“Hey!”

Cier shouted with red eyes, but Ariel was quicker.

“Don’t you remember? You couldn’t get along with others, so I always helped you. Your father even asked me directly to help you, saying you were lacking in many things.”

Cier’s face flushed with embarrassment, crumbling under the weight of the insult. But compared to the insults she had endured before, this was nothing.

Ariel glanced around to see if anyone was watching and held out her hand to Cier.

“Anyway, Cier, I’m really sorry. For ruining your party and for not being considerate enough.”

“……”

“And about that donation you mentioned earlier, it’s fine. You may not know this, but noble charity events aren’t held for private purposes. You shouldn’t use the money however you like.”

“Ha!”

Cier, her face flushed, opened her mouth in shock. She was at a loss, completely overcome with shame and embarrassment.

It was understandable. This wasn’t what she had expected.

Cier bit her lip and looked at Ariel.

Even in this situation, her emerald eyes shone with dignity. It was as if those eyes condemned her as garbage.

Finally losing her composure, Cier threw the box to the ground and shouted.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! At least I know better than you how terrible you are right now, acting all high and mighty while carrying around this trash!”

The box slammed roughly to the ground, and a pocket watch bounced out of it.

Clink–

A magical pocket watch created 500 years ago. One of the most precious treasures of the Blante Marquis family. The watch now lay carelessly broken on the floor.

Ariel’s face hardened like ice.

At Cier’s violent outburst, even the nobles who had been watching with amusement now looked on in surprise.

The hall fell silent for an instant. Only then did Cier seem to snap back to reality, stepping back and looking around.

The gossip at the party was no longer about Ariel.

All eyes were now on Cier.

She stammered and started to back away.

“I… I mean, this is…”

And just then, two men moved.

Ariel’s eyes went cold. She continued to stare at the cowering Cier, but soon lowered her gaze. She focused on the pocket watch, which had been thrown to the ground like a piece of rubbish.

She didn’t notice the two men approaching and slowly bent down.

Just as Ariel was about to pick up the discarded watch, a large hand suddenly appeared in her line of sight.

The hand quickly snatched up the watch in front of her.

As Ariel hastily straightened her body, her gaze met that of the man who had taken the watch.

Grey hair and brown eyes.

A man with an unassuming, down-to-earth appearance stood there holding the pocket watch.

He smiled enigmatically before speaking.

“Such a rare object. To throw such a thing on the ground… It seems the Duchess of Bayern lacks discernment.”

He clicked his tongue at Cier in contempt.

Ariel froze for a moment.

The voice that came from the man was completely at odds with his plain appearance.

The deep, pleasant voice was not just deep – it was flawless in its enunciation and gentlemanly in its tone.

It was definitely not the voice of an ordinary person.

And why did she have the feeling that she had heard it before?

That’s right. Ariel found the man’s voice strangely familiar, as if she had met him somewhere before.

But… this was certainly the first time she had seen his face.

As Ariel’s eyes narrowed, the man turned his head towards Cier, as if he had more to say.

“Lady, don’t you think you should apologise to Lady Blante for throwing such a valuable object around?”

Cier looked at the man, confusion. She started to speak but quickly stopped.

The brown eyes staring back at her were cold as ice. They sent shivers down her spine.

Despite his plain face and modest clothing, the presence of the unknown man completely overwhelmed her.

Who is this person?

Cier didn’t recognise the man before her. Was there anyone like him among the nobles?

As Cier studied him, the man spoke again.

“Lady of Bayern, why are you silent? It’s said that you lack social skills. Perhaps you don’t even know how to apologise?”

He blatantly mocked Cier.

The biting sarcasm in his voice made Cier’s fingers tremble. Just as she was about to reply, a voice as deep as the man’s rang out.

“With such a presence, who could find the courage to speak?”

The voice was one that Ariel knew only too well. She could tell who it was without seeing his face.

Kylance Seyerd.

He had somehow found his way to Ariel’s side. Ariel, so accustomed to his presence, turned her head to the empty space beside her, her gaze faltering.

Ariel soon realised where Kylance Seyerd was standing – not next to her, but next to Cier.

As if sensing Ariel’s gaze, Kylance looked at her.

For a moment, their eyes locked. But soon Kylance turned her head back to the unknown man standing in front of Cier.

“Pressing a lady like that is ungentlemanly. Step aside.”

Kylance said, his tone formal but his gaze sharp as he looked at the man.

His words were polite, but the coldness in his eyes was unmistakable.

Kylance, the man raised in the royal etiquette of the royal family, had always maintained decorum when he was angry. His anger was not the heat of fire, but the icy cold of ice.

And it was his terrifying rationality that made others fear him even more.

Though others might not see it, Ariel understood. She knew that Kylance was incredibly angry right now.

But why was he suddenly so angry?

Even when she had been insulted, he had remained calm and collected. So why did his anger suddenly flare up like this? What could have triggered it? Ariel narrowed her eyes, confused by Kylance’s unusual emotional outburst, and looked at Cier.

Could it be… because of Cier?

Now that she thought about it, the words he had just spoken sounded like he was trying to protect Cier…

Ariel’s heart skipped a beat, fear rising in her.

Kylance was someone who was indifferent to people who didn’t concern him.

For him to step forward in Cier’s matter and show such intense anger…?

But she didn’t remember Kylance and Cier having a close relationship.

In her memory, there had been no connection between them. But the clarity of Kylance’s anger made it hard to dismiss it as a mere misunderstanding.

If there was… some connection between them that I don’t know about…?

If the reason he had distanced himself from her at some point… was because of another love.

But still, Cier… Cier shouldn’t be the one.

Falling in love with someone who had once been her friend – that couldn’t happen.

Ariel clenched her fist as she stared at Kylance, but he never once looked at her.

Cier boldly grabbed Kylance’s wrist with both hands.

“Your Highness, thank you for helping me. I’ve never had someone so openly hostile before… it was truly frightening.”

Cier said as he hugged Kylance, as if he was afraid of the strange man.

Kylance didn’t push her away.

This was the man who despised anyone who touched him.

Normally he would have pushed her away or instinctively rejected her hand. But this time he didn’t stop her. In fact, he stood in front of Cier as if to protect her from the man.

Ariel’s heart sank, the weight of realisation hitting her with a dull thud.

This was the worst-case scenario she had feared. 

Kylance at Cier’s party, and Kylance not pushing Cier away. 

Ariel felt a chill run through her veins as she sensed the familiarity between the two.

‘When did this start…? No, as the butler had warned me, I shouldn’t have come here today.’

The price she paid for trespassing where she shouldn’t have was too high.

“I didn’t know the Duke and the Lady of Bayern were so close.”

The strange man said with a twisted grin as he stepped back.

“Since it is His Highness the Duke who asks me to step aside, it’s only right that I do so. Lady Bayern, I’m sorry if I frightened you.” 

“To be rude and offer such a short apology, how improper. And I don’t recognise your face. Were you invited to this party? May I see your invitation?”

The Duke’s intervention changed the atmosphere in the party hall.

It was as if everyone had forgotten Cier’s rude behaviour and were now concentrating on the confrontation between the Duke and the strange man.

Even Ariel, who had been pushed aside as if she were nothing, stole a glance at the scene.

Seizing the opportunity, Cier was about to put aside her earlier rudeness towards Ariel, using Kylance’s support as a shield.

Before Cier could speak, a low, indifferent voice rang out.