Merran drank her coffee half-heartedly, clearly agitated. Claisey watched her, munching on a pretty checkered cookie.
“I didn’t know Aunt was that kind of person.”
Merran finally couldn’t hold it in and grumbled again.
“What kind of person?”
Claisey asked back with a smirk.
“The kind whose heart changes so easily.”
Claisey almost doubled over laughing.
The only reason she had acted interested in Dernic was to tease Merran. However, in reality, Claisey *was* the type whose heart changed easily, and that was entirely because of Merran.
Whenever Claisey showed interest in a man, wouldn’t Merran interfere? After going through that for years, Claisey had developed a talent for feeling sad for only a moment when rejected before bouncing back to normal.
But for Merran to say something like that—if Merran were her friend and not her niece, Claisey would have given her a proper piece of her mind.
Claisey responded indifferently.
“What does it matter? You aren’t interested in Sir Dernic anyway.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t answer when I asked if you liked him. That means you aren’t.”
“No. I never said I wasn’t interested. I just didn’t answer.”
“So, you *are* interested?”
Merran’s ears turned red as she scrambled for a response. Claisey leaned in closer, waiting.
However, before an answer could come, there was a knock at the door. Claisey and Merran both fell silent at the same time.
Soon, the door opened. The person who entered was Dernic.
“It hasn’t been ten minutes yet, has it?”
Dernic sat back down in his original seat as he spoke. He had promised to bring a gift, but his hands were empty.
Claisey checked her watch. It had been eleven minutes.
*What was he doing?*
It would be rude to press him, though. He might have just needed to use the restroom in a hurry. Besides, Claisey was too lazy to argue over a single minute, so she decided to let it slide.
However, as she lowered her gaze from the watch, she noticed Dernic staring straight at her. When their eyes met, he gave her a bashful smile, covering his mouth with his hand as if embarrassed.
*What’s wrong with him?*
The sight of him acting so shy was unsettling. It wasn’t like the man who usually grinned cheekily and called her “Miss Arms Dealer.”
Claisey looked at him strangely while sipping her coffee. Even until she finished her drink, he kept grinning at her.
“Did something happy happen outside?”
Feeling burdened, Claisey finally set down her coffee cup and asked.
“I heard some news that was both difficult and delightful,” Dernic admitted.
“What kind of news?” Claisey asked, bewildered. He said he was going to be gone for ten minutes. Did he get some work done?
Dernic leaned in and whispered.
“Are you curious? Do you want to hear it?”
Claisey nodded.
“Yes.”
“Shall I tell you?”
“Yes.”
But after teasing her curiosity to the fullest, Dernic spitefully backed off.
“I’d like to tell you, but I’m too shy to say it out loud.”
What was that? Claisey watched him, agape.
Dernic winked at Claisey and called the server to order more coffee for himself.
He really was a strange human being. Claisey shook her head. She couldn’t understand for the life of her what Merran liked about Dernic.
*His face? There’s not a single good thing about him other than his face. So, is it really just his face?*
Claisey looked toward Merran, doubting her niece’s taste.
But Merran wasn’t doing well, either. She was smiling, but there was a distinct tension in her lips. It was clear she was forcing the corners of her mouth up.
Claisey grasped the situation at once.
*She’s sulking because she’s been pushed out of the conversation.*
It was as she suspected. As soon as the conversation died down because Claisey had stopped talking to peek at Merran, Merran immediately spoke to Dernic as if she’d been waiting for that exact moment.
“Sir Dernic, you said you would show me the memento.”
Dernic stopped grinning unpleasantly at Claisey and looked at Merran.
“Oh, right. Daughter of Marie-noona, have you made up your mind?”
Merran shook her two empty hands cutely.
“Empty-handed? Didn’t you say you were bringing me something?”
Dernic naturally placed both of his hands gently over Merran’s empty hands.
“!”
Merran’s face turned into a bright red radish, as if it had exploded.
Claisey looked at Dernic in shock. *Is this guy a player?*
Merran was left opening and closing her mouth, unable to either pull her hands away or hold onto his.
Claisey chopped the air between their joined hands with the side of her palm to break them apart.
Once their hands were separated, Merran finally hid them under the table and protested.
“You’re a con artist. What kind of gift is this? Are you saying you’re my gift?”
“Do you like it?”
Dernic asked, pressing his folded hands to his cheek like a baby. He was a truly shameless man.
But Merran seemed to like it. She pouted, looked down at her coffee cup, and finally replied.
“I’ll send someone to invite you to our home later. We can check the memento then.”
“Really?”
Dernic’s face blossomed like a flower in an instant. He smiled broadly, placed a hand over his heart, and bowed elegantly toward Merran.
“Thank you, daughter of Marie-noona. You are as generous as your mother.”
