‘When his sharp eyes turned to her direction, Lia shivered. Whether it was from fear, excitement, or something else entirely, she did not know. What she knew was she wanted this man more than anything in this world.’

That was how the novel Lia described her first meeting with the protagonist during the cooking contest. He shook her world and left her shattered.

But now, Lia was shaken by her own idiocy. The lines from the novel popped out in her head as he stared at the man before her. The sharp eyes were on point. Now that she was closer, he appeared both bemused and amused while also trying to keep his poker face.

How in the world did she manage to help and drag the very person she was running away from?

Seeing a small smile slowly creeping up on his lips, Lia narrowed her eyes in irritation. He must be thinking that she fell for him at first sight! Unacceptable!

Lia cleared her throat. “Mister –”

“Eldric,” he offered.

She bit her lower lip, trying hard not to arch her eyebrows and shoved the bag of fruits. “Anyway, here are your fruits. Try not to be conned next time.”

If she knew it was the protagonist she was helping, she would have left him alone and walked away. He was very much capable to handle things himself. He must be passing his time by loitering around the town. Why was he even here in the first place? Was he not supposed to come on the day of the festival?

Lia turned on her heels when she was tugged back.

“Where are you going? And I haven’t thanked you yet.”

“You just did. Bye,” she turned back again.

“That’s the direction of the woods. It’s dangerous for a lady to go there alone.”

Lia froze. She slowly turned around, her eyes scanned the area if anybody heard him. It would be bad if someone knew. She tried to calm herself but paused again. Something was not right.

“You– you called me Miss back there,” she said.

Eldric blinked, perhaps thinking if she had gone bonkers. “Because you are?”

Lia’s eyes darted all over the place again. If he was able to see through her disguise, other people probably did too. She did not get any suspicious looks so it was only this guy. Hopefully. She composed herself again.

“I’m not a Miss,” she gritted her teeth.

Lia waited for any reactions from him. She stared straight into his eyes as if challenging him to try and expose her. But he did not say anything, save for the glint in his eyes that told Lia they both knew she was lying. He did not seem like the type to tattle about this little information. It was more of a shared secret between them and she was not happy.

To her dismay though, their little staring contest seemed to even spark the man’s amusement. She chewed on her inner cheek, deliberating the best way to get this man off her back.

“By– I mean, farewell. May we never cross paths again.”

Then she fled.