Chapter 7. A Task Befitting the Villainous Grand Duke

Elena immediately shouted when she saw the box being pushed towards her.

“I’ll accept it.”

She said that but didn’t reach out her hands. When Suharto gave her a questioning look, Elena rubbed her ticklish cheek with the back of her hand.

The Grand Duke’s gaze wouldn’t leave her. Though he was just looking, her cheeks tingled and her throat felt dry.

“Could I have one without a peacock feather, or even if it has one, something more ordinary without the gold decorations… something more modest?”

“As I’ll be working as an aide, I can’t carry something so fancy,” Elena said with a smile as she gently declined Suharto’s gift.

“Hmm.”

“I imagined using something fancier than His Highness the Grand Duke’s pen, and it just didn’t seem right.”

Suharto looked at the pen thoughtfully before handing it to his attendant.

“That’s not much of a gift.”

Even this was a trivial item that he had greatly compromised on.

“It’s because Your Highness’s standards are too high for me.”

Elena bowed deeply to Suharto after saying if he really wanted to give something, please give something cheaper.

“Enjoy the rest of your time. Well then.”

She gave her farewell, indicating they should part ways here, and moved away from him. Fortunately, there were people who immediately surrounded him.

‘That kindness is too uncomfortable.’

The Crown Prince had never shown her a frightening side. Yet she continued to feel burdened by him, fear him, and feel uncomfortable around him.

If these feelings persisted, they would eventually be discovered, so she needed to shake them off somehow, but it wasn’t easy.

“Elena, right?”

Elena smiled at the familiar woman approaching her and pushed both the Crown Prince and Grand Duke to the back of her mind.

She caught a glimpse of hyenas in their gleaming eyes.

* * *

“Hahaha.”

Rudfelix ignored the irritating laughter.

“Oh?”

Quiet, who had changed clothes like Elena, was laughing so hard his elegant tailcoat was getting wrinkled.

“If you’re going to laugh like that, stay away.”

Why was he lingering around now when he should only be nearby when working as an aide! Rudfelix clicked his tongue.

He whispered quietly enough for only Quiet to hear, losing his noble composure in irritation.

“Ah. There’s no need to be so cold… no, there isn’t.”

Quiet flinched at Rudfelix’s temper but soon pretended to be calm while fidgeting with his tailcoat. Then, feeling wronged about being treated this way over just laughing after spending so much time serving him, he spoke up.

“I watched over you since you were a snot-nosed kid, what’s wrong with your older brother laughing a bit?”

Since he had to show respect due to status, he pulled rank with age instead.

“Shut up.”

As an aide, he would have immediately closed his mouth at his superior’s command to be quiet, but now he covered his slight hesitation with a fake cough and pretended nothing was wrong.

“Come on, look over there. Aide Ele, no, Lady Elena.”

Quiet handed Rudfelix some wine and gestured with his chin toward Elena.

“It’s fun to watch.”

Realizing this was why he had been laughing and making strange noises earlier, Rudfelix looked at him with disgust.

“Why are you looking at me like… ah?”

Quiet almost slipped back into his aide formality but forcefully dropped the end of his sentence.

“You’ve been staring at Lady Elena just as much.”

Rudfelix paused as he was about to take a sip of wine. Quiet smiled smugly as if he’d caught his weakness.

“I was watching purely out of interest, so don’t look at me like I’m some pervert. Instead of me…”

When Rudfelix’s eyes sharpened, Quiet quietly swallowed the rest of his words.

Despite staring at Elena more intensely himself with strange eyes, he was the one getting angry instead.

“I was watching because it’s interesting.”

Rudfelix glanced indifferently in her direction before looking away, as if there was no other meaning.

Her movements as she held her skirt and turned, her attitude when dealing with others – it was all interesting to watch.

When she acted as his aide, she was businesslike and stiff, but with the change of clothes, it was as if she had become a different person with more smiles.

However, while anything he did was fine, he disliked others doing the same.

Especially Quiet’s excessive interest in Elena’s affairs; it was particularly unpleasant.

“Staring so openly is rude to the other person.”

“She won’t even notice me looking right now.”

Quiet waved his hand. Then he gestured as if telling him to check for himself. See, she has no time to notice us now.

