Chapter 19

She could feel her blood pressure rising, perhaps because of the emotions and stress she has been under.

Whenever she repels the bloodless and tearless Prince, the Grand Duke appears to joke with her; and suddenly, a crazy guy she doesn’t even know comes and talks nonsense.

She was displeased with everything including Louis’ behavior, whom she had been looking for anxiously and couldn’t find, and now comes and loses his temper.

‘As the situation is, I’ll just stay still for now…’

Ayla remained silent, with hesitating lips.

“Huh. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. No matter how angry I am, I shouldn’t be yelling at you.”

Louis, who did not know Ayla’s feelings, was endlessly serious.

‘Should I force some tears out of my eyes…’

Ayla carefully thought about the next reaction she would do for Louis.

Is it kind of a little bit of sincerity and courtesy towards an old friend who’s worried about her?

Blinking her eyes and thinking about what to say next, Ayla hears a familiar voice.

“Young Lady Ayla!!!”

She was very happy to see Lily come running from far away.

Soon after, Louis saw Lily and took a step away from Ayla.

“I was wondering where you went, and you were here? They’re going crazy about the champagne falling!! It’s a mess!”

***

‘Did she say the champagne fell?’

Fortunately, the banquet hall, which she rushed to after hearing Lily, was running well without any problems.

While Ayla was holding the champagne tray and tilting her head, Owen beckoned at her from a distance.

“Miss Ayla, do you know how much I’ve searched for you? Where did you go, over and over again? I missed you.”

Owen’s cute voice made her feel the piercing eyes of the aristocrats around them.

She tried to avoid making eye contact with Owen as much as possible, but everything was in vain.

Before she knew it, Owen stretched out his long legs and was standing in front of her.

“Is Miss Ayla going to pretend she doesn’t know this time again?”

“Please be quiet. If you don’t want to see me buried.”

Owen smiled brightly at Ayla’s low voice, seeming to understand.

Ayla shook her head from side to side at the clueless Owen.

“By the way… Who is that?”

Ayla asked, gesturing at Kyle.

“Ah, Kyle? I guess you don’t know, Ayla. He is Grand Duke Kyle Ermedi, the older brother of His Highness, the Prince. He said he was across the border as the Commander of the Royal Knights and came here today to attend the banquet.”

“Ah… I see.”

Unlike Theon, Kyle looked ferocious.

The image he gave off was powerful enough to overwhelm his surroundings.

‘Hunting Dog’ was Grand Duke Ermedi’s nickname, and one that could perfectly express him.

Because Kyle never lost a prey he had set his eyes on.

She felt suffocated when she directly faced Grand Duke Ermedi, whom she had only heard of. The sharply raised dark brown eyes were fierce.

At that time, Kyle beckoned to Ayla.

She thought she would naturally grimace at the open wound if she walked more, but there was no choice.

Ayla walked towards Kyle, struggling to smile.

“Give me a drink.”

“H-Here it is. Grand… Oh?!”

When she was about to hand the glass to Kyle, someone pushed her from behind.

The champagne tray in Ayla’s hand, who had lost her balance, shook.

Clank!

In the blink of an eye, all the glasses fell, making a loud noise.

“I-I’m sorry!! grand Duke!”

‘Blood?’

A red drop of blood fell between the scattered pieces of glass.

Seeing that she wasn’t in pain, the drop of blood wasn’t hers.

That means?

Ayla, trembling slightly, slowly raised her head.

Soon after, Kyle’s left cheek showed a vivid bloodstain.

Kyle’s sharp eyes stared at Ayla, as if to kill her.

The noisy hall was filled with silence as if time had stopped.

Only Ayla’s hand, trembling in fear, showed that time did not stop.

The unknown aristocrats kept swallowing dry, probably because they were nervous; and even the string orchestra that was playing in the banquet hall stopped their performance, concentrating on Kyle and Ayla.

As Kyle was rumored to be aggressive, the guests kept their silence, wondering about what he would do next.

“You’re sorry…”

Kyle said bluntly, wiping the blood off his left cheek.