Chapter 11 (Part 3)

As if he had been caught, the man snapped his fingers at Grace’s murmuring.  

Only then did Grace’s face turn to shock as she watched the person’s appearance change into someone she recognized. Pretending not to notice her reaction, Leonardo laughed.  

“You’ve got quite the sharp eye, Sir Grace.”  

Leonardo, who had been using magic to disguise himself, smiled warmly at Grace.  

Seeing someone she hadn’t expected appear before her, Grace felt her thoughts come to a halt.  

Once she had somewhat grasped the situation, embarrassment flooded her. Covering her face with her hands, Grace cautiously asked,  

“Th-that… did you see everything?”  

“If you’re referring to the conversation you had with someone who’s given up on being human, yes, I saw it.”  

“Ahhh! Damn it, why did you have to see that!”  

Grace shouted, burying her face in her hands.  

Feeling so embarrassed and humiliated that her ears turned red, Grace felt Leonardo gently take hold of her wrist and speak.  

“In a way, it’s my fault this happened. So… I came to help in case anything happened, and that’s when I saw it.”  

When he added an apology, Grace raised her head.  

There was a word that strangely bothered her.  

“‘If anything happened,’ you say?”

At Grace’s question, Leonardo nodded and replied,  

“Yes. I’ve actually been investigating that man.”  

With this, Leonardo pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket.  

The paper was filled with testimonies, or rather stories, from various people. Most of the content came from the 2nd Knight Order.  

And the content was beyond imagination.  

“…So, he had a split personality?”  

The paper was densely packed with small writing about Liam’s tyranny and verbal abuse while Grace was absent.  

And in between, there were comforting words saying no one would believe the nonsense he spouted.  

As Grace wondered how this information had been gathered, she asked with a puzzled expression,  

“Did you go around collecting this yourself?”  

“Would you believe me if I said I did?”  

“…Uh, no.”  

Even as she answered, Grace held the paper tightly in her hand.  

Recalling how Leonardo had changed his appearance earlier with magic, she thought it might indeed be possible that he had collected the information himself.  

“It’s a bit sad that you don’t believe me.”  

Leonardo joked lightly, then looked at an approaching staff member and said,  

“Let’s start with something sweet to cleanse the palate.”  

Grace stared, almost entranced, at the plate he set down.  

The cake, topped with sweet strawberries, was beautifully decorated and looked heavenly just to look at. The milk tea served alongside it seemed perfectly warm.  

But she didn’t feel like eating it.  

“Try the milk tea first.”  

At Leonardo’s gentle encouragement, Grace reluctantly lifted the cup to her lips.  

As the warm tea slid down her throat, she felt her body relax. Only then did Grace realize how tense she had been.  

Her unsettled emotions and uneasy heart calmed slightly as she sighed and spoke.  

“At first, I thought it was quite an enjoyable time.”  

“….”  

Grace began to talk without realizing she was opening up to Leonardo.  

“Liam matched my pace appropriately and told entertaining stories.”  

Leonardo, who had been watching everything unfold from the sidelines, remained silent at her words.  

From his perspective, it had indeed seemed enjoyable.  

Liam had been gentlemanly to the extent that it wasn’t burdensome and appeared to genuinely care for Grace.  

‘For a moment, I wondered if I was being greedy.’  

If it had been Liam Dyson instead of Leonardo Fernandez, no one would have opposed it, and they could have dated and married in a perfectly ordinary way.  

…At least, that’s what she had thought.  

“But as soon as I rejected him, he started interrogating me about my relationship with you.”  

It wasn’t until after she said this that Grace realized what she was doing. She was opening up about her feelings.  

To none other than Leonardo.  

Of all people, to the person she least wanted to show weakness to.  

But once she started talking, it was hard to stop. It was as if she had been waiting for this moment.  

“When he said, ‘If I had known you were so loose…,’ I… really… ha.”  

Hearing his voice filled with inexplicable hostility had made Grace’s heart sink.  

But at the same time, a sense of defiance welled up within her.  

“Inwardly, I thought, ‘What right do you have to question me about this?’”  

“If you’d said that, he probably would’ve said something even worse.”  

