“His Majesty the Emperor said it himself on the day he ended the Great Demon War. When declaring peace, he prohibited discrimination. Marchioness Asili, you should take His Majesty’s words to heart.”
“Do you think you’ll be safe after doing this? This is why they call you a mad villainess.”
“Will you be alright, Marchioness? You don’t know what a crazy woman might do.”
When Arne took another step toward Marchioness Asili, the Marchioness, who was clutching the front of her dress, unconsciously backed away.
With a soft laugh, Arne elegantly bent down, pulling up one side of her skirt in a curtsy.
Slowly rising, she moved toward the door of the hall, then seemed to remember something and turned her body again.
Her steps headed unhesitatingly toward Cedric. Arne placed her hand on the shoulder of the standing Cedric and rose on her tiptoes. Arne whispered in his ear, almost grazing his lips.
After finishing her words, Arne smiled brightly. She elegantly turned and left the hall. Even after she disappeared, Cedric endlessly stared at the hall door.
Amelia looked at Cedric while brushing off the water that had splashed from Marchioness Asili. At that moment, his expression was truly unusual, making her feel frightened. If no one else realized, Amelia certainly did. That was the look of a man in love. Just like how Kale looked at her.
Though she tried to hide her uneasiness, Amelia’s hands clutching her skirt trembled anxiously. What on earth did she babble to make that cold man unable to hide his emotions and make such a face?
“Lord Cedric, what did Lady Ronia say?”
After a long silence, Cedric opened his mouth.
“Arne……”
“What that mad villainess had to say is obvious! Amelia, I’m going to the lounge. Fortunately, I brought a spare dress. Seriously, because of that vermin.”
Amelia glared at Marchioness Asili who interrupted Cedric’s words.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s nothing. Take care.”
Amelia barely managed a smile and turned back to Cedric. But Cedric had already turned his body and was only tilting a wine glass.
His face was cold and sharp, as if saying not to disturb him. When his wine ran out, Amelia seized the opportunity and spoke.
“Your wine is gone. Seeing how you’re only drinking that wine at a tasting event, it must suit your taste. It’s rivac. Just a moment.”
“……”
Amelia called a servant and ordered more wine. She tried to lighten the mood by speaking to him, but somehow Cedric’s eyes sank even more heavily as he stared at the empty wine glass.
Amelia instinctively felt that his eyes were following Arne, who wasn’t even present, rather than her who was in front of him.
‘But why?’
Amelia couldn’t understand no matter how much she thought about it. At this banquet, Arne had only acted wickedly toward Marchioness Asili, befitting the Empire’s mad villainess.
Intimidating, pouring wine on a dress—each action was vulgar.
She even defended Princess Ramona, who had been from a defeated country.
She was pointed at and ridiculed by everyone.
She wasn’t beautiful, her dress was terrible, and there was nothing she was better at than Amelia.
‘Why a war orphan woman—!’
The only thing worth considering, apart from her empty title of Lady Ronia, was that she was a grand mage. However, being able to use magic wasn’t a primary virtue for a noble lady.
The servant poured wine into Cedric’s empty glass. Watching the wine gradually fill, Cedric scratched the glass, lost in thought.
Marchioness Asili, who had returned after fixing her appearance, called Amelia.
“How’s my new dress?”
“You look beautiful, Marchioness Asili. Ah, would you like to see the gift I prepared now? I think it would suit you well.”
“Oh, please do.”
Amelia gestured to her maid. She hated it when other people were paying attention to Cedric, who was giving off a strange atmosphere after Arne’s disappearance. She also wanted to show off the wealth of the Leverun family.
Soon, when the maid opened a jewelry box wrapped in silk, an emerald necklace and a black pearl necklace were revealed.
“Your grandson has black hair like black pearls and pretty green eyes like emeralds, so I prepared two—one for you, Marchioness Asili, and one for your daughter-in-law who must have had a hard time. Please choose whichever you like first.”
“My goodness, they’re both so beautiful that I don’t know which to choose. Your eye for quality is always excellent.”
Marchioness Asili greedily held the emerald necklace and black pearl necklace against herself. They were jewels of rare quality, showing the enormous wealth of the Leverun Trading Company.
