CHAPTER 79: HEAVY THOUGHTS

This situation arose completely unexpectedly.

I just stared at Roger in complete shock, unable to even blink, let alone react in any way. His face was too close to mine. So close that I could see my own reflection in his eyes.

No, wait... what is happening?!

My heart began to beat faster, as if anticipating something unimaginable. No, wait, is he really going to...?

I didn’t even have time to finish my thought when the carriage suddenly lurched. The metallic creak and the coachman’s voice outside told me that we had arrived at the gates of my estate.

At that moment, Roger seemed to wake up from a trance. His eyes widened for a moment, and he abruptly pulled away from me, as if frightened by his own determination. A shadow flashed across his face — a mixture of embarrassment and confusion.

"Lady Weinstein, I’m sorry... I..." He faltered and looked away awkwardly. "I didn’t mean to do that."

My thoughts at that moment were in complete chaos. I understood perfectly well that this guy had just almost kissed me. And yet... the realization of this fact really overwhelmed me.

I frowned involuntarily and cleared my throat to regain some control over the situation and put my thoughts in order.

"Sir Roger," I said, even colder than I intended, "let’s pretend nothing happened."

"Huh?" He looked up at me with a puzzled expression.

"You were just too drunk and accidentally leaned forward," I tried to speak clearly and confidently, even though my heart was still pounding in my chest. "That’s what happened, right?"

Roger was silent for a few seconds, as if hesitating, and then slowly nodded.

"Uh... yes..." he agreed, but his voice sounded as if the words were coming with difficulty.

"That’s great," I concluded, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible. "In that case, let’s drop the subject. Thank you for walking me home today."

Without giving him more time to respond, I reached decisively for the carriage handle and practically jumped out. My emotions were still running high, and I was absolutely certain that I couldn’t stay in a confined space with Roger for a second longer.

But, to my annoyance, as soon as I stepped onto the ground, he was right behind me.

"Lady Weinstein, wait!" he called out hastily.

I turned around sharply.

"Hmm?"

The young man looked as if he was struggling with himself, deciding on something that went beyond his usual restraint.

"Let me... let me say goodbye to you," he said in a surprisingly firm voice.

Before I even had time to understand what he meant, Roger had already leaned over and touched my hand with his lips. His touch was light, but no less stunning for that.

My eyes widened before I even had time to react. No, really, what is this guy doing?!

"Until we meet again, lady," Roger said quietly, his gaze lingering on me.

His eyes flashed with a strange mixture of determination and trepidation, which only confused me even more.

"Ah... I..." The words never made it past my lips.

I stood there in complete confusion as Roger slowly straightened up and, after giving me one last look, returned to the carriage.

The wheels creaked, and the carriage began to move, gradually rolling away from the gate. I involuntarily followed it with my eyes until the silhouette of the carriage disappeared into the darkness of the night.

And when silence fell, I suddenly realized that there was not a single coherent thought in my head. That’s how stunned I was by everything that had happened tonight.

Nevertheless...

"Auntie."

I jumped so suddenly that my heart seemed to leap in my chest. The voice came from right behind me. I turned around instantly.

Of course, hearing someone’s voice in the middle of the night, especially in complete silence and a dark courtyard, is not a pleasant experience. For a split second, I even imagined something completely undesirable.

But relief washed over me when I saw that it was only Ruby behind me.

She stood a few steps away from me, pressing her hands to her chest as if she were a little cold. The moonlight reflected in her amethyst eyes, making them appear to glow.

"Ah, Ruby..." I exhaled, allowing myself a slight chuckle, more like a sigh of relief. "You scared me. What are you doing here?"

I was genuinely surprised: despite the late hour, the girl was still awake.

"Auntie, I was waiting for you to come back," she admitted.

"Oh, really?" I raised my eyebrow slightly, trying to hide my embarrassment and lingering excitement, and forced myself to smile. "But you shouldn’t have! You should have gone to bed right away and not waited for me."

Ruby shook her head, her lips stubbornly pressed into a thin line.

"But I didn’t want to go to bed until you came back. I was worried."

"Worried?" Those words struck a painful chord inside me. It was a strange, warm, yet aching feeling.

I took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure, and gently stroked her hair.

"All right," I said more softly. "In that case, you don’t need to worry now. I’m here. And that’s why you need to go to bed as soon as possible."

"What about you?" Ruby asked, frowning slightly.

I hesitated for a moment. To be honest, I doubted whether I would be able to sleep at all tonight.

Nevertheless, I tried to smile, even though I was still in turmoil inside.

"I’ll get some rest soon, too. I promise."

She looked at me intently, as if to make sure I was sincere, and then finally nodded.

At that moment, I was still in turmoil.

I didn’t know how long Ruby had been here or if she had seen the scene between Roger and me that had taken place here... But in any case, I was too embarrassed to ask her about it, so I decided to just keep quiet.

So, after my long-awaited return from that ill-fated banquet, I took Ruby by the hand, and we headed home together. Meanwhile, my thoughts were still quite chaotic, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened that evening.

***

The next few days flew by in a blur for me.

I tried to live my normal life — waking up, taking care of the estate, and paying attention to Ruby — but it all felt like I was on autopilot. My mind kept returning to that one moment — the banquet at the imperial palace.

More precisely, to that very system notification.

It appeared so suddenly that at first I simply didn’t know how to react. I hoped it was just a mistake... a temporary glitch... an illusion. But the more I thought about it, the clearer it became — it had really happened.

And now I was in real horror.

That damn notification was probably one of the worst things that had happened to me since I came to this world.

"One step closer to his heart." "Mentor, or... more?"

Every time I remembered those lines, I broke out in a sweat. What was that all about?! I’m not the main character in this game. I shouldn’t be getting notifications like that!

"Damn..."

I had no idea why the game was behaving this way. Why was I at the center of this ridiculous situation? And what’s worse, I didn’t even know how to deal with it.

Even if I try to limit my communication with Roger and reduce it to a minimum... is there any guarantee that the game will let me do that? After all, up until now, it has manipulated me as it saw fit. So what’s stopping it from continuing to do the same thing?

Thoughts about this were literally eating me up inside. I couldn’t concentrate on my work or my other daily activities.

"No, seriously, how am I supposed to live and work peacefully when there’s such madness going on around me?!"

I took a deep breath, but it didn’t bring any relief.

My mood was getting darker and darker. In my work documents, I often caught myself reading the same line several times, but I couldn’t grasp the meaning.

Yes, my affairs had been, to put it mildly, disappointing lately...

Ultimately, I had been replaying the same thoughts in my head for the past few days.

And just as my thoughts began to descend into self-flagellation again, I heard a voice.

"Lady Weinstein."

I flinched unexpectedly when someone suddenly called my name.

Looking up, I saw a woman standing in front of me.

Madame Glover.

She had been watching me for some time, and her face showed slight confusion.

"Lady, are you all right?" Her voice was soft, but with noticeable concern.

"Oh, yes..."

I nodded my head in confusion.

That’s right. I completely forgot: today, Ruby’s governess wanted to discuss something with me.

I straightened up, trying to make my face look more composed, and folded my hands on the table, as befits the lady of the house, not a woman consumed by her own panicked thoughts.

"I’m sorry, Mrs. Glover. I was lost in thought. I’m listening."

"Thank you," she bowed slightly. "Well, the thing is, I wanted to talk to you about Lady Rubella."