“It must be uncomfortable for you. I’ll stand up.”

Hearing this from the other person, she hesitated to wave her hand and say, “Ah, is that so? have a good journey.” But the man, his eyes narrowing even more into a smile, said, “Since we’re here, how about we introduce ourselves? I’m Delfion.”

And as soon as Dalia heard his name, she let go of all the worries she had been holding onto.

Delfion Ackman.

The moment she heard his name, she immediately remembered his last name, which he hadn’t even mentioned. Dalia’s eyes suddenly lit up with a unique spark.

Ah, of course. That man.

Having heard his name, she suddenly noticed his appearance. Yes, that’s right. The man who holds the wealth of the entire continent in his hands, yet remains shrouded in mystery. Even though his title was Baron, the lowest rank of nobility, no one dared to look down on him.

He was someone who could navigate the closed circles of the Count’s family and the Duke of Fraser. 

Only then did the image of the man, smiling softly and looking a little younger when he had been at Irvelyn’s side before the regression, become clear in her mind.

“My goodness. This young man is Ackman?”

“Haha, that boy…”

The fact that the one who controlled the continent’s gold was such a young man, seemingly innocent and naive, caused quite a stir in high society. Although Dalia had no particular connection with him, she often saw him at gatherings where Curtis and Irvelyn were present.

Of course, it was only Dalia who remembered him now. Once her guard was down, she calmly gestured towards him and introduced herself.

“I’m Dalia. You don’t need to leave.”

There was no need to consider whether or not to reveal her real name. After all, a man who lived to hide his true identity wouldn’t spread his name around casually. And even if he did, the name Dalia wasn’t that important.

The name Dalia wasn’t particularly unusual, and no one would immediately recognise her as Dalia of Gruy just by hearing her name. Besides, her blonde hair and green eyes weren’t as unusual a combination as red hair and blue eyes, which weren’t that unusual either.

When she suddenly lowered her guard and calmly introduced herself, Delfion couldn’t hide his surprise, but his expression brightened slightly. He didn’t stop standing, though.

“No, I think you would feel uncomfortable with me around…”

“You were here first, so I should be the one to get up.”

When Dalia showed no intention of leaving, Delfion wore an uncomfortable expression and added,

“I know it may sound suspicious of me to say this, but I’m not a suspicious person. I work for Ackman Trading and if you need a guarantee of my identity, I can show you the seal used within the company.”

As Dalia saw the seal being hurriedly pulled from his pocket, she nodded with a somewhat strange expression.

Ackman Trading. A huge company that can be found all over the continent, a truly huge company that exists almost everywhere. Its branches spread out like a spider’s web or the tunnels of ants, so much so that there’s a saying that all trade on the continent goes through Ackman.

What’s more, the reason why Ackman has become so big is not only because of the skills of the man in front of her, but also because of the excellent management of his staff, a fact that is well known.

In order to become an Ackman employee, one’s identity must be verified. Although there is a referral system, Ackman rarely engages in network recruitment, so the credibility of an employee with the Ackman seal is directly proportional to the credibility of the company itself.

Seeing the true owner of the company pretending to be an ordinary employee, Dalia felt uncomfortable with the secret knowledge she now possessed, something no one else knew.

“Yes, your identity is clear.”

“Ah, then.”

“As I said, if anyone should go, it should be me.”

She didn’t signal for him to sit down again, but instead Dalia called one of the staff behind her and had a simple meal brought in. After a quick glance at her, Delfion didn’t leave and sat down again.

“Thank you. I haven’t had much to eat, so it would be a shame to leave it behind.”

When Delfion smiled slightly and pointed to the beef stew in front of him, Dalia simply nodded. Now that she knew he was Delfion Ackman, there was no need to be suspicious, but there was also no need to establish any kind of friendship. Delfion seemed quite pleased to see the walls around Dalia coming down, so he spoke again.

“Haha. Really, we’ve met three times now…”

“That’s enough.”

Before he could finish, Dalia cut him off.

‘The owner of Ackman Trading. I didn’t know that before, but he’s actually so easygoing. How did he manage to build such a big company with such casual words?’

Delfion awkwardly scratched his reddened cheek as she gave him a confused look.

“Sorry. I did it again out of habit. I’ve caused some trouble and gone into hiding because of it, but I can’t seem to change.”

So that’s why he had such a somber expression on his face. It was another piece of information that meant nothing to Dalia, but she didn’t feel the need to silence him. Since she already knew his identity and even his secrets, there was no reason to draw a line or push him away.

Delfion Ackman. It was amazing how people’s connections worked. She never expected to meet him, not in the high society of the capital, but in these random places…

Wait a minute. As Dalia took a hearty bite of the grilled chicken skewers she had ordered, she paused. After she started eating and Delfion fell silent, Dalia looked at him, her eyes slowly widening.

‘Why is this man here?’

Feeling Dalia’s gaze, Delfion smiled innocently, but to her, he looked like a strange creature.

‘No, why is he really here?’

This didn’t seem like the right time.

After meeting Irvelyn, Delfion, like everyone else, had immediately fallen in love with her. And for her, he had abandoned his secret identity.

What Dalia remembered from before her regression was that Delfion was always by Irvelyn’s side. While Curtis, who loved Irvelyn, kept his distance while pursuing her, Delfion, right in front of her, acted as if such boundaries didn’t exist.

Because Delfion’s appearance was less intimidating than the other men who often surrounded Irvelyn, she had a special softness for him.

He was also the man who caused Curtis the least trouble. Curtis, who growled at the owner of the North Wall and openly ignored the heir of the founding families, treated Delfion almost like Irvelyn’s pet. It must have been like that… 

Suddenly, Dalia remembered the gossip she had heard in the Romand Territory. 

“The richest man on the continent is missing…” 

And then Delfion had mentioned it in passing, 

“Because of this habit of mine, I caused some trouble and went into hiding…” 

Could it be that this habit had caused him trouble with Irvelyn, and that he was hiding out of embarrassment?

Having formed this plausible theory, Dalia began to sift through her pre-regression memories.

But it wasn’t Curtis, nor was it Delfion whose actions Dalia could recall in detail. The only thing she was sure of was that Delfion had never been far from Irvelyn’s side.

In the end, her questions remained unanswered and her mind continued to spin in circles. As she put down the skewered chicken, Dalia lost her appetite and asked as casually as she could, 

“You seem to have made a big mistake. You seem to be thinking about it a lot.” 

“Haha… It seems I’ve only shown my worst side. But you’re right. I have made a serious mistake.: 

A serious mistake. Was it as big a mistake as before, that he had to leave Irvelyn and wander alone?

But with Delfion’s next sigh and the words that followed, Dalia’s guess was once again completely off the mark.

“Sigh, I made a huge mess with my friend. They’re someone who rarely gets angry, but I didn’t really do anything to them. The problem was that the person my friend has a crush on overheard what I said and ended up with a serious misunderstanding…”

The rest of the story didn’t even reach Dalia’s ears.

Friend. Friend… Friend? Delfion Ackman wouldn’t call Irvelyn a friend.

“Please correct that. I’m not her friend. I don’t even want to be her friend.”

There was a moment when Delfion, who had always responded to Irvelyn’s words with a smile and half-closed eyes, suddenly wore a cold and expressionless face for the first time.