Twisted Men and Women

Just what kind of huge mistake did a guy like me end up making?

I should have been trying to raise her favorability as a match candidate and approaching her step by step, but instead, I blurted out something that sounded like a critique to her face at our first meeting, so it was obvious her favorability would hit rock bottom.

Still, I managed to explain that I didn’t say it while looking at her face, but while looking at her eyes.

The problem is that she’s been bowing her head for a long time now, without saying a word.

For some reason, I feel like she’s even more flustered after hearing my explanation, is it just my imagination?

“…Raise your head a bit. It’s embarrassing to have someone in front of you.”

Was it because I thought it was too late to put on a mask?

I was using informal speech towards her as if she were a subordinate, without even realizing that I should be using honorifics.

My skewed posture, as if I’d given etiquette to the dogs, and fierce eyes that looked like they could devour a person were a bonus.

She must be confused whether the person in front of her is really the second son of the Lierde family, or just some horse bone that rolled in from somewhere.

“I, I’m sorry. I was a little flustered…”

“No need to beat around the bush. If you felt bad, just say so honestly. It’s my fault for being rude to you right off the bat.”

I don’t know why the guy who made the mistake is blaming the victim, but anyway, I inadvertently raised my voice at her somewhat frustrating attitude.

Then she quickly waved her hand as if it were absurd.

Looking closely, I don’t know if it’s because of the makeup, but her cheeks had a light reddish tint.

“Ah, no. I don’t know if I should call it rude… It’s just that I’ve never heard such a story before, so I’m just flustered, as you said. You don’t have to blame yourself so much.”

“Really? If that’s the case, then that’s a relief…”

Even though I was suspicious, I didn’t sense that she was feeling as bad as I expected, so I tilted my head and pretended to agree.

After that, the situation somehow calmed down, and an atmosphere where we could finally talk was created.

“I’d like to introduce myself again. I’m Sylvia of the Eleanor family. I look forward to working with you as your fiancé from now on.”

“I’m Kyle Lierde. More importantly, fiancé?”

But as soon as she opened her mouth, as if an atmosphere had been created, there was a very annoying word, so I frowned without realizing it.

Fiancé, what does that mean?

It’s true that we officially met today under the pretense of a matchmaking meeting, but nothing has been decided yet as to whether it will lead to an engagement.

In the first place, we, the parties involved, haven’t even had a proper conversation yet, and we haven’t even made a decision, so what the hell is this talk about engagement?

“Yes? Perhaps, did Lierde-gongja-nim not hear? This meeting today was created to promote exchanges between the two families and our engagement…”

“Of course I know. However, what I mean is, the meeting isn’t even over yet, so what the hell are you talking about engagement for?”

“Then, does gongja-nim not want to get engaged? If so, why are you here…?”

“No, that’s not what I mean… Haa.”

Seeing her tilting her head as if she really didn’t know why I came here, a sigh flowed out on its own.

Does this woman really not know what I mean?

What I mean is, why is our engagement being treated as a foregone conclusion?

“Hey, Sylvia Eleanor.”

“Yes, Lierde-gongja-nim.”

Before I knew it, I called her full name and spoke as if growling, but despite that, she didn’t seem to care at all.

As if this attitude is so natural, she’s just waiting for my question to continue, with different colored eyes shining.

In order to create even a little crack in that calm face, I consciously raised my voice and even kicked the table as I spoke.

“Are you really going to get engaged to a guy like me? The world calls me the first failure of the Lierde family, and I’m a pathetic guy who spits out informal language to a young lady I’ve just met and gives etiquette to the dogs?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I heard from my father today that you would be my fiancé. At that point, my will doesn’t matter anymore.”

“……”

This woman is pretty crazy too.

I never thought I would say such a thing to someone, but I have no choice but to express it that way.

Sylvia Eleanor, this woman is also very twisted in some ways.

It’s just that the direction of that twist is a little different from the twist that happened to me.

“Even though it’s about choosing a spouse to spend your whole life with?”

“There’s no way a husband would spend his whole life with a daughter like me anyway. Wouldn’t it be a good opportunity?”

“Because you’re a witch?”

“…Yes.”

It was only a very short conversation, but through it, I could vaguely guess where her twist originated.

In my case, the anger and contempt that was directed at myself gradually began to be directed at the people around me who were trying to bite and tear me apart, and as a result, I became what the world commonly calls a villain, or a thug.

But this woman is the opposite.

She fully accepted the arrows of criticism and ridicule that were directed at her from the surroundings and blamed everything on herself, so she reached a state of accepting and embracing everything.

If the process of reaching that state of enlightenment comes from benevolence, you become a saint, but if it comes from self-blame, you become a broken doll like this.

It’s absurd.

In a way, we’ve lived similar lives, but as a result, completely opposite results are born and stand side by side facing each other like this.

At this point, I’m almost laughing.

“Okay, I’ll take your admirable intentions into consideration. But Sylvia Eleanor, you only know one thing and don’t know two.”

“What do you mean?”

Is that why?

I decided to play a prank on her with a feeling of relief, as if I was playing in the garden and committing eccentricities when I was young.

Because I wanted to create a crack in that face that seemed to accept everything indifferently.

It was an act born from pure malice.

“If you really wanted to make this engagement happen, shouldn’t you have at least known the other man’s tastes in advance?”

“Tastes… If it’s okay with you, could you give me some guidance?”

She’s really something.

I deliberately scanned her blatantly to cause as much displeasure as possible, but here she is, shining her eyes and asking for guidance.

But I’m not a sane guy either.

Now that I’ve started, I have to see it through to the end.

“For example, your outfit. I hate women who are all wrapped up like you’re something expensive. Don’t tell me you’re going to be like that on our wedding night too?”

“Ah, no. That’s not… It’s just that I have a habit of covering up because I have an unattractive body…”

When I pointed to her chest and made an explicit remark with a bitter smile, her face finally blushed for the first time and she looked flustered.

I got her.

I clenched my hand that I had unconsciously hidden behind my back and shouted for joy.

By the way, it’s all painted black, so it’s hard to see in detail, but even at a glance, it doesn’t seem like she has a lacking body. She definitely has low self-esteem.

“I, I was short-sighted. Lierde-gongja-nim. After the engagement, I will try to match your tastes as much as possible, so please…”

“Hmm…”

Even though I was sexually harassing a young lady I had just met at a matchmaking meeting and spitting out informal language, the woman is begging me. It’s really something to see in this world.

Anyway, I’m just grateful.

After all, continuing my relationship with her was my first goal, and I have to carry it out in order to take her head, which is my final goal.

“Okay, I’m as desperate as you are anyway… Let’s get along well, we’re both lacking.”

“Yes…! Thank you, Lierde-gongja-nim.”

I hide that dirty purpose and offer my hand as if nothing happened.

In response, she nods, showing a smile that makes the surroundings brighten up on their own, as if she’s not the same person who had been expressionless until just now.

“…Okay.”

The moment I faced that smile, for some reason, a tingling sensation spread throughout my body from one corner of my chest.

It felt like somewhere in my head, I heard a clamor to dig into what was beyond that tingling sensation I had just felt, but I stubbornly closed my ears, turned away, and closed my eyes tightly.

It couldn’t have been because her smile was dazzling.

Yes, it’s because the sunlight shining through the glass window, like when I opened that door and came in earlier, is particularly dazzling today. That must be it.

I repeated it to myself over and over again.