The moment I turned my head to look at the man, I stopped breathing.

He had a hood wrapped around his head in the style of the neighboring country Magris, casting a deep shadow on his face, but his black eyes flashed from within.

My shoulders trembled at the feeling that his black eyes, like pupils of unfathomable depth, were sucking in my very soul.

“I-I don’t know who you are, but this is a matter between the lady and me! Don’t interfere!”

“Let go of that hand if you don’t want your wrist cut off.”

‘Y-you’re bluffing!’

“Shall we see if it’s a bluff or not?”

At the warning, Viscount Scott released my arm as if shaking off a bug.

He had gripped me so tightly that my arm still throbbed even after being released.

“I have a deep relationship with Lady Rabbit. This is just a minor lovers’ quarrel, so please go on your way.”

“Who is your lover? Not at all!”

“She has such a reckless and impertinent personality. Only someone like me would tolerate this lady’s temperament.”

The Viscount made it seem like a minor lovers’ quarrel.

His face, smiling with affection like a loving partner, was so hateful that I bit my lip, at a loss for words.

“Stop sulking and let’s go over there to talk privately. You wouldn’t want people to see our argument. If rumors spread, it would be troublesome for your father too.”

He threatened me by bringing my father into this.

How vile.

If it were just about me, I wouldn’t care how rumors spread, but family was different.

As I stared helplessly at the approaching Viscount’s hand without avoiding it, the man standing behind me pulled my shoulder.

His firm chest touched my back as if embracing me, and like a snake crawling up, his strong, rough hand wrapped around my chin while his long arm encircled my waist.

“Have you been seducing this man while dating me?”

“Ah!”

Hot breath passed by my ear.

“My woman meeting another man is unacceptable. Let’s duel.”

“D-duel?”

“The one who wins the duel earns the right to meet the lady.”

His long arm unwound as he gently pushed me to the side. The sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard reflected the light from the mansion.

It was like the growl of a large beast emerging from a cave.

“B-bringing a real sword to a party! Why have a duel over something like this?”

“If you want to win a woman’s heart, you have to give it your all.”

“Do you think I’m truly sincere about such an unremarkable woman? I only approached her because she looked like she would be obedient after marriage!”

“If you don’t want to duel, get lost.”

The Viscount, startled and pale-faced, glared at me instead.

“Flirting with me and then bringing in another man, how promiscuous!”

I’m promiscuous? Do you even know what that word means?

The Viscount fled with his tail between his legs but still behaved disgustingly until the end.

Once he entered the mansion and was no longer visible, the tension in my body released, and hot emotions surged.

To think he even threatened my father!

“That bastard! Running away like a coward when he sees someone stronger! Scaredy-cat! Step in dog poop on your way home!”

After letting it all out, the tension drained from me, and I sat down panting. I could see the feet of the man who had helped me. He was facing the opposite direction from me.

“H-hey! Wait a moment!”

Instinctively, I grabbed the hem of his coat.

My heart was still pounding from what had happened with the Viscount, and I couldn’t calm down. The thought of being left alone in the garden terrified me, making my body tremble.

“Thank you for helping me.”

“Let go.”

“I’m grateful…… Do you happen to have any alcohol? My legs are weak, and I can’t stand up.”

The hand holding his coat trembled.

If I returned to the party looking like this, Isilla would surely interrogate me until I told her what had happened.

I didn’t want to see her blaming herself for a friend being in danger at her mansion.

The man remained silent.

He must be dumbfounded that I suddenly asked for alcohol.

I was about to make an excuse when I looked up and—

‘Wow, is he even human?’

I had already seen his face, but as he removed his hood and brushed his hair back, there was a raw, wild feeling to him.

His brown hair looked darker in the dim light flowing from the mansion.

“Handsome—hup!”

My admiration was swallowed by his gaze as he looked down at me.

Sudden fear overwhelmed me under his emotionless eyes.

Though the garden wasn’t far from the mansion, it was night, and the area was screened by low shrubs.

If he dragged me away and harmed me, no one would notice in such a secluded spot.

The man’s expression was cold, as if ready to draw his sword and cut down an enemy at any moment, and his black eyes flashed like a beast’s in the darkness.

When he turned away and I escaped his savage gaze, I realized I had been holding my breath.

He returned from behind the gazebo with a bottle and held it out to me.

A strong aroma wafted from the opened brown bottle.

“Ah, thank you. For the drink and for chasing away that Viscount.”

I took a sip of the alcohol.

“Gah! My throat! Whoa! Cough, cough! Water! Some water please!”

It was so strong that I could feel exactly where my esophagus was as the burning liquid went down.

“You’re quite something.”

“Water! W-water. Cough, cough!”

“Here.”

I snatched the water glass that appeared before me and gulped it down.

He must have felt sorry for me because he didn’t leave me behind.

“Wow, I almost died from just one sip. Why is it so strong? This is practically poison. I should have made that Viscount drink this, what a shame.”

I wiped my teary eyes from coughing and checked the label on the bottle, but before I could read it, the man took it back and took a sip.

“He would have liked it more. It’s quite a rare liquor.”

With a faint smile, he sat on the railing a few steps away.

He didn’t leave me alone, but perhaps conscious of others’ eyes, he hid himself outside the gazebo where he couldn’t be seen.

‘He’s a good person.’

Though his sharp eyes looked cold even when smiling, he was kind enough to save a woman he didn’t know and stay by her side out of concern.

And he was incredibly handsome.

