I’m Done Being Your Best Friend

“Excuse me?”

“Handsome men.
As the Count must have known.
Daisy is one of the most beautiful women in the capital.
For that, shouldn’t you also have to be on the same level as her? Height alone won’t do.
Your features must be flawless as well.
Eyes big and bright, straight nose with no bend, lips cannot be slim or small.
And of course, your skin must be in good condition too.”

I spoke fast, pretending to judge his face carefully all the while.

“How many criteria did you meet, Count?”

None.
George had nothing similar to what I just said.
The only positive point was his height.

George blinked blankly like a fool and stammered.

“That-, that sounds like my case.
Aren’t I handsome enough?”

“That…”

I looked at him with little regard.
George was soo confident.

“Excuse me, but does the Count not have a mirror? If so, please go to the restroom and take a look in the mirror.”

“Wha-, what?”

George’s face turned red. Who told you to say that crap?

It was true that he was a womaniser, but he was not objectively handsome.
Not to be mean, but he looked like the outcome of the incident in which God might have twisted his hand while he was making a creature.
George’s features were neither sharp nor distinct, yet, he believed that he was unmistakably a handsome man.

He definitely was not Daisy’s type.
I inwardly sneered at the puffing George.
Even if he was angry, what could he possibly do anyway? There were a lot of people here.
Not to mention, my escort knight, Sir Bolt, was waiting outside.
Just because he was enraged, it did not mean he could yell at me.

Plus, our family had nothing to do with him.
The last time he came was just because of my mother’s gift, and that was the end of our relationship.
I threw the bait at him again.

“But there is something more important than appearance.”

“What else?”

George, who was fuming, responded immediately.
I guessed those words really pierced through his ears, since he was already at disadvantage in the appearance aspect.

“Appearance is innate, so there is nothing we can do about it, but there is still a chance.
Of course, it will be very difficult.”

“So what is it?” 

“You must raise your title.”

As an obvious fact, for Daisy, title was more important than appearance.

One could be handsome, but what if that person’s title happened to be low? Daisy would never think of marrying him.
In my previous life, she was greedy as a duchess.

But the thing was, George didn’t even have good eyes for business.
It would be better if I were to do business with memories from the past.

Should I start a business? What items were popular around this time again? After thinking for a while, I came to my senses to find George waiting for me to continue.

“As far as I know, House Page rose from the status of Viscount.
The Count’s ancestor had raised the title to a higher level, so the Count too, should try your best.
Let’s start with Marquis first.”

“No, something like that, I can’t… ” 

“Make an effort at least, Count.” I said firmly.

“If you think you can’t do it right away, then how could you appeal to Daisy? ‘I will try hard to make you a marquis’ wife.
Just become a countess first.
I will make you a marchioness before I reach the age of forty’.
Would you like to make a confession like that?” 

“That’s…”

“You can’t win Daisy’s heart if you neither look good nor have a great title.”

“No, I never said that I don’t look good, did I?”

“I’ll pretend I haven’t heard that.”

I just cut him off coldly.

Daisy already saw Logan’s face, so her standard must have been raised.
I looked at the discouraged George and spoke something that just came to my mind.

“Oh, I forgot to mention this.
There was one more important thing.”

“What else is there…?”

George didn’t seem to be expecting much anymore.
Hope had already left him.

I looked at him and smiled graciously. 

“Sexual compatibility is also very important.”

***

George did not meet all three of the conditions I mentioned.
He didn’t even intend to get mad at me for saying insulting things.
He just let out a deep sigh, losing his will.

I left the tea house first, leaving behind the dumbstruck George.

George, it’s been distasteful.
Let’s not meet again.

After having George completely crushed, I went to see Logan.
Today, before going to the library, we decided to eat at a restaurant first.
We would also be able to share stories about places where magic resided this way.

“You’re here.”

Logan arrived at the restaurant before me and was waiting for me.
I was quite early myself, then how fast did it take him to come here?

I went in with him.
After ordering, I was the first to speak.

“Maybe the wizard Blanche has something to do with it.
Do you remember the book I showed you last time? There, it says Blanche often did some mischievous things.
Maybe the Fountain of Magic was also cast with his spells?”

“Was there any mention of Blanche’s visit to the Fountain of Magic?”

Logan asked me, holding the glass of water in front of him with both hands.

“There wasn’t, but I think it’s possible.
So we’re going to find records about Blanche and see where he lived.
We might find out something that wasn’t mentioned in the book.”

“Fair point.”

“Right? We will track Blanche’s traces!”

I said, eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

But Logan’s reaction was not much.
Odd.

Was I the only one excited? Why?

I tilted my head, and he spoke in a low voice.

“I have to travel alone again…”

He sounded somewhat lonely.
I didn’t know why he reacted that way.

He said he was interested in magic though? Didn’t he want to visit a place where magic resided? Last time he also went to the Marquisate alone, so I had no idea why he was like that.
Confused, I looked at him and said.

“If you are planning to go this time, try not to get hurt.
I’m sorry you had to suffer so much last time.”

“….All right.”

He nodded.
Did he feel that I was worried? The corners of his lips moved slightly as he answered quietly.

Did he smile just now? When I saw him at the masquerade, his smile was more expressive than this.

In order to determine whether Logan was smiling or not, I paid close attention to his lips.

But it seemed that Logan was also looking intently at a particular place on me.

“You didn’t wear your necklace today.”

“Pardon? Ah, so, funny story.”

“How…?”

“I came out with the necklace I got as a gift.
And then I met the person who gave it to me.
He was asking me to give it back to him.
So I return it to him.”

“That’s…”

Logan frowned.

On second thought, it wasn’t that ridiculous.
It was also my fault for saying that I would definitely get him Daisy, just to discover a shortcut to my plan at the last minute.

Talking about George any further would only make me feel bad, so I switched the topic to something other than the necklace.

And at the end of the evening that followed, Nancy came to my room.

She was holding a gift box.