Chapter 9: The Wandering Flower Basket
Classie, seemingly exhausted, rested her chin on her hand and stared at her plate. Even when someone approached right in front of her, she didn’t bother to lift her head.
Dernick placed a basket of flowers on Classie’s plate.
“May I sit here?”
As a soft voice accompanied the sudden bloom of flowers before her eyes, Classie finally widened her eyes and lifted her head.
Recognizing Dernick, her expression quickly shifted from surprise to a frown.
“What are you doing here?”
She asked sharply, eyeing the bouquet. The basket was filled to the brim with lush white and yellow flowers, abundant and beautiful.
It must have cost quite a fortune to gather such fresh flowers in the dead of winter.
Classie wanted to ask about the flower basket, but more than that, she wanted to first understand why this lunatic was here. So, she held back and waited patiently for an answer.
Seating himself, Dernick gestured for a waiter to come over before replying.
“Kishin isn’t coming. So I came instead.”
Classie’s brows furrowed. She didn’t trust this silver-haired man at all. From the moment they first met, everything between them had been nothing but lies.
“I don’t believe you,” she muttered flatly.
Ignoring her, Dernick took the menu from the approaching waiter.
“I’ll have the recommended dish,” he said, returning the menu as soon as he received it.
The waiter glanced between Classie, Dernick, and the flower basket before heading to the kitchen.
Once the waiter was out of earshot, Dernick extended his hand.
“I’m Dernick. Nice to meet you. I never got the chance to tell you my name before due to some circumstances. My apologies.”
“You did tell me your name. It was just a lie.”
“Exactly. So I never actually told you my real name, did I?”
With a wink, Dernick clapped his hands as he eyed the plates stacked before her.
“Miss Classie, you have quite the appetite.”
Classie suddenly felt the urge to grab her bag and leave. Was Kishin Hayward truly not coming?
“Sir Kishin… really isn’t coming?”
Instead of leaving, she asked in a subdued voice. As crazy as Dernick was, he seemed close to Kishin, so she figured she might as well ask.
“Uh-huh. Nope.”
“Why not?”
“He’s just like that. He doesn’t like women.”
“!”
Classie’s eyes went round as chestnuts, and Dernick burst into laughter.
“What are you thinking? Not for the reason you’re imagining.”
“Then why?”
“He simply has no interest in romance or marriage.”
Classie blinked. Kishin Hayward looked to be around her age. If he had no interest in romance or marriage… did that mean he had no inheritance or title to claim?
If he had a poor relationship with his parents and couldn’t become an heir, then he wouldn’t need to concern himself with political marriages. The same went for self-made men.
Was Kishin Hayward one of those cases?
“Then, Sir Kishin… does he perhaps have someone else he likes?”
“No. He just has no interest in that sort of thing at all. He’s a workaholic. If he ever gets married one day, it’ll probably be to a famous sword.”
Classie’s spirits sank. What did it matter whether Kishin Hayward was a self-made soldier or an estranged son? He had no interest in her whatsoever.
The waiter arrived with their food.
“Do you want more?”
Dernik took half of the food on his plate and placed it onto Classie’s.
She shook her head. The yellow, flat egg looked delicious, but she was already full. She had only kept ordering food because she was waiting for Kishin.
Dernik started eating alone, unconcerned. He spoke like a lunatic and acted like a con artist, yet his table manners were unexpectedly perfect.
Classie sat there weakly, lost in thought, while Dernik ate about half of his meal. What was it about her that Kishin didn’t like?
But as she remained deep in thought, she suddenly realized that Dernik had stopped eating and was staring at her. His chin rested on his hand, openly watching her with amusement.
“What?”
Annoyed by his entertained expression, she asked. Dernik grinned and spoke.
“You regret it, don’t you?”
“Regret what?”
“Writing that letter. You regret writing to Kishin and ending up hurting your pride.”
“No.”
Classie answered curtly and stared dejectedly at the flower basket.
“Liar. You do regret it, don’t you?”
But Dernik, like a gleeful hyena who had found its prey, pressed on.
Classie had no energy left to argue, so she replied.
“It’s not like this is my first time getting rejected. If I’d just let it pass despite liking him, I’d regret it even more. It’s better to be rejected outright.”
She left out the last part of her thought: Compared to losing to Merran, getting rejected is a hundred times better.
Surprisingly, after thinking that, the heaviness in her heart felt lighter.
That’s right. Being rejected by Kishin Hayward himself was a much better situation. It was far preferable to Merran stepping in with her angelic smile and snatching him away.
Her slightly improved mood even made her feel a little grateful toward Dernik, whom she had considered nothing more than a lunatic.
When she looked up, she found that Dernik had wiped the smile from his face and was gazing at her seriously.
Fidgeting with the flowers, Classie awkwardly smiled and belatedly spoke.
“Did you come in Kishin’s place because he dumped me in silence? To comfort me? Thanks.”
“I didn’t come to comfort you.”
However, the gratitude disappeared like sand washed away by the tide as soon as she saw the meaningful smile in Dernik’s eyes.
“Then? Did you just come because you were bored and felt like informing me?”
“No.”
