Ian and Lilian sat across from each other, savoring the pastries on the table.
As for why Ian chose a pastry shop as the first stop of their date, it was because he had heard that every girl loved sweets.
He figured that even though Lilian was a Demon Race executive, she was still a girl, so he thought she would probably like it too, and brought her here.
“How is it? Tasty enough?”
Ian asked Lilian across the table.
“It’s okay.”
Lilian picked up a pastry from the table, put it in her mouth, and chewed slowly.
‘What does “okay” mean? Could it be that this place doesn’t meet her expectations?’
“Would you like to try some other pastries?”
Ian asked Lilian tentatively.
He thought Lilian might be dissatisfied with the pastries in front of her, so he wanted to order something else for her to try.
“Anything.”
Hearing Ian’s question, Lilian nodded slightly.
After all, she had no experience with dates and didn’t know how they worked, so she would just let Ian lead.
After receiving Lilian’s affirmative reply, Ian waved and called over the waiter.
“Hello, sir, what else can I help you with?”
The waiter asked Ian in a low voice.
“Do you have any other recommended pastries?”
Ian asked the waiter.
“Our recommended pastries include these…”
And so, the waiter began to introduce the shop’s specialties to Ian.
What Ian didn’t notice was that not far away, two figures were watching him.
“Miss, this pastry is so delicious!”
Elise said to Aetherinra in front of her while savoring the pastry.
“If it’s good, eat more.”
Although Aetherinra was sitting in the pastry shop at that moment, she had no interest in the pastries on the table.
Her eyes were fixed firmly on Ian and Lilian.
‘It wasn’t that she cared about Ian, but she didn’t want to see him make another mistake, and she couldn’t let him bully the maids in the Duke’s mansion. So necessary stalking was permissible.’
And so Aetherinra made up an excuse in her mind for her stalking of Ian.
Elise handed a piece of pastry to Aetherinra.
“Miss, you have some too.”
“Elise, do you remember why we came here?”
Seeing Elise only focused on eating pastries, Aetherinra felt a wave of exhaustion.
Hearing Aetherinra’s words, Elise snapped back to reality.
She glanced in Ian and Lilian’s direction.
Seeing that they weren’t doing anything intimate, she said to Aetherinra, “Miss, look, they aren’t doing anything intimate. Don’t you think we’re being paranoid?”
Although she had panicked a little when Ian first asked her about Lilian, after thinking it over carefully, Ian probably wouldn’t have any interest in Lilian.
All of this was probably just their overthinking.
And now, seeing that Ian and Lilian really weren’t doing anything intimate, Elise felt even more certain in her mind.
“How can it be paranoid? Didn’t you hear them say ‘date’ earlier? A date! That’s a date! Don’t you understand what that word means?”
Aetherinra had never been on a date herself, but she had heard that dates were for doing ‘that kind of thing.’
Imagining Ian and Lilian in bed, Aetherinra’s face flushed.
“A date? Could we be misunderstanding? Maybe what the young master meant by ‘date’ is just treating her like a friend? Maybe the young master wants to build good relations with the maids of the Duke’s mansion, so he came out to treat them to pastries?”
Elise explained and asked.
Hearing Elise’s words, Aetherinra couldn’t help but doubt her own guess in her mind.
Although Ian and Lilian had sneaked out for a date on their own, they showed no signs of intimacy.
This also made Aetherinra think Elise’s words might have some merit.
Could it really be, as Elise said, that Ian and that maid were just friends?
“Miss, if it were really a date, they wouldn’t just sit there doing nothing, right? At least they’d feed each other, wouldn’t they?”
Although Elise was young, she often read romance novels from this world in the Duke’s mansion, so that she would have experience when she later dated Ian.
In those romance novels, dates always involved intimate acts.
But now, Ian and Lilian had no intimate behavior between them, so Elise confidently concluded that Ian and Lilian were not in that kind of relationship; they were just friends.
So she confidently reassured Aetherinra, “Don’t worry, Miss. I don’t think the young master has any feelings for Lilian.”
“I hope so,” Aetherinra replied.
“But, Miss, I want to ask you something,” Elise continued.
“What is it?”
“Miss, why do you care so much about the young master’s actions?”
“Huh?”
Hearing Elise’s question, Aetherinra jumped up in shock.
Realizing her reaction was odd, Aetherinra quickly sat back down.
Fortunately, Ian was still choosing pastries and wasn’t disturbed by the commotion.
So he didn’t notice Aetherinra and Elise.
Seeing that Ian wasn’t looking their way, Aetherinra responded to Elise.
“What do you mean ‘care’? I don’t care about Ian at all, okay?”
“Not care? But I feel like recently, whenever the topic of the young master comes up, you’re very interested, miss,” Elise asked, puzzled.
“That’s because I want to repay a favor. Think about it—you and Ian helped me in the Labyrinth before. Don’t I need to repay that help? So I ask about Ian and follow him to find out if he’s having any troubles, just to repay the favor. I don’t care about Ian at all.”
“Is that so?”
Elise tilted her head.
Although Aetherinra’s words made sense, she still wasn’t entirely convinced.
“That’s how it is, Elise. Don’t you believe me? Later, if you have any troubles, I’ll help you too. Don’t worry about my matters. You should eat your pastries quickly—they won’t taste good if they sit too long.”
“Ah? Really?”
Hearing Aetherinra’s words, Elise hurriedly picked up the pastries on the table and ate them.
Seeing that Elise had no intention of pressing further, Aetherinra finally relaxed.
Then, she continued to look toward Ian, but discovered a sight that shocked her to the core.
“How could Ian be kissing that maid?”
Seeing this, the light in Aetherinra’s eyes faded, and she stood frozen in place.