CH 28

The party, which had been noisy until a while ago, quickly became quiet.

Seeing that the three ladies of Liviatan were gathered in one place, it was inevitable that we would gather attention, but it seemed they were looking at us because the atmosphere looked serious.

‘Are you angry?’

However, there was nothing that could pose an issue in the conversation I had with Iris earlier.

As I blinked my eyes with a puzzled expression, Sisters’ expression became more serious.

‘I’ll have to answer first.’

I smiled as broadly as I could and said.

“I was just talking about my type.”

“Type?”

“What do you mean with your type?”

Liliana and Viola’s spirits didn’t fade at all.

“My ideal type.”

“What? So suddenly?”

“Yes. It’s a topic I can talk about.”

When I spoke bluntly, Liliana hid her agitation and asked.

“R-Right. This can happen. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard of it. Daisy’s ideal type. Isn’t that right, Viola?”

“You’re right.”

‘It’s a bit embarrassing to say because the people around are paying attention.’

But I felt like my sisters wouldn’t back down if I didn’t answer.

Still, I thought it would be better to answer quickly than to let this situation continue.

“A kind-hearted and gentle person.”

Liliana fell into deep thought, rubbing her chin.

“I see. I’ll have to remember it well.”

“I won’t let anyone who isn’t gentle get close to you.”

Iris, who was next to Viola, whispered in my ear.

“They must really care about Daisy.”

“Haha. That’s true.”

I couldn’t help but smile awkwardly and nod.

“And you?”

Viola looked at Iris and asked.

‘Come to think of it, the two of them have never met.’

Iris smiled and greeted first.

“My name is Iris Patrick. I am Daisy’s friend.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Viola Liviatan.”

Viola also bowed politely and turned to me again.

“Don’t eat too many snacks.”

“I will eat in moderation.”

I was embarrassed and spoke in a sullen voice, and she smiled and patted my head before leaving.

I had told her that I was thinking about eating less due to the increased amount of snacks these days, but the amount of advice I received suddenly increased like this.

“They must really care a lot. I’m an only child so I feel lonely. I’m so jealous.”

Before I knew it, Liliana had also left her spot, and the party flowed without much fuss as Iris chattered.

✲ ✲ ✲

When I returned to my room after the party, I was exhausted from the social activity that I hadn’t done in a white.

‘I’m tired.’

After washing, I lay down on the bed with my hair half-dried and wrapped myself in the blanket.

‘Since Sister Liliana’s engagement has ended safely, she won’t be as unhappy as she was in the dreams.’

I smiled with pride, but when I thought of Grandmother, my smile disappeared.

‘She’s suddenly staying at the mansion longer. Why?’

I heard that after Liliana’s incident, Grandmother lavishly praised her granddaughter’s brilliance.

‘It’s probably just on the outside. She’s always frowning at the mansion.’

Since the engagement ceremony didn’t happen, I naturally thought she would return to the dukedom, but she said that she was thinking of staying in the Capital a little longer.

I didn’t care anymore, I erased the uncomfortable feeling and lay down comfortably.

‘But I haven’t been dreaming lately.’

Of course, considering the dreams I had recently, I felt more comfortable not having them.

‘But was I just deluded when I thought that my dream is a precognitive dream? Liliana’s engagement ended too easily.’

In the end, I thought that treason, the destruction of the family, and the destruction of the Empire might be false.

‘Honestly, it was absurd.’

As I felt the anticipation that the future would be filled with only peaceful things, the tension in my body loosened and I yawned.

Soon after that, I closed my eyes, unable to overcome the sleep that was pushed by fatigue.

✲ ✲ ✲

I felt like my body was completely submerged.

When I opened my eyes, feeling like I was falling into a dream again, I heard a loud noise.

Viola was fighting sword to sword with a knight bigger than her in the arena.

‘This place is…? Oh, it’s a stadium.’

It was the final of the knight competition held every five years.

It was only natural that a lot of attention and support was pouring into Viola, the youngest winner of the last competition.

“Viola! You can do it!”

“Captain, you can’t lose to that guy!”

Even while people around were cheering for her, Viola’s expression didn’t change much.

‘Viola is so cool.’

Even in this situation, she looked great as she maintained her composure.

Everyone in the family was busy, so I was the only person here from Liviatan.

‘It’s too bad that I’m the only one watching this.’

They said the knight who made it to the final was a person who entered the Imperial Knights with their skills despite being a commoner.

‘I heard they have great skills, but the opponent is Sister Viola.’