Dernik winked, and for a split second, Classie thought, Is this guy seriously insane?
“Then what?”
Suppressing her irritation, she asked, and Dernik pushed the bouquet toward her.
“You’re Miss Merran’s aunt, right?”
“……”
“Give this to your niece.”
Classie felt her heart sink painfully. She had thought it was a relief that she was only rejected by Kishin and hadn’t been dragged into anything involving Merran. But now, the moment she got rejected, Merran was already receiving someone else’s courtship right before her eyes.
She rubbed her temples before standing up.
“Give it to her yourself. You know where my house is.”
“Aw, but that’d be embarrassing.”
“Merran is popular and gets a lot of flowers. You won’t feel embarrassed. Just give it to her yourself.”
Classie spoke coldly before flinching.
Dernik had suddenly cupped his face in both hands, lowering his head as if bashfully shy.
What the hell is that? As she stared at him in disbelief, Dernik sneakily glanced at her from the corner of his eye and whispered in a playful tone.
“I’m the one who’s embarrassed.”
Classie had the urge to smack his head with the flower basket. Is he messing with me?
“Get over it!”
She shouted furiously, grabbed her bag, and marched toward the cashier.
The cashier, who had apparently heard their entire conversation, looked at her with sympathy and spoke.
“The owner said he’ll give you a discount on your meal. Since you ate so much.”
Did she really eat that much, or had the owner also heard everything?
Suspicious but still polite, Classie thanked them, quickly took the bill, paid, and left the restaurant without looking back.
A dull ache throbbed in her heart—not because she was rejected, but because that lunatic had irritated her.
***
Even after Classie left, Dernik leisurely finished his meal.
The waiters, knowing that Classie had been waiting for someone since early morning, glared at him as they passed, but he continued eating unbothered.
He was so relaxed and slow about it that, eventually, the waiters gave up glaring at him because their eyes hurt.
When he finally finished eating and walked to the counter, the cashier spoke sulkily.
“You should take that flower basket with you.”
“Oh.”
As if he had completely forgotten about it, Dernik glanced at the basket on the table. Then, he took out three gold and silver coins from his wallet and handed them over.
“Deliver it to the blue-roofed house on Hode Street No. 12.”
The cashier’s irritation vanished at the sight of the gleaming coins, and they asked politely,
“To whom should I address it?”
“Miss Merran.”
After that, Dernik wandered around town doing whatever he pleased before returning home.
But when he whistled his way into the house, he was met with the butler standing stiffly, wearing an awkwardly forced smile.
“…What? What’s going on?”
Sensing something ominous, Dernik took half a step back.
Before the butler could answer, the cause of it all descended the stairs. Kishin.
Dernik immediately tensed—then relaxed after seeing Kishin’s expression.
“Oh, it’s just this.”
Most people couldn’t distinguish between Kishin’s cold expressions, but Dernik knew them well. Right now, Kishin’s face showed no particular emotion.
Once inside the room, Dernik personally poured Kishin some tea and asked,
“What brings you here unannounced? Even my butler’s on edge because of you.”
Kishin elegantly lifted his teacup and replied.
“Do you ever announce yourself before visiting my office?”
“Fair enough.”
Dernik grinned and leaned against the desk, watching Kishin with curiosity. He didn’t mind Kishin dropping by unannounced, but his friend never visited just to hang out.
Even as close friends, Kishin never came over just to chat.
After taking a sip of tea and frowning slightly, Kishin finally asked,
“Did you meet Miss Classie?”
Dernik raised an eyebrow before breaking into a wide smile.
“Well, well. Since when do you ask things like that? Are you feeling regretful after rejecting her? I did find her a little cute once we talked.”
Kishin said nothing and simply gestured toward the wall.
Turning his head, Dernik spotted a familiar flower basket sitting by the curtains—the one he had instructed to be delivered to Merran.
Dernik furrowed his brow and pointed at the basket.
“…Why is that here?”
“I brought it.”
Kishin set down his teacup and coolly answered.
Dernik, still confused, asked,
“Why? I sent that to Miss Merran.”
“And Miss Merran sent it to me, saying it was too much and that she was returning it.”
“…What? Why would she send it to you?”
“That’s why I came here. Thanks to this huge flower basket being ‘returned’ in front of the guards, I have now… publicly been dumped.”
If I laugh now, I’m dead.
Dernik covered his mouth with one hand and widened his eyes in mock surprise.
But just as Dernik knew Kishin well, Kishin knew Dernik too. He caught on that Dernik was holding back laughter and stood from the sofa.
Sensing danger, Dernik quickly backed away and raised his hands in defense.
“Wait, wait! This isn’t my fault! I think Miss Classie must’ve been getting revenge on you.”
Kishin’s forehead tensed.
“…Revenge?”
“Well, you did reject her.”
“That’s not something to seek revenge for. I have no obligation to date her.”
“True. But you did reject her rudely. So maybe she’s getting back at you?”
“!”
“I told Miss Classie that you weren’t interested in women at all. Maybe she wanted to ruin your reputation by making it seem like you were dumped instead. Pretty convincing, huh?”
* * *
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