Chapter 48
Late afternoon, Odin’s room. Three people were seated inside.
A silence lingered in the room, broken shortly by someone’s sigh.
“Ha…….”
Lu, resting his arms on the tea table, buried his face in his hands and sighed. Across from him, Deriksha looked at him with sympathy.
“Maybe that’s just a polite way of refusing?”
Odin, seated at the desk next to the table while scribbling through some paperwork, spoke casually. Lu immediately shot him a murderous glare.
“I didn’t ask for your advice.”
“I’m just giving advice, Lu.”
Odin smiled brightly at him.
But Lu’s expression grew even more hostile at Odin’s cheerful smile.
Should he just attack him now? Lu clenched his fists, then shook his head. He didn’t even have the energy to hit Odin.
As usual, feeling frustrated about his love life, Lu turned to Deriksha for advice.
It wasn’t uncommon for Lu to seek guidance from Deriksha about his feelings for Lily. The difference today was that Odin had joined the conversation.
Watching Lu summon Deriksha, Odin cast him a suspicious glance. Not trusting the two alone together, he reluctantly set up the tea table in his own room for them to talk.
Lu resisted the urge to overturn the table, reminding himself that the important matter wasn’t Odin’s teasing—it was about Lily.
Returning to the main point, Lu recalled the real problem.
Right, the person he should be focusing on wasn’t Odin. He was troubled over someone far more important.
“No matter how obvious I make it, she doesn’t get it! Everyone else knows I like Lily—except her!”
Frustrated, Lu buried his face in his hands again.
As Lu said, everyone in the duke’s mansion already knew he liked Lily. Even the newly hired maids.
If a maid who had only worked for a week could send him supportive looks, that said it all.
Even when the new maid noticed and showed encouragement, Lily still couldn’t pick up on it no matter how obvious he made it.
“Lily’s a little clueless, but… this is getting serious,”
Deriksha finally spoke, still looking at Lu with concern. After hearing what had happened today, he was growing increasingly uneasy.
Why did their romantic plans keep going wrong when everything seemed smooth before? He couldn’t understand.
Deriksha hesitated before speaking again.
“I… thought things would settle down after Lily returned from the palace. But her behavior has been… strange.”
“Strange how?”
As if snapping to attention, Lu straightened up when he heard Lily’s name, staring intently at Deriksha.
“I thought Lily had someone she liked,” Deriksha replied.
Unlike Lily, Deriksha had sharp instincts for reading others’ emotions.
After returning from the palace and seeing Lily’s outburst on the bed, he noticed something was off.
He figured she either had completely lost her mind or had discovered new feelings. Calmly, he asked questions.
“Is she crazy?”
“No, she’s lucid.”
“Then she must like someone?”
Lily didn’t panic at his questions; she simply answered with her usual confidence.
“Yes.”
Lily had never been one to hide her feelings.
Deriksha, witnessing her kicking the blankets in a frenzy, threw a pillow at her. At the time, his own sleep was more important than his friend’s emotions, so he hadn’t thought to question her.
“I naturally assumed the person she liked would be Master Lu…”
He hadn’t asked further because he was confident in that assumption.
Hearing that Lily had someone she liked didn’t surprise him. He thought, Finally, maybe Lu will actually get to date her.
It made sense—Lu was the only guy paying her so much attention. Anyone would naturally develop feelings if someone like Lu cared for them.
But this situation left Deriksha the most flustered person in the room.
Lu, hearing Deriksha’s words, stared blankly.
“……Then who does she like?”
“I’m not sure, but judging from her behavior after returning from the palace, she must have developed feelings for someone during the ball.”
Deriksha offered a reasonable guess.
Lu nodded absentmindedly, then frowned as realization hit.
“……But she was only with me at the palace.”
Lily rarely went out, so there was no way she met someone new.
Odin spoke firmly at Lu’s puzzled question.
“No, there was someone who spent more time with Lily than you.”
Odin smiled as if he were enjoying the situation. Lu looked at him, confused.
“……Who?”
“Who do you think?”
“Wait, Odin… where’s Able…? Huh, everyone’s here?”
Before Odin could answer, Chris appeared in the center of the room via teleportation.
Chris looked around, startled, clearly intending to speak but pausing to gauge the situation.
“……Did I do something wrong?”
The three people in the room stared at him. Lu’s face darkened as he realized Odin’s earlier comment.
“Ahaha, I was wondering what was going on!”
Chris laughed at the situation Odin had just explained. Seeing Lu glare at him, he waved his hands in reassurance.
“I told you, Lu. I have no ulterior motives with Lily.”
“What if Lily confesses to you?”
Chris answered differently from before. Lu glared as if he might grab him by the collar.
Chris laughed again, then said firmly,
“Don’t worry. Lily will never like me.”
Lu finally stopped glaring at Chris. Brushing his face with one hand, he sighed.
“Then… who is it?”
A brief silence followed as everyone pondered.
Deriksha broke it.
“Isn’t Master Demian also close to Lily?”
He remembered seeing Lily laughing and talking with Demian. Odin also seemed to realize something.
Everyone knew Lily treated Demian kindly, fussing over him as she did with Deriksha.
Excited to have a clue, Odin and Deriksha looked at Lu. But Lu’s answer came firmly:
“It’s not him.”
“Right, definitely not.”
Lu and Chris spoke in unison. Both were familiar with Demian.
Odin and Deriksha, who hadn’t met Demian personally, were surprised at their certainty.
With the likely candidate ruled out, the room fell silent again.
“……Why not just ask her directly? She’d tell you if you did,”
Lu said impatiently. Deriksha nodded in agreement. If Deriksha asked, Lily would answer.
‘So, no progress again today.’
Lu let out a hollow laugh. Just as they were about to end the romantic consultation, someone opened the door.
“Master Odin, the Duke is calling… Why are you all here?”
Lily looked around in confusion. She didn’t understand why everyone was in Odin’s room.
“You came just in time, Lily. We need to ask you something.”
Deriksha’s words made Lu glance at him urgently.
‘Ask her now?’
True to being Lily’s friend, Deriksha had relentless determination.
“What is it?”
“Who do you like?”
Lily’s expression didn’t change at all.
The four in the room focused on her response.
“The person I like?”
She said, bewildered, a hint of embarrassment on her face.
Lily glanced around the room before opening her mouth.
“……I’m not going to tell.”
A perfectly natural answer. Deriksha shrugged, accepting her decision.
“Is it true that you have someone you like?”
This time it was Lu’s question. Lily nodded vaguely.
“Enough of that. By the way, the Duke just called for Master Odin. Deriksha, Monica needs to discuss salary negotiation in her room.”
Lily smoothly shifted the conversation. Odin and Deriksha stood and left without hesitation, leaving only Lu, Chris, and Lily in the room.
“……What were you talking about?”
Lily asked the two staring at her intently.
“We were guessing who you like!”
Chris laughed at his own honesty, which made Lily frown.
“How many times do I have to tell you? If you’re talking about me, let me join too!”
She was annoyed, but with her usual innocence.
Lily pulled out a chair at the tea table, took a sip of tea from Deriksha’s cup, and nibbled on a cookie that no one had touched.
Lu and Chris watched her closely, but Lily didn’t care and enjoyed her snacks.
Finally, Lu spoke while watching her eat a cookie.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“I like you.”
“Ah, I know,”
Lily replied, full of feigned annoyance.
Chris burst out laughing, slumping over the table, snickering uncontrollably.
“…….”
Lu quietly buried his face in his hands.
