"I can't believe that little x@**yz!" Duke began cursing Darius after reading the response letter.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad right?" Vivian tried to calm Duke down.
"I mean, it's just a party... right?" Vivian added.
"Just a party??? Vivian, you don't understand! That prick's idea of a party is making fun of and bullying some unsuspecting soul! Even worse, that unsuspecting soul is always ME!" Duke cried out in fright.
Vivian stared at Duke as she tried to comfort him:
"Don't worry, I'll be with you the whole time... If they laugh at least both of us get laughed at... right?"
"Vivian!" Duke looked at Vivian, touched by her words.
"You're right. I can't let some snobs get in the way of Maine's future... Ok, I'll go" Duke decided as he ran outside to train once more.
Now that Vivian was alone in the study, she steeled her resolve as she began checking every document and letter she received or sent out.
[It's all perfectly set... Now we just need the capital...] Vivian felt extremely nervous. The fate of Maine and Duke rested on her hands.
As Duke and Vivian waited for the day of the party, Duke trained with the Knights and practiced the moves he learned from the blonde kid he met in the Imperial Palace. While Vivian, on the other hand, made more plans and sent a lot of letters to different businessmen in the local region under Duke's name.
Sometimes Vivian was successful in making trade deals while sometimes she was ignored due to the prejudice regarding Duke's name. But to Vivian, it did not matter. These extra connections she was making could only be used if they got the capital from Darius anyway.
Finally, the anticipated yet dreadful day came.
Duke wore his trademark blue tailcoat while Vivian wore the best dress she could get within their financial constraints. Although it was still a bit plain.
"Goodluck milord! And do your best!" Byran and the Knights set Duke and Vivian off.
"Don't worry Byran. I will!"
"And... this time don't run away ok? You're stronger now" Byran whispered to Duke, making Duke red from the embarrassment. Apparently even the Knights knew about what happened during the last time Duke went to Darius' party.
*Cough Cough* "Never" Duke steeled his resolve removing any sign of embarrassment left.
"Atta boy!" Byran praised, slapping the horse which carried the carriage off, starting Duke and Vivian's journey to Milan.
Duke and Vivian sat inside the carriage.
The exchange of words Byran and Duke had intrigued Vivian and so she asked:
"What happened last time you went to Darius' party?"
[Ughh... The question I never wanted to leave Vivian's mouth] Despite Duke's wish to keep it a secret from Vivian, as they were about to go to the party anyway, Duke wanted to tell her himself.
"I maybe, kinda, somehow? peed my pants..." Duke admitted in shame.
*Giggle* Vivian couldn't help but let out a giggle as she heard Duke's dodgy answer.
"And?" Vivian inquisitively asked.
"And ran away crying like a little girl..." Duke felt all his manliness levels in Vivian's eyes plummet as he thought he disappointed her.
But instead of disappointment, Vivian patted his head instead.
"Don't worry about it. Everyone runs away from something in their life at least once, right?"
"V-Vivian~!" Duke felt lucky to have a good friend-wife like her...
The carriage finally arrived in Milan after a half-day journey.
The two arrived in the evening just in time for the party as it was supposed to start at night.
Duke and Vivian went inside and tried to keep as low a profile as possible while they entered inside.
Sadly for the two the party had already started and Darius' voice resounded the moment he saw Duke enter the hall.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you: Duke Pendragon!" Darius shouted as spotlights highlighted Duke and Vivian like a bunch of circus attractions to be laughed at and ridiculed.
"Wow! You actually got him to attend again! Hahaha" A noble shouted from the crowd.
Darius' party wasn't an official event of anything like that. And since it was only the younger Nobles who attended, it was more comparable to a Prom or Rave Party than a Nobleman's ball. This was one of the reasons Duke hated going to parties hosted by his contemporaries (People his age). As in these parties, they didn't need to keep up a facade of civility. They could mock and jeer at him like a bunch of high school students without the teachers there to silence them.
"Hahaha, after what happened last time, I thought we'd never get to see fat little Duke again! You're even fatter than last time I saw you!" Deacon shouted, belittling Duke. Little did they know Duke looked fatter because his muscles started to bulge due to his daily training with the Knights.
Despite it being only a week since then, Duke's muscles grew quite fast. A testament to his hard work.
