NRAL | Chapter 81

~Chapter 81~ 

The Consequence I Created

To Baron Turner, Karsian Royster was a man of admiration and deep respect.

Though Karsian was much younger, as someone who had once been a knight himself, Turner couldn’t help but admire the Grand Duke. He understood better than most just how remarkable it was for someone so young to have accomplished so much—to drive out all the monsters from human lands, a mission nearly impossible for even seasoned warriors.

Baron Turner had always hoped to one day have a proper conversation with Karsian. At every party, he’d tried to find his way through the crowd just to get near him.

But never did he imagine that opportunity would come like this.

“To run into you in a place like this… it must be fate, don’t you think?”

Karsian’s sharp eyes softened as they turned toward Eleanor, and his voice, murmured like a sweet whisper, was so charming that Baron Turner found himself checking over and over whether this really was the Karsian Royster standing beside him.

Yet the moment Karsian’s gaze turned to him—cold, dangerous, and laced with killing intent—Turner could no longer deny it.

“And this man… who is he?”

Staring down at him with eyes like knives, Karsian conveyed unmistakable pressure—the kind that left no doubt that this was truly the Grand Duke Royster.

“And why, exactly, is he dining alone with you? I’d like an explanation.”

Gulp. Baron Turner swallowed dryly.

He instinctively understood that he must not let the Grand Duke learn that there were marriage talks underway between him and Lady Eleanor.

After all, had Royster ever shown interest in anyone before? Since the debutante ball, there hadn’t been any talk of them appearing together, so Turner had assumed they weren’t close. But clearly, the Grand Duke had feelings for her—and now Turner had walked straight into the lion’s den.

Feeling as though Karsian’s glare would pierce right through him, Turner sweated bullets and desperately searched for a way out.

And that’s when Eleanor, completely unaware of the danger, spoke up with an innocent scolding.

“Oh dear, ‘this man’? That’s rather rude.”

At her defense, Karsian’s gaze turned even more deadly, while Turner’s face turned deathly pale.

“Karsian, this is Baron Turner. He and I are soon to be—”

“I already have someone I’m going to marry!”

Sensing death creeping closer, the baron shouted over her words.

“Huh? What…?”

It came out of nowhere, but it worked.

Eleanor blinked in surprise, looking like a startled rabbit. Karsian raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. He didn’t like it—but it wasn’t a bad move.

‘That’s it!’

Realizing this, Turner quickly added:

“Y-Yes! That’s what I came here to say today. I want to call off the marriage talks!”

“What? All of a sudden? At least explain why. What’s this about another woman? You never mentioned that before!”

“Well… I just said it now, so that should be enough. Please explain everything properly to Duke Astria!”

As Eleanor asked for a reason, the baron glanced nervously at Karsian again.

“Marriage talks, you say…”

Karsian’s voice exuded danger from his twisted smile. Turner clutched his napkin tightly and trembled like a mouse cornered by a cat.

“Well, if the engagement is off, then very well.”

Karsian shrugged lightly after a pause—as if generously choosing to let it slide.

Only then did Baron Turner exhale the breath he had been holding. He muttered to himself in shaky relief:

I survived.

But then—

“Well, since we’ve met like this, how about we dine together?”

Before anyone could answer, Karsian gave a haughty nod toward a waiter, signaling to reset the table.

“I’m not sure that would be appropriate… today was meant to be dinner with Baron Turner, after all.”

“Oh? But I don’t think the baron minds. Isn’t that right, Baron?”

Jason Turner was not the most socially quick man, but when one’s life is at stake, even the dullest senses sharpen.

“O-Of course not! It would be an honor!”

But as Karsian’s cold eyes narrowed, Turner realized his answer had been wrong—and scrambled to correct it.

“A-Ah, I mean! How careless of me! I just remembered I have urgent business today—completely slipped my mind! I must return home immediately…”

“Oh, what a shame.”

“Y-Yes, yes. And I couldn’t possibly leave the lady alone, so how fortunate that Your Grace arrived at just the right time. It must be fate! W-Well then, I’ll take my leave now.”

“Very well. Be on your way.”

As soon as Karsian gave permission, Baron Turner practically jumped to his feet, scrambling away from the table as if fleeing for his life.

Eleanor leaned back in her chair, thoroughly satisfied as she watched the last strands of the baron’s thinning hair bounce with every panicked step. Just having him out of her sight made her feel wonderfully refreshed.

“You’ve gotten much better at acting, haven’t you?”

“Have I?”

Karsian casually took the seat across from her. As he smiled faintly, Eleanor realized once again how much more often he’d been smiling lately.

