Looking behind, it seemed like Lionel was whispering something similar to Demian. Only then did he look at me with a face that said “oops.” He appeared quite shocked by his behavior, which was unbecoming of a professional butler.

“Tsk tsk, Demian. A leaky basket at home will leak outside too, you know?”

Leaving him in silence, I turned to Sion and Lionel with a bright smile.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

“Yes. Please return safely.”

“Yes, Lady Lora.”

I headed to the party venue, receiving Sion and Lionel’s solemn farewells.

Since I had no intention of bringing elaborately dressed slaves to the party as spectacles, Sion and Lionel were to remain in the room during the party period.

Only Demian as a guard and Irena as a maid accompanied me. Anyway, once inside the party hall, they would stand by the wall waiting, while I alone would have to navigate through the ordeal.

After passing through a long corridor to reach the party venue, a servant announced loudly:

“Lady Lorazie Epine has arrived!”

“Couldn’t I have entered more quietly?”

Irena and Demian, easily ignoring my words, followed behind me with respectful postures.

Creak-

As the door opened, the nobles’ gazes inside the party hall focused on me. While walking through the splendid red carpet and marble floor toward a corner seat, the nobles’ whispers reached my ears.

“She’s that famous lady from the capital… I heard she was exiled to the north this time?”

“But they say she saved Duke Ante and his knights this time.”

“And even established a charity? Did she come to her senses after coming to the north?”

“Look at that beautiful blonde hair. It’s like melted honey.”

It was the moment my concerns became reality.

For a mere illegitimate child from the capital to receive this much attention.

Sighing, I let both praise and criticism go in one ear and out the other. Then, I went to a corner of the party hall, picked up a glass of wine, and began sipping it.

“Delicious.”

“Please drink only a little.”

“No.”

As I observed the vein popping on Demian’s forehead, contemplating how to avoid people’s gazes, I heard the loud voice of the servant guarding the door.

“His Highness the Grand Duke of Kalschmitz has arrived!”

The nobles who had been gathered in conversation all lined up in a row. The gazes that had been brushing past me were withdrawn, and the whispering voices quieted. As the Grand Duke entered, the nobles bowed their heads in respect with each step he took.

I also stood in the back and moderately imitated their behavior.

The Grand Duke of Kalschmitz looked only straight ahead as he walked toward the platform. After ascending the platform, he opened his mouth.

“Bring it.”

A knight standing beside him brought a box and handed it to the Grand Duke. It was a roughly made wooden box.

Watching this scene, I tilted my head.

“Could it be for me?”

“Lady Lora, please.”

Ignoring Demian, who was whispering through ventriloquism, I focused on his hand.

The other nobles also had faces full of curiosity about what could be in that box. It seemed this wasn’t an annual event.

And the Grand Duke, after receiving the box, opened the lid without hesitation and took out its contents. Then he threw it on the floor without hesitation.

Thud-

Roll roll-

“Kyaaaa!”

“Ahhh! What is this! Your Highness!”

“Kyaa! Huk!”

The party hall instantly became chaotic due to the identity of that object. The ladies and young ladies who had been stretching their necks to look at his hand from the front either collapsed in their seats or fainted.

A faint smell of blood brushed my nostrils.

“A head?”

What was rolling around in the distance, spraying blood, was a human head. A very cleanly cut head was rolling on the white marble floor of the banquet hall. The floor was stained with dark red blood along the trajectory of the round head.

“The north seems… incredible. It doesn’t quite match my sensibilities.”

To open the first day of the social season with a head event.

As expected of a Grand Duke, his scale was extraordinary. Extraordinarily horrific.

“At least I’ve avoided the spotlight that was coming my way. By throwing such a tremendous bomb.”

“Please,”

“I’ll be quiet.”

After committing such a tremendous act, the Grand Duke sat in his chair as if nothing had happened. Sitting with his legs crossed in a chair with elaborate engravings, he looked down at the chaotic social hall with a cold gaze. Soon after, his lips opened.

“This is the head of Viscount Palderk, the lord who rules Hellin.”

As his low voice began to be heard, the party hall became as quiet as if a mouse had died. Even the music from the band had stopped by then.

“You all know well what he has done. Those who commit the same acts as him will be executed in the same way.”

Behind him, Ante’s expression was tearful. It meant the head event was the Grand Duke’s unilateral decision.

The nobles were racking their brains with unsteadily shaking eyes, wondering if there was anything they could be caught for.

As soon as the Grand Duke finished speaking, the murmuring grew louder, but no one could directly oppose the cruel measure.

I nodded and stroked my chin.

“Good drive?”

After beheading the lord of Hellin, his next chosen method seemed to be intimidation.

As I was admiring the Grand Duke’s execution ability and observing the situation, the Grand Duke’s gaze turned toward me. Feeling ominous about this, I turned my body and opened my mouth.

“I think my stomach suddenly hurts.”

“What?”

“Let’s go out for a moment.”

But I was a step too late.

Because the Grand Duke noticed me trying to escape like a mouse and quickly opened his mouth.

“Lady Epine.”

A low, soft voice calling me echoed through the quiet hall. Simultaneously, the gazes that had disappeared wrapped around me again.

I slightly rubbed my arm, which was getting goosebumps from the suddenly affectionate voice.

And I waited for his next words while staring into his eyes. The Grand Duke’s mouth opened slowly.

“Would you come up here?”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

I walked toward the platform with a face that looked like I had bitten into something unpleasant.

Click- Click-

In the banquet hall, there was no sound other than my shoe sounds, not even a low breath.

When I finally reached him, his lips curved in perfect symmetry.

“Thank you for saving Duke Ante and the knights of Kalschmitz.”

“It’s nothing. I was just doing what needed to be done.”

What kind of mindset is it to express gratitude after throwing a head? The head of what was supposedly Viscount Palderk was still rolling at the bottom of the platform.

Inwardly, I was feeling all kinds of irritation, but outwardly, I smiled gently and curtsied. Then, he asked kindly, even with his eyes smiling:

“Is there anything you desire?”

“I have already received more than generous compensation.”

At my words, he stroked his chin, went “hmm,” and then gave his characteristic languid smile.