorite person’s heart; how could I like her?

“And she’s so unbearably pretty too…”

The strange thing was how Rian had figured this out.

“All I did was observe Violet with a blank expression.”

I pretended to be nonchalant.

“No? Not at all. Why?”

“The center director’s handwriting is usually neat and straight. But today, it looks squashed, like you’re forcing yourself to write even though you don’t want to.”

“….”

“Especially the V and I letters. See how they don’t stand upright and slant to the left? That’s proof you let emotions affect your writing while taking notes.”

“….”

“In other words, the center director is doing something they don’t want to do.”

Rian spat it out like a machine gun.

“How do you know so much about my handwriting…?”

You’ve only been here for a month, just sitting at your desk.

Yet… Rian wasn’t wrong.

“I dislike Violet.”

And having to follow her around to investigate made this task even more unpleasant.

But this was Yohan’s request, and money was involved, so I was doing it grudgingly.

“But I can’t just admit that to him directly.”

I turned the conversation calmly.

“Stop talking nonsense and stay quiet. You don’t help with work, yet talk too much.”

“What are you saying, center director? I’m cooperating enough.”

“Cooperating? All you did was come here and sip tea!”

Rian blinked twice when I snapped at him.

Then he leaned back with a lazy smile, resting his cheek on the back of his hand.

“Of course I did more.”

“What did you do?”

“I resisted the urge to mess around and waited patiently with the center director in this nice weather.”

“…?”

His black head leaned closer to me.

“My, my… such thick hair. No chance of baldness later, huh.”

I gently pushed Rian’s head away.

“Move.”

“You’re not going to praise me?”

“What am I supposed to praise? There’s nothing to praise.”

“I’m not good at waiting normally. But I’m doing it for you, center director.”

“What…”

Ding.

At that moment, the salon door’s bell rang.

Both Rian and I turned our gazes simultaneously.

“…Violet.”

Rian grabbed the back of my head and pressed it onto the table.

“Enough talking now.”

“Yes, yes.”

Rian rested his head on the table, grinning.

I faintly heard Violet and her friends talking.

“…By the way, Violet, you’ve decided on the dress for the ball, right?”

“Yes, I’m going to try it on today.”

Flora and Dalia raised their shoulders excitedly.

“Oh my, a dress from Valenri Atelier! Can’t wait!”

“You’ll surely win His Highness’s heart. I guarantee it.”

“At this ball, Violet, you will definitely steal His Highness’s heart!”

“Oh, you girls…”

I flinched as I overheard them.

“…Huh?”

Did I just hear that correctly?

At that moment, Rian started murmuring beside me.

“Center director, is your dream to become a servant in the future? Even if you’re curious about Miss Violet, at this rate you’ll end up greeting her at the door yourself.”

Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me toward him.

The chair wobbled, and my shifted weight returned to balance.

“Oh… I almost fell.”

I hadn’t even noticed the chair tipping because I was focused on Violet.

“Almost performed a body gag and got caught by Violet.”

I was about to thank Rian when a thought struck me.

“‘You’ll surely win His Highness’s heart’—did I just hear that correctly?”

I urgently asked Rian.

“Did you hear what they just said, Rian?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me. What did they say?”

But Rian didn’t answer immediately.

He stared at me for a moment, then spoke slowly.

“I heard it, but I’m not going to tell you.”

“Huh? Why?”

When I frowned, the corners of his mouth lifted.

He leaned forward and whispered to me.

“You told me not to talk.”