Enjoying the envious gazes of the nobles who gathered to look at the necklaces, Marchioness Asili casually remarked,
“They’re both so beautiful. I want them both.”
Amelia smiled sweetly. Marchioness Asili was very greedy. Even though she clearly said one was for her daughter-in-law, those eyes were asking for both.
“I really can’t choose. What should I do?”
“Then take both. My father said, if something is so tempting you can’t choose, take them all. Why worry? I’ll send another one to match your daughter-in-law’s blue eyes.”
“My, only the Leverun family could do such a thing. To be so considerate, there’s really no one like you, Amelia.”
“You flatter me.”
Amelia smiled sweetly while looking down at the Marchioness who was vulgarly burying her nose in the jewelry box. A sneer formed at the corners of Amelia’s mouth, like she’s looking at a greedy pig.
“I think the emerald necklace would suit your current dress better.”
“Is that so? Come to think of it, the first necklace I received from Madam Leverun was also an emerald.”
“From my mother?”
“Yes. She gave it as a gift to commemorate the first major success of the Leverun family’s business. The medicine that could prevent and treat the disease spread by Princess Ramona became popular, didn’t it? The company had a different name back then.”
Amelia awkwardly responded a beat late.
“Ah, that’s right.”
“Your father was the first to discover Princess Ramona and secretly reported her, wasn’t he? He couldn’t receive a medal from His Majesty the Emperor at the time because his identity needed protection. I still remember your mother’s voice complaining that all the reward money went into business capital. But that’s what created today’s Leverun, so it was quite a profitable deal, wasn’t it?”
“Haha, did my mother say such things?”
“She must have liked Asili family’s liquor, as she only confided in me.”
Amelia forcibly pulled up the corners of her mouth and smiled sweetly. Literally, it was a matter that needed to be kept secret to protect their identity.
They might have faced retaliation from forces supporting Princess Ramona later.
Especially since the Leverun family had secretly spread rumors that Princess Ramona was spreading the disease to sell their medicine at expensive prices.
The Leverun family, having found a heteromorphic doctor, couldn’t have not known that Princess Ramona’s disease wasn’t contagious.
But now it was an old story no one cared about.
To change the subject, Amelia turned to Cedric and opened her mouth.
“By the way, what did Lady Ronia say to you earlier……”
Amelia stopped speaking. The look in Cedric’s eyes as he looked down at her was colder than ever before. It was the first time she had faced such a gaze, filled with murderous intent.
“Lady Leverun, I’m afraid I have urgent business to attend to.”
Though the informant and the false rumors about spreading the disease were the Marquis Leverun’s doing, Cedric knew it wasn’t Lady Leverun’s fault, but he found it hard to stop his rising anger.
Cedric placed a box containing cufflinks in front of Amelia.
“I’ll decline this. I don’t deal with imitations. Farewell.”
“Lord Cedric!”
Lady Leverun called out urgently, but his footsteps didn’t stop. Warren immediately followed Cedric, who was emanating coldness.
“Warren, investigate Lady Leverun and Young Master Wayne. Thoroughly examine the Leverun family too. Bring me the trading company’s history and all their actions. With solid evidence enough to break off this engagement!”
“Understood. Are you alright?”
Cedric paused before boarding the carriage.
“The lady?”
Warren missed the timing to answer, trying to figure out what his question meant.
“She returned safely.”
“Good.”
“But what did the lady say to you earlier?”
“Nonsense.”
Facing Cedric, Warren couldn’t say anything at his unfamiliar expression. Before he could read the emotion spreading in those eyes, the carriage door closed.
Cedric pressed his palm against his eyes and tilted his head back. Arne’s enchanting voice kept ringing in his head.
「Cedric, there’s no paradise in the place you’re running to. But if you want to run away, I’ll gladly go with you. Even if it’s hell. My life is already hell, so I have nothing more to fear.」
“We must both be crazy.”
As the bewitching voice continued to whisper, her lips lingering like a vision, Cedric exhaled deeply. Cedric’s red eyes burned increasingly bright.
Arne, what should I do with you?
* * *
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SadBeech
First you could stop behaving like a dickhead and listen to her. He already knows she has no one on her side and when she tells him that her family schemed against her and lied to him he suddenly doesn’t want to believe her ??? Like bro get your head out of your as$.