Lydia stubbornly kept her lips sealed and turned her head away sharply.

“I understand.”

She looked just like a sulking rabbit with her head against the wall, and Arsen had to swallow his emerging laughter.

Arsen didn’t want their planned operation to fail either. Since they had agreed to do it, he wanted it to succeed.

But he kept deliberately going against what Lydia wanted because it was cute to see her flustered or narrowing her eyes into triangles.

‘If I push any further, she really looks like she’ll lie down.’

Arsen put the cake he had cut for Lydia into his own mouth.

It was so sweet his tongue felt like it would melt.

“Please give me another chance.”

“Will you do better this time?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Lydia decided to give him just one more chance.

“Feed me cake yourself, Sir.”

“I hate to. I can’t. Stop this.”

“……?”

Something was strange. Something was seriously wrong.

“Let’s, let’s try again, Sir.”

“I hate to. I can’t. Stop this.”

“Uh……”

This was a very embarrassing situation. Lydia kept licking her lips as she faced this unexpected problem.

“Isn’t this how I’m supposed to respond?”

“Yes, it is, but…”

Something was incredibly awkward. His tone screamed ‘I am acting’ to anyone who heard it.

Perhaps they hadn’t considered that Arsen rarely had occasion to say things like “I hate to,” “I can’t,” or “Stop this.”

And the most serious problem was that Arsen wasn’t even aware of his own issue.

Should she make him practice?

No, people who can’t identify their own problems don’t improve easily with practice.

And they didn’t have time to practice before returning to the borderlands, where they needed to deceive the eyes of those sent by the Emperor, but at this rate, no one would be fooled. No one, not even a child.

“What’s wrong? Do I sound strange?”

“Uh, well, it’s not that you’re strange, but I think the lines are strange.”

Right, how could anyone be good at everything? Arsen had a handsome face and was skilled with a sword, so it would be unreasonable to expect him to be a good actor too.

Lydia decided to change her approach.

“Just, um, from now on when I give you the signal, first frown, then stay still for three seconds, then ask someone else nearby to do it.”

Yes, that would be better. It would be best if Arsen didn’t have to deliver any lines at all.

“But there’s no one else here right now, so what should I do?”

“In that case, just frown and do what I ask, but make it look like you’re doing it reluctantly. The expression is important, so pay attention to that.”

Arsen firmly furrowed his brow, cut the cake with his fork, and handed it to Lydia.

“……”

Oh dear. Lydia was at a loss.

She thought this would work, but it didn’t. Arsen just looked like someone who didn’t like the cake. What could she do?

Lydia ate the cake he offered while falling into deep thought.

If she had known he was such a poor actor, she wouldn’t have come up with this plan in the first place. She had made a mistake.

But there must be a solution, there must be.

“Here, open your mouth.”

Regardless of Lydia’s complicated thoughts, Arsen was focused on feeding her cake.

Nella, Maria, and Byron from the labor camp, even the elderly Robert had all gained weight after eating well for a few days, so why was Lydia still as thin as a dried stick?

No wonder she got tired after walking just a little. The foundation of stamina starts with eating well.

“I don’t want to eat anymore.”

“You eat like a bird.”

Arsen clicked his tongue as he looked at the half-eaten cake.

Lydia was about to say that eating too many sweets would make her gain weight, but suddenly thought, what would be wrong with gaining some weight?

When she was young, her mother had told her that women must be slim and rarely gave Lydia sweet foods.

After her mother passed away, she had always been conscious of her figure, trying to look pretty for Richard who preferred thin women. So cake was just one bite, at most three bites.

What was the result of all that restraint and effort to look good? The worst.

Perhaps she hadn’t been in her right mind because she hadn’t eaten enough sweets?

If she had eaten even one more slice of cake instead of managing her figure, would she have realized sooner what a bad person Richard was?

When she received the broken engagement letter and refused to eat or drink, her maid Anna had always brought sweet foods to comfort her.

What if, instead of flipping the plate over and saying she didn’t need it, she had taken just one bite?

Maybe she wouldn’t have thought about poisoning anyone.

“No, I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to eat all of this before we leave.”

Lydia’s gaze at the strawberry cake was resolute.

“I’m going to eat everything I want. I don’t care if I end up rolling around like a ball.”