“Yes. Even knowing it was all an act, I really thought you were angry when you heard about the supposed marriage talks between me and Baron Turner.”

“Oh, that wasn’t acting.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t an act. I knew what was going on before I came, but seeing him sitting there in front of you still pissed me off.”

Even his teasing had become more frequent lately.

Eleanor bit her lip, trying to hide the smile tugging at her lips for no good reason.

“Hm-hm… Well, anyway, thank you. Thanks to you, I probably won’t get any marriage proposals for a while. No one will dare approach me with you around.”

After what happened, there was no way Baron Turner would keep quiet.

He would surely spread the story among other nobles, and gossip would fly in no time. The fact that she had danced the first waltz with Karsian at the debutante ball had already sparked enough curiosity—now, this would set the entire social circle in chaos.

“That’s a relief. I won’t have to watch fools who don’t know their place sniffing around you.”

Eleanor suddenly grew curious.

He had once told her not to expect anything from him. So what did he expect from her?

What if, instead of someone like Turner, it was a genuinely decent man who showed interest in her? What would Karsian do then?

Would he let it go, claiming he never hoped for more? Or would he react the same way—jealous and possessive?

She wanted to ask—but she swallowed the question and the fluttering in her chest right along with it.

It wasn’t something that would ever happen anyway. It was best to leave such foolish questions unspoken.

Changing the topic, Eleanor said brightly, “As thanks, today’s meal is on me. Order whatever you like. What kind of food do you enjoy?”

“I enjoy everything. So Eleanor, just order what you like.”

“I eat everything too. If you knew the kinds of things I had to eat in the orphanage, you’d be shocked. You’d think, ‘Wow, I didn’t know people actually ate that.’”

“I believe I can rival you in that sense. But I’d rather not go into details—you might lose your appetite.”

“I once ate grasshoppers. Just grilled. No seasoning.”

“Pretty savory, right? I thought of it as a classic ingredient.”

“How about rats? Not the kind farm-raised for food—I mean rats off the street.”

“….”

“See? I win.”

She was unaware that this man’s jealousy of the person seated next to her would eventually cause him to bleed.

***

“Karsian Royster…! That damned bastard!”

When Eleanor returned to the duke’s mansion and reported what had happened, Duke Astria exploded with rage.

The money he was supposed to receive in exchange for her marriage to Baron Turner had just vanished into thin air—it was only natural for him to be furious.

“I’m sorry, Father. He told me before that he wasn’t interested in marrying me, so I thought it was over. But it seems while he doesn’t want me as a wife, he still wants me in some other way.”

“You mean to say… he proposed you become his mistress?”

“Yes. I know it’s outrageous, but… I think it has something to do with Arlo. As you know, the Grand Duke and Arlo are not on good terms, and with the recent rumors about me and Arlo spreading… maybe the Grand Duke is trying to make me his mistress just to spite Arlo.”

There was some logic in Eleanor’s reasoning. But the duke suspected that Karsian’s interest wasn’t only about Arlo.

After all, the daughter he had raised so carefully—though not his real daughter—had turned out so exceptionally beautiful and elegant that even someone like the Grand Duke, who supposedly had no interest in women, couldn’t ignore her.

‘Raising her so perfectly ended up backfiring.’

The duke clicked his tongue in irritation.

He had dressed her up to fetch a good price, and now some insolent fool had taken interest. Everything was going wrong in the most unexpected ways.

At this point, there was only one path left.

“…Ask Grand Duke Royster what he is willing to offer in return for taking the Astria lady as his mistress.”

“Father…!”

Eleanor’s head shot up in horror.

He was suggesting sending her off as someone’s mistress—a far greater insult to a noblewoman than being married off to a second-rate baron.

And Duke Astria, a man more noble than anyone, surely knew that. Yet he responded without shame:

“Don’t take it personally. Between him and Turner, isn’t it obvious who you’d rather live with?”

“But still, a mistress…”

“You’re the one who said it—your duty as a daughter is to marry the best possible man for the good of the family. Right now, the best offer on the table is that mistress position. That’s the result you created. Not me. So take responsibility.”

Eleanor looked at him with shimmering eyes, not in tears, but holding back laughter.

A man who always looked down on mistresses and called them unworthy… was now ready to sell his daughter off for money.

Things must really be desperate.

And for her, that was good news.

Yes, this is the result I created, she thought, surprisingly in agreement with him. She, too, believed in taking responsibility for her own actions.

Just like I am the result of everything you created, Father.

So you should take responsibility too.

Biting her lip, Eleanor swallowed the words she didn’t say.