Chapter 286: It Couldn't Possibly Be Love at First Sight, Right?
Standing outside Zofia's hospital room was, unsurprisingly, none other than Steven.
Of course, when visiting someone in the hospital, it's only proper to bring a fruit basket. Taking their… unique biology into account, he had thoughtfully decided to take a bite out of the apples first—just to be safe.
But just as he was halfway through munching on an apple, a dashing middle-aged man suddenly approached from down the hallway.
His radiant, sun-like golden hair practically screamed Nearl family, and Steven instantly felt the pressure.
Before the man could even get close, Steven frantically finished the apple in his hand, chomping it down to the very core—literally.
It wasn't until he had devoured the apple, core and all, that Młynar finally snapped out of the strange daze he'd been in.
He had no idea what had just come over him. It was like some primal instinct had kicked in, a deep-seated urge to devour that apple no matter what.
No matter how he tried to resist, he couldn't tear his gaze away from it.
It felt… almost like he'd been enchanted.
But Młynar was pretty sure that wasn't this young man doing.
Enchanting someone with an apple? That would just be ridiculous.
"You are?"
Młynar glanced down at the fruit basket the young man held, then double-checked the room number to confirm this really was Zofia's room.
After locking eyes with the boy, he finally asked the obvious question.
He didn't remember Zofia having any friends who would go so far as to disguise themselves as a Liberi. And he definitely didn't recognize this kid.
"Eh? Me? Just call me Steve. You could say I'm a friend of Zofia's. And you are…?"
Steven sized him up in turn.
The guy looked utterly drained—radiating that very specific brand of exhaustion only found in corporate slaves.
Still, from the looks of it, he must've been quite the looker back in the day.
What on earth had happened to turn this once-handsome man into such a worn-down husk?
"I'm her cousin. Also Maria's uncle. Młynar Nearl."
His response was curt. As he spoke, Młynar casually pushed open the hospital room door for the young man and stepped inside ahead of him.
As long as it didn't involve anything ridiculous like the Majors, who Zofia chose to befriend was none of his business.
As for that bizarre moment earlier with the apple… in hindsight, Młynar chalked it up to him being way too hungry.
The moment the door opened, the two girls inside immediately turned to look.
Maria's initial surprise quickly bloomed into joy.
"Uncle!"
"And Mister Steve!"
Maria's voice was as energetic as ever—just hearing her felt like it could shave years off your age. Steven greeted her with a smile and handed over the fruit basket.
Młynar, on the other hand, merely gave her a small nod. His attention was quickly drawn to Zofia, who had instinctively turned her head away the moment she saw him.
"Are you feeling any better?"
He didn't bring up the tournament.
Even though Maria had told him that night that Zofia's condition wasn't too bad, he still asked the question out of concern.
"…More or less."
Zofia's tone and expression instantly became more restrained in front of her so-called older cousin.
It made her look a lot more like Maria—though in reality, she wasn't all that much older.
"…Planning to keep going once you recover?"
"Nope. I've made enough money."
"…Good. Focus on getting better, then."
After that brief and ice-cold exchange, Młynar decisively rose to his feet.
He gave a small nod to the girl on the bed before heading straight for the door.
There was an undeniable "strict father" aura to the way he carried himself. He hadn't said much, and yet, it somehow felt like everything had been said.
As an outsider, Steven did what any decent person would—he quietly stepped aside, letting the family handle their business. It wasn't his place to butt in.
At least, that's what he thought.
But apparently, Młynar had other ideas.
As he reached the door, the older man suddenly stopped beside him and turned to meet his gaze once more.
"…Drop by when you can. Zofia doesn't have many friends."
Steven nearly choked on air.
He had been mentally preparing himself for something dramatic—like getting told off, or maybe even having one of those cliché moments where the rich, overprotective guardian slaps a blank check into his hand and tells him to stay away.
But no, this was what Młynar had been building up to?
Just one line? And such a gentle one at that?
Steven's mouth twitched slightly.
He'd totally misjudged the guy.
He'd thought Młynar would be one of those inflexible, old-fashioned parental types who'd demand Zofia cut ties with all her "bad influences."
