Chapter 79

“President, please don’t say strange things.”  

Still, a considerable number of people were watching her, and some even seemed to be whispering about her to others.  

They were looking at her like that either because she didn’t belong in this place or because she didn’t suit President Edward Wale, but he was so carefree, as if teasing her.  

It didn’t seem like he was trying to insult her, but Diane simply couldn’t muster the nerve to stay any longer.  

“You can be with other people now, President. I’ll go up to my room.”  

“Why?”  

“Pardon?”  

“I like being here with you, Miss Diane.”  

“No, but… You’re today’s host, aren’t you? You’re hosting the banquet…”  

“The host is supposed to just sit and smile prettily. That’s why I pay people—to guide guests, serve, clear tables, play music.”  

“But…”  

“So you just need to sit and smile prettily, Miss Diane.”  

She couldn’t understand what he meant.  

If the host was supposed to smile, why was he telling her to do it?  

“Oh, and there’ll be fireworks later. You have to watch them with me.”  

He spoke as if she absolutely had to see them.  

Fireworks, really.  

In Rettrang, fireworks were only for the King’s birthday.  

Was he doing them for the hotel’s birthday?  

No matter how grand the fireworks, she didn’t want to see them here with Edward.  

This hotel was too grand, and its owner, Edward Wale, was even more distant here than at the Wale mansion.  

Sitting here with him… Yes, this was a fantasy.  

“The fireworks will be spectacular. But I’d like to rest…”  

She tried to use fatigue as an excuse.  

But before she could finish, someone approached her and Edward, looking down at her.  

So dazzling in appearance that she lost her words…  

“Edward.”  

It was a woman who called President Edward ‘Edward.’  

It was strange.  

The woman called him, but Edward didn’t answer or even look at her.  

Well, maybe he glanced at her for less than a second.  

Then he turned away, acting as if she wasn’t there.  

“Edward!”  

The woman called him again.  

Diane suddenly felt uncomfortable.  

“President.”  

Diane whispered softly, trying to remind him that the woman was calling him.  

“Why, Miss Diane?”  

But instead of responding to the woman, Edward looked only at Diane, as if asking if she had something to say.  

“No… um…”  

But Diane sensed that if she got involved, things would only get more awkward.  

The woman’s aura said, ‘Who do you think you are, interrupting?’  

“Are you the tutor?”  

Suddenly, the woman spoke to Diane.  

How did she know Diane was a tutor?  

“Ah, yes.”  

“I’m Kate Jude. Daughter of the Jude Marquisate. I’ve been practically engaged to Edward since childhood…”  

“Oh…”  

Diane could do nothing but blink.  

Engaged?  

Did she really just hear that?  

“Crazy…”  

In her daze, Diane heard Edward mutter a curse.  

She still stared at Edward with blank eyes.  

He finally looked at Kate Jude.  

If the woman was trying to get Edward’s attention with those words, she’d certainly succeeded.  

Though it wasn’t the kind of attention a fiancé would want.  

“Edward, aren’t you going to introduce me? That’s the woman, right? The one I asked about when I visited…”  

Screech!  

Suddenly, Edward stood up so forcefully his chair slid back with a loud sound.  

He moved so roughly that even Kate Jude flinched and stepped back.  

“Kate Jude. Come with me for a moment.”  

Edward said this and immediately walked toward the exit leading outside from the banquet hall.  

Kate Jude, her face flushed, hurried after him, while Diane watched the two in a daze. She soon realized that many eyes in the banquet hall were now focused on Edward and Kate Jude.  

Suddenly, Edward turned around.  

He walked past Kate Jude and came back to Diane.  

“…?”  

Why did he come back?  

As Diane looked at him anxiously, his face came so close to hers that she could feel his breath on the fine hairs of her ear.  

“…!”  

It was so close, she could feel his breath on her ear.  

“Don’t go anywhere. Wait here for me.”  

He whispered right by her ear.  

“Ha…”  

She involuntarily let out the breath she’d been holding.  

What was that just now?  

She felt as if fire had started at her ear and raced down her neck.  

Her whole head felt hot, even her hair. Her face must be as red as a ripe strawberry.  

Edward met her gaze straight on, then turned and headed outside.  

Kate Jude, who had been standing there, followed him again.  

Once they disappeared, the chatter in the banquet hall grew louder.  

Diane quickly bowed her head, afraid to meet anyone’s eyes.  

Even if they weren’t talking about her, they were definitely talking about President Edward Wale.  

He was the owner of the hotel and the host of tonight’s banquet, and he’d just left a strange woman to go off with a glamorous one.  

What was that woman’s name again?  

<I’m Kate Jude. Daughter of the Jude Marquisate.>  

Diane recalled how the woman introduced herself.  

At the time, she’d been so shocked by the mention of being engaged to Edward that she hadn’t paid attention to the name.  

Jude Marquisate…  

<Among those heading to the Wale Hotel’s opening, Lord Jude of the Jude Marquisate…>  

If it was the family she’d read about in the newspaper…  

<My sister asked me to send her regards. Please, do not hurt the hearts of the ladies.>  

“Ah!”  

Diane let out a small gasp.  

So that woman was the sister Lord Jude spoke of?  

Were Edward and Lord Jude’s sister engaged?  

She found herself staring at the banquet hall’s exit where they had disappeared.

* * *

Kate Jude steeled herself as she watched the man walking ahead, exuding cold energy.  

He was infamous for his terrible manners but more beautiful than most women, and boasted the noblest blood among Traum Kingdom’s nobles. As an individual, not just by family, he was the kingdom’s richest man—Edward Wale.  

Most noble ladies found him intimidating, difficult, or even scary.  

But Kate Jude didn’t find him scary—she just wanted to possess him.  

Desperately.  

Scary?  

Ha!  

Only those born noble would say such pampered things.  

Found in the trash of Rettrang’s slums, brought to Lina Orphanage, and then adopted as the only daughter of the Jude Marquisate—she’d had to overcome countless obstacles for that. To her, the infamous Edward Wale was just a giant gold bar she could step over by lifting her dress.  

To someone born on the street and covered in trash, he was just a young lord raised in comfort and wealth from birth.  

All the more reason she wanted him—a sparkling, unblemished jewel.  

If he’d been like Adrian Wale, a perfect noble right out of an etiquette book, she wouldn’t have wanted or dared to covet him so much.  

But thankfully, he was too wild for most noble ladies and never let anyone get close.  

For Kate Jude, that was a blessing.  

Competing with women born noble, she, as an adoptee, would be at a disadvantage.  

But just because others didn’t want him didn’t mean she could have him for free.  

He was a man of the Wale Dukedom.  

But she had a powerful weapon, even if she didn’t have noble blood.  

Her adoptive family.  

As a child, she’d only wished to be adopted by a rich family. Being adopted into a noble house was a dream come true, and not just any noble house, but the wealthiest in Traum Kingdom—the Jude Marquisate.  

The Marquis and his sons treated her as the most precious daughter and sister in the world, even if it was as a substitute for their lost daughter.  

Suddenly, she had everything.  

Until she learned the chilling truth.  

But fate helps those who help themselves, and the world ended up on her side. Her position as the cherished youngest daughter of the Jude Marquisate remained secure.  

But just being the Marquisate’s youngest daughter wasn’t enough.  

She needed more protection.  

A new background of power and wealth—someone like Edward Wale of the Wale Dukedom.