CH 37

‘What? Adopt a slave?’

Considering that he had also learned that Cassadin was a slave through some research, Damian acted as if it were some sort of big weakness.

And I almost burst into laughter upon seeing that.

Damian hadn’t changed a bit all this time. I found myself relieved by the fact that he was the same piece of trash he was in my memories.

‘It seems I won’t need to feel a speck of guilt for pushing you into annihilation.’

If Damian were kind, unlike in the past, I would’ve hesitated to harm him.

But a person’s nature doesn’t change that easily. And I am grateful for that.

Then I hurriedly clung onto the hem of Damian’s clothes.

“My goodness! Your Grace! Did you just insult my brother?”

Damian scowled, seeming to be irritated by my sudden action. And I intentionally shouted loudly in the midst of the crowded banquet hall.

“I understand that my younger brother is handsome, but that doesn’t justify your offense to him in such a public environment!”

“Hah.”

Damian scoffed as if he couldn’t believe this situation. He managed to keep a smile on his face, but his green eyes that were looking down on me had become frozen cold.

“Milady, why don’t you take a moment to calm down?”

“Calm down? How can I calm down in a situation like this? How could you do this to me! Even when I risked my safety and visited Your Grace in prison out of concern for you!”

I made my hands tremble, my face full of shock and betrayal. When I looked up and glared at Damian with widened eyes, the reactions of the people around us started to split.

“What? Lady Serkia went to visit the Grand Duke in prison?”

“…Hm, this is the first time I’ve heard of this. Then the Lady must have some influence over the Duke being released.”

The people nodded as they each started to add their share to the conversation. I had done nothing to help Damian get out of prison, but just the fact that I went to visit him put the game in my favor.

“Speaking of which, how did the Grand Duke know that the two siblings weren’t blood-related?”

“I was also thinking that was odd. Could it be that the Duke had done some research on the Lady?”

“If they had officially adopted him, then they are siblings regardless of their blood.”

“Why would someone so busy with their lawsuit bother to come here and say such things?”

The crowd’s opinion slowly turned against Damian.

Just as Damian had used the people to his advantage, I also just needed to use their reactions. After all, I learned all of this from him.

Had I not once sat in the palm of his hands, moving just as he wished me to? My past self had been the puppet that was toyed with in his hands.

The actions I had excused in the name of love were the result of abuse.

“Not only have you let down my heart, but you are now even trying to disrespect my younger brother.”

I secured the final nail in the coffin. And it was then that the leisurely expression on Damian’s face disappeared. His expression now, without a hint of a smile, was the face that I knew all too well.

The face I had always seen in my past life.

Not the face covered with confidence or a fake mask, but his true cold, dry, and indifferent face.

“…What is all of this commotion?”

A voice stood out among the crowd. And everyone, including myself, turned their gazes to the owner of that voice.

Golden locks of hair bobbed under the lights of the banquet room’s extravagant chandeliers. The one who was looking at us with a stunned face was none other than the Crown Prince, Leon.

When the golden-haired man in a red uniform revealed himself in a healthy state, the murmurs of the people became louder.

“Your Highness!”

“May I greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

All of the people hurriedly bowed their heads and greeted the Prince. The Crown Prince’s eyes fleeted over the people with indifference before making eye contact with me, and he smiled brightly.

“Aren.”

Not only that, but the Crown Prince called me by my first name as he ran to me. Seeing that, the people’s mouths dropped wide open as they stared at me, the Crown Prince, Damian, and Cassadin.

“I didn’t know you would actually come.”

The Crown Prince smiled innocently at me. It seemed as though Cassadin and Damian, who were standing nearby, didn’t come into his sight. I also arched my eyes and smiled back at the Crown Prince.

“I couldn’t dare decline Your Highness’s invitation.”

“That is true.”

He answered confidently. Then Damian, who had been quietly watching me and the Crown Prince, slowly opened his mouth.

“Your Highness, it relieves me to see that you are well.”

The Crown Prince turned to Damian. He must have only realized that Damian had been there, as the Prince’s expression hardened.

“I don’t remember inviting the Grand Duke.”

Likely to have lost any sort of positive relations they had with the lawsuit, there was a cold current passing between the two men. It felt like the air in the entire banquet hall had turned frigidly cold.

“I couldn’t stand such treatment, especially when I didn’t commit a crime.”

“Whether you have committed a crime or not, you have lost the trust of the imperial family the moment you filed a lawsuit.”

“My my, has the imperial family even trusted me in the first place? To say that you have trusted me after accusing me of a crime I hadn’t committed. Your humor amuses me, Your Highness.”

Neither of them backed down even a single step. The banquet, intended to be an entertaining event, felt no different from a fierce battlefield.

And the person who stopped them was none other than my younger brother.

“Why don’t we all take a moment to calm down?”

Damian and the Crown Prince both stopped and shot Cassadin a look. Flicking away their gazes as if it were nothing, Cassadin said in a low voice,

“There are many watching us.”

