CH 27

‘How long should I stay?’

I didn’t like crowded places in the first place, so I was already tired of this place.

I was in a corner on purpose, but the gazes of the people staring at me were also burdensome.

You didn’t know when and where someone like Dorothea might come out and try to pick a fight for no reason……

Normally they wouldn’t talk to me, who had the reputation of being Perdia’s madman, but today there was a variable called Raeyan.

I saw people hanging around, who wanted to talk to Raeyan at least once.

If I were away from Raeyan for a second, they’d jump at him like moths and would start talking to him.

I thought it was detestable, however, I asked for Raeyan’s opinion just in case.

“Raeyan, do you want to talk to them?”

“Never.”

“Then stay right next to me. I´ll get rid of them.”

“………….”

I, who exclaimed to be Raeyan’s own human exterminator, stood by his side to prevent people from approaching us.

I wanted to hide myself in a place where no one else could see, but I, the fiancé of the first prince, could cause unnecessary gossip if I entered the balcony with Raeyan.

“You look tired,” Raeyan commented.

I nodded and said, “I want to go back soon.”

It was such a large hall that the people of the Perdia family could not be seen. It didn’t matter because I was used to staying in moderation and going back alone in the middle.

“Then I’ll accompany you to the mansion.”

“That–”

It was the moment I was about to answer Raeyan.

I saw Beltran, the second prince, looking around; as I was watching, he found me and began striding straight in my direction.

‘……it’s annoying!’

I needed to bounce out of this stuffy party before I got caught and had to have a long conversation. I pretended not to see the second prince, linked my arm in Raeyan’s arm and pulled him in a hurry. 

Raeyan silently adjusted our steps to be more elusive, as if he realized the situation when he saw the second prince walking from afar.

After deliberately passing through the crowd, I was able to exit the banquet hall and avoid being caught by the second prince. 

I let out a sigh of relief as Raeyan asked me, “Why did you run away?”

“He thinks I like him.”

“……Do you like him?”

In the deserted exterior of the building, the moonlight shone dimly on his face. 

I couldn’t see his expression well because it was dark, but it looked hardened, or maybe that was an illusion.

“No, I don’t like him.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes.”

In the first place, I wasn’t free enough in my situation to like someone.

I was too busy trying to be independent.

“Then let’s go to the carriage.”

I took a step towards the place where the carriage would be waiting, but Raeyan stood there and didn’t move.

Looking up at him in wonder, he was looking somewhere behind me.

“Princess.”

When I turned my head to the voice from behind, I saw a familiar face.

Adenmir Presil Wallent.

The man who was the first prince and my persistent fiancé was there.

“I see your Highness the Prince.”

He walked slowly towards me as I greeted him with courtesy.

“The banquet is still in full swing, but you came out early.”

“I usually stay this long and then go back,” I answered calmly.

‘Certainly you don’t know that, since you always left me alone as your partner and only talked to people from your faction throughout the banquet.’

I swallowed my bitter heart and smiled brightly.

By the way, it was quite an awkward situation to have the first prince here now.

That was because today’s banquet was hosted by the Empress, so the first prince who was hostile to the second prince and the empress, never should have stopped by.

Even though he knew about what I was wondering, he pretended not to know and glanced at Raeyan standing  next to me.

“I’ve never seen this face before,” Adenmir said, coldness entering his voice.

“This is my escort, the Mercenary King, Ian. Ian, this is the First Prince.”

“May the glory of Ishtar fall on you. My name is Ian.”

“You are the rumored Mercenary King, Ian. Nice to meet you.”

The first prince received Raeyan’s greeting with an unwelcoming face. By the way…..

‘What is this?’

I looked alternately at the two and thought.

‘The atmosphere……has it somehow become bleak?’

***

Adenmir had also heard about Ian, the mercenary king.

Recently, he heard that the Duke of Perdia had contact with the mercenary king, but he did not know that it was in the form of escorting Elodie Perdia.

He observed the man named Ian carefully.

The expressionless face was the same, but the way he looked at Elodie and the way he looked at him was completely different.

‘You’re a talented man.’

Adenmir didn’t know whose idea it was, but it was an excellent choice to use him as an escort.

‘But why is my judgment so twisted?’

Smiling crookedly, Adenmir said to Raeyan, “I heard that Beltran covets you.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Yes, I hope you continue to not be interested.”

‘That way, you won’t make your opponent into your real enemy,’ Adenmir thought fiercely. 

He had no personal regrets about Ian, the mercenary king. Rather he thought it was a good thing when he heard that he had a contact point with Perdia.

Until a minute ago.

Adenmir’s eyes shifted to Elodie, whose gaze alternated between the two.

He did not forget the sight he saw in the hall.

His fiancée, who looked up at her escort and smiled in a friendly way. Naturally, he had no choice but to recall the conversation he and Elodie had in the past.

Adenmir turned to her and asked, “Is he the “someone” you were mentioning the other day?” 

“Someone..? ……..Ah.”

Elodie’s eyes widened a little, perhaps because she thought the same thing.

Adenmir recalled her voice, which was asking for a breakup with a flushed face even in the midst of her pain.

“Actually, I have a crush on someone.”

He thought the opponent was the second prince Beltran. But today, looking at the mercenary she brought as an escort and partner, he could tell that it was not Beltran.

Elodie looked up at him. Adenmir’s eyes couldn’t read what was going on in her mind.

Soon, her lips opened.

“If I say so, what difference will it make?”

It was an ambiguous answer, neither positive nor negative, but it was enough for Adenmir to judge.

