Like Damon said, from a general standpoint, he fit the bill for a good potential husband. So I casually nodded my head to acknowledge that part. At that, Damon’s face relaxed slightly.

“Yes, since you understand now…”

“Damon Salvatore.”

Right then, someone called Damon Salvatore’s name behind him.

“What is this unsightly behavior from a high and noble alchemist?”

A unique voice with a tone that almost seemed like a song tickled my ears. The gazes that were focused on Damon moved in the direction of the voice.

It was only then that they noticed the man standing by the door. The man was just as handsome as Damon Salvatore. His red hair, which was close to the color of wine, was the first thing that caught my eye. His amethyst-like eyes glimmered under the sun, making them seem like actual jewels. The moment I saw him, I felt my eyes widening.

“Genos Sheldon.”

A cold voice rang out from Damon Salvatore who was in front of me. Once I heard the name he said, I was certain that the man standing by the door was my favorite character in the novel.

*sfx for heavy footstep*

The man called by Damon Salvatore took a step forward. And the man’s presence suddenly exploded, despite the fact that people didn’t even realize he was standing there until a little while ago.

“Damon Salvatore, it’s not like you’re a thoughtless child.”

The corner of his lips curled up like he was smiling and the lines on his face softened his impression but a closer look showed that his eyes were quite sharp.

“Haven’t you passed the age where you resolve everything by pestering people?”

His frivolous tone was gone so the feeling he gave was completely different, but this voice definitely belonged to Snow. I didn’t know why he didn’t come in his usual disguise but seeing him like this…

Like I thought, he was the man who gave me flowers at the festival last time.

At Genos’ words, Damon gave a sneering laughter like this was ridiculous. And he soon spoke chillingly.

“Genos Sheldon, look at you appearing at just the right time. I guess you were eavesdropping in secret like some rat? No, instead of eavesdropping, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say you were peeping?”

A sharp smile arose on Damon’s face.

“Your abilities are quite convenient, aren’t they? You can change the future in your favor as much as you like.”

Instantly, there seemed to be an underlying current rippling between the two of them.

What is this situation?

I alternated glances between these two men who appeared all of a sudden and began to confront each other.

I knew that even in the original novel, the relationship between these two wasn’t very good but seeing in first-hand, they were really more like enemies.

“I can tell what you’re imagining in that narrow-minded head of yours, but I was just passing by and happened to see your ridiculous face.”

Genos smirked like he’d just heard something that couldn’t even be called laughable.

“You could be more respectful if you’re trying to court someone instead of forcing your feelings on them. And if they say they’re not interested, a gentleman should know to take a clean step back instead of getting all clingy.”

“What? Clingy? Who is…”

“But what a sight…do you still think you’re a seven year old kid? They call it a noble’s dignity, but I keep looking and I can’t see it anywhere.”

As expected of my favorite character, his smiling face made his opponent turn blue.

“You bastard, you only know how to talk.”Damon’s gaze grew even more ugly.

Although it was quite exciting to watch the male protagonists interact for the first time…

“I’m sorry, dear customers but…”

I interrupted the two who were bickering with each other.

“If you have more to talk about, I would appreciate it if you stepped outside. You are obstructing business operations.”

And just like when I refused Damon’s bouquet, the people around were frightened. But when I looked at Gilbert who was drenched in cold sweat by my side, I couldn’t help but step in.

The two nobles were emitting such fierce auras, it almost seemed like they were going to start fighting in the coffeehouse. And thanks to that, Mr. Gilbert had shriveled by the wall and he looked ready to faint.

“Oh right, good timing. Look here.”

Right then, Damon’s eyes shone as if he had forgotten about my existence until just now.

“I don’t know what sweet-talk Genos Sheldon usually uses to seduce you, but this bastard is a liar so don’t be deceived.”

“Wait, what do you mean seduce…”

Genos’ face crumpled at the sudden accusation.

“All it is, is that you look like the person this bastard killed before…mph!”[1]

But at that point, Damon couldn’t continue speaking. Because Genos’ hand practically moved at the speed of light and blocked Damon’s mouth.

“M-Mph!”

“Damon Salvatore, you always have too much nonsense to say.”

