I opened my mouth fearfully, shooting a sharp glance at Dietrich.

I had to keep struggling to survive.

“P-please calm down and listen. It’s true that you’re overwhelmingly first, but there are two others who tie for first place.”

The blade was suddenly at my throat.

He, who had been exuding a dangerous aura, hesitated before arrogantly gesturing with his eyes. It seemed he wanted me to continue.

“Your face is truly exceptional, but I’m a beauty appraiser who has identified countless handsome men. There have been two people as handsome as you. If you saw their faces, you’d understand. Though their styles differ, the level of handsomeness is similar for all three. So much so that I’d feel bad ranking them.”

“That’s utterly unbelievable. To think there are two others in this world with beauty rivaling mine, it’s absurd.”

For a moment, I was dumbfounded by his explosive, baseless confidence.

However, looking at Dietrich’s face with one eyebrow raised crookedly, I found myself nodding inwardly.

It wasn’t baseless confidence. His face itself was the evidence.

‘What an insufferable jerk.’

But my words were sincere.

I had kidnapped two men as handsome as Dietrich.

They were Melphis and our Ren.

Though their auras and facial features differed, their beauty was comparable. It was simply a matter of preference.

However, it seemed difficult to convince Dietrich, who hadn’t seen their faces, to believe my words.

But then it happened.

With a crashing sound, part of the ceiling collapsed.

Someone nimbly infiltrated through the massive hole.

A thick smoke arose, obscuring our vision in an instant.

Immediately, someone embraced me from behind with one arm.

As the smoke gradually cleared, the intruder’s face was revealed.

‘…Ren?’

Intense green light emanated from the eyes of the man whose face was half-hidden by a hood.

A familiar color. It was undoubtedly Ren.

He was glaring at Dietrich, exuding such dense murderous intent that it seemed capable of melting everything.

Though it wasn’t directed at me, the powerful killing intent made my legs weaken slightly. He even felt a bit unfamiliar.

‘We can’t provoke Dietrich!’

I was grateful he came to rescue me, but if Dietrich got upset and swung that sword even once, we’d both be dead for sure.

There was no way I, with my amateur ability, and Ren, who was just physically strong, could stop Dietrich.

‘Withdraw your killing intent.’

I patted and stroked Ren’s arm, but nothing changed.

In the tense situation, I gathered my courage and turned to face Dietrich.

But he seemed rather intrigued.

In fact, the sword he had summoned had vanished from his possession.

“Lady Vivian, could this person be one of those you mentioned?”

“Don’t talk to Vivian, mph!”

“Hahaha, yes. Yes, it’s this friend.”

I quickly covered Ren’s mouth as he kept spouting dangerous words, and laughed awkwardly.

“Wait.”

Dietrich extended his hand towards Ren, exuding an ominous aura.

‘Is he going to attack?’

I was scared for a moment, but he merely pulled off Ren’s hood.

Then he nodded in admiration and began to clap slowly.

“Lady’s aesthetic sense is… indeed excellent.”

“R-right? I’m correct, aren’t I? He’s as handsome as you, right?”

“Of course, I’m slightly more handsome… but his beauty is undeniably extraordinary.”

Oh? Is this atmosphere completely fine now?

Looking at the situation, it seemed we could definitely survive if Ren just kept his mouth shut.

I immediately signaled to Ren with my eyes to stay quiet. In response, Ren fell silent and withdrew his killing intent.

However, his strong arm protecting me remained in place.

I carefully observed Dietrich’s expression and cautiously continued the conversation.

“…So, are you going to let us live? Since I told the truth?”

“Hmm? I never intended to kill you in the first place.”

“What? Then earlier, that talk…”

“I was just teasing you because your reactions were amusing. Lady, you seem to have quite an innocent side for a criminal featured on the front page of newspapers.”

“Ahahaha, hahaha.”

An awkward laugh like a goat’s bleat involuntarily escaped my mouth.

I knew he was strange, but is he really insane? Why on earth would he make such a vicious joke?

However, Dietrich, thinking I was genuinely laughing, joined in with an extremely pleased expression.

“Well, anyway, my business here is done, so I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“…!”

This was the most welcome news I’d heard.

The corners of my mouth shot up as if about to pierce the ceiling and wouldn’t come down, but I maintained my composure as best I could while dealing with him.

“Do you know the way out? I can guide you.”

“I already know the way. Rather…”

Why. What is it. Just leave already without saying nonsense.

I waited for his next words, extremely nervous that Dietrich might say he had changed his mind.

“Next time we meet, I’d like you to call me by my name instead of that strange ‘you’ address. ‘Dietrich,’ that is.”

“Yes! Of course!”

I pretended to agree strongly, but am I crazy to actually do that?

Bullshit! Who says we’ll meet again?

Even if we do happen to cross paths, I’ll do my utmost to avoid it.

