Leonard waited until the young man met his eyes, then gave him a sharp, threatening look.
It wasn’t anything extreme—more like a silent warning: *“Watch yourself.”* His stare was aimed directly at the boy’s vulnerable spots.
But then—
“Gasp… H-Huh…!”
The boy suddenly turned pale, as if someone was choking him.
Surprised by the boy’s extreme reaction, Leonard quickly softened his gaze and looked away.
He thought the boy was just a spoiled noble kid, but now he wondered if Viscount Callio had brought some scammer pretending to be hurt. Why did he react so dramatically to just a look?
“What’s wrong with him?”
Viscount Callio turned around, looking confused, after hearing the boy choking behind him.
The young man backed away from his outstretched hand and then trembled like a frightened animal before running away, screaming:
“Help! Somebody help me!”
His scream was so loud that everyone in the huge banquet hall turned to look.
Leonard also turned toward him, pretending to be concerned like everyone else. Luckily, acting like this was something he was good at.
“What’s wrong with that guy?”
“I don’t know. Who is he, anyway? I’ve never seen him before.”
“Viscount Callio brought him.”
After a few murmurs, everyone’s attention turned to Viscount Callio.
People looked at him like: *“What kind of person brings someone like that to their nephew’s engagement party?”*
His face turned red. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, then turned to Leonard and snapped:
“What did you do?!”
“I’m not sure what you mean… He just suddenly ran off like he was scared of something.”
Leonard calmly looked at Irenea, who had her arm wrapped around his.
“Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, I saw it too. Maybe he was having a nightmare while standing up or something…”
Irenea smiled sweetly and asked Viscount Callio:
“Shouldn’t you go after him? What if he has another nightmare?”
“You brat… If I find out you planned this—!”
Callio glared at Leonard like he wanted to kill him, and Leonard felt unfairly accused.
*“Hey, what I did wasn’t even that bad…”*
Leonard didn’t understand why the boy had freaked out so badly. You can’t kill someone with just a look.
While Leonard was still confused, Irenea giggled.
“I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding that was, but my fiancé would never start a fight with someone just standing still. He’s such a noble and righteous knight.”
She looked up at Leonard with shining eyes and proudly introduced him to her uncle.
“See? Just like I told you before—he’s everything I ever wanted. Blond, handsome, strong, and so well-mannered.”
*“…What is this?”*
Leonard glanced at Irenea, confused by her childlike voice that somehow didn’t match the mood. As their eyes met, she smiled ever so slightly.
That’s when he realized. The man she wanted to kill was standing right in front of them.
*“So the rumors were true—that Viscount Callio had something to do with the former marquis couple’s death?”*
If he killed her family, it’s no surprise he’d try to kill their daughter too.
“Hmph, well, at least he’s a noble. That’s a relief.”
Callio looked Leonard up and down with displeasure.
“I was worried you’d bring that knight of yours to the party instead.”
“Oh, come on, Sir Hawk is *just* my bodyguard. I’ve told you that so many times.”
Irenea waved her hand like his worry was ridiculous, then glanced at Leonard, as if checking his reaction. Probably pretending to be worried he might get the wrong idea.
Leonard guessed as much and smiled, impressed by her acting skills.
Callio, clearly annoyed by the sight, cut in again.
“So when did you two meet? It sounds like it’s been a while.”
When Leonard smiled even more just to annoy him, Callio looked even angrier, which made Leonard almost burst out laughing.
“You told me yourself—you’d need at least three years to get over your parents’ deaths.”
“I did say that. But *you* also told me they would want me to be happy.”
Irenea beamed, like she was truly happy now.
“Thanks to your words, I found the courage. I really mean it—thank you, Uncle.”
She knelt gracefully before him. To anyone watching, it seemed like a nice family moment. But the air around them crackled with tension, and Leonard secretly rubbed his goosebumped arms.
*“Wow… this power struggle is intense.”*
But to him, it looked like Callio was the one being played.
*“She doesn’t seem desperate enough to need a fake fiancé. So why go this far?”*
As Leonard pondered this—
“Well, since you’re marrying my niece, you’ll be family too. Let’s have a toast to celebrate.”
“Sounds great. Then…”
Irenea raised her hand to call a servant, but Callio waved that servant away and summoned his own, who brought a tray with an unopened wine bottle and three glasses.
“I brought a special wine as a gift. Let’s toast with this.”
“Oh, a gift?”
“Yes. A special wine for a special day. It’s a 1967 vintage from the Ratvue vineyard—I got it myself.”
He proudly showed the label and opened the bottle.
Before Irenea could stop him, she let out a regretful sigh.
“1967? That’s the rare vintage—only 300 bottles made because of the drought that year, right?”
“Yes. Probably fewer than 50 bottles left in the world now. Its value only increases with time, but hey, for my niece, I’d spare anything.”
Trying to sound generous, Callio poured the wine into their glasses.
“You should’ve just given me the whole bottle! Don’t waste such rare wine like that.”
“Sorry, sorry. But I had to at least taste it.”
Laughing, he poured some into his own glass too, then raised it for a toast.
“To my niece’s happy marriage.”
“Thank you, Uncle. We’ll be so happy, everyone will envy us.”
Leonard followed Irenea’s cue and lifted his glass.
But just before his glass could touch Callio’s—
“Ahh!”
A scream came from behind.
Leonard reacted instantly, letting the shove push him to the floor with a servant.
—*Crash!*
“Ahh!”
“What the—?! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“S-Sorry! I tripped! Are you hurt?!”
The servant had been carrying a tray full of whiskey glasses, and now Leonard was soaked.
Normally, people would laugh at such a scene. But no one dared.
Because even soaked in whiskey, Leonard was still the fiancé of the party’s host—the Marquess of Blair.
*“Oh my…”*
The way the liquor dripped from his wet hair, the intense red of his eyes, the slow swipe of his hand across his cheek—all of it looked shockingly seductive.
Especially when he traced his wet lips with his thumb—like he was trying to seduce everyone watching.
Many around him unconsciously swallowed.
But the one who cried out loud was none other than the Marquess of Blair.
“Oh my God, blood! Ray, your hand is bleeding!”
Irenea’s dress was ruined, soaked with whiskey and glass shards as she knelt beside Leonard.
But she didn’t care. She held Leonard’s bloody hand and teared up.
Embarrassed, Leonard tried to hide his hand behind his back.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry.”
“Nothing?! That’s the hand you hold your sword with!”
She grabbed his hand again to check it, visibly shaken.
Then, her expression turned cold as she glared at the servant.
“You—what do you think you’re doing?!”
“S-Sorry! It was an accident! Please forgive me!”
“Forgive you? After what you’ve done to my fiancé?!”
Since he was pretending to be her fiancé, he needed to call her by a pet name. But he didn’t know any, and couldn’t just make one up carelessly—so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind as a last resort.
Of course, the moment he said it, he regretted it—feeling goosebumps rise on his arm.
“At this rate, I’m going to end up actually marrying her just to keep the act going.”
Without realizing that was exactly what his future would be, Leonard could only stammer, “Uh, uh…” in shock as Irenea suddenly threw her arms around him.
