“Why don’t you try rejecting him more directly? From what I see, the young lord doesn’t seem to understand polite words.”

“More directly…?”

Iris, who had already expressed her intentions once in a rather direct manner, tilted her head in confusion.

How could she be any more direct than that?

Eric lowered his voice so Oscar couldn’t hear and replied.

“Just honestly tell him that you dislike him.”

Iris’s eyes widened. No matter how honest she tried to be, it was difficult for her to speak so bluntly due to her personality. She bit her lip with a troubled expression.

Anticipating such a reaction, Eric spoke in a gentle tone.

“The young lord keeps acting disrespectfully towards you. It’s okay to get angry and say harsh words to someone who’s in the wrong.”

Even if she rejected Oscar’s feelings, the Vandermir ducal family couldn’t completely suppress the Hugo marquis family.

Besides, what’s wrong with saying you dislike someone because you dislike them?

Eric didn’t agree with the social values that dictated that noble ladies should always consider others’ feelings, be considerate, and reject gently.

“For example, like me today, coming here after staying up all night and showing signs of fatigue. You can tell me straightforwardly that it’s annoying and impolite.”

In fact, this was what Eric had wanted to tell her since earlier.

He was grateful yet sorry that Iris was still being considerate of him even in situations that would make her uncomfortable.

He wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to do that.

“Of course, you probably didn’t think that far. I mean you can express your emotions directly without beating around the bush.”

Eric finished speaking with a gentle smile.

Iris’s expression became complicated. She glanced at Oscar, who was following them to the point of disgust.

‘Can I really just honestly say that I dislike him…?’

She wasn’t fully convinced yet. Still, thinking of Arasila, she felt it might be better to end things on good terms.

In the end, the walk ended without her making a decision on what to do.

Iris and Eric moved to the social club as planned. Oscar persistently followed the two again.

Seeing him enter right after them, Iris bit her lip tightly.

Fortunately, Oscar didn’t join their table and went somewhere else. However, she couldn’t let her guard down as he might barge in at any moment and cause a scene.

With so many eyes in the social club, there was a risk of getting caught up in a scandal with Oscar if she wasn’t careful.

As Iris kept glancing around anxiously, Eric gently touched the back of her hand.

“Lady Hugo, relax. I’ll step in if the Vandermir young lord comes over.”

“What? No, it’s fine.”

Iris waved her hands, not wanting to cause Eric any more trouble. Eric pushed the tea he had ordered for her and said,

“But don’t you think it would be much more comfortable if you knew someone had your back?”

“But…”

“It’s okay, you can rely on me comfortably. I need to maintain this relationship with you too.”

He pulled up the corners of his mouth gently, showing a smile that was soothing just to look at.

Iris, who had always been a pillar of support for others as the eldest daughter and firstborn, felt a strange sensation, having never leaned on anyone before.

It felt awkward and uncomfortable, yet somehow reassuring.

As Iris nodded slightly with a more composed expression, Eric seemed satisfied.

However, contrary to their worries, Oscar didn’t cause any disturbance in the social club.

Rather, it was strange how he wasn’t showing himself at all, to the point of being suspicious.

“I wonder why we can’t see the Vandermir young lord?”

“I think he might have gotten distracted by the entertainment and forgotten about us.”

“Hmm, that could be the case.”

While the area near the entrance where the two were sitting was relatively tame, the social club was filled with various entertainments as you went deeper inside.

Since Oscar had passed by them on his way in, he might have found something more interesting inside and gotten caught up in it.

“Viscount Roberts, excuse me for a moment.”

Iris, who had drunk too much tea due to nervousness, stood up after asking for permission.

As she headed to the restroom, she quickly scanned the interior with her eyes. As expected, Oscar was nowhere to be seen.

‘Did he really go deep inside, or did he go home…?’

While it was a relief for now either way, it was still unsettling in the long run.

It meant he had only backed off for today, and there was a high chance he would be bothersome again next time.

‘Maybe I should have ended it today after all.’

She sighed with a hint of regret as she came out of the restroom.

“Oh my, what if someone sees us?”

A flirtatious voice was heard from around the corner. Who could be engaging in such intimate behavior in a place like this?

Iris, disgusted, tried her best not to look in that direction as she walked.

However, the coquettish voice that rang out again stopped her in her tracks.

“Kyaa! That tickles, Vandermir young lord.”

…Vandermir young lord?

Because it was an unwelcome name, Iris’s feet instinctively moved towards the source of the sound.

Sometimes people have a habit of wanting to confirm the worst scene with their own eyes.

Peeking around the corner, she saw a man and woman entangled in a dark corner of the corridor, their lips pressed together.

The man was, of course, Oscar Vandermir, and the woman was a young lady she didn’t know well.

‘So this is why he wasn’t visible, he was doing this.’

Iris, who never dreamed he would be doing such things with a woman, stood still and stared at the two in bewilderment.

She didn’t feel any sense of betrayal since she had no personal affection for Oscar, but objectively, it was ridiculous that he had been chasing after her only to be playing with another woman.

Oscar, who had been giggling and sticking close to the noble young lady, suddenly sensed a chilling presence and turned his head.

The moment their eyes met, Oscar’s face turned pale.

