Iyana emerged from Vyan's room laughing after teasing him, only to collide head-on with Clyde, who stood there looking just as surprised.
For a brief moment, they locked eyes, both wearing expressions that screamed, 'Well, this is awkward.'
"I got lost," she blurted out, her face deadpan.
"Lost?" Clyde couldn't help but crack a mischievous smile. "Ah, the classic 'lost in the castle' excuse after coming out of a room you shouldn't be. Missed Vyan much?"
"Why aren't there any guards around here?" she questioned, desperately trying to change the subject.
Clyde raised an eyebrow, his grin widening. "Oh, I thought you would be thrilled! Easy access to Vyan's room anytime you want. Convenient, isn't it?"
Iyana rolled her eyes. "Why on earth would I want that?"
Scoffing, she tried to make an easy run for it.
"Lady Iyana," Clyde called after her, "Ask Vyan for a house tour, why don't you? It might save you the trouble of getting lost again."
"I will be sure to do so." With that, she hurried away, leaving Clyde chuckling to himself.
Meanwhile, Clyde happily sauntered over to Vyan's room, where he found Vyan pacing around, his face flushed.
"Up early, aren't we?" Clyde remarked, trying not to laugh at Vyan's disheveled state. "What's got you sprinting around like a tomato on the loose?"
"That woman!" Vyan exclaimed, his face flushing even redder.
"The infamous 'that woman' strikes again," Clyde teased. "What did she do this time?"
Vyan halted his pacing, looking utterly flustered. "She—she—ugh, it's too embarrassing to say! She is just simply impossible!"
"Fair enough," Clyde shrugged and sarcastically commented, "I totally understood your gibberish."
"Stop making fun of me and focus on damage control! Have Benedict organize a security plan for my door."
"Sure, Benedict would be over the clouds, since you have been so adamant about not having one until now."
"If having a guard at the door is what it takes to keep Iyana from barging into my room, I will happily accept it."
Clyde chuckled and reminded, "And while you are recovering from your meltdown, don't forget about training. Sir Jacques will make you run fifty laps around the estate if you are late."
Saying so, he made his exit, leaving Vyan to stew in his embarrassment.
———
Dressed in a simple yet elegant dark green bishop-sleeved shirt paired with sleek black pants, Vyan got out of his room in a hurry. He couldn't afford to be late at any cost.
If there was anything he hated more than Iyana, it was definitely running laps.
His mind was momentarily freed from his earlier traumas as he rushed his way to his sword training session. That was until his eyes fell on Iyana.
She sat gracefully on a sofa in the hall, engrossed in a book, her presence injecting a sudden pause into Vyan's hurried steps on the staircase.
"Ugh, not her again," the groan came as soon as he spotted her.
Should he retreat and find an alternate route, or perhaps even resort to teleportation?
The temptation lingered momentarily before he shook it off as he murmured under his breath, "Why should I tiptoe around my own house because of this woman?"
He was no coward, so he shouldn't be afraid to face her, especially now that he knew he had to bear her sight until the monster hunt festival was over—which was still a month away. So he better get used to seeing her anyway.
With resolve strengthening his steps, he continued downward, unable to resist stealing glances at her attire.
She looks… lethal as always.
It had been a while since Vyan had seen her outside of her military uniform, and he couldn't help but admire the change.
Clad in a delicate white gown adorned with intricate floral patterns, her porcelain skin peeking through slender straps, and her platinum hair tied in a loose bun, she appeared almost divine.
But of course, he was well aware she was anything but divine. In fact, she was a devil in disguise.
Nevertheless, he had to be blind to deny her beauty.
As he glanced at her once more, it seemed like her dressing sense hadn't changed over the past year.
She has always liked to adorn dresses that were made of lighter fabric and seemed more revealing than the ones that the high society ladies wore.
It initially started when her sister tried to sabotage Iyana and cut her ball gown for the Empire Foundation Day party when Iyana was sixteen. While Iyana didn't even want to attend it in the first place, after being poked like that, she vowed to not let Sienna be successful.
So, she herself tailored that ruined dress into a beautiful strapless gown with slits on both sides and small waist cuts in under two hours.
Vyan clearly remembered how she shocked the entire nobility that day. She enjoyed the astonished looks on everyone's faces so much that she never went back to normal cumbersome gowns ever again.
While most people loved to think she did it for attention, Vyan knew the truth. At first, she deviously did it to get on their nerves, and then, she gradually fell in love with this modern style herself. It always gave her a powerful, defiant aura.
And he couldn't say he disliked the look on her.
"Your Grace," Iyana called out, observing Vyan's arrival at the final step of the staircase, "headed for sword training?"
Vyan gave a brisk nod in confirmation.
Setting her book down on the tea table, Iyana rose and approached him. "Once you are done with that, could you possibly give me a tour of this labyrinth you call a house? I seem to have a knack for getting lost, as you well know," she added with a hint of mischief, referring to a prior incident.
"Get Benedict to do it," Vyan suggested, a slight frown creasing his brow.
"Well, your head butler isn't exactly a fan of me," Iyana countered.
"And what makes you think that I am?" Vyan retorted.
"Fan or not, you are the host. It's only polite," she insisted.
"Congratulations on uncovering the truth about noble manners. None of us are actually polite," Vyan quipped with a tight-lipped smile, attempting to sidestep her, but she blocked his path.
"I won't let you pass until you agree to give me the grand tour," she declared, stubbornness evident in her voice.
"Oh, are you going to strong-arm me into it?" Vyan challenged back.
"If I have to," she replied, determination gleaming in her eyes.
Vyan crossed his arms and leaned in closer. "Well, be my guest."
"Don't forget you asked for it," she warned, shrugging.
"Sure, why—" He was cut off as she swiftly latched onto his elbow with her arms, her sheer strength almost jerking him down to her height.
"Hey, where do you think you are taking me?" he protested while she began dragging him off in a random direction.
"Did you have amnesia just now? We are going on a house safari, like we agreed on, Your Grace," she chirped innocently, her playful demeanor barely concealing her dubious intent.
As Vyan struggled against Iyana's surprisingly formidable grip, he couldn't help but wonder how this petite woman possessed such monstrous strength.
"Iyana, come on! I really need to get to my training," he shrieked, attempting to reason with her.
"Well, I did ask nicely for a tour after your training, but you brushed me off. So now, tough luck," she shrugged, effortlessly dragging him down the hallway.
Why do I keep digging my grave by challenging her like this? he lamented internally, realizing the futility of his resistance.
"But shouldn't an engaged woman like you refrain from manhandling a bachelor like this?" he quipped, trying to appeal to her sense of propriety.
"The man I am engaged to wouldn't even bat an eye if I pulled a whole town along into bed with me. So worry about yourself, not me," she retorted, her tone nonchalant.
He groaned in frustration and considered what Theodore would do to him if he arrived late for the training. "Okay, okay, you win! I will give you the grand tour."
Iyana halted, grinning triumphantly. "Promise?"
"What do you mean promise? Do you want me to give you a sacred oath or something?" he snapped.
"Well, who knows? You might go back on your word later," she feigned.
"Okay, fine. Promise," he let out, annoyed.
"See? Was that so hard?" she gloated, her satisfaction floating on her face.
Scowling, Vyan snatched his arm from her grip and rubbed his sore shoulder. "You are completely mad, you know that?" he exclaimed.
"After two years of being my knight, shouldn't you have figured that out already?" she shot back with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"You are impossible!" he declared, throwing his hands up in exasperation before turning to make his escape, albeit with a newfound annoyance for Iyana.
How on earth am I supposed to live under the same roof as this crazy woman for a whole month?