Chapter 234: Aria and Grace

However, just as Grace was about to turn her attention back to Jake, her gaze suddenly landed on a familiar figure waiting at the end of the corridor.

It was... Aria.

"Oh?"

Jake also noticed her, and his eyes immediately brightened.

A smile spread across his face as he took in her appearance.

Aria was still dressed in her modest black maid uniform, which complemented her graceful figure and shapely curves.

Her long blue hair was tied into a high ponytail, cascading down her back like a flowing ribbon of silk.

Despite her striking beauty, however, Aria maintained her usual composed and serious expression.

Her beautiful face remained calm, her blue eyes steady and unwavering as she watched them approach, showing little sign of emotion.

Even when Jake’s gaze landed on her, she merely straightened her posture slightly, her demeanor as emotionless as ever.

But Jake knew better.

Aria’s unusually composed demeanor was largely due to her Mental Clarity skill, whose level had reached a ridiculously high degree.

It allowed her to maintain an exceptionally calm and clear mind, making it difficult for her emotions to show on her face.

However, Jake knew that beneath that serious expression was a rather innocent and surprisingly cute woman.

The contrast between her outward appearance and her actual personality was something Jake found particularly amusing.

Just as he was about to step forward and greet her—

"Aria—"

"G-Greetings, Lady Aria!"

The attendant suddenly interrupted him, stepping forward with an unusually enthusiastic greeting.

Jake paused mid-sentence.

He slowly turned his head toward the attendant, who was now standing before Aria with his face flushed red.

’...Oh?’

Just moments ago, the man had been so nervous that he could barely speak properly.

Yet now, he was practically radiating enthusiasm, as though meeting Aria was the highlight of his entire day.

Aria, on the other hand, merely looked at him with her usual composed expression.

"Good morning."

Her calm, emotionless response seemed to make the attendant even more flustered.

Seemingly encouraged by Aria’s response, the attendant gathered his courage and tried to continue the conversation.

"U-Um, Aria, are you on duty this morning?"

"Yes."

"Ah! I see! That’s wonderful!"

"..."

Aria tilted her head slightly, seemingly unable to understand why such an ordinary answer had excited him so much.

The attendant, however, didn’t seem discouraged.

"Th-Then, have you had breakfast yet, Aria?"

"Yes."

"Oh! That’s good! It’s important to have a proper breakfast before starting work!"

"...Indeed."

Aria gave a small nod, her expression remaining as composed as ever.

The attendant scratched his cheek awkwardly, struggling to think of something else to say.

"Ah, right! Your hair looks very beautiful today, Lady Aria!"

"Thank you."

"And your uniform looks very neat too!"

"Thank you."

"And, um... the weather is quite nice today, isn’t it?"

"..."

For the first time, Aria fell silent for a moment.

Meanwhile, Jake stood a short distance away, watching the entire exchange with an increasingly peculiar expression.

’Well, well... Look at this bastard. Is he trying to NTR me?’

The thought flashed through his mind before he quickly shook his head.

’Nah, I doubt it.’

After all, judging by Aria’s usual personality, Jake found it hard to imagine her developing any interest in that attendant.

More importantly, Aria’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest throughout their entire conversation.

She was simply answering his questions out of courtesy.

Jake crossed his arms, observing the attendant’s increasingly red face and Aria’s utterly indifferent expression.

’Still... this guy has some guts. I’ll give him that.’

After all, this bastard actually had the nerve to hit on his woman right in front of him!

Well, to be fair, it was partly his own fault.

After all, aside from Grace, nobody else knew about his relationship with Aria yet.

From the attendant’s perspective, Aria was still the beautiful, seemingly unattainable maid who rarely showed any emotion.

There was no way he could have known that she already belonged to someone else.

But still...!

Jake’s mouth twitched.

’Couldn’t you at least read the room, you bastard?!’

He was standing right here!

Not to mention, he had personally brought Jake and Grace along to deal with Vivian’s supposed trouble.

So why the hell was this guy suddenly acting like he had all the time in the world to flirt with Aria?

Just then, Aria tilted her head slightly, looking at the attendant with her usual calm expression.

"By the way, aren’t you supposed to escort Jake to Madam Vivian’s office?"

Her gentle reminder made the attendant freeze.

"Ah—!"

He suddenly remembered why he had come looking for Jake in the first place.

He had been so caught up in talking to Aria after seeing her again that he had completely forgotten his actual duty!

"I-I’m sorry! Please follow me!" he said hurriedly, his face turning red with embarrassment.

Aria simply nodded, seemingly unaware of his earlier intentions.

"There’s no need to apologize. Please go on."

Then she turned to look at Jake, and for a brief moment, the usual seriousness in her eyes softened.

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"Good morning, Jake."

Her voice was gentle, carrying a warmth that was noticeably different from the polite tone she had used with the attendant earlier.

Jake smiled back at her.

"Good morning, Aria. How are things? Have you settled everything with Vivian?"

Aria nodded gently.

"Yes. The matter has been taken care of."

She paused for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts, before looking up at him again.

"However, I have a small request to make."

"Oh?" Jake raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Aria hesitated briefly, her fingers lightly clasping together in front of her.

"It’s about..."

She glanced at Grace, who was standing beside Jake, before turning back to him.

"...I would like to have a private conversation with Lady Grace."

Jake blinked.

"Hm? You want to talk to Grace?"

"Yes."

Aria nodded, her expression as composed as ever, though there was a faint hint of hesitation in her eyes.

Grace, on the other hand, was slightly surprised.

"Me?"

She pointed at herself, then looked at Aria curiously.

"You want to talk to me about something?"

"Yes, Lady Grace."

Grace tilted her head, trying to guess what Aria wanted to discuss with her.

However, she soon remembered what Jake had told her about Aria and how she would eventually become his second crew member.

Thinking of that, a smile gradually spread across her face as she turned toward Jake.

"You go ahead without me, Jake."

Jake blinked in surprise.

"Hm? You’re not coming?"

Grace shook her head.

"Madam Vivian seems to be looking for you, not me. Besides..."

She paused, turning her gaze toward Aria.

"I have a feeling this might be much more important to me."

"..."

Aria met her gaze silently, her expression remaining calm.