In truth, as soon as he entered the social club filled with his favorite entertainments, he had lost his senses.

Completely forgetting his original purpose, he was drinking and having fun when he caught the eye of a noble young lady who became interested upon hearing that he was the Vandermir young lord, and they came out to the corridor.

As always, he had no intention of serious engagement, so he planned to enjoy himself briefly without Iris knowing, ending today’s interference here and looking forward to the next opportunity.

But he never expected to be caught so quickly.

Oscar frowned and hurriedly chased after the departing Iris.

He had made big promises to his parents, and he couldn’t let it all fall apart right at the start like this.

“La-Lady Hugo! It’s a misunderstanding! That woman suddenly came onto me…!”

“Why are you explaining this to me?”

Iris retorted with a rather cold expression. A light of clear contempt shone in her eyes, which were like summer foliage.

Momentarily taken aback, Oscar couldn’t say anything, so Iris continued coldly,

“Who you meet or what you do has absolutely nothing to do with me.”

Then she turned around sharply to leave, but Oscar, who had been standing there dumbfounded, ran up and grabbed her again. Somehow, he looked excited, as if pleased.

He interpreted Iris’s unexpectedly negative reaction in a positive light.

The fact that she was responding sharply instead of just ignoring or pretending not to notice made him feel that she must have some interest in him.

“I, I see! Lady Hugo, you’re jealous right now, aren’t you? That’s why you’re angry with me, isn’t it?”

“What? Ha, that’s not…”

“That’s right! Actually, I did that to make you jealous. To confirm each other’s feelings.”

In those few seconds, Oscar’s mind was working furiously.

After he spewed out this nonsensical excuse, he grinned, leaving Iris so dumbfounded she was at a loss for words.

With so many things she wanted to say tangled up inside, she could only move her lips slightly.

Somehow interpreting her slightly open-mouthed stare, Oscar grabbed Iris’s thin wrist and pulled her.

“So why don’t you break up with Viscount Roberts now and officially start courting me? With marriage in mind, of course. I came all the way to the capital for you, despite being busy.”

Oscar bragged about his trip to the capital, which Iris hadn’t even asked for, as if he was doing her a favor.

Seeing the baseless confidence in his eyes, as if she couldn’t possibly refuse after he had said all this, made Iris’s blood boil even more.

Suppressing the angry voice that threatened to burst out, she opened her mouth as calmly as possible.

“Young lord, please stop your delusions. Didn’t I tell you clearly last time? I have no feelings for you.”

“That may be true now. But as you get to know me, you’ll fall for me too. I’m the owner of an irresistible charm, after all.”

Oscar ran his hand through his hair and smiled a smooth, buttery smile.

Although his appearance wasn’t bad, his excessive self-love had the opposite effect, making him look rather ugly and uncomfortable.

Completely unaware of this fact, Oscar raised his chin arrogantly and continued,

“Actually, there’s no reason for you not to like me, is there? Can you honestly say you dislike me? Can you tell me why I’m not to your liking?”

“…”

“See, you can’t. In fact, a secret part of your heart wants me, but you’re too shy and embarrassed to be honest.”

Iris, who had momentarily lost her words simply because she was dumbfounded, made a decision at that moment.

That everything else was unnecessary, and the right thing to do with this man was to pour out her true feelings.

‘Unni, you don’t need to be a good person for my sake. You need to be a bad person for your own sake.’

The words of her younger sister that suddenly came to mind made Iris’s decision even more firm.

And so, looking straight into Oscar’s eyes, Iris expressed her honest feelings about another person for the first time in her life.

“I dislike you, young lord.”

“…What?”

For a moment, Oscar thought he had misheard. Did he hear ‘like’ as ‘dislike’ by mistake?

However, Iris’s following words brought him back to reality.

“I dislike how you look down on people, I dislike how you push yourself onto others with arrogance rather than confidence, I dislike how you don’t show any manners despite us being potential in-laws, I dislike how shameless and selfish you are—”

“W-wait a moment. Lady Hugo, let’s take a break and—”

“Most of all, I dislike how you assume that I would like you. That’s what I dislike the most.”

Iris drove in the final nail. Oscar clutched his chest, staggering as if a stake had been driven through his heart.

It was the first time since Arasila that he had been rejected so blatantly by a woman.

The sisters had torn his heart and pride to shreds one after another.

“Let me warn you, stay away from me and Arasila from now on.”

Iris approached Oscar threateningly and warned in a low voice. As she approached, Oscar gradually backed away.

In truth, her gentle appearance shouldn’t have given any sense of danger, but fortunately, the darkness that had settled around them helped Iris.

“If you hang around us one more time, know that I’m not joking.”

While hiding her delicate features, the darkness doubled the intensity of her green eyes, completing a fairly convincing threat.

Oscar, who had somehow ended up pressed against the wall unable to move, was left behind as Iris turned away with a refreshed look on her face.

When she returned to her original seat, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were shining.

Eric tilted his head, looking at Iris who had returned with a markedly different expression.

“Did something good happen?”

“Mm, yes. Something refreshing happened.”

Iris replied with the lightest smile she had shown all day.

Although puzzled, Eric didn’t dislike her bright face, so he didn’t pry further and just smiled along with her.