3.
The man looked around the banquet hall, where the party was in full swing.
This victory banquet was the first large-scale banquet hosted by the imperial family in years.
Thanks to that, the banquet hall was a grand success, packed with envoys from neighboring countries, priests and paladins sent by the temple, a handful of rare mages, famous dancers, and highly skilled musicians.
“You there! What are you doing just standing around? Hurry up and carry those drinks!”
“A-Ah, I’m sorry!”
The man quickly bobbed his head at the rebuke from the senior attendant.
It would be troublesome if he got on the man’s bad side and was thrown out of the banquet hall.
“Go on, quickly.”
“Yes!”
Avoiding his senior’s narrowed glare, the man hurriedly pushed his way into the crowd.
The sharp scent of the nobles’ perfume and powder mingled with the fragrance of the flowers decorating the banquet hall, making his head spin.
But he did not forget his mission.
‘Secretly pass off these three glasses somewhere in the banquet hall.’
What was inside them was none of his concern.
Once this job was done, he would no longer have to spend his life groveling and pandering to the nobles.
Thinking of the reward “that person” had promised, the man casually slid the first glass beside the dessert table.
And a short while later.
A sky-blue-haired attendant who discovered it, having barely escaped some noblewoman’s aggressive advances, picked up the glass with a thoroughly exhausted expression.
“Is she insane? She even has a husband……. Damn it, and how did she sniff out that I’m handsome like some kind of ghost?”
At that same time, somewhere else in the banquet hall.
“Instead of staying by our side, why don’t you enjoy the banquet as well?”
“No. I’m fine. Please don’t mind me.”
“But how could I? Especially on such a fine day as this.”
“…….”
“Ah, yes. I hear glasses shaped like this contain champagne with a low alcohol content. Have a glass yourself.”
“But.”
“Now, now.”
“……Thank you.”
A man whose brilliant silver hair, like moonlight fallen upon him, was gathered and tied together down his back, drained the drink in one gulp.
And lastly.
“Your Excellency. This is the glass.”
“Good.”
Black eyes that held the light like glass beads stared intently at the contents of the glass.
And at that exquisitely timed moment.
A voice announcing someone’s entrance rang out from the banquet hall entrance.
“Baroness Anastasia Roxan has just arrived!”
Almost every noble’s gaze turned in one direction.
Their eyes were vivid with shock.
Only the foreign envoys who did not know who the owner of that name was, along with a few people from outside the capital, looked around with puzzled faces.
Was it because of that?
The banquet hall, which had never been as noisy as a marketplace but had nonetheless been filled from beginning to end with low murmurs, laughter, and the clinking of glasses.
When it sank so low that one could almost believe it had gone silent in an instant.
A woman appeared, cutting through the people who hesitantly stepped back on either side.
It was a presence that had been born to draw everyone’s attention.
Glossy black hair adorned as if with golden fresh flowers.
Beneath it, golden eyes that seemed to shimmer with light were deep and radiant.
Once, everyone had been deceived by those eyes.
Because they made one want to believe that all the passion in the world and all pure love dwelled within them.
That gaze, which seemed unbearably sweet yet was endlessly unyielding, now gave them a sense of discomfort.
Even after committing such a terrible deed, and even now that it had been revealed to the whole world.
How could that woman still appear before people with eyes like those?
And so, in the end, they were the ones who looked away first.
As if afraid that, if they remained in contact with them, those blazing golden flames might spread to them.
* * *
As I stepped into the banquet hall, gazes poured over me so intensely that my skin prickled.
Brazenly taking my time looking at faces filled with shock, discomfort, and speechless disbelief.
Only then did it finally feel real.
It was my first formal banquet in a full four years.
It wasn’t a dream.
I walked with steps that could not hide my excitement, only to be forced to stop before I had even reached the area lined with alcohol.
Because someone had blocked my path.
“Well, if it isn’t Baroness Roxan. I wonder whom you’ve come to ensnare today.”
“Who are you?”
The man’s oily expression crumpled at my response.
I might be famous enough that there wasn’t anyone who didn’t know me, but you aren’t, so how am I supposed to know?
I firmly suppressed the urge to point that out.
Julie had told me not to cause trouble.
Besides, I had no desire whatsoever to bring this banquet, my first in ages, to a horrific end.
It wasn’t because I had some great lingering attachment to the life I had once enjoyed as a noble.
It was because, if I got kicked out like this, I’d honestly be the only one losing out.
I had to show them I was eating well and living well if I wanted to twist those nobles’ guts, didn’t I?
I couldn’t very well give them an excuse to throw me out.
“There’s no use pretending you don’t know me.”
“…….”
