His voice cracked just slightly on the word 'tests.' He was proud of that detail. He'd never been to an academy, but he could guess college was a higher level of academic institution, and he knew enough about fancy academic systems from Iyana and Clyde to fake it. A broken heart and finals week? Classic combination.
So what if he didn't have paper money?
That didn't an soone else couldn't cover the bill. It's not like he wanted to do this. But hunger had a funny way of humbling even the proudest n. He could be loyal to Iyana and still scam a girl for a al to survive.
"Aww…" the girl cooed sympathetically, her brows knitting together. She reached across the table, her hand gently coming to rest over his. "That's awful. I'm so sorry. I'm here to listen if you want to vent."
The contact made his skin crawl ever so slightly, but he didn't flinch. His expression remained carefully soft, lancholic, and just vulnerable enough.
"I don't know," he said quietly, withdrawing his hand after a second like it was all too much. "I don't feel like talking about it. I was just going to grab a quick bite and go ho."
He reached for his coat pocket.
Ti for the final act.
A pause. A frown. A pat-down. And then—
"…Oh, shit."
He looked perplexed, tapping the other pocket as if that would magically fix it.
"I must've left my wallet at ho." He shook his head, lips pressing into a thin line. "Geez, I must be out of my mind."
Standing up, he gave her a tight, sheepish smile, the kind that said 'don't worry about , I'll survive… barely.'
"I guess I'll just head back and cook sothing up. It's fine."
But the girl was already rising to her feet, waving a hand.
"Hey, no, you don't have to do that. Let pay for you this ti."
Vyan pretended to be scandalized. "No, no, how could I let a girl pay for ?" That was actually so terrible of him. As a gentleman, he was stretching himself by burying his chivalry six feet deep.
She rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "Oh, co on. Who even cares about stuff like that anymore? n-won, we are all equals. It's 2025."
Wow, there are n here who willingly let the won pay? What a weird world. Chivalry must be dead.
She moved toward the van. "What pizza would you like?"
"I… I don't know," he said, playing hesitant, twisting his lips as if the thought of accepting help wounded his masculine pride. "I feel bad." He genuinely did.
"Don't," she said firmly. "Seriously, it's nothing. So? What's your pick?"
"Any one's fine," he murmured like a man too heartbroken to have preferences.
"Alright then."
As she turned to go place the order, Vyan slumped back into his seat, rubbing a hand over his face with an exhale. He closed his eyes for a mont.
The things he had to do for food.
Gods above.
He was the wealthiest man in the entire empire. A grand duke. A feared na. A man who had enough wealth to probably buy this whole nation.
And here he was.
Tricking a stranger into buying him pizza because he didn't have this nation's currency.
The irony was so thick, it almost made him laugh.
Almost.
Instead, he just muttered under his breath, "Goddess, what have I stooped to… My parents are probably turning in their graves."
When the girl returned, balancing two plates and two drinks, Vyan felt slightly bad for letting her carry everything, but the next mont, he thought of how he really didn't care much for helping other people with stuff like this unless that woman was Iyana. He was only her knight. Let chivalry be dead.
The girl slid an empty plate and a drink across to him and grinned. "Hey, we never exchanged nas. I'm Anna. What about you?"
"Vyan," he said simply.
"Should we add each other on socials?" she asked, pulling out the little glowing rectangle everyone in this world seed obsessed with. "What's your account na?"
Socials… social dia. Right. He rembered Leila's voice echoing in his mind, enthusiastically explaining how it connected people from miles away, how it was practically a digital life.
"Oh, I don't have one," he said, voice carrying a sheepish note. "I turned it off after the breakup."
Anna gave him a baffled look. "Who does that? You're just giving your ex the satisfaction of thinking she broke you. Terrible move."
Vyan chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah... I guess I wasn't thinking."
With a playful sigh, Anna dug into her bag and pulled out a small notepad. She scribbled down sothing and tore the page off, handing it to him.
"My number and socials. Call when you get ho. I'm guessing you also forgot your phone today?"
"You guessed it."
"Seriously, who even leaves ho without their phone?"
Her tone was playful, teasing, and sweet. She had a certain innocent, kind charm that he could see other n falling for. And for a mont, sothing pinched inside Vyan's chest.
Guilt? Possibly. Maybe she wasn't just another flirt. Maybe she was simply... nice. And here he was, milking her kindness like a two-faced street scamr.
Still, as she brought the pizza once it was ready and their conversation andered through harmless topics, he relaxed. She was curious, but never pushy. He offered safe, vague answers, and she accepted them without suspicion.
They were nearly done when she leaned back and smiled, "You know what you need? A night out. There's a club nearby; we can head there. Music, lights, good vibes, it'll help you blow off so steam."
Vyan hesitated.
Sothing about that offer didn't sit right. He'd never liked the idea of drinking to forget. Back ho, nobles often drowned their problems in wine and won. He always thought it was a pathetic escape.
"I'm not really into that," he said, trying to sound polite. "But thank you—"
"Oh, co on," she pouted. "I need a partner to go in. Don't leave hanging. I'll feel miserable going alone. And you don't even have to drink. Just… think of it as paying back."
He hesitated again. Her tone was playfully pleading, her eyes shining with mischief rather than nace. She didn't seem like a bad person. Perhaps, she had only approached him to take him to the club as her partner. And realistically… what else could she do? She was just a girl.
So he nodded slowly, offering a crooked, unsure smile. "Alright... just for a bit."
Little did he know…
That girl could do so much more than he expected.
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