Staring at the figure across from her, Mia Grant zoned out for a moment.
It was another one of the male leads she had gotten herself involved with.
She wasn't so certain because her eyesight was particularly good. It also wasn't because her feelings for them ran so deep that she could recognize one at a glance, even with his face obscured by the backlighting.
The main reason was that the blackening value above his head was simply too conspicuous!
She couldn't ignore it even if she tried.
But…
'Who could it be?'
Logically, at an event like this, the only people allowed in the lounge would be members of the Grant Family or those very close to them.
'Hayes Hughes?'
'But Hayes isn't in Jynsia today. I heard he went abroad for some academic research.'
'Then it can only be…'
'No, no, that's not right!'
Mia shook her head, trying to dispel the thought.
'How could he possibly be here?'
As she stood there in a daze, the figure rose and walked toward her.
"!" Mia instinctively spun around and bolted.
The System shrieked, [Hey, what are you doing? Why are you running?! Who cares who he is! Go for it, Host! We're here to find the other male leads, aren't we?!]
"No way! What the hell do you know?!"
"Right now, the safest bet is to find Hayes Hughes and Silas Grant! The rest of them are a total pain to deal with! They make Kian Keller look easy by comparison!"
[But how can you be sure Hayes and Silas aren't a pain to deal with?]
[Host, why are you playing favorites?]
[Their blackening values are all about the same. None of them are pushovers!]
"Mia."
A familiar voice called out from behind her. Mia's shoulders trembled, and she stopped so abruptly that she slammed right into the door.
"Ssss..." She sucked in a sharp breath. Fortunately, the brim of her hat absorbed the blow, so she didn't smash her natural nose.
"Are you hurt?" Silas Grant gripped her shoulders from behind and turned her around.
"Where does it hurt?"
As if she hadn't heard a word he said, Mia lifted her head and stared intently at the man before her.
"Bro—"
Then, remembering something, she snapped her mouth shut.
Seeing her lower her head in silence, Silas rubbed her shoulder. After making sure she was alright, he decided it was time to settle the score. "Why were you running?"
"..."
'It really is Silas Grant?'
[Host, what are you spacing out for! If you don't say something soon, his blackening value is going to max out!]
Mia snapped out of her daze and looked up again. "Brother, how did you know it was me?"
'I'm all bundled up like this, yet Silas still recognized me.'
"You came with Kian Keller. It would be hard not to notice you."
"You knew he had me locked up?!"
The System silently gave her a thumbs-up. [This way, Silas will know you weren't with Kian Keller willingly!]
"Otherwise, why do you think I told everyone I was in Portia?"
Mia's eyes widened in surprise. "So you were trying to mislead Kian Keller!"
"Kian Keller tried to tie me down with the partnership in Portia. But he didn't know that I slipped past his men and came back."
Silas pulled off the mask that was covering her face and took off her hat as well.
Two months after she had jumped into the sea right before his eyes, the girl was now standing in front of him, completely unharmed.
Even under the heavy makeup, her eyes were the same as ever. Her expressions were just as quirky and mischievous, her every thought written plainly on her face—exactly as he remembered.
He had never believed that she'd really died at sea, and just two days ago, he had guessed that she was at Kian Keller's home.
But to actually see her in the flesh, to really touch her and feel her presence... that was a completely different sensation.
His heart recognized her before his eyes did.
"!"
She let out a soft "ah" and murmured, "No wonder..."
'Silas's whole character archetype is that of a cunning old fox, a master strategist pretending to be a harmless pig to eat the tiger.'
Both he and Kian Keller were the "favored sons of heaven" type, but their personalities were polar opposites.
Kian Keller treated everyone with that same cool indifference, holding no one in high regard.
Silas, however, was warm on the surface but cold to the core. No one could get close to his heart. It was like a hard, cold stone that could never be warmed.
On the surface, he was gentlemanly and warm to everyone, but it was all just a mask.
Some people were fooled into thinking he was easy to get along with, and some girls mistakenly believed he was interested in them, rushing toward him like moths to a flame.
In reality, to him, it was all just basic social etiquette...
In reality, he wasn't interested in anyone; he even viewed them with disdain.
The person he was smiling, shaking hands, and exchanging pleasantries with one moment was, in his eyes, nothing more than an insignificant ant or a contemptible buffoon.
So, when she hadn't seen him at the funeral earlier, especially after what Serena Grant had said, she had automatically filed herself under the "buffoon" category.
'No matter what, I was the one who hooked him. How could he be so cold to me?'
'It made me seriously doubt my own charm.'
'Turns out, it wasn't my fault after all.'
Silas had no idea what was going through her mind, only that she was stroking her chin with a pensive expression.
He leaned down and wrapped her in a hug, taking a deep breath from the crook of her neck.
"So, why did you run just now, Mia?"
he repeated.
"You didn't want to see me?"
"Of course not." Mia's 'green tea' persona came online right on cue. "I actually came here with Kian Keller today specifically to find you."
"When I heard my sister say you weren't here, that you were in Portia busy with work more important than me, I was so sad for the longest time..."
"I thought you were still mad at me, Brother, and that you didn't even want to come to my funeral."
"I'm sorry. On the cruise ship last time, I didn't mean to ruin my sister's acceptance party. I just... I just..." She choked up, her eyes turning red.
She couldn't say what came after "I just."
'Because, of course, she had done it on purpose.'
'But so what if she had?'
"Good girl," Silas sighed softly.
"You don't have to apologize. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."
Unlike Kian Keller, who pressed her at every turn, Silas didn't grill her about the ashes, where she'd been for the past two months, or why she hadn't come back to find him.
This was one of the reasons Mia found him easier to deal with than Kian Keller.
Smart people knew it was better to keep certain understandings to themselves. There was no need to dig for the truth and expose lies, which would only make things awkward for everyone involved.
'What was the point?'
Clearly, when it came to social graces, Silas had always been far superior to Kian Keller.
Mia played her part, letting her eyes well with tears as she wrapped her arms around him.
She was like an injured fledgling, rescued by her master who had traveled a great distance while she was hiding and licking her wounds alone. She let down her guard and nestled into his embrace.
After two months apart, Silas's embrace was still just as warm.
'He had a great body.'
'His maternal grandfather was from Portia, and if you traced his ancestry back, he apparently had some British blood.'
'Maybe that's why he looked a little more solidly built than Kian Keller.'
'Among all the male leads, he had the broadest shoulders, which made him look more powerfully built.'
'And perhaps it wasn't just his physique that was the most powerful... '
'If the mood were right, her hands wouldn't be on his back right now, but rather... somewhere else...'
Outside the door, someone came to a stop.
Mia, her back to the door, was lost in her fantasy.
But Silas, his chin resting on top of Mia's head, looked past her and met an intense gaze from the doorway that could not be ignored.
The next second, a smirk played on his lips. He provocatively lifted Mia's chin and coaxed her,
"Good girl. Open your mouth."