* * *
Inside the carriage on the way home, Claisey asked Merran, “Are you really going to invite Dernic?”
“Yes.”
Merran took off her gloves and answered in a nonchalant tone.
“When?” Claisey asked again. She planned to interfere again when Dernic came to see the memento.
Did she sense that wicked plan? Merran, who had been fiddling with her gloves, suddenly lifted her head sharply and snapped, “On a day Aunt isn’t there.”
Claisey pointed to herself with a surprised expression.
“Me? Why?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
Merran dropped her gloves onto the seat next to her with a loud thud. Her expression was that of someone finally letting out the frustrations that had been building up.
Claisey held back her laughter and feigned ignorance.
“Of course I have to ask. Our Merran is a baby who can’t even be home alone, right? Shouldn’t I be by your side to take care of you?”
Whenever Claisey went out to have fun without Merran, Merran would tag along using that exact excuse. She was simply returning the favor.
Merran seemed to understand, as she crossed her arms and looked annoyed.
“Don’t tease me. It’s not funny at all.”
“I’m glad you realize that now. I didn’t find it funny when you did it to me, either.”
“What do you mean, when I did it? That’s not the same thing. You and I have different intentions.”
“Our Merran, if you keep acting like this, I might just have to stick to you twenty-four hours a day.”
As Claisey teased her with a smirk, Merran’s chest heaved as she tried to suppress her anger. She was breathing so rapidly that the sound of it was audible.
Claisey didn’t comfort her; she just hummed to herself, pretending to watch out the window.
When they arrived home, Merran, unable to take it anymore, was the first to speak.
“Aunt. I’m actually interested in Sir Dernic.”
Claisey quickly pulled down the carriage blind and looked at Merran.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious. Would I lie about something like this?”
“You’ve shown interest in every man I showed interest in. Falsely.”
“!”
“I’m asking if you’re interested in Sir Dernic for real this time, not just doing it out of spite.”
Unable to deny her colorful track record, Merran avoided her gaze and pouted. However, she answered in a sulky voice.
“I’m interested for real. I was interested even before I heard that you’d dined with Sir Dernic twice. It’s been that way since the first time I met him at the guard station.”
The carriage stopped.
“My ladies, we have arrived,” the coachman called out from outside.
Merran, who would normally have jumped out immediately, just sat still today. Since Merran was blocking the door, Claisey had to remain seated.
Merran hesitated for a moment.
“Aunt, I’m serious. I really like Sir Dernic. I hope you won’t interfere or get in my way like you did today.”
Claisey couldn’t answer. This time, it wasn’t to get revenge on Merran, but out of genuine concern as her guardian.
Dernic was too willful. He was self-centered, a habitual liar, and seemed a bit unhinged—but seeing him today, he also looked quite skilled at seduction.
Claisey wanted Merran to marry a good man and live far away. She didn’t want her to meet some strange man and suffer.
“Do you think Sir Dernic is a decent man?”
When Claisey asked, Merran shrugged.
“Who knows? But he’s the one I like most out of all the men I’ve met so far. He has clear principles. He isn’t swayed by my words and expresses his opinions clearly. I hate people who do everything I say and cater to my every whim. You never know what kind of scheme they might be hiding.”
As she said that, Merran’s expression turned subtly cold before relaxing again.
Claisey rested her chin on the window frame and looked at Merran gravely.
Merran smiled brightly and took Claisey’s hand.
“If Sir Dernic seems like a bad person, I can just stop seeing him. Either way, I have to meet him a few times to know if he’s a good person or not. So, Aunt, don’t interfere when I meet Sir Dernic like you did today.”
“We’ll see.”
“You have to promise! I’m going to invite Sir Dernic over on the days you go out.”
Merran crossed her arms, pretending to be sulky.
Claisey answered as if she had no other choice.
“Fine. Let’s coordinate our schedules. When you invite Sir Dernic, I’ll go out with my friends. In return, you must keep Anna with you at all times. How about that?”
* * *
After returning home, Merran sent a messenger to the restaurant where she had dined with Dernic, delivering a short note that read: “Please come to my house on December 7th at eleven in the morning.”
Claisey sent a different messenger to Kishin at the guard station.
Since Merran and Dernic were scheduled to meet on December 7th, she planned to meet Kishin that day. Surely, neither Merran nor Dernic would be able to bother her then!
Claisey was half-convinced that Kishin would accept her invitation.
The second date hadn’t felt like one at all because Dernic had interfered. Besides, Claisey felt that Kishin had begun to take a liking to her that day.
However, the reply the messenger brought back three hours later was completely different from what Claisey had expected:
-Lady Claisey Kalasi is a good person, but we are not a match. I decline your invitation to date. Please do not send anyone again, as it puts me in a difficult position.