CH 2

Even on a happy day, the Countess Lockhart’s mood wasn’t very pleasant due to what Britia had stated earlier.

No matter how people saw her, she was a person whose charm and beauty were unrivalled, and she was the twin sister of the Earl of the Count family!

Britia Lockhart certainly possessed the qualities that an aristocratic man sought in a wife.”

Don’t be upset, please. Your lovely face is being ruined by it.”

No matter how much the Countess tried to persuade her, Britia was still depressed and self conscious.

“People think I see dead souls.”

Britia lifted her head and talked while inadvertently looking at her sister-in-law’s tail once again.

She tried to ignore the strange objects that were only visible to her by not looking at them because others thought it was strange, but it wasn’t as simple as she thought.

“You are free to tell them the truth. You can’t see the souls of the dead; all you can see are people’s tails.”

Not that Britia hadn’t considered that before.

She also told a man about her unusual ability since he encouraged her to do so. He told her she could tell him everything and that he would accept her just as she was, but not until she told him that she had feelings for him,

“I was called insane for saying that.”

The only thing that returned was terrible scorn.

“They don’t deserve our Britia because they are fools.”

The countess put her hand on Britia’s back, trying to cheer up the depressed girl.

“All of it has passed. Right now, I’m fine.”

Her determination looked to be strong, and she seemed to be learning how to overcome the difficulty.

“Even if Britia actually did see a ghost, if it were that person, he wouldn’t even be surprised.”

“That person?”

As the countess wanted to keep it a secret, she put her index finger to her lips in response to Britia’s surprise.

“A surprise guest. I haven’t told my husband yet.”

The countess gave a heartfelt smile when she saw Britia’s perplexed expression.

They had no idea when the game originally started.The family members looked to be trying to invite the most renowned guests to the party.

And they preferred to keep it a secret from one another.

They did all in their power to ensure that she had a happy life as the only daughter of the Lockhart family and the beloved sister of her siblings.

They also didn’t put much pressure on her to worry too much if things didn’t work out as planned.

Britia only had to enjoy the occasion today. Despite being slightly freed of the pressure of trying to live up to her family’s expectations, she was in a bad mood.

“Five of my guests have already come.”

Earl Lockhart looked across at Leon, who hadn’t even received a single guest, and said, “As expected.”

“The party has only just begun, brother, look at my guests over there.”

The Earl noticed a group of Valendoug’s knights approaching them as he turned to gaze in the direction Leon was gesturing with his eyes.

“Lenny!”

“Wow, so this is the sister you are so bragging about!”

“She’s really gorgeous! ”

They were sincerely admiring Britia’s beauty and had wide smiles on their faces.

“Why are you acting as if you’ve just met her for the first time?”

Since they were little, Leon had taken these youngsters to the southern plains to play.

They had grown up into handsome young men, but it wasn’t the first time Britia had met them.

“Sister, Lenny told us to behave that way in front of you.”

She didn’t understand why he was doing such a pointless thing.Britia sighed at his action but Leon seemed happy.

“Good. You should always compliment my sister continuously.”

“She has a gentle personality like a soft rug.”

“She has a figure like a beautiful, blossoming rose.”

“Oh, Britia, our lovely sister! ”

“Guys, put it away already!”

Britia tried to stop them from continuing further as her cheeks started to turn crimson from the embarrassment.

“Although I often say that, you guys shouldn’t fall in love with my sister.”

With his arms folded, Leon gave his buddies a stern look.

“If I see any of you flirting with my sister. You’re going to have to fight me to the death.”

His buddies fussed when he threatened them, shaking their heads and saying,

“That’s not going to happen.”

None of them had the guts to stand up and defend themselves against Leon.

“Why did you invite your friends if such were the case?”

Since there were five of his brother’s friends present—all gorgeous young men—Earl Lockhart, who hid his anxiety by twisting his lips and snorting, was worried that his younger brother had evened the odds with him by inviting guests.

The Earl began to grumble when he could no longer maintain the strain.

“Look, sister! He’s being cruel to me.”

“I’ll do my best to follow your command for the sake and meat I ate, brother.”

Earl’s complaints went unnoticed by Leon’s buddies, instead they gave Leon a big smile and raised their thumbs.

“I hate your so-called merry-go-round buddies.”

The knights booed the Earl as he became irritated.