Like a soldier going into battle with a sword, Lydia muttered to herself as she picked up her fork. But Arsen was one step ahead.

He had already cut the cake and was putting it into her mouth as soon as her mind changed.

“That’s a good idea.”

“What is?”

Lydia asked while chewing the cake.

“Your decision to eat so much that you’ll roll around.”

The words “that would look unattractive” rose to the tip of her tongue, but Lydia swallowed them along with the cake. She had decided not to worry about such things anymore.

“You’ll look much better than you do now.”

Arsen cut another piece of cake and held it up to her lips.

Lydia blinked and accepted it, but she wondered what he meant by “much better.”

“I look forward to seeing you rolling around soon.”

“You’re lying.”

All men are the same.

“You might say this now, but later when I get fat, you’ll nag me to walk more and eat less, won’t you?”

Despite receiving Lydia’s suspicious gaze, Arsen steadfastly cut the remaining piece of cake and offered it to her.

“That won’t happen. If you find it hard to believe, shall we make a bet? But first, you’d need to gain that much weight. Now, open up.”

Though she felt slightly discouraged, Lydia couldn’t resist the temptation of the cream tickling her lips and opened her mouth like a baby bird.

“But, Sir. If I get fat, won’t demonic beasts try to eat me first?”

“For that to happen, you’d need to be bigger than Kedrick, and is that possible?”

Imagining Kedrick’s size, Lydia tilted her head, thinking it might be difficult. Then she suddenly made eye contact with a woman who was looking their way.

The woman hurriedly turned her head, pretending she hadn’t been looking at Lydia.

“……?”

What was that about? Lydia only then noticed that everyone at the surrounding tables was glancing at them.

“There’s cream here.”

And she quickly realized why. It was because of Arsen.

When Arsen took a napkin and gently wiped near Lydia’s lips, there were small gasps and murmurs from all around.

“Wait, but Sir, why do you keep feeding me cake?”

A taciturn man who looked like he wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed with a fork, continuously feeding cake to the woman sitting across from him—what a spectacle.

And if that woman was the Marquis’s daughter who had turned the Count’s territory upside down?

Of course they would stare, of course they would watch. Lydia suddenly realized.

“You asked me to feed you.”

“You only needed to feed me once.”

“I thought you wanted more since you kept accepting it.”

Ah. Lydia had no response and just blinked. Arsen had fed her so naturally that she hadn’t even noticed anything strange.

Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be socially awkward? What socially awkward person is this natural with women? Is he really socially awkward?

Either Kedrick had lied to her, or…

‘He doesn’t see me as a woman.’

That seemed to be the answer. Well, Arsen had no reason to see her as a potential romantic interest. Nothing special had happened between them.

Then where did this kindness come from? He had brought her to the borderlands to monitor her, but this wasn’t behavior one would show to someone under surveillance. It was more like a relationship with mutual goodwill.

So what would be the right term for this relationship?

‘Ah, comrades!’

Yes, comrades. Lydia and Arsen had different goals, but they were on the same path.

Isn’t that what people usually call comrades or colleagues? Perhaps later they might even become friends beyond colleagues or comrades.

“What are you thinking about while eating cake?”

“Hmm, our future?”

Future? Arsen’s eyes narrowed at this ambiguous statement.

“Shall we leave now?”

He wanted to ask in detail, but Lydia was quicker, already standing up.

Arsen followed her out, intending to ask what she meant by “our future.”

But once again, he was interrupted by another noise.

“Do you want to spend a special night? A very hot night, you say? Then try this scented candle.”

On the opposite side of the salon, a neatly dressed man was soliciting customers with a scented candle.

“Just light it and inhale the smoke, and your bed will be absolutely wrecked that night, yes indeed.”

How could such a skinny man have such a loud voice? And to promote such obscene content in a square where even children pass by—did this fellow have no shame?

If this had happened in the borderlands, he would have been immediately dragged before Arsen.

And who would buy such things when he was just making grandiose claims without any evidence, speaking in a slick manner?

“Sir, that, I want to buy that.”

“…Lydia?”

“I need to buy that. Come on, hurry up.”

Wait, wait, what did she mean by wanting to buy that?

“Lydia, that’s all just sales talk.”

Arsen hurriedly grabbed Lydia as she tried to approach the neatly dressed peddler.

“And why on earth do you need that?”