A chilling smile bloomed on Genos’ face. Damon struggled to get out of his grip, but it seemed impossible. Soon, Genos looked at me and Mr. Gilbert then he gave an amiable smile, much different from before.

“I’ll take this guy with me. I’m sorry for the inconvenience my bad influence has caused you.”[2]

“Bad influence, my foot…! Let go of me, right now. This prick…!”

Genos picked Damon like that and headed to the door. Again, Damon grit his teeth and tried to shake Genos off but sadly, physical strength wasn’t his strong point.

Unlike when he first came here, Damon was dragged out by Genos with zero elegance whatsoever. After a while, I heard the carriage moving outside.

“Mr. Gilbert, maybe you should go wash your face.”

“R-Right. I should.”

A while later, after washing his face like I suggested, Gilbert took the salt in the kitchen and began to spray it in front of the door.[3]Somehow, I wondered whether his aristocrat phobia was getting worse.

I thought of the two men I had seen earlier. But Damon Salvatore…did he think Genos Sheldon and I has some kind of relationship? He looked like he was seriously misunderstanding something.

But since the two of them left together, I figured I’d leave the explaining to the other guy.

After a while, the crows began to get attracted to the salt Mr. Gilbert sprayed in front of the store because it was sparkling under the sunlight. So I eventually had to clean the front of the door.

* * *

That night, I told Lakis what happened in the day.

“So it was really hectic day.”

“There’s a lot of…strange people that come to your coffeehouse.”Somehow, the voice coming from behind me was a bit muddled. I reflexively turned around to look at Lakis. But his hand held my head lightly so I couldn’t see his face. Following that, his fingers which had stopped moving for a bit began to comb through my hair again.

My eyes were half-open as I replied.

“Well, there’re all sorts of people in the world.”

“Yes, indeed .”

A low voice briefly agreeing with me echoed in my ears. The fingers caressing my hair and the voice lingering in my ear were both soft, making me feel lazy.

Currently, Lakis was drying my hair with a towel. As for how this happened, I wasn’t quite sure either. I definitely said I was fine at first but when I came to my senses, I was sitting in front of Lakis.

It was awkward at first but experiencing it, I felt it wasn’t that bad so now, I just let his fingers do their work.

After a while, the towel as well as Lakis’ hand left my head. Then suddenly, I felt hair on my back.

“If there’s anyone that keeps bothering you…”

At the voice brushing past my ear, I looked back again. This time, there was no hand stopping me, so I was able to see his face.

“Let me know.”

Lakis held my hair in his hand and fiddle with it. And once our eyes met, he brought it to his lips.

“Because I’m worried.”

And his voice was sweet as he whispered to me.

If I didn’t know anything, I would probably be moved by Lakis’ words but…maybe because I knew of his actions in the novel, I was aware that the meaning of his words weren’t that mild.

Lakis Avalon was the one who tried to eradicate all the people lingering around Anne-Marie like they were bugs…so when I heard ‘tell me if anyone keeps bothering you’, it was filtered into, ‘as long as you say the word, I will crush that bastard’.

Of course, it wasn’t set into stone that the Lakis in reality would act like the Lakis in the novel, and I wasn’t Anne-Marie, the subject of Lakis’ obsession in the novel.

I stared into Lakis’ eyes for a moment then I moved.

Plunk.

“…!”

His body fell back as I pushed him down. His eyes widened a little in surprise as our eyes met. Lakis looked up at me from his position half-leaning on the sofa. I reached out to hold the top of Lakis’ shoulders then I climbed on top of him.

With that, Lakis immediately froze.

“Mr. Lakis.”

I looked down at him and opened my mouth.

“Mr. Lakis, you…”

Still, I was careful not to touch his bare shoulders so I was in a very rational and calm state of mind.

Only

“Do you like me?”

Translator’s Corner:

[1]Because English is structured differently from Korean, I’m going to put a very literal translation for context cues: [After all, the person this bastard killed before, you look like…mph!] Keep in mind that ‘before’ can also be translated to ‘in the past’.

[2]Bad influence is actually the word for ‘bad company’. As in ‘don’t keep bad company’.

[3]If you aren’t familiar with this, some cultures believe salt can ward off evil/negative energy.

*T/N: Yuri is so unpredictable sometimes.