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Chapter 05
“Oh my, hello, Duchess. You look beautiful today as well.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Countess Eliza. This is my daughter, Anastasia Yusupov.”
“Oh my goodness. Young Lady. It’s been such a long time since we last met, since your debut in high society.”
“Ah, ahaha…”
It was a very difficult gathering. Most of the people here were strangers to me, yet almost all of them seemed to know me.
And not just vaguely—they rushed up to me as if we were very close.
I knew the position of a duke’s daughter wouldn’t be easy, but having to recognize every noble?
‘This is hard.’
Wanting to avoid this difficult place altogether, I left the social salon and walked straight toward the garden outside as soon as the greetings were more or less finished.
‘I’m tired.’
Having just come back from meeting the Princess, the fatigue felt even more pronounced.
Dragging my feet, I was about to sit down on a garden bench when—
“Ah!”
I bumped into something solid.
No, I thought it was something.
It was so hard that the moment I collided with it, I couldn’t keep my balance and ended up falling flat on the ground.
That really hurt!
Holding back the tears that welled up on their own, I rubbed my aching backside and tried to get up slowly when a long, pale male hand appeared before my eyes.
“…Are you all right?”
What a dreamy voice.
The slow speech and low, gentle tone was enchanting to the ear. A deep, masculine voice that matched his manly hand perfectly. It was a combination that made me curious about his face.
“I’m fine… wow…”
I blankly stared at the hand he politely offered, then took it and stood up—only to find a man with an almost bewitching appearance standing before me.
Perhaps he’d been wearing a cloak, because the hood had slipped back, revealing ash-gray hair and mysterious gray eyes tinged faintly with violet.
Even the faint lines around his eyes, formed as he squinted slightly against the breeze, were handsome.
With a sharp jawline and deep-set eyes, he was a strikingly handsome man with bold features.
Maybe because he wasn’t smiling, he seemed a bit cold—but even so, his appearance was breathtaking.
“…Wow?”
The moment I saw him slowly repeat my words while raising one eyebrow, my legs nearly gave out.
Why did it feel like I’d been seeing nothing but extraordinarily beautiful people lately?
He was so handsome that it made me instinctively want to call for my mother.
“Oh, Mother!”
“…Why are you suddenly calling for your mother?”
“Because you’re seriously handsome.”
“……”
Looking at the man standing there with a bewildered expression, I screamed internally with all my might.
This is insane. He’s way too handsome.
I felt like dancing popping in rhythm with his shaking pupils. If I could dance, I’d have won first place in b-boying.
Eyes that had been about to close from exhaustion just moments ago now sparkled with excitement.
I’d been about to resent Mother for dragging me here—but this man had turned me into a devoted daughter.
I couldn’t let him go.
“Um, may I ask your name?”
“……”
With an unreadable expression, the man replied in a calm voice.
“…I can’t tell you.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Nod.
He nodded his head.
He couldn’t tell me his name.
It was disappointing, but I didn’t have the power to force him—and even if I did, I wouldn’t want to.
‘We can just get to know each other slowly, right?’
I was confident because I’d firmly decided to myself that I wouldn’t meet this man just once.
So I chose to introduce myself first with a bright smile.
“My name is Anastasia Yusupov.”
“…Ah.”
“Huh? Do you know me?”
Still not fully standing on my own, leaning lightly on his hand as he supported me, the man answered politely.
“Yes.”
“Ah… You know my family!”
Anastasia smiled brightly as if she’d just realized, and the man silently nodded.
At that moment, a cool breeze blew from somewhere, brushing aside his fine gray hair and revealing those languid, mysterious gray eyes.
Staring blankly at his suffocatingly handsome face, I dropped my jaw open.
‘He doesn’t even seem like a main character—more like an extra—but he’s perfect.’
Everyone here had above-average looks, which had surprised me after possessing this body, but this man was so dazzling that I’d believe it even if someone told me he was the protagonist.
With a serious expression, I tightened my grip slightly on the hand that was supporting me.
“I’m really sorry, but I’m in a huge hurry.”
“Yes.”
“Do you, by any chance, already have a lover? Or a fiancée you’ve promised to marry?”
“…?”
“Ah, I really hope you don’t…”
“I don’t, but why does that—”
“Wow, that’s a relief! If you don’t, would you like to go out with me?”
After finishing her words, Anastasia broke into a radiant smile, dimples forming deeply in her cheeks.
And the man looking at her began to have his eyes shake like a storm.
She was rejected.
With a sulky face, Anastasia sat beside the Duchess, drinking the now-cold black tea.
