Chapter 11

The man, who walked while holding the girl’s hair, stopped sharply. He looked back at me with an irritated face. He looked me up and down and shook his hand in annoyance.

“You seem like a precious young lady. Don’t interrupt me and go.”

“To whom that rude man dares…!”

When Sarah got angry at the rude man’s attitude, I raised my hand to calm her down.

“What are you doing now?”

“What am I doing? Of course, I’m collecting money.”

The man answered my question obediently while giving a full look of annoyance.

“These kids borrowed money and they haven’t paid it back for more than six months. So would I be angry or not?”

“Of course you’ll be angry.”

“Right? As expected, a well-educated girl knows well.”

At my answer, the man smiled triumphantly, and the girl, who looked at me like a savior, bowed her head.

“If she doesn’t have money, don’t you think she should pay it back with her body? I’m taking her with me, as the saying goes.”

“You’re trying to sell the girl to a brothel?”

“Well, that’s one of those ways too.”

Unable to say the words confidently, the man swallowed his words.

“How much money do these kids have to repay?”

“Why? Will you repay me for them?”

Ordinary nobles might have shouted that they would pay him back right here, but I had no intention of doing so.

“No. Why should I do that?”

As I answered coldly, the man scratched his head as if he was speechless.

“Then why are you asking?”

“I just asked because I was curious. Can’t I?”

“It’s not like you can’t… Well, I’m not saying that I can’t tell you. The total is 500 gold.”

Considering the monthly living cost of a commoner’s family of four was about 10 gold, it was quite a lot of money. I couldn’t believe these kids borrowed such a large amount of money.

As I looked at the girl in surprise, she shouted with a vein on her neck.

“No! The money I borrowed was 30 gold first! But suddenly he told me to pay him back 500 gold!”

“It’s interest, interest. If you borrowed money, it’s natural to repay with interest too, right?”

“Interest…”

She borrowed 30 gold, and six months later, it became 500 gold…

“You’re saying the interest rate is 60%?”

At my words, the man looked at me in great surprise.

“The highest interest rate for the loan business set by the empire is 30%.”

I kept talking, looking straight into the shaking man’s eyes.

“You got 30% more?”

“No, that’s all for a reason…”

Unlike before, when he was confident, his voice was shaking. The man couldn’t even look me in the eye properly.

“Enough.”

Whatever the man said, I had no intention of listening, so I cut his words firmly. There was no reason to listen.

“You can make excuses in the courtroom. They’ll give you a verdict.”

“No, something so trivial even to the court…”

“Or do you want me to give you a verdict?”

I spread out the fan I was holding so that the man could see it well.

“Violating Imperial Law, committing fraud against young children, and daring to dishonor me, a noblewoman.”

On the fan, the crest of the Duke of Williot was engraved in a large size.

The man’s eyes widened like a rabbit, whether he recognized the crest.

“If you add it all up, you’ll get a thousand gold.”

“Wh, what kind of nonsense…! Do, don’t cheat!”

“Ah, you even spoke informally to me, so there’s an additional fine.”

At my words, the man’s eyes shook even more.

I mean, why did you speak informally while I’m saying the sentences? They say if you have a bad head, your body will suffer, and that’s right.

“And you told me not to cheat, didn’t you? Do you want to bet if my words are fraudulent or not?”

I smiled gently, covering my mouth with the open fan.

“If it’s less than I said, I’ll pay all the fines as well as the money these kids borrowed.”

“…”

“What do you think? Would you like to bet?”

At my words, the man hesitated and quickly looked around me. It was so fast that I could hear the rolling of his eyes.

“…a precious young lady wandering around without an escort knight.”

The man’s eyes glistened after confirming that there were no escorts or spectators. The man threw the girl’s hair and pulled out a dagger from his waistline.

“I’m not afraid. Do you know what will happen?”

“What are you trying to do to me?”

“Not to the extent that I am fearless, I lost my cowardice.”

The man shuffled briefly and then rushed towards me.

Sarah screamed a little and stuck behind me. On the other hand, I looked at the man calmly.

I was worried if the man made the girl or the child’s life as a hostage and threatened me, but he ran to me.

I’m grateful for it.

When I tried to fold the fan and stop the dagger swinging by the man…

Kangg–

A sword popped out from behind and blocked the dagger.

“…?”