His fiancée shared her feelings with another man. As if she wanted him to see it.

But Elodie Perdia didn’t seem to know.

The more she acted like she wanted to break up their marriage, the more he realized that he didn’t want to do what she wanted.

All he wanted from Elodie in the first place was the Perdia name. Justification to gain the full support of the Duke of Perdia to become emperor.

Yes, that was all. 

Therefore, Adenmir laughed, thinking that it had nothing to do with the other person’s feelings or who she had a crush on.

“Nothing changes. Whatever the princess thinks, it is nothing.”

“Is that really so?”

“Yes.”

Adenmir hoped that Elodie would despair at his firm answer.

‘Because I won’t let you go.’

‘I will never break off this marriage. Whatever you do.’

***

An extravagant carriage stopped in front of the Angellus mansion.

“Miss. Welcome-”

“Get out of my way.”

Dorothea, who coldly struck the servant’s hand, entered the mansion.

When Dorothea returned to the bedroom, she sat on the sofa and got annoyed, ripping off the hem of her dress.

This was the best thing she could use to vent her anger on.

Because screaming and throwing things just because you were angry wasn’t something a lady from one of the four great families would do.

“Elodie Perdia…..”

Dorothea recited a person’s name with a distorted face.

She was pretty, but that was it; she was a crazy subject that was just a treat for people’s curious eyes.

She was the only daughter of the Perdia family and at the same time, she was treated coldly as an illegitimate child.

She was the daughter of the four major families, Perdia, and although she was pretty, there were no people around here, because she had a sensitive and dirty temper.

What was it about you? Dorothea Angellus has always been the center of society. Of course, she had to be that today as well.

But today, Elodie received the attention of her family, and she entered even together with the mercenary king, Ian.

Since then, the main topic people talked about was Elodie Perdia.

“Elodie, Elodie, Elodie!” Dorothea hissed.

That bastard Elodie! 

Dorothea suppressed her anger by chewing her lips.

This feeling of resentment was quite old.

From birth, Dorothea had been compared to Elodie Perdia. 

It was natural. There weren’t many young children from the four major families.

Elodie was beautiful. Her family was perfect.

But Elodie was an illegitimate child and was met with indifference from her family.

So, Dorothea was relieved.

‘I’m superior,’ she thought.

But all at once, the moment the Perdia family paid attention to Elodie, all attention went to her.

The feeling of being her friend was for the first time humiliating.

So, she approached Elodie and talked to Ian, the mercenary king.

She thought that if Elodie had common sense, she would naturally repay her favor.

But…..

“…….Urgh!”

Anger rose in Dorothea’s chest again.

Ian, the mercenary king, wiped his hands with a handkerchief as if his hands were dirty after touching her, and threw it away in front of her eyes.

She had received such an insult for the first time in her life. No one had ever treated her like that.

It was a shock that seemed to turn the world upside down for Dorothea, who had always lived a life that was taken for granted.

And the cause of all that was “Elodie Perdia”. 

‘You’re not a direct descendant, you have no powers, you’re an illegitimate child!

At that time, Duchess Angellus hurried into the bedroom when she heard that her daughter had returned in a great rage.

“Oh, baby, why are you so upset?”

“It’s nothing,” Dorothea snapped at her mother.

“What do you mean nothing? When my daughter is making such an ugly face?”

“Mother……”

Duchess Angellus patted her lovely daughter in her arms as Dorothea burst into tears.

“What happened at the banquet?”

“Well, Elodie Perdia’s escort ignored me.”

“Escort? How dare a mere escort ignore my daughter?”

“The escort is Ian, the mercenary king.”

He was the leader of the Earth Hawk Mercenary Corps recognized by the emperor. So Angellus couldn’t touch him hastily.

Therefore, Duchess Angellus was also in trouble.

“Ian, the mercenary king, is a little…..”

“But mother! He treated me like I was dirty!”

“Oh my god. How dare you as a mercenary?!”

“I can’t breathe after being treated like that! I’m feeling so miserable……!”

“Baby…..”

She was a precious daughter who was cherished and raised with more care than any other jewel. How could such a child not be heartbroken when she returned with an unbearable wound and cried.

Duchess Angellus, who felt sorry for Perdia, to be precise, with Duchess Themis Perdia, made up her mind.

“Don’t worry baby. This mother will give them a hard time.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Since you said it was an escort for Elodie Perdia, the child, the owner, must take responsibility.” 

(T/N: do the Angellus family members just happen to share a brain cell?)

(E/N: They have three brain cells, and they’re all fighting for third place.)

She couldn’t touch Ian, the mercenary king who was recognized by the emperor, but she was able to handle Elodie Perdia.

‘What can I do?’

The duchess coaxed her daughter, who pouted with her lips.

***

When Carlot and Jansi didn’t show their faces in the annex, I immediately started making antidotes again.

Martha came in at noon, when I was taking a break after using my power to make a lot of antidotes.

“Miss, the Duchess called.”

“The Duchess? Why?”

Since she already passed a large amount of antidotes on to her, they shouldn’t have any business interacting with each other for a while.

“She said Duchess Angellus and Lady Angellus were visiting.”

“Hmm……”

I could roughly predict why they came.

It must be revenge for being humiliated at the last banquet.

‘It’s Raeyan who humiliated her. But why are you making a fuss here with me?’

‘You’re thinking I’m the easier target, huh?’ 

But it wasn’t scary at all.

On the contrary, my blood was already boiling. 

‘I was already stressed, so good for you!’

“Let’s go, Martha”

“……..?”

I headed straight for the main building with Martha, who was staring at me like I was a madman.