The odor of alcohol was strong. Michael noticed the wretched state Derrick's bedroom was in and clicked his tongue. Shattered glass scattered across the floor, fresh blood on the walls. He knew it wasn't Derrick's blood.
He always acted like this when he was angry. He made the servants the target of his murderous rage.
Since Michael considered himself to be Derrick's hands and feet, Michael was the one required to clean up after him.
"I told you not to take it too easy."
Michael sat down with a sigh, watching as Derrick gritted his teeth.
"Shut up."
Michael knew the reason why he was mad. He also understood that there was no solution to this problem unless Derrick changed his mind.
In high society, Judith Heart was a famous figure.
There was nothing she was bad at, and Judith was also Marquis Heart's pride and joy. She was good at socialising too.
No matter what she said or did, there was no one as beautiful as Judith.
Judith's beauty was fatal and deadly; she was clearly loved by the gods.
Waist-length hair that shone like the most delicate of flowers, as if symbolising spring itself. You could feel it.
Her eyes were different in color but that what made her even more dazzling .
Michael felt notably wary of her. She was so skilled at enchanting people that they believed she was the goddess of spring.
The nobles were enamoured with Judith Heart.
But that was also because they were too scared to hate her.
Judith was good at smiling. She had a talent for getting into people's hearts with her gracious smile and soothing voice.
The story about how Judith was capable of making the crown prince scared of her because she kicked him In the nuts was alone enough to frightened the nobles of neighboring countries.
The problem was that the prince had yet to come to his senses.
That wasn't all. Every year, Judith would commit another crazy act.
Once, she kicked the count who had tried to hook up with Sarah Benjamin sister and dropped him into the river. The fact that she laughed as she watched him attempt to survive made him doubt her even more.
But that wasn't the scariest thing about her.
After all of that, she remained unscathed. That meant no one took revenge on her.
No, she was too popular for people to dare to retaliate.
As time went on, the intensity of the things she did increased.
For some time, rumours spread around that Judith paid a large sum of money to buy a shut down quarry. Though it was not as big as the northern territory, it was still quite spacious and people were forbidden from entering it. That was because multiple beasts were occupying the area, and no one was able to get anywhere near the land.
It wasn't a cheap place to buy, so Judith had purchased it just to show off her wealth.
Without a doubt, she was an outstanding person. She carried a distinguished family on her back yet still had enough guts to act however she wanted.
When Derrick came to the capital with a marriage contract, Michael had warned him,
She's not just any crazy lady, she's a crazy lady that everyone adores.
But Derrick ignored him. That was because, so far, there hadn't been a woman who had dared to reject him.
He expected Judith to also act all blushy and flustered when she saw him.
"Let's clean up the room first. What a sight."
Michael glanced at the servants from far away and they wavered. They looked visibly scared.
Derrick , who had always terrorized the servants, started drinking. He remembered what his adoptive father said after throwing him the contract written by his ancestors.
– Take care of it.
Noah winter was a prideful and self-righteous man.
But no one was able to defy him.
It had always been like that, and nothing would change in the future.
Derrick heard that the previous Grand Duke passed down the noble title to Noah by claiming he was a collateral relative. But that was a story without proof.
He didn't believe the words of the Grand Duke's ancestor.
Everyone knew that Noah didn't have a single drop of winter blood flowing through him.
But there was no liege who didn't fear him. They feared him to the point that they didn't even try to reach out to him for the purpose of greed.
'Maybe he's not human.'
They thought the same thing as Derrick did.
'It's already frightening enough to imagine what he could be.'
He didn't expect anything from his adopted son. All he did was sit his high horse and look down on Derrick .
Once, he had even tried to change that inhumane look to resemble some kind of affection.
But that was all in vain.
The only time Noah winter showed the slightest of affection was when he was dealing with Eckles. It was only obvious how pathetic his adoptive father would find him if he was unable to take care of the contract.
Even the bite of a predator without teeth would hurt.
He was planning to speak to her nicely and smoothly inherit the title, but that woman ruined everything.
She smiled innocently as she treated him like a fool.
When Judith's face came to his mind, the anger Derrick tried to suppress suddenly exploded.
He threw the bottle he had been drinking from and yelled,
"If it hadn't been because of that woman! It's all that bitch's fault!"
He didn't like her from the very beginning.
She was a beautiful woman who everyone admired, and even her clear and heavenly voice sounded annoying to him.
– A marriage contract? Ah, I'm not asking you to explain, so you don't have to answer.
Back then, it was plain obvious that Judith was mocking him.
She stared at him with a cold look in her eyes.
– So... what part of you is so marvelous that you'd think I'd fall in love with you and accept this reckless marriage proposal? You seem to have such wonderful qualities, so why don't you show them off?
Derrick frowned.
He felt nauseous just by thinking of the color of Judith Heart's eyes .
Everything about her put him in a bad mood.
Especially the arrogant way she looked down on him and didn't even try to hide her resentment towards him. When he stood before her, he felt like he was staring at Noah winter.
They both looked down at him with the same glare.
"...Ha, who would you marry then? Do you really think Noah Winter would even bat an eye in your direction?"
Soon, he began to laugh. Derrick wiped away the wine around his mouth and his eyes lit up with anger.
"I won't let you look down at me with that gaze ever again. I'll show you what happens to a princess who grew up sheltered from the real world, disregarding everything around her."
Even though the servants were listening to his ramblings, Derrick didn't care. Such carelessness made Michael frown.