‘This must be the kind of decent man Isilla was talking about.’

***

“What’s your name?”

I shared drinks with the man who had saved me until the bottle became light.

By the second drink, the strong alcohol became tolerable.

My body, which had been cold with tension, warmed up, and my mood lightened as I became tipsy.

I became so relaxed that I lost all fear.

“I’m Ivy Rabbit. Thank you so much for helping me. What’s your name, Sir?”

I bowed to him from where I sat, but the man sighed with a rather annoyed expression.

“That’s the fourth time you’ve said that. I’ve already memorized your name.”

“Really? Why don’t I remember? So what’s your name?”

“……Kaien, Kaien Black.”

“Ah, right. That’s it. Kaien. The same name as Grand Duke Blemer. But your hair color is different from the Grand Duke’s. A darker color would suit you better. The brown hair feels out of place, like you’re wearing a wig.”

I muttered without realizing how rude I was being.

My cheeks felt hot, so I rested my face on the back of my hand to cool down.

“You know about Grand Duke Blemer?”

“He’s soooo famous! The black-haired, black-eyed cursed Grand Duke Blemer!”

I excitedly raised one hand like someone who had gotten the right answer, but thinking of the villain’s childhood that was briefly mentioned in the novel, I couldn’t simply laugh.

“Hmph, curse aside, he’s just a pitiful person.”

“Pitiful?”

The man’s deep voice was one I wanted to keep hearing.

I don’t know what caught his interest, but he showed curiosity.

“Weeeell, people all say that the Blemer Grand Ducal family is cursed and they’re scared, buuut so what if he’s cursed? He hasn’t harmed them, so why make such a fuss? The person himself must feel miserable and struggling.”

“……Others don’t think that way at all.”

When you hear the same story repeatedly, sometimes you can’t think differently.

In the novel, the villain freely displayed his twisted personality by threatening and kidnapping a woman, but while reading the novel, I thought:

‘Wouldn’t anyone develop a nasty temperament after such a childhood?’

“A child left alone after suddenly losing both parents should be pitied. How can people say such things to a struggling child, that he’s cursed or that he caused a curse? It’s so mean.”

Thinking of those bad adults made me think of the carp-faced Viscount, and my mood sank.

“People who say such things must all be like that Viscount Scott!”

I shouldn’t have let him escape just like that!

“Who does he think he is, looking down on my father for being a baronet! I’ll get a job in the Imperial City and strictly collect taxes according to regulations to torment him!”

A low laugh was heard.

“Even I would be scared. That’s a very practical method.”

“……He’s been chased away for now, but he’ll do it again. He’s so persistent.”

I attended few parties, and I encountered the Viscount at almost every one.

“Today he ran away scared because you stepped in as my lover, but next time when he sees me alone, he’ll be even more aggressive, claiming I deceived him. I don’t care about rumors about me, but my father……”

If he knew I was being harassed by such a person, how much would my frail father worry and stress?

I hugged my knees and looked glumly at my frayed shoes.

The dress was borrowed from Isilla, but the shoes, which weren’t easily visible, were mine.

“Ivy Rabbit.”

“Yes?”

“Shall we date?”

I turned to look at him.

His voice sounded languid, with no sense of sincerity.

Just like when he talked about the Grand Duke.

“If you date me, that man won’t be able to threaten you. At least if he values his life.”

“You’re not even serious.”

Whether I was right or not, he laughed silently.

Suddenly, I became curious about this man.

His naturally elegant movements, subtle gestures, and the subtle pressure he exerted that dominated others.

It was an aura that ordinary nobles couldn’t possess.

If he were such a decent man, he would have been the talk among ladies, but I had never heard of him.

“Black eyes are only found in Grand Duke Blemer in our country. Where are you from?”

In Ingmier, only Grand Duke Blemer had black eyes, so this man with brown hair and black eyes was clearly a foreigner.

“Lindal?”

“Oh, Lindal is on the border next to Magris. Grand Duke Blemer is there hunting demonic beasts. What brings you here? Are you a guest of the Marquis?”

“I was ordered to attend, so I had no choice.”

Recently, Isilla’s father, Marquis Rosiette, had been actively trading with Magris thanks to the demonic beast subjugation in Lindal.

“It’s a shame you have to attend a ball for work at this hour.”

“The same goes for you.”

“Right? Having to attend these balls, forcing smiles while competing to see who gets married first, it’s really exhausting.”

“Has anyone proposed to you?”

“Ah, not yet. The social season just started. If I had a fiancé, that strange man wouldn’t have approached me.”

“Indeed, you looked available.”

My lips pouted.

No matter how uninterested in marriage one might be, hearing “you look unpopular” would make anyone feel bad.

I deliberately folded my arms under my chest, lifting my br*asts as much as possible, and looked up at him.

“I’ve never been called ugly anywhere. I even have men chasing after me…… and my figure is quite good too.”

“Figure?”

He lowered his gaze to my chest and snorted.

I may not be particularly voluptuous, but I’m not completely flat either.

I looked down at my chest.

……Next time, I should gather them more.

“Hmph, you must be happy being so popular.”

“Popular, huh. I’ve never dated before.”

“Oh, come on. With looks like yours? Women wouldn’t leave you alone with a face like that. What a lie.”

As I looked up at him with a smile, our eyes met.

He was enjoying this situation like someone watching a small kitten’s playful antics.

“So I look decent in your eyes?”

For the first time in my life, my heart pounded strongly as I saw his smiling eyes.