When Rudfelix glanced over, Elena didn’t notice any signals Quiet was sending.

With more than two layers of people surrounding her, it was doubtful she could even see Quiet. Some familiar faces approached her friendlily, while others tried to establish new connections, gradually burying Elena’s figure.

“Did you see when His Highness the Crown Prince gave her a gift earlier?”

Quiet brought up the unpleasant situation from before with a laugh.

“To think he’d give a pen as a gift. I never expected that.”

Quiet hit his forehead and laughed.

Earlier, when the Crown Prince presented the gift, someone’s gasp of shock could be heard. Though they knew Elena declined the gift by shaking her head, they couldn’t hear what was said. The Crown Prince simply withdrew with a smile.

“I’ll have to ask her later what she said to decline it.”

It was a moment filled with both envy and annoyance, seeing how easily Quiet could ask such questions as a fellow aide.

“Will anyone become as famous today as Lady Elena?”

She entered with the Grand Duke’s escort and received a gift directly from the Crown Prince.

“Since the Crown Prince’s gift had as much impact as yours, no one will stand out as much as her.”

“True.”

Rudfelix agreed with that. His escort alone was more than enough, but she also gained the Crown Prince’s attention, so tomorrow all sorts of information about Elena would be circulating.

“That’s enough of that.”

At Rudfelix’s warning not to show too much interest and to keep it moderate, Quiet pushed out his lower lip.

What good was being born first when he was treated so coldly.

As Quiet was setting down his wine glass dejectedly, he spotted someone and moved closer to Rudfelix’s side.

“He’s here.”

Quiet gestured behind him and deliberately created distance between them.

“Your Highness.”

It was Baron Vulti with his notably red complexion. He approached with a friendly smile, but no emotion showed on Rudfelix’s face.

“It’s been a while.”

How long had it been? The last time was when Baron Vulti brought double accounting books as evidence.

In other words, the mastermind who tried to bring down the Jellisto Merchant Guild was now approaching with a sneering smile.

Rudfelix glanced at Elena one last time. He wouldn’t have time to look at others until he found a way to completely catch and burn Baron Vulti.

“Have you been well?”

“As you can see.”

“Yes. You look bright and healthy. Compared to that, I’ve become so gloomy.”

Baron Vulti sighed dramatically for Rudfelix to see.

“I worry every day about the merchant guild I sponsor being in danger. It seems too wasteful to abandon, but trying to maintain it is like feeding a money-eating hippopotamus.”

And Rudfelix was the cause of that.

“Go ahead and resent me if you want.”

Rudfelix acted as if he didn’t care. Though it was the price for trying to destroy the Jellisto Merchant Guild and take its profits, he didn’t expect any remorse.

“How dare I resent Your Highness the Grand Duke. I can only resist with my meager strength.”

It was a declaration of war that wouldn’t end with just resentment. Baron Vulti showed his determination to never forgive the Grand Duke who had pushed not only the merchant guild but himself out of the political scene.

“That’s good.”

Rudfelix gladly accepted it.

“I had no intention of leaving you be, either.”

“As expected, Your Highness is full of confidence. Well, crushing an insignificant baron would be as easy as squashing an ant. However, Your Highness.”

Baron Vulti smiled crookedly.

“When I attacked the Jellisto Merchant Guild, do you think I did so without anything?”

“In the end, you’re saying you’ll borrow external power because your own is weak – was there a need to say it so grandly?”

“Ahem. We shall see.”

Baron Vulti passed by the Grand Duke with a vicious smile.

“When Jellisto falls, don’t look for that little butterfly. Its wings will be torn to shreds, never to return to its former state.”

With those final words he whispered, Baron Vulti discarded all courtesy. He openly revealed his vengeful heart toward the Grand Duke who had protected and helped Count Jellisto.

Rudfelix’s relaxed body tensed with strain. He accepted Baron Vulti’s challenge that mentioned Elena, his eyes gleaming.

“Are you so dull-witted? You don’t even realize you’ve lost your way to survival and your foolish body is walking toward its death.”

Rudfelix’s attitude toward Baron Vulti also changed. He no longer showed him respect and saw him as an enemy to deal with.

After Baron Vulti left, Rudfelix muttered quietly.

“I suppose I’ll have to see this through to the end.”