Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Alongside Marianne and Lionel, many couples danced.

The upbeat music added to the excitement.

After dancing to three songs, Lionel took Marianne’s hand and moved into the garden with her.

“Let’s talk a little bit.”

“……”

“I think this place is better.”

Marianne led Lionel into the maze garden. The sun was just about to set. As the red sun slowly fell, the guards in charge of escorting Marianne blocked the entrance to the garden and monitored it.

After Marianne confirmed that there were no eavesdroppers, she turned to Lionel.

Her angelic face contorted horribly.

“Lionel, I am so annoyed by the rumors.”

“What are you talking about?”

Lionel said casually.

“Marianne, I don’t know what the rumors are, but because of my engagement to you ten years ago, I became notorious for being a pervert who liked children. There is nothing new about rumors.”

Lionel and Marianne’s engagement was decided when Marianne was eight years old and lasted for 10 years.

Throughout that decade of engagement, Lionel was a vigorous young man.

Although he was young, he was still much older than Marianne who was very young, so strange rumors followed Lionel. Marianne frowned.

“Then the rumor isn’t true?”

“What rumor are you talking about?”

“The fact that you made Riv your lover. That you hated me so much you took my ugly maid as your lover.”

Lionel was silent, not knowing what to say, and then opened his mouth.

He was genuinely curious at this moment.

“By the way… Who is Riv?”

Marianne was speechless.

“Do you not know my maid, Madame Katana? My maid!”

“Her name is Madame Katana?”

As Lionel answered indifferently, Marianne’s face brightened.

“Then you mean the rumors aren’t true?”

“What rumors?”

“Your scandal with Madame Katana.”

“Hmm.”

When Lionel didn’t answer, Marianne became angry.

“I can’t stand being a rival to someone like Riv.”

“……”

Lionel’s gaze was indifferent. Seeing that, Marianne felt an unexpected possessiveness.

They were engaged and had not yet broken it off.

This engagement, if not broken, was likely to lead to an immediate marriage.

Come to think of it, marriage to Lionel also had some benefits.

Marianne reconsidered her plan.

“If I broke up with Lionel, I might lose you to Madame Katana, right?”

“Is that so?”

Marianne hated the Duke of Sentoren terribly. But she couldn’t tolerate the scandal with Riv.

No, Riv was worse than the Duke of Sentoren! Still, this scandal made Marianne reconsider.

“I think it worked out well.”

“What did?”

“This scandal has made me think positively about my marriage to you. I think it’s better for me to marry you than let another girl take you.”

“What?”

“Don’t you think we look good together?”

“Marianne, what are you planning?”

Marianne stepped forward and stroked the neck of Lionel, who was much taller than her.

“There’s not much to it. Lionel only needs to prove the rumors are false.”

“I have no intention of participating in childish pranks.”

Marianne smiled indifferently. They soon returned to the banquet hall. Artists from the royal capital presented a lovely portrait of Princess Marianne and performed a serenade for her.

Lionel stayed by Marianne’s side until the very end at the request of the royal family.

Before the banquet ended, Marianne handed Lionel a glass.

“Lionel, I want to have a good relationship with you.”

“A good relationship.”

“Congratulate me on becoming an adult today. Let’s toast.”

There was no reason for Lionel to refuse Princess Marianne’s drink.

It was good to pretend to be on good terms with her.

He didn’t mind being the subject of an unsavory gossip, but the rumor made Marianne go crazy saying she would marry him.

“I will play along with your pranks for today, Marianne.”

“You won’t regret it.”

Marianne laughed softly. Lionel finished his glass at Marianne’s urging.

Marianne then held Lionel’s arm and pressed her body onto him.

“Lionel, I have a secret to tell you about our marriage.”

Lionel snorted her as he watched Marianne playfully snuggle to him.

He had a gut feeling that Marianne was playing a prank on him.

He stared at the wine glass he emptied. Lionel’s body stiffened.

‘Did she put dr*gs in the wine?’

The wine was very bitter. He stared at Marianne, who clung and flirted with him.

He soon realized that marriage to devilish Marianne, who was disguised as an angel, would be terrifying.

Moreover, the shadow hidden behind the curtain behind the princess’ seat had disappeared.

‘Was Madame Katana hiding there? When did she leave?’