Cassadin was right. The people who had come to enjoy the banquet were currently anxiously watching the two men, not knowing what to do.

“You are….. The Lady’s younger brother.”

After recognizing Cassadin, the Crown Prince cocked his head.

“I don’t remember inviting you either.”

Damian smirked as he heard that, and the Crown Prince must not have wanted to even look at Damian, as he turned his gaze towards me as he spoke.

“There seem to be some uninvited guests today.”

“Even though he’s my younger brother?”

The Crown Prince laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

“I will forgive you this one time with my generosity.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Well, that’s that…”

The Crown Prince stared at my face for a moment, then his eyes fell to my hand that Cassadin had been holding all that time.

“When do you plan to let go of that hand?”

He attempted to separate our hands himself, but Cassadin held on tighter to my hand, having no intention of letting go.

“I have promised to escort my sister today, so I won’t let go of this hand, not for a single moment.”

“Hah.”

The Crown Prince scoffed. With one of his eyebrows crumpling, the Crown Prince asked Cassadin in an interrogative tone.

“Do you truly mean that?”

“Yes.”

Cassadin’s firm answer caused the Prince to shake his head.

“I felt it last time as well.”

“…?”

“But your eyes, when you look at Aren, do not seem like those of a sibling. Rather, it’s more of a primitive look. Yes, like…”

I felt the desperate need to cut off the Crown Prince’s comment. Did he really plan on ruining the already ruined banquet even further?

To stop him from talking, I blurted out whatever I could think of at the moment.

“Your Highness! May you dance with me?”

Then all eyes turned to stare at me. The noisy banquet room quieted down in an instant.

“Pwahahahah!”

In the middle of that silence, Leon alone burst out into laughter. He found my words funny enough that tears formed in his eyes.

“Milady is always so unpredictable. You don’t seem sane at times.”

Not sane? To think that I would hear that from the Crown Prince. I’m a disgrace to my family.

“Normally, it’s the man who usually asks for a dance.”

As if I wouldn’t know that from my countless experiences at the palace. I just needed an excuse to stop that crazy loudmouth.

The Crown Prince continued to laugh for a while, then, after clearing his throat, extended a hand to me.

“Your Highness, what’s this?”

The Crown Prince curled up one side of his mouth.

“Shall we dance?”

The banquet room buzzed with commotion. Everyone was staring at us in disbelief. The people murmured amongst themselves, snatching glances at me.

Most of the eyes that were looking at me had similar meanings. Both were mixtures of jealousy and envy.

Out of everyone there, Ively was especially glaring at me, chewing angrily on her bottom lip. Her long red hair reminded me of a bright red flame.

But no matter how much it burned, a fire was bound to be extinguished at some point. The false rumors she spread would eventually return to her with repercussions.

“I heard that the Serkia Family gained their wealth through mines. Was that a false rumor?”

“Seeing that His Highness is displaying his acquaintance with her like this, the rumors that His Majesty has chosen Lady Serkia as the Crown Princess may not be just a rumor.”

Each of the people watching made their own speculations. Regardless of what they thought or said, this situation was going to progress in a beneficial direction for me.

After seeing my friendship with the Crown Prince with his own eyes, not even Damian would be able to act rashly against me or my family.

‘That was the reason why I stayed quiet when Ively, the one who had spread all those rumors about our family, continued to bother my precious brother, and why I attended this banquet.’

To both completely turn over the rumors regarding our family and shake Damian’s composure.

I was glad that the Crown Prince had appeared just in time. Though Damian was pretending to be still and leisurely, he must have been unable to muster up a smile, as he completely gave up on maintaining his expression and switched his gaze between me and the Crown Prince.

Giving Damian a soft smile, I accepted the hand that the Crown Prince offered. But my other hand was still being held by Cassadin.

When I tried to take my hand away from Cassadin, he squeezed it even tighter.

“Sister.”

He shook his head. The way he was looking at me looked almost desperate. He was pleading with me not to dance with the Crown Prince.

“Do you wish to put your sister in a difficult position?”

“…”

In response to the Crown Prince’s remark, Cassadin slowly released my hand. When I briefly glanced at his face as he let go, I found a dark shadow cast over Cassadin’s face.

His expression felt so full of sorrow that I wanted to give him a hug right on the spot, but because of the situation, I was unable to do so.

The Crown Prince smiled in satisfaction. Then he jerked his chin at Damian and said to him,

“I would like it if our uninvited guest would leave now.”

Damian crossed his arms after hearing the Prince’s comment.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot leave like this, as I have a debt that the Lady must repay to me.”

“A debt? What has the Lady done to be indebted to you?”

“It seems Your Highness has not yet heard about it. Though I had expected it to be so.”

Damian paused, intentionally taking his time. When the Crown Prince nodded at him to continue, Damian then spoke,

“The debt that Milady has…. is a slave.”

“A slave?”

“I had given a slave to the Lady. One that is incredibly strong and powerful. So…”

The man didn’t stop there.

“As I have given her a slave, isn’t it right for me to receive one in return?”