But now… it seemed like he was a lot more reasonable than he looked.
Steven nodded reflexively, but before he could get another word in, Młynar was already hurriedly answering a call on his comms device and rushing out the door—probably being hounded by his boss again.
"…Uncle's always like that. Don't take it the wrong way."
Maria giggled when she noticed the dazed look on Steven's face and snapped him out of it with a grin.
"As long as you don't bring up anything about the Majors, he's actually more open-minded than most parents. Still… for some reason, all my friends say they get nervous just looking at his face."
She gave an exaggerated shrug as if to say, What can you do?
Maria found her uncle's personality pretty amusing, honestly. And despite his intimidating looks, he was the family member she was closest to.
She also believed that Steven wasn't the kind of guy who would be put off by something so superficial.
"…Wait, so he just left like that? I was hoping to tell him that, most likely, Nearl—no, I mean, Margaret—will be back this afternoon."
Steven looked back and forth between the two girls, suspicion creeping into his voice.
He had a strong hunch that neither of them had mentioned Margaret's return to that man who had just left.
"…"
"That kind of thing's way more fun if it's a surprise~"
Maria's eyes darted around awkwardly as she smoothly changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, Mister Steve, was there something else you wanted to talk to Auntie about today?"
Steven could only play along, nodding at her smooth deflection, then turned to flash a small smile at Zofia, who had been sitting quietly on the bed this whole time, saying almost nothing.
"Just passing by, really. Thought I'd drop in and check on her while I was around. Wasn't exactly planned or anything," Steven said honestly.
But Maria simply blinked, then gave him a knowing smile as if he'd just confessed to something obvious. She promptly stood up from the edge of the bed.
"Well then, I'll leave you two to chat. I just remembered—there's something I need to take care of, so I won't intrude on your… private time."
She shot a quick OK sign in Zofia's direction—clearly not worried in the slightest that Steven would see it.
In fact, she looked like she wanted him to notice.
Then, with a deliberately cheerful jog, she zipped out of the room.
After all, over the past day, she'd heard her dear aunt mention Steven's name more than a few times.
Given her dear aunt's usually reserved personality, this kind of attention toward a guy was... well, extremely telling in Maria's eyes.
Steven, on the other hand, simply scratched his head in confusion.
He genuinely didn't get where Maria had gotten that idea from.
He and Zofia? At best, their meeting could be called a passing encounter. It's not like she knew his real identity or anything. What, were they supposed to be in some kind of love-at-first-sight scenario or something?
Still, he forced a friendly smile, hoping to ease the sudden awkward tension Maria had left behind—only to freeze when he noticed a faint blush spreading across Zofia's face.
Wait… what?
Instead of looking embarrassed or annoyed, Zofia… smiled back. Shyly.
'No way. No freaking way.'
'Don't tell me she actually—'
Before he could even finish that thought, she reached out and lightly tugged on his sleeve, stopping him before he could say anything.
"Let her go," she murmured, still not meeting his eyes. "There's actually something I wanted to ask you, Mister Steve."
Zofia glanced toward the door—specifically, the small gap where Maria's eyes could clearly be seen peeking through—and sighed.
Then, cheeks reddening, she motioned for Steven to come closer.
"Huh? Ask me something? Is this about Margaret?" Steven furrowed his brow but followed her cue, sitting down by the bed with a confused expression.
What happened next… made him even more confused.
Without warning, Zofia gently tugged on his sleeve and leaned her entire body toward him. Her small frame pressed against his chest as she nestled herself into his arms—just like those heroines in those questionably tasteful light novels he definitely didn't read.
And then—sniff—she buried her face into his chest and took a deep breath.
What the hell…?
She didn't seem like the type to have a thing for smells. And he definitely didn't think he had some kind of natural "prince charming" scent. That was total fantasy stuff, right?
This kind of action… it was just begging for someone to get the wrong idea.
Just as he was about to gently push her away out of sheer awkwardness, Zofia giggled softly.
Like she'd just confirmed something.
"As I thought," she whispered, her voice laced with amusement. "You can lie with words… but scent doesn't lie, does it? Don't you think so, Sir Knight?"
With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she looked up at him and winked.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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