"Oh, my God. He's so shameless!"
Beatrice sips the tea gracefully while she silently hears the group of women behind her speaking about someone she knew well.
"He cheats and then tries to break off the engagement while being naked? How shameless can someone be?? "
"Right! He must be truly shameless since he even dared to show his face to society too." The woman glared at where Beatrice sat.
Beatrice's mouth shows a triumphant smile at their little gossip.
"My, no matter how hard you try to cover it, people will always find a way to know about it. What a shame, Albert." Beatrice whispers while smiling at Albert, who is standing at the side of her table with a lower face.
His whole body was covered with a big black cloak, and his face was protected by a mask and sunglasses.
"You-! " Albert gripped his fist while trying to talk back to Beatrice. His leg was lowered to get on a chair facing Beatrice.
"Who permitted you to sit, Lord Albert Alfonso?" Beatrice purposely raises her voice when she mentions the name of her former fiance. Now, everyone looked their way, making Albert tremble in shame.
"W-what do you want me to do to stop the article?"" Albert slowly talks in a whisper. He doesn't want anyone to know their exchange words right at this moment.
"Kneel."
"What?!" Albert was shocked at the sight of Beatrice glaring at him with a serious tone.
"Kneel and beg." Beatrice's tone hardened.
Albert glared back at her in annoyance. "What do you take me for?! "
"Then, we are done." Beatrice immediately raises her hand to the air, and in an instant, two workers suddenly stand beside them. "Drag him out. He is banned from this place forever; do you hear me?"
"We understand, Madam."
"Y-you, what do you mean?! " Albert was startled when the two workers suddenly clutched his arms and tried to drag him from there. "Who are you to even ban me from going anywhere?! This is a public place!"
"She is, in fact, the owner of this place, sir. So, we ask for your understanding to get out of here right now."
"Oh, for your information, I'm the owner of all the places on this street. It was even named after me. How could you not know, even though you were once my fiance?" Beatrice chuckles at the sight of Albert's perplexed face. "Are you dumb?"
The street was named Betty Street right at the moment my late brother purchased it for me. It was such a lame name, and I was once too ashamed to walk here, but that was what my brother used to call me, and this was the last gift he ever gave me before he was gone.
Currently, I took over the street anonymously and built it from scratch to where it is now. Betty Street has become one of the most developed streets in the capital, and I am so proud of it that even my brother would laugh at me if he could still see me now.
"Now, would you mind?" Beatrice's hand politely pointed towards the exit. With a smile made to look good, she glared at Albert. "Get out."
"Ha. Such a ridiculous name! It must be you who set the name, aren't you? That's why it sounds so stupid." Albert is still trying to get Beatrice's attention. This is a matter of death for him. If this engagement is broken, he will be considered useless in his household and will be beaten by his father.
"What did you just say?"" Beatrice clenched her fists so tightly that her wrists trembled violently.
Looking at Beatrice's reaction, Albert smiled and shrugged his shoulders with a smug look on his face. "Well, that's why you should have people like me by your side. Dear stupid fiance, let me tell you something: an integrity man like me would never name something so precious with such a ridiculous name! How Ridiculous!! "
Seeing Albert's face, which looked very pretentious, Beatrice started to raise her arm towards Albert, but before her fist could hit Albert's face, Albert himself had fallen after being punched by someone who appeared out of nowhere.
BANG!
"...??!! "
Beatrice took a quick glance at Albert, who was already lying on the floor with a bleeding mouth, before she turned her face to look at someone who had already covered her whole body with his big figure while facing Albert.
The man who was wearing such ragged clothes looked so mad at Albert. His whole body was trembling, and his mouth let out irregular breaths as if he were holding back his anger. His fist that was used to punch Albert in the face just now seemed to be bleeding. Just how hard has he punched Albert just now?
"Take back what you've just said!" The man suddenly shouted, making not only Albert but everyone there instantly flinched in fear.
"Is not that the fallen duke?"" whispered someone.
Beatrice glances at them in silence before looking back at the man. 'The fallen duke?'
"You-! How dare you touch a nobleman?! Do you have a death wish?! " Albert shouted back at the man while trying to stand up with his trembling knees. "I will tell this to my father! You are so done for, you hear me?!"
Hearing his words, Beatrice interrupted before the man could speak.
"He is a noble. His position is also much higher than yours, who are just a count, Albert Alfonso. So, know your place before you speak."
"What? Ha. You mean this pitiful-looking guy? I know you are dumb, but how could you mistake someone with an attire like this as noble?" Albert looked at the man with disgust.
Beatrice immediately ignores Albert's words and bows to the man instead. "Your Highness, I believe this is the first time we met, but I remember your face from every ball I attended. My name is Beatrice Athanasia de Galahad. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young Duke of Vincent."
No matter what people say, even if this man is a fallen duke, he still has the power of the Vincent Dukedom, even if it is a little bit. The influence of Vincent's Dukedom was once much greater than that of the Galahad, but since the previous owner died, the dukedom has fallen in an instant.
The young duke must be in a mess right now.
"I appreciate the gesture, but you don't have to do that anymore." The man glances at Beatrice. "I am now a fallen duke, like everyone says, but I will accept only a part of your words, my lady."
He turns his face to look at Albert again. "I indeed still have my noble title, even though it's useless. But, as the late Blake's friend, I will not tolerate your statement. You should know your place, just like the lady said."
'Blake?' Beatrice's green eyes suddenly widen. She immediately reaches for the man's arm. "You are my brother's friend?"
"I'm ashamed that I only appear now, but my condolences, Lady Galahad." The duke bowed his head a little.
Looking at his reaction, it didn't seem like he was lying. This man never showed his face in public for three years after his parents died. People also started to call him a ghost duke in the meantime.
"I... Can I have a word with you, my lady?" the duke suddenly asks.
"..? How about that man?" Looking confused when the duke suddenly focused on her instead, she took a glance behind him to look for Albert, but he was nowhere to be found anymore. Did Albert just run away? What a coward!
"Ha. Very well. Then, I will have that treated first." Says Beatrice while pointing out the duke's bleeding fist.
****
"So, what do you want to talk about, your highness?"
Beatrice looked straight at him while her eyes quickly examined the duke's entire body. His clothes are shabby, and his hair looks tangled and unkempt. Is the situation in Vincent's dukedom that bad now?
She knows the duke very well. In fact, she even once had a crush on him before she got engaged. It's not something weird since everyone believes that every girl in the capital who has laid eyes on him will instantly fall in love with his beautiful face and his gentlemanly manner.
He used to be the hottest bachelor on the whole continent until everyone thought he was going to marry Princess Vivienne at the time. Just what happened to him in the past three years?
"You seem to be hesitant to talk, so I will speak first. Thank you for taking my brother's side earlier. Your words made me thankful that he had made a good friend when he was alive." Beatrice smiled with a tear in her eyes.
"....."
"I'm not even a good friend. Actually, I intended to approach you first before I heard his words. I came here today with a purpose in mind." The duke slowly bent his head a little before he took out a piece of paper from the table.
"...? A marriage contract.? " Beatrice read the words that seemed to be the title of the content on the paper.
The duke silently nodded his head.
"You are the only one who can help me, Lady Beatrice Galahad."