“Probably. I… what was I even looking at?”  

Until now, Grace had given Liam countless pieces of advice, telling him to toughen up, to take charge of the knight order in her absence, and so on.  

More than anything, she felt foolish for not recognizing what kind of person he truly was.  

“I was the one spouting unnecessary words, believing everything I saw.”  

At Grace’s words, Leonardo gently held her hand.  

Watching her hand, not small for a woman’s, completely covered by his, Grace looked up.  

Seeing his face, unusually serious, made Grace’s stomach flutter.  

“Sir Grace, there’s something you’re not realizing right now.”  

“And what’s that?”  

“That you’re the victim.”  

Leonardo’s voice, firmly stating that she was the one wronged, carried absolute conviction.  

It was so convincing that it made her feel, even vaguely, that he might be right.  

“Liam Dyson clearly courted you, and you simply rejected him.”  

“…”  

“Yet he crossed the line with his words, humiliating and shaming you. Moreover, how could you have known that he was deliberately deceiving you with a facade?”  

Grace knew that what Leonardo was saying wasn’t the full picture of the situation, but she wanted to believe it.  

That she had done nothing wrong. That she didn’t deserve such treatment.  

“Well, hearing it put that way does make me feel better.”  

When Grace responded with a faint smile, Leonardo smiled back.  

Then he gestured toward the cake.  

“Now, I think it’s time to finish this off. The cream seems to be melting.”  

At his playful words, Grace instinctively picked up her fork.  

Moments ago, she hadn’t wanted to eat the cake, but after talking with Leonardo and feeling her heart lighten, it suddenly looked delicious.  

“—It looks good.”  

Grace moved her fork as if entranced.  

Watching her quickly devour the sizable cake, Leonardo remarked,  

“You managed to eat all of that?”  

“Well, I’ve eaten even bigger portions than this in one go.”  

Popping a strawberry into her mouth, Grace replied, making Leonardo chuckle.  

As she neared the end of the cake, he made a suggestion.  

“I’m planning to visit the shelter again soon.”  

“The shelter? You mean, that place?”  

Finishing the last piece and feeling slightly regretful, Grace downed the now lukewarm milk tea in one gulp and asked,  

“Why are you going back there?”  

“There’s something I need to investigate.”  

Leonardo replied cautiously, and Grace glanced around. She noticed people sneaking glances at them and quickly looking away.  

Realizing how well-known she and Leonardo were, Grace stood and said,  

“Follow me.”  

With a curt tone, Grace strode out. Leonardo, left behind for a moment, let out a quiet laugh and followed her.

Sitting separately and then joining at the same table was one thing, but how strange it was for him to change his appearance and be here.  

‘It’s no use pretending otherwise now.’  

Still, there was something endearing about it.  

Moreover, preconceived notions people hold are surprisingly powerful. Even when something strange is seen, if things seem to return to normal, one might think, “Was I mistaken?”  

‘Not that it matters.’  

Picking up the bill that had been left on the table without an owner, Leonardo leisurely followed Grace downstairs, smiling.  

Beyond the exit, he saw Grace stomping her feet while looking around.  

‘She said she’d pay, but she seems to have forgotten.’  

He couldn’t understand why that small figure, focused solely on deceiving others without realizing what she’d forgotten, looked so adorable to him.  

Leonardo handed the bill to the staff and paid for the meal and dessert.  

When he stepped outside after settling the payment, Grace’s eyes widened as she spotted the change in his hand.  

“Oh, right. Oh no.”  

Rushing to his side, Grace spoke with an apologetic expression.  

“Why did you pay, Sir!”  

“We can’t dine and dash, can we?”  

“Even so…! You should have told me!”  

Seeing Grace scolding him loudly, Leonardo leaned closer and whispered softly behind her,  

“What’s the big deal between us?”  

As he finished speaking, Leonardo blew lightly into her ear, causing Grace to jump back in surprise.  

Clutching her tingling ear, she shouted,  

“You pervert!”  

Her words made Leonardo shrug as if he didn’t understand.  

His expression even seemed a bit unfair, like someone being treated as a criminal after saving someone from danger.  

Grace stomped her feet and shouted again.  

“Pervert!”