“Big brother, stop being so cruel now.”

Up until that point, there was a pleasant environment, with everyone being friendly and engaging in light discussion.

But as the evening went on, the Lockharts increasingly understood that the celebration was over.

First of all, most of the 100 invitations sent out by Leon were pretty much useless.

“Have you sent invites to those who don’t know your address in the military academy?”

After realising this, Earl Lockhart was astounded by his brother’s careless action.

“I thought you would do that !”

The Earl heaved a deep sigh.

“I should have known it was going to be like this when you told me you sent it to a graduate you didn’t know.”

Leon was furious when the Earl disparaged his brother as being stupid. Leon’s reaction, though, was brief.

After some thought, he said,”

And you? Where is your friend Slanford?”

The furrow between the earl’s brows widened at hearing his brother’s sarcastic remarks.

Leon gave his face a quick glance and grinned.

Only after the celebration had begun did the Marquess of Slanford inform the host that he was unable to attend due to an ankle injury.

“I thought he was a man who lived up to his words.”

“We won’t ever again send him a letter of invitation to Lockhart.”

the Earl vowed while gritting his teeth.

Most of the guests who chose not to attend the event had trouble as a result of the intense rainstorms.

“We’ll get going before the weather worsens.”

The guests began to return one by one, citing rain as a reason.

However, the Earl assumed that they had attended a marquis’ banquet on the same day.

The Earl was enraged that the marquis had decided to host the celebration on the same day. Because the Lockhart family was the one that opted to host the celebration on today’s date first!

Before twelve o’clock, only Leon’s pals remained as guests.

Since learning that the date of the marquis’ party coincided with the Lockhart family’s gathering to choose a suitor for their daughter, he had been worried.

He didn’t give it any further attention, but now that he realized it had reached this stage, he was having a headache.

At one point, the band itself had also stopped playing and was taking a break.

“However, due to you, there are as many as a hundred guests at the party.”

said the Earl, casting a glance towards Leon’s boisterous friends.

“We are each equivalent to 100 people to keep the celebration going!”

“I’m worried that because of you guys, Lenny has become even more dumb than he already was.”

“Hahaha, Lenny’s brother says something really funny!”

The knights held their stomachs as they laughed, mistaking the Earl’s sarcastic remark for a joke.

“Thank you for remaining until the end despite your hectic schedule. I’m really grateful for your participation.”

Those who were laughing aloud abruptly stopped as Britia started speaking.

“Oh, it’s you!”

“Don’t make that face, sister!”

“We’ll get you a man to marry our sister.””Yes! Which family shall I go into?”

“Let’s break into any noble household right now and abduct one of them,” they said as they rose from their seats.

“What are you talking about?”

Britia grabbed their arms with surprise.

“Do it if you want to be scolded by me.”

When Britia stared at them, they smirked at each other.

“Everyone, what should we do? It appears that my sister will scold us.”

“Is it natural to want to get scolded by our sister after a long time?”

“It’s normal. My heart is pounding too.”

“You guys are truly…”

Normally, she didn’t mind and it wasn’t such a big thing for her brother’s buddy to tease her. Because many invited guests didn’t attend the party, she was feeling bad thinking that.

“You two…*hick*”

She knew that crying would only make her feel worse, so she put up with it.Still, Britia’s inner turmoil was so intense that she eventually leapt from her seat as tears welled up in her eyes.

Only then did the knights realise the seriousness of the situation.

After watching his sister rush out from there, Leon slammed his fist against the table with a thud.

“Lenny, we did not intend to make her cry…!”

“Do you think I asked you guys here to make my sister cry?”

His fury could be seen in his eyes.

“Mr. Leon Lockhart, I apologise; we were mistaken.”

“Brother, help us!”

One of the Knights asked Leon’s brother for help.

But instead of listening to his plea, the Earl pushed his brother.

“Lenny, did you see Philip slipping away over there?”

Britia, who had left the ballroom, walked out of the hall and sat sniffling in front of the stairs leading into the house’s doorway.

The heavy downpour had already stopped before she knew it.

She didn’t flee because she disliked Leon’s buddies.

She despised it when she thought about it and became depressed.

How much money and effort did they put into today’s party?

The clothing she was wearing today was the same.