[D-Deacons here too!] Duke sweated as he saw Deacon in the party, he realized that this party was probably set up to make fun of him...
[And in front of Vivian too!] Duke started to panic as his face was wincing from the crowd.
Deacon smiled when he saw Duke's expression. He liked seeing someone weaker cower before him.
"Hey Darius! You got the fatty at the party, but not William?!" Cecilia, an angry fangirl of Willam Von Bizmach shouted at Darius as she drank from her glass of wine.
As the star of their generation, William was quite popular. Next to him was Varhys who was just 4 years older than him. If only his reputation wasn't so bad, he'd probably be top on every girl's dream charts.
"Who's the girl behind you? Your maid? Poor girl, how could you make her come here on a horrid dress like that?" A nobleman came up to Duke as he tried to mock him.
[Silvan...] Duke's dispirited heart sank once more. Silvan De Medici... Another of Duke's past bullies. Always extorting Duke for money despite being given a larger allowance than Duke.
Until now Duke still couldn't forgive him for taking the little coins his grandpa gave him.
[Darius, Deacon, Silvan, Hugh, Cecilia, and even Sylvia's here] Everyone Duke knew from his time at the Boarding school was here.
[Why did it have to be now...] Duke lamented. He didn't want Vivian to see this part of him ever.
He wanted her to keep on thinking he was brave and strong like he tried to show her.
Sadly, Duke knew he was nothing but a coward.
*Clench* But Duke no longer wanted to be a coward.
Duke clenched his fists as he gathered his courage.
When he heard Silvan call Vivian a maid, Duke's anger ballooned.
But as Duke was about to retort to him, Vivian answered first.
"I am his wife" *Clench* Vivian also clenched her fists, angry at how they openly bullied Duke...
Everyone who was trying to mock Duke became silent as they didn't know what to retort.
They expected Vivian to be an unwilling victim in their relationship as the two didn't suit each other at all! But surprisingly, she was the one who admitted to being Duke's wife.
Vivian wanted to stand-up for Duke...
Sadly, her plan backfired as she became their target instead.
"PUWAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe she actually admitted to it! If that was me I would've been embarrassed to be even mentioned next to that fat turd! AHAHAHA" Darius' laugh echoed throughout the halls.
The silenced atmosphere went back to normal and the crowd started to chime in on Darius' insults.
"If I was Duke's wife I would've killed myself already!" A lady chimed in as everyone in the room started to laugh.
"You're going too far-" Hugh tried to stop Darius' mockery, but Sylvia stopped him mid-way. Her brother wasn't necessarily the strongest person here in terms of social hierarchy and so Hugh could do nothing but keep silent, despite being the heir to a Ducal household.
"Hey Duke's wife, do you like fat men or something? I have a fat brother, you want a taste of him too?" Cecilia questioned Vivian trying to embarrass her.
"Darling, your sense of fashion is simply horrid, couldn't you have bought a better dress than those filthy rags?" Audrey another one of Darius' bimbos, insulted Vivian's clothes.
"Darius told me you wanted a loan from him. But you're this poor? Even my maid wears something better than that!" Deacon didn't miss the opportunity to humiliate Duke.
"Hey, girl, if you come work for me, maybe I'll pay you enough to buy yourself some decent clothes, Hahaha!" Deacon added, having lecherous thoughts of Vivian.
Their insults came barraging one after another. Even the normally firm minded and witty Vivian couldn't breathe from the intense mockery as she could do nothing but lower her head.
[This wasn't a party... it was all set up to mock Duke] Vivian realized as she tried to close her eyes.
"Oh come on now guys, don't bully a little girl like this. Come with me, let's go sit somewhere private. I can even buy you better clothes than that fatass" Silvan tried to smooth talk Vivian as he thought: [This girl's a pretty easy target if she likes that fatass]
Vivian couldn't move from Silvan's lecherous glares. But she grit herself and removed her hand that was about to be kissed by Silvan.
"Oh come on now, don't be like that" Silvan kept persisting as he held onto Vivian's shoulders.
Duke's firm resolve was slowly whittled down by their excruciating insults. The most frustrating part for him was that he couldn't retort because he knew everything they said was true.
But when he saw Vivian getting harrassed like that by Silvan, a primordial fury awoke from inside Duke.
{"Dragon's Greed" has awakened! The greedy dragon's blood inside of you roars from something you own get taken!}