SDA 29

Chapter : 29

Rian’s words reached beyond the staff and even reached Deborah, who was cheerfully talking about Johan.

“Miss, you should seriously consider the Marquis…”

She paused and turned to Rian with a face that said, “Huh?”

He’s going to buy everything I was just looking at?

Of course, there were sometimes customers who bought multiple items at once.

But none of them had ever bought as much as Rian did.

As Deborah stood there in a daze, Violet also shifted her gaze toward where she was looking.

In her light purple eyes, Rian’s tall, broad-shouldered back was reflected.

Rian pulled out a check and added,

“Deliver it to the Willow Estate within three days.”

“Ah… yes.”

The flustered employee blinked repeatedly and asked,

“Um… sir, may I have your name? We need the sender’s name to make the delivery…”

Rian stared at the employee silently.

This is tricky. I can’t say ‘Rian de Vichelle.’

Foreigners sending packages within the Empire needed identification.

But Rian didn’t have a forged ID or anything like that.

After some thought, he finally answered,

“Chase Willow.”

It was the most appropriate choice.

The employee tilted her head.

“Pardon?”

Her face clearly showed disbelief.

Rian suddenly realized.

Ah, the employee must know Chase’s face.

After all, Chase Willow was so famous in the Empire that anyone who didn’t know him might as well be a spy.

Rian quickly corrected himself.

“…He’s a friend of mine.”

“Oh…”

“Just write it as Chase Willow since it’s for his sister. The recipient is Sienna Willow.”

For some reason, the employee stared at Rian intently.

She then pursed her lips.

“Yes!”

Suddenly, a smile appeared on her previously expressionless face.

The paper was neatly filled out:

[Sender: Chase Willow
Recipient: Sienna Willow]

Then, the employee wrote down the address of the Willow Estate, set her pen down, and started glancing around nervously.

Rian looked at her curiously.

What is it?

Did she want to say something?

After a long pause, the employee’s mouth, previously as if sealed with glue, finally opened.

“Um… sir…”

“……”

“…Are you very close to Baron Izet?”

She asked cautiously, as if afraid someone might hear.

Rian slightly raised an eyebrow.

“Actually… for the past few months, the Baron hasn’t been answering my messages.”

“……”

“I was just wondering if there’s any way to get in touch with Baron Izet…”

Rian finally realized.

…This person must be one of the women Chase met.

Specifically, one out of three hundred.

The female employee’s eyes sent a desperate plea.

Rian simply exhaled a long sigh through his nose and said,

“…Deliver it within three days.”

At that moment, he once again realized that his friend was utterly hopeless.

Sienna and Rian safely completed their second task and returned to the center.

The employees, heads buried in their desks, slowly lifted their faces.

“You’re back…?”

Their sallow, almost black faces moved like zombies.

The employees greeting Sienna suddenly focused their eyes in one direction.

“…Huh?”

They had noticed Rian’s sheer shirt.

Pin and Heaven’s mouths opened slightly, while Isadora narrowed her eyes and pushed up her glasses with her middle finger.

They looked utterly disbelieving.

Sienna smacked her lips.

Surprised, aren’t you? I was quite shocked too…

Especially because Rian had leaned forward, forcing an up-close view of his chest, she thought she was going to go crazy.

Once she sat down, Pin asked,

“Did it go well? How did it turn out?”

“Yeah, it went smoothly. There was nothing to worry about.”

Of course, even though it went well, her heart still ached…

But she could never show that in front of the staff.

Sienna maintained a calm expression, forcing herself to look unaffected.

She glanced at the long table in the center of the office.

Huh? The backlog of documents has decreased a lot.

Until this morning, the desk had been piled high with papers.

But after she and Rian executed Johan’s romantic mission, the stacks had been reduced by half.

“Have all the drafting tasks been completed?”

“Not completely, but almost. From the day after tomorrow, we can focus entirely on consultations.”

“Yes, we’ll start sending confirmation letters for consultations from tomorrow.”

Pin and Heaven answered.

If most of the letter drafting was handled today…

Now she understood the sullen faces she had seen upon entering the center.

Sienna lightly tapped Isadora’s shoulder, who was sitting closest to her.

“You worked hard while I was away… thank you.”

“Center Director.”

At that moment, Rian suddenly called out to Sienna.

“Yes?”

Leaning slightly against Sienna’s desk, he said,

“I want to take some leave. Is that okay?”

Sienna blinked.

Leave…?

Of course, it wasn’t unusual for an employee to request leave.

Sienna herself and the other staff often took leave when needed.

But it was surprising that Rian was asking.

He’s from the Lehatten Kingdom, she reminded herself.

So, besides Chase, he had no ties or places to go.

I didn’t expect him to ever take leave…

Sienna, mulling this over, spoke.

“That’s fine.”

There was no reason for her to intervene anyway.

“How long will it be?”

“Three days.”

Even this surprised her.

Three whole days? Someone who never takes leave suddenly takes three days off?

Rian added, as if answering the question in her mind.

“I need to go to the palace to meet a friend.”

“……”

“I’m needed to execute the Veloster Marquis’s ball request.”

Sienna, who had paused, slowly nodded.

Right, of course.

This guy… it turns out he’s a friend of the Crown Prince.

“Yes, you mentioned that, youngest sir.”

“Yeah.”

“Got it. Then we’ll assume you won’t be coming in for the next three days.”

Sienna marked Rian’s schedule on her calendar.

[—Rian de Vichelle, Leave]

She couldn’t help but think it was a bit funny.

Whether Rian is here or not, work continues smoothly. Why am I even writing this…

At that moment, the paper on the center’s front door jingled.

“Director~”

The head of a nearby flower shop poked her head in.

Sienna stood.

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Could I step out for a moment? I won’t take much time, but I have something for you…”

“Yes, of course!”

Sienna quickly left the center, leaving Rian and the staff behind.

“……”

A subtle silence filled the space.

All the staff’s attention was on Rian, seated on the sofa.

There he goes again…

Because the faint smile he had been wearing disappeared completely the moment Sienna left.

It was an expressionless face so perfect it took one’s breath away.

In fact, the staff had long known that Rian liked Sienna.

He only smiled in front of her and turned cold and dry when she was gone.

Everyone had wondered about this.

But no one had dared to ask because Rian was intimidating.

Pin and Heaven glanced back at their desks, ignoring him.

Has this nobleman’s behavior been a one-time thing? No, not at all.

“Youngest sir.”

Suddenly, Isadora’s voice rang out.

Pin and Heaven flinched.

They hadn’t expected the quietest employee, Isadora, to call Rian first.

Dora… are you crazy?

Rian rolled his eyes, staring into the air.

Isadora’s dark eyes met his red ones.

“Why do you ‘pretend’? I’ve always wondered.”

“‘Pretend’?”

Rian’s deep, low voice came out.

Unlike usual, it was monotone, with no inflection.

Pin and Heaven held their breath without realizing it.

Damn, this is terrifying.

But Isadora showed no sign of backing down.

Crossing her arms and meeting his gaze, she spoke again.

“Your usual personality… isn’t real, is it? I know you’re imitating someone.”