Until the man who had gently shaken his head let go of her hand and disappeared with his back turned, Anastasia could only stare at that breathtaking figure.
‘He was really perfect.’
She didn’t know who he was or what he did, but his face—and the fact that he wasn’t a main character—made him the perfect husband candidate.
She didn’t want to let him go like this.
But where and how would she meet him again?
‘Is this what love at first sight feels like?’
As she stared endlessly in the direction where he’d disappeared, she began to hear the voices of young ladies chatting nearby.
“Did you see? That famous information broker came by earlier.”
“Yes, I saw him, but he disappeared in an instant. I understand why the rumors are so strong. I couldn’t take my eyes off that ash-gray hair.”
…Information broker?!
Ash-gray hair?
The only ash-gray hair she’d seen here was that man she’d bumped into.
So they were clearly talking about him.
He wasn’t a noble, but an information broker?
Then she heard more.
“Today we’re actually lucky. He’s famous for rarely showing his face unless there’s a request.”
“Ah… I wish I could’ve gotten a better look at his face.”
“My, my. Even seeing him that much is rare within the Empire. Most clients probably haven’t even seen his face properly.”
“I’m jealous of the people who have.”
“Well, there aren’t many of them. But still, everyone who’s seen him says they were instantly captivated by how handsome he is, so it’s hard not to be jealous.”
Hearing their envious voices, she felt smug.
That person was me, you know!
She’d been leaning her body toward them without realizing, earning strange looks from her mother—but who cared? She’d gotten unexpected information about him!
“Asha. Sit properly.”
At her mother’s chilling whisper, she immediately corrected her posture, but unlike before, the smile never left her lips inside the salon.
“Did you return?”
“Yes.”
“Was everything resolved smoothly?”
“Yes.”
Ban slowly removed the black cloak he’d worn outside. Raph waited calmly through the slow process. Others might have found it frustrating, but after twelve years by the Prince’s side, Raph was used to this leisurely pace.
Once Ban finally finished and leaned back on the sofa, Raph noticed the confusion faintly visible on his usually expressionless face and tilted his head.
‘What is it? Did something happen?’
Just then, Ban spoke.
“Raph.”
“Yes.”
He slowly rubbed his temple, as if deep in thought.
Raph swallowed.
Somehow, Ban didn’t look well.
‘Did something go wrong while delivering information to the client?’
Ban carried many secrets—secrets so enormous that if they were exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
And today’s mission had involved no ordinary client. It was the kind of matter that required Ban to move personally. It had been dangerous, but if the marquis had caught on…
‘But Ban-nim wouldn’t make such a mistake.’
He might be blunt and hard to read, but he always handled his duties flawlessly.
‘Then what’s the problem?’
As Raph’s anxiety grew, Ban muttered quietly.
“…Is it a trend to ask someone out the moment you meet them…?”
…?
Raph thought his ears must be malfunctioning.
What did he just say?
“Yes?”
“How are young ladies these days…?”
“What are you talking about…?”
Young ladies these days?
Raph’s pupils trembled with unease.
Ah, maybe Ban-nim was referring to the movements of noble young ladies who could become threats. That made sense.
“Ah, haha. My mistake. If that’s the case, then recently, Lady Ihanna Rominaph of Marquis Rominaph purchased a large amount of jewels from a merchant—”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
“What?”
Not that?
Then what was he talking about?
Ban noticed Raph’s confusion and added an explanation.
“I was wondering if confessions are popular these days.”
“Eek! You got confessed to?!”
Nod.
Ban calmly nodded in response to Raph’s shocked question.
“My goodness. Which young lady would dare…”
“……”
“To confess recklessly to a man she knows nothing about. How reckless…”
“Reckless… is it?”
“And on top of that, to someone with such a bad personality…”
“…Personality?”
“Honestly, if she knew your personality, she probably wouldn’t have—”
Mid-ramble, Raph finally realized his mistake when he saw Ban’s flat expression and quickly straightened.
“W-what nonsense am I saying? Everything I said is nonsense, absolutely.”
“…More importantly, my heart is beating too fast.”
“…Excuse me?”
Ban placed a hand over his chest. Raph looked dumbfounded, but Ban had no room to care.
The young lady he’d met earlier kept replaying in his mind.
‘I saw her at Wood Palace too.’
Yusupov’s young lady, with the same smile, boldly approaching him.
And whenever he thought of it, his chest tingled for reasons he couldn’t understand.
‘…Maybe I focused too much on the request.’
Unable to understand this feeling, Ban dismissed it like that—ignoring the heart that continued to tremble.
