Chapter 30: At The Center of Every Misunderstanding Is Always This Man.
“No.”
Classie gave a curt reply like a knife and brushed past him. Her answer was so swift and breezy that Dernick stood dazed for a moment, unable to react.
He had never been rejected this quickly before. A beat later, he realized he had been turned down again. This was already the second time he’d been rejected by the same woman.
Dernick stepped beside Classie, matching her pace as he protested.
“Why this time?”
“……”
“Last time, you said you were rejecting me for two reasons. But you didn’t tell me what they were. Anyway, I figured out one of them. Back then, Miss Weapons Dealer knew nothing about my identity. Nothing about who I was or whether I could be trusted. That’s why you turned me down. Isn’t that right? I’m sure I’m right.”
He was. Exactly right. But Classie didn’t respond.
Still, Dernick kept talking to himself.
“But now you know, too. That I’m not suspicious, and that my identity is solid. As solid as your sense of principle, Lady Classie. So why? Why am I being rejected again?”
Classie was so flustered, she couldn’t say a word. But Dernick made it clear he wouldn’t give up without an answer.
Classie continued walking down the corridor, ignoring him no matter how much he babbled.
‘If I just keep going, maybe he’ll give up eventually.’
But no such luck. As she kept walking, couples secretly enjoying their rendezvous began to appear in the once-empty corridor. The problem was that they recognized Dernick.
Seeing Dernick tailing a woman, they whispered and giggled among themselves. Classie, now the center of attention, felt her face flush red.
In the end, Classie turned around and walked back the way she had come. Dernick kept following her, chattering non-stop.
Once again, the crowd thinned. Classie, now driven to the edge by the noise, couldn’t hold back anymore and shouted.
“You really are a chatterbox!”
“Yes. I talk to myself as well as you stay silent. So please tell me. Even if I’m getting rejected, I deserve to know why.”
Merran likes you! Classie held back the scream that had surged to the tip of her throat. Instead, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned to face Dernick.
To her surprise, Dernick matched her steps perfectly and stopped at the exact same time, facing her directly. To an outsider, it would’ve looked like the two had practiced dancing together for ages.
Classie realized how extraordinary his movements were and sighed. Come to think of it, this chatty weirdo had silently climbed onto the driver’s seat of a moving carriage the first time they met.
She should have been wary of him from the start. Just because of his sleepy-looking eyes and talkative mouth, she had underestimated him.
Classie started to get a headache.
‘What do I do now?’
Merran was the eldest daughter and heir of a marquess, and the only child of Dernick’s benefactor. If the Archduke and Archduchess had a soft spot for their only son and Merran got lucky, the two could very well end up together.
So Classie had to reject Dernick without being so cold that she’d make an enemy out of him. He could become family in the future.
Besides, when she was back home, Classie had heard rumors that “for some reason, the emperor, known for his cruel disposition, favored the Archduke’s only son more than his own child.”
Finally, Classie found a suitable excuse and opened her mouth.
“You’re Sir Kishin’s friend. That’s why I can’t.”
Dernick asked, puzzled.
“What does that have to do with anything? You were rejected by Kishin, weren’t you?”
“I was.”
“It’s not like you two were together long. Things fell apart before you even became lovers. So why should that matter?”
Classie felt her heart sink.
‘If Dernick’s saying that, then Sir Kishin really must’ve cut all feelings for me.’
Thanks to that, her face naturally took on a sorrowful expression. Classie lowered her gaze and murmured sadly.
“But I still love Sir Kishin.”
“……”
“How can I enter a contract marriage with his friend when I still love him? Don’t you think that’s wrong?”
This time, it worked. Dernick frowned and asked,
“But you didn’t say that to Kishin. You told him you’d moved on.”
Classie quickly backpedaled.
“I only said that out of pride. I didn’t want to seem pathetic in front of the man who dumped me. If you hadn’t proposed a contract marriage, I wouldn’t have told anyone this.”
Dernick’s expression turned rather disinterested. It seemed that as soon as Classie didn’t see him as a playboy like herself, his interest sharply dropped.
‘What a taste she has.’
Though Classie clicked her tongue inwardly, she did think that maybe Merran and Dernick would actually suit each other quite well.