At the moment, Derrick was the best swordsman in the Navenna Empire.
No matter how Judith reated him, this wouldn't change anytime soon. Adding to that, he had a youthful and handsome appearance.
But Derrick wasn't able to overcome his inferiority complex.
He was too confident in the skills he'd honed and took his natural talents too lightly.
The nobles would never admit that he was better than them in some aspects.
'But Judith won't lose so easily.'
Saying she'd rather marry Grand Duke winter was the same as saying she hated Derrick .
When you thought of Noah Winter, the image that usually came to mind was some guy with graying hair.
But maybe that was wrong.
Michael thought that he should slowly distance himself from Derrick .
On one listless afternoon, she received an invitation from the Imperial Palace.
Emily read the invitation for me as I laid down on my bed and played with livie.
"The Imperial Ball."
Livie pecked my finger with his claw, but it didn't hurt.
Emily carefully folded the invitation and put it in the envelope.
"It's been so long since the Imperial family has hosted a ball, so it's bound to be impressive. Of course, I heard His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Prince will be attending."
"Gross."
"Miss, you can't speak like that."
I wasn't listening. Emily wasn't expecting much anyways.
"Will you be wearing a hat?"
"Why don't you put a lot of effort into your outfit? You need to look good after all."
"I never said I was going."
Emily looked confused at my apathetic words.
"B-But didn't you order a dress from Abigail boutique for the Imperial Ball?"
"Um, no? I don't remember having such a goal in mind."
I just bought it because it's fun to spend money.
I talked to Livie about it.
"Livie , would you go to such an annoying event?"
"Meow! Meow!"
As if responding to me, the baby cat cried.
Then, it start waking in circles .
The letter was marked with a black leaf; it seemed like the Imperial family was aware of the rumours spreading that they were suffering financial troubles.
Livie stoped waking in circles and stepped on the letter.
"…..Perhaps you want me to go?"
"Is that so? As expected, our Livie is smart! You understand me!"
Emily was moved to tears.
What to do… If I married the Grand Duke, Emily would follow me to the North. If that happened, she would surely notice that Livie is a familiar....
As expected, I'll have to give her a raise.
The last time I tried to give her a pay raise, my plan failed. She looked at me with a straight face and told me it was already too much that I offered her regular medical checkups.
But I won't back down this time.
With a determined goal in mind, I glanced at Livie.
"Will anything good happen at the party?"
"Meow? Meow?"
It tilted its head in confusion.
Hmm.
I straightened up my posture. Resting my chin in my palm, I pretended to be anxious.
"But I don't have a partner to go with."
"Meow!"
"Huh? You're going to be my partner?"
"Meow! Meow!"
"But think about our height difference. We can't possibly dance together."
Emily looked dumbfounded when she heard my firm rejection.
"What about height? Isn't the species the problem?"
"Meeow ! Meow! Meow!"
Livie ran around the table in tears. Though, I already knew what it wanted to tell me.
Noah winter was also expected to attend the Imperial Ball.
shawty like a melody in my head–
It was the day before the Imperial Ball. Emily tilted her head as she made touch-ups to my dress.
"The young master is quiet these days. Is he reflecting on his actions?"
Apparently, Derrick stayed quiet after he got told off by Emily. It'd been a while since the servants he'd ordered to follow me had disappeared.
But there's no way that he would reflect on his actions.
You see, this was just the calm before the storm.
"I'm happy that you're being so positive."
Emily had a bitter look on her face.
"...was I thinking too wishfully?"
She murmured as she unzipped my dress.
"It's about time he explodes."
"Explode?! Don't tell me this is just the beginning?"
She looked genuinely shocked. Emily shook her head as she hung up the beautiful dress I'd been trying on.
I changed into a light indoor dress and livie jumped by.
My shoulders dropped as I sat in my reserved seat. I grabbed my hair with irritation before tucking it behind my ears.
Derrick Winter was strong.
He was capable of defeating the majority of the knights. Even if I disliked Derrick , I wasn't going to ignore the achievements he acquired throughout his life.
However, I wasn't planning on losing so easily either.
I sat on the chair with my legs crossed.
The Imperial Ball was a very important event for Derrick , who dreamed of rising to a higher status. Since his goal was becoming Grand Duke, he needed to establish a good reputation in the capital first.
There was no one who frustrated him more than his adoptive father, a man who had both wealth and power yet stayed holed up in a room.
But Derrick had no fixed partner yet. And he had yet to withdraw from his plan to marry me.
It was clear that he'd try to settle this today, even if it meant using a little force.
In summary, he'd need to scare me the day before the ball. He'd probably try to swing at me to try and intimidate me.
Just like in the novel.
It was plain obvious what he wanted. I let out a light chuckle.
"Emily, bring me my keys. I'll open that jewelry box."
Emily immediately understood my intentions and her eyes opened wide.
"M-Miss? Will you really be using that?"
"Yes, I've been preparing this just for today."
"Will it be okay?"
It was only natural for her to be nervous; nothing like this had ever happened before.
I smiled softly.
"I'm not the type to gamble recklessly."
"That's true, but…"
"Hm? Please."
Emily faltered when I asked sweetly with shining eyes.
"F...Foul attack.... All right. I'll retrieve it."
"Meow? Meow?"
Livie jumped down from my shoulder. He seemed to ask what it was.
You'll find out soon anyways.
To be continued…..