However, Dietrich, unaware of my true thoughts, nodded with satisfaction at my affirmation.

Then he leisurely left the monitoring room.

I began to dance merrily, holding Ren’s hand that was still wrapped around my body.

“He’s finally gone! He’s finally gone! Ren, we nearly died today!”

Ren, who had been inadvertently matching my dance steps, stopped me.

“More importantly, Lady Vivian, are you hurt anywhere? What on earth happened?”

He held my cheeks with a worried expression, turning my head left and right to examine every inch.

As if determined not to miss even the smallest scratch.

“I’m glad to see you don’t appear to be injured. But how did that man get in here? I’m sorry, I should have been by your side…”

“Oh, don’t even mention it. If you and I had been together, we might both be dead. No, the target we captured earlier turned out to be ‘that’ Dietrich Belvedere. You know? When that guy opened the door and came in… I thought the Grim Reaper had come to take me away.”

I quickly summarized what had just happened, feeling elated.

Ren listened quietly to my story, but his expression gradually darkened.

“Still, it’s fortunate he turned out to be more normal than expected. The hideout is a bit wrecked, but at least we weren’t killed, right?”

I continued singing and dancing to celebrate our survival when suddenly the closed door opened.

In the current situation, there was only one person who could open that door.

Goosebumps rose all over my body. I stiffly turned my head to look behind me.

It was Dietrich. Judging by his indifferent expression, he fortunately hadn’t seen my dance moves.

“I just realized I destroyed the room earlier. Is there another room available?”

“What? What do you mean?”

I tilted my head and questioned back.

What on earth was he talking about, suddenly reappearing like this?

“Weren’t you supposed to keep the kidnapped handsome men locked up for a month? I can’t be the only exception.”

“…Pardon?”

I take back what I said about him seeming normal.

In the dining room of the hideout.

Vivian, in the middle of her meal, sighed deeply as she looked at the man before her eyes.

“…Is it delicious?”

“It’s quite alright. It seems your subordinate is quite skilled at cooking too. As expected, handsome people are talented in other areas as well.”

Dietrich stabbed his food with a fork and put it in his mouth. Then he smiled with an annoying expression.

“Hahaha, yes…”

Vivian answered with a sour face.

‘How did it come to this?’

To think she was calmly having a meal face to face with that man.

Vivian recalled the events of the past few days.

It started with Dietrich insisting on staying here.

He should have just gone home, but he claimed that he too should be locked up here for a month like the other handsome men.

So Vivian reluctantly gave him a room. Even handing over the key.

‘If I don’t give it to him and try to confine him, he might break down the door and come out again…’

At that time, she just wanted to save on building repair costs.

However, after living with him for a few days, she realized it might have been better to just lock him up, repair costs be damned.

‘Even if I gave him the key, why does he keep coming in and out like this! Is this a hotel or what!’

Vivian wanted to grab Dietrich by the collar and demand answers, but she held back. It definitely wasn’t because she was afraid of him.

During the five days that felt like five years, Dietrich persistently annoyed her.

He joined in for meals every time, and when she was busy checking the streets for handsome men, he would openly stand behind her and watch.

He even came looking for her when he was bored, demanding that she praise his face again like she did before.

‘Ah, it’s exhausting. I wish the month would pass quickly…’

The thought of having to spend another three weeks with him made her head throb.

‘He’s really a weirdo. No, but still better than Melphis. He’s not as bad as that guy.’

While Dietrich was certainly a strange person, he couldn’t compare to Melphis.

That guy was crazy enough to come looking for her every quarter, disguised, wanting to be kidnapped again.

Even when asked why, he would just spout nonsense while evading the question, so she couldn’t even understand his exact purpose.

If Vivian had to pick the most frustrating person in her kidnapping career, Melphis would undoubtedly be number one.

The narcissistic looks-obsessed man was unfortunately in second place.

‘Well, on second thought, Dietrich is like an angel.’

At least there was a guarantee that he would go home after three weeks.

Vivian sighed as she realized the predicament she had gotten herself into, entangled with these strange men.

That’s when it happened.

The door opened and Ren urgently called for Vivian.

“Lady Vivian! I’m sorry to interrupt your meal, but a handsome man has appeared.”

“It’s okay, I was almost finished eating anyway.”

Vivian hurriedly stood up from her seat.

But then Ren suddenly approached her and lifted her chin.

Naturally, their faces came close together.

Then, Ren’s thumb brushed across her lips.

“There was something on your mouth.”

Ren smiled a refreshing smile as he narrowed his eyes gently.

“I’m not a child, I didn’t notice. Thanks.”

“Taking care of you is my pleasure, Lady Vivian.”

Ren naturally put his arm around her shoulders, pretending to lead her outside.

Then he slightly turned his head back and gave Dietrich a cold glare.

“Hooh…”

Dietrich let out a small exclamation, as if he had discovered something interesting.