The fact that Viola proudly occupied the position of captain of the First Knight Order indicated that she was the best swordsman in the Empire, so everyone was certain of her victory.

And so was I.

‘Huh?’

However, the more the swords collided, the more Viola’s expression deteriorated.

If it were the usual Viola, no matter who the opponent was, she would have swung her sword leisurely until the end of the match without a single change of expression.

Even for me who didn’t know much about swords, her swordsmanship was unrivaled enough to be called beautiful.

But now it was different.

Viola was known for wielding her sword lightly, but she was moving it as if she were swinging a heavy object.

Naturally, the opposing knight easily avoided the attack, and suddenly the situation was going in the opponent’s favor.

‘What? What’s going on?’

While everyone was buzzing with confusion, the swords of those two continued to move, and someone’s sword flew into the air and stuck to the floor.

“The game is over! The winner, Theodore!”

Viola had lost.

Viola was on her knees, unable to hide her shocked expression.

The winner, Theodore, also seemed a bit taken aback, but he smiled brightly and raised his sword high.

Everyone was dumbfounded by the unexpected situation, but they soon cheered for the birth of a new winner.

‘No way!’

I was the only one shocked, unable to accept this victory or defeat.

It was true that Viola had lost.

But no matter how you think about it, isn’t it strange?

There was no way that she, who had been swinging her sword leisurely until just now, could be defeated like this.

“You punk!”

No, I guess I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

Viola suddenly jumped on Theodore.

She grabbed him by the collar and shouted in a voice mixed with anger.

“You’ve done something!”

People around her hurriedly began to stop Viola, but no one could stop her anger.

“You want me to accept that you, a commoner, defeat me just now?”

“Captain! Calm down!”

The people around her tried to dissuade her, but once Viola’s mouth opened, it didn’t stop.

“The more I parried the sword with you, the more strange something was. The sword didn’t listen! Did you want to win using such a cowardly move!?”

Viola’s desperate cry made the hall noisy in a different way.

But that, too, was only for a moment, Theodore threw away the hand that had grabbed his neck and said.

“To not admit defeat in a fair game. It’s ugly, Captain.”

Sadly, no one listened to the cries of the loser.

After the scene, the surroundings began to change.

I saw a familiar place, not the stadium.

I was standing in front of Viola’s room.

‘Is this an extension of my dream?’

It was scary to think so, but the events after the knight competition passed through my mind.

Due to Viola’s strong protest, there was an investigation into the irregularities of the knight competition, but nothing suspicious was revealed.

Viola’s sword and the winner Theodore’s sword were intact, and there was nothing wrong with the stadium.

In the end, Viola was only branded as a sore loser in everyone’s memory.

The first defeat seemed to have come as a big shock to Viola.

She stayed in her room for over a week without going to work.

I knocked on the door with an anxious heart.

“Sister Viola, are you inside? Sister, I’m so worried. If you don’t mind, please answer me.”

“Noisy. Get out of there.”

I called out to her anxiously, but the answering response was sharper than usual.

‘This is a big problem.’

Time flew by again.

The family said we should wait for Viola to get better, but as time went on, we could see that instead of getting better, she only got worse.

The longer I waited, the more desperate I became.

“Sister, Sister.”

“I said you’re noisy.”

As I kept knocking, she finally opened the door.

Taking a look at the messy room and glancing at Viola, who had a hardened expression like a demon, I quickly handed out a letter.

“There was a call from the Imperial family. There will be disciplinary action tomorrow for your absence. Sister, how about taking a vacation first?”

There was no answer from Viola.

She snatched the letter violently and closed the door with a loud noise.

“You’re doing something useless.”

“S-Sister Lilliana.”

I heard that she was out, so I was more startled than usual.

“Did you commit a crime? What’s with your expression.”

Liliana passed by me without saying much.

At that moment, I had a courage that came out of nowhere.

“I think Sister Viola is having a hard time. Since Sister Liliana is closer to her than I am, why don’t you comfort her?”

“Why me? If she can’t overcome that much alone, she will be deprived of the Liviatan.”

But Liliana casually refused and left.

‘What do you mean why? It’s because I am worried.’

Of course, it was a voice that wouldn’t reach Liliana, who had already disappeared.

I let out a sigh and was forced to leave the scene.

Fortunately, when I woke up the next day, I finally heard that Viola had gone to work.

I thought it was a relief, and I thought things would come back to the way they were.

But I was wrong.

‘I shouldn’t have told her yesterday.’

Viola returned to the mansion in a mess.

After receiving a two-week probation.