Chapter 63: A Date Invitation
“A date?!”
It took a few seconds for Armand’s brain to process those two words from Evelia, words that had completely frozen his mind.
“A date?!”
He even shouted it again, a little too loudly. Noticing the stares from people around him, he quickly shut his mouth in embarrassment. After taking a deep breath, he leaned down slightly and asked Evelia in a low voice, trying to sound calm.
“You mean… you want to go on a date with me?”
“Yes, Mr. Armand,” Evelia nodded seriously, her tone firm. “I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d want to go on a date with besides you.”
“Uh-huh…”
Hearing this, Armand rubbed his nose happily. It seemed like all his earlier self-doubt had disappeared.
‘Of course, in this whole estate, I’m probably the only one Evelia could be interested in. I mean, just look at me, my conditions speak for themselves.’
He was even starting to feel a bit smug.
This showed just how important Evelia’s approval was to him. Even the golden medal given to him by the Crown Prince didn’t make him feel this proud.
“So—uh… for the date, is there somewhere you’d like to go? Is there a place you're interested in?”
Armand, who had been single since birth, suddenly felt a strange pressure after calming down a bit.
Because the truth was… he had no idea what people actually did on a date.
Armand was a very popular and handsome man, but that didn’t mean he had any real experience in love to match his looks. Because of his busy work and constant dream of early retirement, Armand was now 26 years old and had never been in a relationship. Who has time for romance when you're a corporate slave? He was always too busy saving money for his future retirement life.
That’s why Armand didn’t really understand what dating involved. All he knew was that it was something couples did to spend more time together, and he assumed it was the guy’s job to plan everything. He didn’t mind spending the money, but as for where to go and what to do… he had no idea. He had no experience. Maybe he should go ask that guy Carle for advice...
Wait a minute.
The question he had just brushed aside suddenly returned.
Why was she calling this a date?
A couple in love… A couple in love!
Armand kept repeating those words in his mind.
When did Evelia and him become that close? Since when did it make sense to use words like love or date?
He almost fell for it…
Armand even let out a small sigh of relief in his heart. Thank goodness he caught himself in time. Otherwise, Evelia would’ve dragged him into her pace again.
“Eve.”
“Yes, Mr. Armand?”
“When you said ‘date’… you meant…?”
“Hmm… I meant going to the festival together,” Evelia explained very seriously.
— ‘I knew it!’
Armand shouted in his head.
— ‘You sneaky little…! I knew it!’
His sense of relief quickly turned into disappointment.
— ‘Sigh… I knew it…’
“Who told you that? Who told you that weird term?”
“Anna.”
“Who?”
Even though it was a super common name, there wasn’t anyone named Anna in this estate. And even though Armand was bad at remembering names, he wasn’t that bad, he’d definitely should remember someone named Anna.
“My friend, Liliana.”
To Evelia, since Anna called her a friend, then it was only natural for her to consider Liliana her friend too. She was used to being alone and didn’t really know what friends were supposed to do, but whether she agreed or not didn’t make much difference to her, so she just went along with it. Besides, Anna could give her advice when needed. Compared to herself, a true teenage girl like Anna probably had more useful thoughts on this kind of thing.
“Liliana…”
Meanwhile, Armand was trying to remember if he had seen a person named Liliana in any of the classified files. But no matter how much he thought, the name sounded more like one of those code names. He was pretty sure he hadn’t come across it before.
Is Liliana one of Evelia’s fellow agents using a fake name?
Or… is she really just an ordinary friend of Evelia’s?
Wait, Evelia actually has a friend?
For some reason, Armand was genuinely surprised in his heart. Evelia had that kind of cold personality. So for someone to not only be her friend but to actually be called a friend by her, that person must be really amazing.
Could it be someone even more cold than Evelia? Wow… is there really someone like that out there?
“So, Mr. Armand, can you accept my invitation? Will you go on a date with me?”
Evelia still seemed focused on this "date invitation." However, she had already thought through two possible outcomes, whether Armand said yes or no, she had a plan.
Of course, it would be best if he said yes. After all, most of her plans were based on the idea that Armand would agree.
“No... Evelia, before I say yes or no, I want to tell you, this kind of thing isn’t really called a date…”
“It’s not?” Evelia tilted her head. “Anna said a date is when two people eat sweets and talk together.”
“Well, that’s not wrong… but a festivity and a date are a little different…”
“No sweets at the festival?”
“There are sweets…”
Though honestly, Armand didn’t really like those overly sweet, sticky desserts.
“No talking?”
“Well, there is talking…”
But Armand was the kind of guy who’d rather be left alone with a drink on the balcony, undisturbed.
“Then isn’t that a date?”
“—Uh…”
Armand was suddenly at a loss for words, completely caught off guard by Evelia’s question. He felt like he was about to walk right into her trap.
“In any case, they’re different. A date is a date, and having fun is having fun.”
“Then… does that mean Mr. Armand doesn’t want to go on a date with me…?”
“I said they’re two totally different things—”
Armand tried to explain further, but as soon as he looked up, he saw Evelia’s innocent, harmless gaze. She looked like a kitten that had just been abandoned, longing for someone to pick her up instead of pushing her away and leaving her all alone.
Ugh! This is so frustrating!
Just one look, and Armand knew he couldn’t say no to her. He scolded himself in his heart, like he was saying, “You really have no willpower at all.”
“Fine, fine… it’s just a party, right? I’ll go.”
But thinking about how he had already planned to invite Evelia to the ball anyway, Armand felt a little better. He told himself that he wasn’t giving in because of her sad eyes, he already had this plan. He was just… going with the flow.
Seriously… with a face that pretty, why don’t you just use it nicely like this more often? Isn’t this way better? Why do you always frown and glare at me for no reason?
Armand grumbled in his heart while looking at Evelia’s expression. What he didn’t know was that the reason Evelia often looked like she was frowning was because she was trying to act cute… but it always came out wrong. Now, because she wasn’t thinking about how she looked, she actually seemed more adorable, gentle and touching.
“That’s great. Thank you, Mr. Armand.”
She said that, but there was still no emotion in her tone at all. It was unbelievably stiff.
“Oh, right, Eve.”
“Yes, Mr. Armand?”
“That date—I mean, the festival, make sure you don’t tell anyone it’s a date, got it? It’s just a party, okay?”
Worried that Evelia might say the wrong thing to someone, Armand had no choice but to carefully remind her again about how to say it.
“Okay, I understand, Mr. Armand. Our date is a secret. I won’t tell anyone. It’s our secret date.”
“Huh? No—wait—”
Just as Armand was about to correct her again, Evelia suddenly turned and walked away, as if she was afraid he might change his mind. That left Armand standing there awkwardly, rubbing his forehead helplessly.
“I told you it’s not a date…”
He mumbled to himself, but even if it wasn’t a real date, for some reason… his heart was beating a little faster.
A festival, huh…
Looks like… he had to put in the effort this time.