Regardless of her true intentions, hadn’t Merran lived like a flirt just to stop Classie’s marriage? If the two got together, they’d be the ultimate playboy couple of the century.
In any case, the matter seemed to have come to a close. Judging by Dernick’s expression, he wasn’t likely to keep following her around proposing a contractual marriage.
Relieved, Classie turned to leave—only to find Kishin standing a little way off! And he had the look of someone who had heard everything she had just said.
Though his face remained cold, his eyes were clearly wavering.
“Oh no!”
Startled, Classie turned halfway around again. She had just spun in place and ended up doing a full turn on the spot, all by herself.
“What are you doing?”
Dernick, watching this scene, asked curiously. Classie pointed behind her with her eyes. Following her gaze, Dernick soon spotted Kishin.
“Oh, you. When did you get here?”
Classie desperately wanted to flee the scene. But Kishin answered as he walked right up behind her.
“A while ago.”
And now, it had become a three-way confrontation. Classie simultaneously felt the blood drain from and rush to her face.
Standing between Classie and Dernick, Kishin looked back and forth at the two.
At first, Dernick seemed annoyed, but then as if he found the situation amusing, he covered his mouth with his hand and smirked. Since he hadn’t proposed to Classie out of love, he seemed more entertained than jealous.
Closing her eyes tightly, Classie asked:
“Sir Kishin. How much did you hear?”
“From the part where Dernick is my friend.”
Just great, he heard everything important! Classie felt like crying. Peeking her eyes open, she saw the two men watching her with very different expressions.
She did like Sir Kishin, that much was true. But she hadn’t liked him so much that she was still clinging to him behind his back! Classie felt a little wronged.
At least, Kishin wasn’t mocking her. On the contrary, he seemed unexpectedly serious.
Seeing this, Classie mustered up some courage and straightened her neck just a little. Kishin then asked:
“Do you love me?”
‘Wow, he really went straight for it!’
Classie’s neck shrank back again. Dernick poked his stiff friend in the side.
“Why are you asking that so bluntly?”
Kishin rephrased the question:
“If you love me, then why did you tell Lady Merran that you liked Dernick?”
“!”
Classie’s face flushed red, and she twisted her fingers before quickly lifting her head.
“When did you hear that?”
Dernick explained,
“Remember that time when you, me, and Lady Mary’s daughter had a meal together? I said I’d stepped out briefly to get a gift, remember? I’d actually gone to get this friend of mine. But when we came back, you were talking to your niece, saying you liked me more than him. Ring a bell?”
“!”
Classie gaped, looking back and forth between Dernick and Kishin, then her mind finally cleared.
That’s right. After that day, both men’s attitudes had changed. Dernick had suddenly become friendly, and Kishin had turned cold again.
Classie had never understood why Kishin acted like the one who was dumped when he had been the one to cut things off. Now it was clear—he must’ve misunderstood, thinking Classie was two-timing.
Utterly speechless, Classie finally said:
“Merran doesn’t like Sir Kishin. So I said that to tease her.”
Dernick tilted his head and asked:
“I don’t quite get it. How is that teasing? If Merran dislikes Kishin, then shouldn’t saying you like him more actually be teasing her?”
Classie hesitated. Despite being a talkative liar, Dernick was surprisingly clever.
But someone even smarter than Dernick was Kishin. Often acting as an investigator in his role as a guard, Kishin instantly picked up on the part of the story Classie had omitted.
That Merran liked Dernick.
When Merran’s feelings were added to the excuse Classie had just given, everything suddenly made perfect sense.
Merran liked Dernick and disliked Kishin. So, to tease Merran, Classie said she felt the same.
However, Kishin didn’t bother bringing up the detail Classie had tried to hide. He didn’t want to put her in an uncomfortable position, and he had no interest whatsoever in Merran.
Kishin looked at Classie’s flushed cheeks and her forehead, which seemed even smoother under the reflected light. The knot in his chest that twisted every time Dernick mentioned her seemed to loosen at once.
Kishin thought the weather was warm today. Odd, considering the snow was falling in thick flurries. He reached out his hand to Classie and asked,
“May I speak with you alone for a moment?”
* * *
T/rant: Kishin thought the weather was warm today.
HE WAS BLUSHING HERE OMG MY POOKIE
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