With a sharp bursting sound, the dagger held by the rude fell to the ground. The sword that popped out didn’t stop there, but struck the rude.

If it was a sword blade, a terrible scene would have unfolded, but fortunately, it was a sword’s back, so it ended up to the extent that the man fell behind.

“Thank you for being at the front, Lady.”

Still, I was surprised. I stared at the rude man with my eyes blinking, and someone appeared next to me.

I turned my head and checked the opponent.

“If not, his throat would have blown away.”

No matter how low-heeled it was, the man was tall enough to have to look up. His blue hair that resembled the sea was attractive. His shoulders were moderately wide, and his appearance was as beautiful as someone’s painstaking sculpture.

Overall, he was a handsome man, but the most captivating thing was his transparent, sparkling eyes like sapphire.

Beautiful.

Without knowing, I stared into the man’s eyes.

As if he felt my gaze, the man looked back at me.

Soon, the blue eyes folded beautifully. His lips went up smoothly, drawing a line.

“Ah.”

Only then, I came to my senses and lowered my head in surprise.

Crazy. Staring at the face of an outsider.

My face was burning hot.

As I lowered my head with a fan covering my face, the man raised the corner of his mouth smoothly and smiled mischievously.

“You son of a b*tch!”

As soon as the rude found an opportunity, he charged towards him.

“Careful..!”

Before I even shouted, the man’s hand moved first.

The man struck the rude’s face with the sword handle.

“Ugh!”

Blood spattered like a fountain from the rude’s nose. Perhaps, his nose bone was broken.

The dagger dropped. And then, the shocked rude was kicked away by the man and flew away. The rude grabbed his nose and wanted to charge him again after a stagger.

“Are you coming at me again?” The man grinned as he pointed the tip of his blade to the side. “Then, I will cut your neck with this part.”

At the eerie threat, the rude stunned, and soon ran away without looking back. It was so ugly to see him running away that ridicule came out.

“Puh ha ha! It serves you right!” Sarah laughed openly at the rude.

When the rude completely disappeared from sight, the man put his sword in the scabbard he was wearing and looked at me.

All of those actions were natural and graceful, like flowing water. Even with the same etiquette education, there were people who act unnaturally, and there were people who act naturally as they used to, and this man was the latter. The man seemed to be born with nobility by nature.

In other words, it was possible to know by looking at the clothes worn by the man who was not of an ordinary status.

Is he the Duke of Balon?

I had never seen him before, but I knew Duke Balon’s son was my age. This guy also looked like my age, so there was a good chance.

If not, it didn’t matter. The important thing was that this man was a nobleman and a benefactor.

I was going to express my gratitude, but the girl came running holding the child’s hand.

“Th, thank you!”

And she bowed her head to the ground.

“Thank you for your help, thank you very much.”

“I just did the natural thing, so you don’t have to thank me.”

I smiled lightly and cleaned up the girl’s messy hair. I also wiped the dirt off her face.

“I don’t know what you need the money for, but it’s very dangerous to use a private loan. The same thing may just happen again, so don’t use it in the future.”

“Yes, Yes. I will keep that in mind. Thank you so much, My Lady.”

The girl and the child quickly disappeared after bowing down again and again.

Can I just let them go?

I was worried that the rude man I saw earlier would harm the kids. I had to tell the guard on the way back.

“It’s good to have a warm heart, but you’ve just been very reckless.”

Thinking so while watching the kids got farther away, I turned to the man at his words.

“If it weren’t for me, the Lady would have been badly done by that rude.”

“I don’t know why you are so conclusive.”

When I replied a little bluntly, the man looked at me unexpectedly. Curiosity abounded in the blue eyes.

“Then, you mean I’m wrong?”

“Yes. I could protect myself without you, My Lord.”

“That’s a great confidence.”

“Because I’m really confident.”

At my repeated words, the man smiled and folded his eyes.

He was mysterious and beautiful, like a fairy, but strangely decadent.

There’s such a beautiful man in this world. I knew it for the first time. It seemed that this man was prettier than Cecily without adding any lies. And yet, he didn’t feel weak at all. Rather, the man was strong and overbearing. It felt like seeing a beautiful beast.

“If you don’t mind, may I ask you how you were going to defeat that rude?”

You’re a curious person.

Because it wasn’t a bad curiosity, I replied obediently.

“This is it.”