He started getting a headache. As if reading Lionel’s thoughts, Marianne whispered.

“I have something to tell you about Madame Katana, Lionel. I want to talk. Just the two of us.”

“What?”

Lionel stared intently at Princess Marianne.

“Madam Katana is a girl who has nothing to do with me, Princess Marianne.”

“Then I’ll let Lionel kill her.”

“Stop joking. I’m leaving.”

“L-Lionel!”

Lionel stood up.

There was no reason to stay any longer, as he had kept his courtesy to the royal family and loyalty to his fiancée.

Since Marianne had played her joke, he would now leave as soon as possible.

Lionel looked for his escort Michelle. However, the carriages of the other nobles who were also leaving were tangled up in front of the banquet hall.

“Michelle?”

Lionel frowned when Michelle was nowhere to be seen.

His head was in more pain than before.

‘Why?’

As he staggered, he nearly collided with the nobles around him.

As he tried to rest on the front steps, he found a piece of paper jutting out of his pocket.

‘What is this?’

It looked like someone had just stuffed it into his pocket, but he didn’t notice.

When he opened the paper, he saw the elegant handwriting that had been writing Marianne’s letters for a while now.

‘Was this from Madame Katana?’

The content of the letter was simple.

[We will be waiting for you on the 1st floor of the Ellui building, in the 4th room from the East Exit.]

What does this mean? Lionel thought of Marianne in a dazed state. Perhaps this was a prank or a trap from Marianne.

Riv returned to her room and was resting.

As it became dark outside, Anna came to see Riv. She seemed to be worried about the coming-of-age ceremony.

“How was Princess Marianne, Riv?”

“She was beautiful.”

Anna carefully looked into Riv’s eyes.

“If Princess Marianne calls you later, don’t go.”

“Why?”

Riv had a gut feeling that something unusual was going on. Anna leaned down to Riv and whispered in her ear.

“The Marquis of Quill attended Princess Marianne’s coming-of-age ceremony. People are saying that the princess invited the Marquis. The princess even said that she wanted to take care of you, Riv.”

The handsome playboy, Marquis Quill’s notoriety was widely known even among the court maids.

Marquis Quill liked to have fun with noble women and even tried to seduce the queen’s maids. He also traded illegal things in the palace.

‘Why did Marquis Quill show up? What’s the reason for  Marianne’s change of heart…?’

Riv recalled that those present at Marianne’s coming-of-age ceremony were either ridiculing her or were wary of her. Marianne also glared at Riv as she monopolized her fiancé Lionel, whom she hated.

‘No way.’

“Anna, are there rumors about me and the Duke?”

Anna hesitated but told her about the rumors surrounding her and the Duke.

“So…”

Riv now understood why Marianne had been acting like that.

Princess Marianne could not stand the rumors that the ugly Riv Katana, whom she so despised, had taken her fiancé.

‘Is that why she was monopolizing Duke Sentoren? And why she stared at me like that?’

Whatever Marianne’s intentions, Riv had no desire of claiming the Duke of Sentoren.

Anna looked at Riv’s clothes and turned her back.

“Riv, if you quit this horrific disguise, wouldn’t the Princess criticize you less? Princess Marianne hates ugly things.”

Anna was not the queen’s maid. They attend to Princess Marianne, but they did not know in detail how the mother and daughter dealt with the aristocratic maids who were part of their entourage.

Instead of explaining, Riv replied:

“I am not a beauty, Anna.”

Anna kept her words short as she tried to give her advice.

“Don’t go out tonight. That’s all I wanted to say.”

Anna left.

Riv locked herself in her room. It was like the eve of a storm. Despite being safe, the ominous feeling did not disappear.

‘I think something is really gonna happen tonight.’

In the form of Madame Katana, Riv curled up under a blanket on the bed. It barely calmed her down.

“Ha.”

Riv fumbled with the necklace she was wearing and reflected on today’s events.

She then remembered the moment when Marianne killed her. She could still hear the girl’s laughter.

The ring of the Duchess of Sentoren, which had saved Riv, changed it’s form, from being a pendant to a ring.

The ring was very hot. She did not touch it until the temperature had cooled down. She didn’t know how much time had passed. She took a deep breath.

“Relax. Nothing will happen.”

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