"The party you wanted me to go to, let's go to the event you so want me to attend," Lucien, holding her hand, said, leading her without giving her a chance to react.
"Oh," Ivy just said, allowing her body to follow him as he led her.
"Okay then," she muttered, looking at his steady back.
Lucien was very unpredictable, she thought in her heart.
Ivy took a deep breath, following Lucien like a leech. At the event, she didn't know who to follow or where to go, and since she hadn't found her brother, she could only stick to Lucien.
Lucien walked into a group of nobles who were sitting in chairs, talking about business stuff she could not understand. Ivy just rolled her eyes where no one could see, ignoring the nobles' conversation. Lucien took a seat beside the nobles.
"You have a beautiful wife, as I can see. She's so beautiful," a handsome-looking man with blonde hair and silver eyes said to Lucien. Ivy looked at him, then at Lucien, but the man's gaze wouldn't leave her. A chill ran down her spine as she saw the way he was eyeing her.
"Hmm, thank you," Lucien nodded, looking back at the man in a tone that no one could read. He looked back and forth between the man and Lucien. Lucien was very calm and indifferent. Was it that her plan to make him fall in love with her hadn't worked? He was so indifferent when someone was talking ill about her.
"Oh, Duke, she's not worthy of it." The man laughed suddenly, saying, "How about you give her to me?"
His nasty eyes lingered on Ivy, looking at her as if they could strip her bare. She felt shivers down her spine, as if he could see right through her. She didn't know his identity, but it felt like she had been exposed to him in front of everyone.
"What did you say...? Ha, I must have heard you wrong, right?" Lucien briefly glanced at the Marquis, hiding his thoughts secretly. He laughed as if it were a joke.
Demarcus, not sensing any difference in Lucien's voice, continued.
"Come on, Duke. We heard that a woman like her is in love with the crown prince. Like we said, she's not worth it. You should find another pretty woman to keep by your side," he chuckled, his eyes glued more to Ivy.
Only if he could have such a woman in his bed, making her moan under him. It would be a great feast for him to see those pretty eyes glued only to Lucien, but first, he needed to find a way to get Lucien to give her to him.
"Oh, thanks. If I want to change a woman, you're not the one to tell me that. Is that clear to you?" Lucien dusted off his suit, taking a sip from the red wine next to him. His eyes were fixed on the Marquis, with something like a dark gleam in them, though no one noticed—neither the Marquis nor Ivy. Everyone was in their own world.
The Marquis suddenly frowned, looking at Lucien with malice. "Quit your arrogance. When you're done, you can hand her over to me. I so want to hear her moan under me, ha."
Nobody in noble society respected Lucien, even though his position was higher than theirs. They had not respected him because of the King. The Duke was supposed to be in a good relationship with the King, but there seemed to be something going on between them, and the nobles had noticed that the King did not favor Lucien, but bullied him secretly, mostly in public. That was why the Marquis had the audacity to speak such offensive words in the presence of Lucien.
"Is it?" Lucien raised an eyebrow, swirling his wine with his thumb. The Marquis laughed at Lucien's reaction.
He was thinking that Lucien had no way of refusing him. He would just give him Ivy like he had asked.
"Ha, yes, it is as I said. I so want to hear her moan," Demarcus chuckled, looking at Ivy. Ivy quickly looked away, staring at the cake on the table, not wanting to look at his disgusting face. She felt very uncomfortable with the Marquis right now, and also uncomfortable with Lucien, who was listening to him without saying a word of rebuttal or standing by her side.
"Then I'll give her to you when I'm done with her, ha," Lucien chuckled, much to Ivy's surprise. Her eyes widened in shock, disbelief at what he had said. What did he just say?
This bastard! He never loved me in the first place!
"Excuse me, Marquis, excuse Duke. I need to go breathe some fresh air," Ivy muttered, standing up. She bowed to the nobles sitting at the table, then hurried away without waiting for any reaction from them or looking at Lucien.
She needed to get out of here! It felt like she was going to puke!
"Wow. Birdy, did you hear what those disgusting men said?" Ivy cried to the invisible system beside her. She didn't like Lucien's reaction when the men were talking about her. He was so cold, so neutral. She didn't know why she felt so hot, like an overwhelming rainstorm.
"Host, you are cannon fodder, and nothing good will ever happen to a character like you in this book. Host, that's why we are working so hard," the system replied, taking a seat on her tie, its eyes focusing on her. The system was irritated. Who told her to fall in love with the villain? It checked Ivy's feelings, which had frozen up to 89; last time it was at 88. Why did the feelings of the host seemed to grow every day? Now she was hurting just because of his simple indifference.
The system disappeared, leaving Ivy to stand alone.
"Why are you sitting here looking all sad?" Ivy heard a voice behind her. She couldn't control herself and answered.
"I'm not sad, I'm fine."
"Oh, is it?" The voice was curious, encouraging Ivy to continue.
"Can you imagine? Lucien doesn't even seem bothered that those men were talking ill about me?" Ivy continued, speaking as if preaching all her heart.
"Oh, tell me more."
The female voice urged Ivy to keep talking.
"He is heartless and cruel," Ivy complained, listening to the voice, still not turning back to look at who she was talking to.
"Of course he is the villain. Why wouldn't he be cruel, cold, and heartless?" the voice said with a slight chuckle. Ivy then heard footsteps coming closer to her.
It was then that it hit her—who was she talking to all this time? With slight curiosity, Ivy raised her head and turned to look at who she had been talking to.
"Heroin..." Ivy felt like she should hide under a rock. What had she been saying? All this time, she had been talking to the heroine. What had she done?
"Of course I'm the heroine, and you are cannon fodder," the heroine raised an eyebrow and said, folding her arms over her chest, looking down at Ivy. Ivy was horrified, realizing that the heroine also knew about the content of the book.
"That you are either a transgressor like I am, or you are awakened," the heroine continued, speaking seriously. Ivy's instincts told her to be careful with this kind of person. She didn't know if the heroine had a system like hers or if she was someone—or something—else.
"It could be both." The heroine laughed, walking over and taking a seat beside Ivy. Ivy turned to look at her.
"Hey, you should stay away from me. I'm not after your man. I'm only after my husband," Ivy waved her hand, explaining to the heroine, her eyes pleading as if to say, "Look at how sincere I am."
"Well said. It is well said. Then I would stop planning to kill you." The heroine looked up at something like a ball—a deadly trap above Ivy. The heroine caught it just in time, stopping it from falling.
"What! You mean you tried to kill me again?" Ivy's eyes widened in shock, looking at the large ball that would have fallen on her.
She almost got killed and didn't even know about it. The heroine had tried to kill her. If she had engaged in a conversation with the heroine, she would have been dead.
"Haha, my bad. You are so different from her, Ivy. She was so stupid and hateful to look at, but you are more stupid and likeable." The heroine laughed as Ivy scratched the back of her head, not knowing what to say.
"Ah, why does everyone like to call me stupid? Stop calling me stupid! I'm not stupid," Ivy retorted with a silly expression. The heroine laughed out loud, playing with the stick next to her.
The world seemed to react as if it had all been said from the heart.
Ivy looked at her, not thinking too much about it. This was not what she had been expecting from the heroine. An announcement suddenly interrupted their moment.
"Announcement: The Marquis was found dead."