No, I really don’t know you.
“As an old friend of the Count, I understand why you’d feel awkward.”
The Count?
Only then did I get a rough idea.
The count he was talking about was Rohwinas Canesion, the third son especially cherished by Duke Canesion, who had already been granted the title of count at a young age.
There were always swarms of flies buzzing around a successful young lord.
So he must have been one of those forgettable types.
Unfortunately, I still had absolutely no memory of who he was.
“State your business.”
“I don’t know what connections you pulled to get all the way here, but why don’t you leave quietly instead of disgracing the country?”
“…….”
“Or you could step outside with me for a bit. Shall we go to the terrace?”
It had been a long time.
Since I’d felt like this.
Regrettably, my fist, which I had yet to swing properly, was itching.
Oh dear, would today be its grand debut?
“Honestly, aren’t you at an age where you should be desperate to marry by now? Who would be willing to take you? Any man in his right mind, I mean.”
“…….”
“Wasn’t the reason you fought so hard to come here because you were trying to scout out a man?”
“…….”
“I couldn’t take you as my legal wife, but if you want, I could at least give you the place of a concubine. On the condition that you bring every last bit of that meager family fortune with you.”
It was only human nature to treat uncivilized character with equal uncivility.
Now, as a civilized person, I would set my pride aside for a moment and…….
Just then, I felt a gaze from some distance away.
When I turned my head, I saw Rohwinas.
Hair the color of yellow-ripened wheat. Beneath it, vivid emerald eyes.
He did not even glance toward the man who kept pestering me, once one of his own flies.
He merely withdrew the gaze that had been watching me blankly, as if he found it tiresome.
“What do you say?”
The bastard seemed to think I had been silent all this time because I was actually considering it.
I smiled coldly.
“Who the hell are you?”
“…….”
“Stop bothering me and get lost.”
“…….”
“Wife? Concubine? Don’t make me laugh. Are you the son of a ducal house or something? Unfortunately, the likes of you don’t even catch my eye.”
I smiled crookedly at the man, whose face had flushed crimson and was now turning all sorts of shades.
“Should I shout it so everyone else can hear? Shall I let them all know that you courted a woman who disgracefully drags scandals around, only to be rejected miserably?”
“……”
“Rohwinas was at least handsome. You’re not even good-looking, your personality is awful, and your physique is nothing special. Judging by your complexion, your health doesn’t look too great either.”
“……”
“Exercise more. Don’t spend your later years suffering like hell just to cling to life, only to die miserably.”
“Just you wait.”
“Oh my, I’ll apologize in advance. I don’t have that much time to waste.”
Having chased him off with all the skill befitting a civilized person, I strode over to the liquor section.
Only after downing three glasses of champagne in a row did my heated head finally seem to cool.
What the hell?
Why had that great and mighty count been looking at me?
I picked up another glass of champagne that an attendant had come by to refill.
It was an indescribably unpleasant feeling.
Why? What?
People can step in shit by bad luck while walking down the street.
What’s so wrong with my situation?
As if he’d never had anything like that happen to him.
“……”
I suddenly had an idea of what kind of shit he must have stepped in, and that only made me more annoyed.
My hand moved from the champagne toward the brandy.
Usually, banquet halls mostly had low-proof drinks, but for some reason, there was brandy.
Then, only after quite some time, my thoughts suddenly turned to the duke who had invited me.
I glanced up at the dais where Duke Geulladineo was standing.
All sorts of nobles were swarming around him like ants drawn to melted candy.
Since I had been invited, I ought to pay my respects, of course.
But now was not a particularly good time.
So I merely watched while sipping my drink.
My gaze naturally lingered, as if in admiration.
He was like… a flower.
As red as the blossoms of a royal poinciana in full bloom.
His blazing red hair was cut short and swept up, emphasizing his dark brows and sharp jawline.
Dressed in a pristine white uniform with his cravat tightly fastened, the man’s attire was so neat it seemed almost fastidious, and he looked about the same age as me.
Unlike his sharp, upward-slanting eyes, his gaze was deep,
and the thin line of his mouth, combined with his brusque impression, made him seem coldhearted at first glance.
In any case, no matter how one looked at him, he was a man steeped in an outstandingly military air.
Only, the white uniform he wore now seemed strangely out of place.
Even though this was the first time I had seen him.
I had the odd conviction that he probably almost never wore white.
It was not that it did not suit him, but how should I put it?
It felt like a sight I had never seen before, and so it seemed unfamiliar to my eyes.
Perhaps that was why I stared at him for a long while, unable to look away.
‘Why did he invite me?’
As if he had heard that very question, he suddenly raised his head and looked this way.