The Countess went to her friend’s aunt’s cousin to ask a popular designer who only worked with a few aristocrats to make a gorgeous dress for Britia.The resulting dress cost more than ten times her initial purchase price.

Aside from that, party decorations, food, and drink!

The celebration for her cost them more money than any other gathering they had had when her twin was made Earl of Lockhart.

So she desired to make things work out.But what efforts might be made at a gathering without guests?

She sighed and took out the pins and flowers that held her hair in place. Her exquisitely styled braided hair loosened as she shook her head.

“Perhaps I wasn’t meant to get married”

She drew her tail, which was in soul form, and buried her face on it.

She thought that she should devote her future to serving the goddess like Leon had.

“I can’t be a knight, but if I try, I can be a priest.”

She mumbled what Leon once said to her.

As if the Goddess had heard Britia murmuring, the rain started to pour again as if there were holes in the sky, giving the impression that she was being rejected.

Britia stared at the sky while pouting.

“If you’re going to reject me like this, you should drop someone like you’re falling rain, at least if he can marry me, and I wouldn’t think about serving you.”

The goddess also appeared to roar and thunder after hearing her remarks, as though she were furious.

While complaining by herself, Britia was surprised when she suddenly noticed something huge in front of her.

An unusual shadow that appeared to be much larger than she was!

-Flash!

The face of the unidentified person, which was obscured by darkness, came into Britia’s line of sight as the lightning hit.

She was greeted by a guy who had a scar beneath his left eye, a blindfold over the very eye, damp black hair that clung to his face due to the rain, and a body that was so pale that it appeared as though a drowned corpse had fallen into the sea and had just surfaced.

“Oh my god!”

The bewildered Britia screamed as if her throat were being torn and threw the hairpin she was holding at him.

The pin hit his chest and bounced back.

“Ah!”

She was so terrified that she froze mid-sentence and was unable to even call for help.

People had mistakenly thought she could see the souls of the dead, but was this really the case?

The tears that had previously ceased streaming from Britia’s eyes appeared to be doing so once more.

“Hey!”

Leon hurried over to Britia to see what had happened after hearing his sister’s cry a little while earlier.

“You punk!”

Leon attempted to grasp the large man by the collar, but was unsuccessful since the man sidestepped him.

Leon’s eyes widened in disbelief as he observed how simple it was for him to dodge a paladin’s clasp.

Because evading his hands with so ease was unusual.

Additionally, hadn’t he met him somewhere?

The recent movement seemed almost reminiscent in some way.

“No way, why are you here?”

Leon, who recognized him, was perplexed and confronted the man.

“Do you know me?”

The man began to speak. Britia felt a chill go down her back.

It was the first time she had heard such a gloomy voice in her life.

“Who is he, Lenny? Do you know him?”

Britia, who was seated on the floor, was afraid and clung to the hem of her brother’s garment.

“Well, I mean…”

Leon initially grasped his sister’s anxious hand and dragged her up.

However, he found it difficult to respond to her since he had not yet organized his thoughts.

Britia got increasingly concerned when she realized her brother had yet to respond.

‘Why is he taking so long?

‘Who the hell is that personal?

”Is he really a dead?”

However, a dead person would not have such a voice!’

Many thoughts were rushing around within her head like tornadoes.

“I apologise for startling you!”

The enormous man instantly covered the teeth, which had been unnoticed until now but had appeared from the side as he was speaking.

“I’m not a suspicious person.”

The man with the black hair, who looked like a wet mouse, smiled awkwardly and raised his hands as if to surrender.

“Even if he’s not that suspicious….”

Leon looked up and down at him and swallowed his saliva.

“On the way here, the wheels of the carriage fell into the mud, and I looked like this when I walked in.”

He explained calmly.

And another person came forward.

“Sorry for the late introduction. This is

Duke Sigturas, I am his Lieutenant, Evry.”

The Duke of Sigturas?

Britia blinked quickly.

She had heard about him in the past and this afternoon as well.

The Duke who teared man with his hand, the Mad Dog of the North!

“That’s him, sister! The man I was talking about.”

Leon gently reminded her, seemingly concerned that Britia could have forgotten that name.

“He’s the mad dog from the north who twisted and tore the beast’s neck.”

The Duke’s eyes flinched at Leon’s next remark.

“Leon!”

Britia opened her mouth wide in surprise.

How could he say such a thing in front of the person concerned?