“What did you hold back?”
I asked without thinking and quickly shut my mouth.
The purple light in his mysterious eyes looking at me rippled and suddenly flashed sharply.
It was the look in the man’s eyes I had seen on the day of the big earthquake, when suppressed desire was leaking out.
“If I tell you, will you listen?”
Whether it was because of his husky voice or the dangerous atmosphere, I felt strangely dominated.
As he looked down at my face, which was only blinking, he slowly raised his chin.
Thinking I was scared, he put some distance between us and said:
“You know what I’m thinking inside, when I’m even careful about holding your hand.”
He was saying even more dangerous things, but his expression and tone were restrained.
He definitely wasn’t the type of romance novel male lead with a gentle giant dog image. More like a beast hiding its claws so as not to hurt its partner.
From the beginning, he wasn’t so much a kind person as someone who was learning and trying.
Like the process of going from winter to spring, I think I liked that change.
Masera was the first to break the silence where only gazes were exchanged.
“As you wished, I made the Duke sell the Diem region to us.”
“That’s amazing.”
Caught up in other thoughts, I gave a soulless compliment, and he gave me a somewhat disappointed look.
“Is that your answer?”
I think I need to add the keyword ‘sly fox’ to this man who’s openly hoping for a dangerous reward.
“No. Of course not.”
Once I find out what the last inheritance is, I can hand everything over to Masera.
‘It’s the same with Masera acquiring Diem.’
But if I find the last inheritance, I’ll have to leave that ‘man with a rude personality who tries to be kind to me‘, what should I do?
“Tell me what you want. I’ll listen.”
Not wanting to spend the remaining time awkwardly keeping each other at arm’s length, I made a big decision.
At my suddenly brave provocation, Masera’s eyes widened slightly and then narrowed.
“You seem to not know anything…”
“I know everything, you know? I’m an expert in knowledge alone.”
“Don’t tell me that book about husbands…”
“What book?”
As he turned his gaze while touching his lips, he seemed to have some thought and flinched, then transformed back into a dangerous man.
“It’s nothing. Then I guess you know it can’t be done here.”
“It needs to be quiet and where no one is around. A secret place where no one would know if anything happened.”
I spoke like someone setting up a location for an illicit deal.
True to his competitive nature, he gestured with his eyes as if to see who would win.
“Then let’s go.”
He took my hand and led the way with soldier-like precise steps. Yet he occasionally glanced back at me and slowed his pace.
“Wow, it really is quiet and there’s no one around.”
I had thought of a room where we could be alone, but the place he took me was a greenhouse garden full of colorful blooming flowers.
“I saw it earlier when passing by, and thought you might like it. I had no other intentions.”
He who had been acting like a grown man just moments ago, now spoke like a shy boy rubbing the back of his neck.
I pressed my body close and stood on tiptoe to face him.
His arm holding my hand stiffened, then suddenly let go as if dropping it.
“Tell me honestly, what do you want from me.”
This is your chance to say let’s kiss in a place where no one’s around!
I’m quite timid in this area, you know? You do it first!
Masera gave me a bewildered look, then finally turned his face away and irritably messed up his own hair.
“You’ll hate it.”
“Let me know what it is before I hate it.”
I tried to coax out the words I wanted in a stern tone, and he backed away until his back was pressed against the glass wall.
“Do you usually make irresponsible statements like that?”
He put up his defenses again, but it doesn’t work on me.
“What do you want me to take responsibility for?”
I placed my hand on the glass wall with the forceful attitude of an overbearing male lead, and Masera looked alternately at my face and the arm trapping him with troubled eyes.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Then he ran away as if some big problem had occurred.
I gazed at the empty space he left with wistful eyes.
“How dare you reject me and run away? This isn’t cute at all.”
I muttered like an obsessive madman while covering my face with one hand.
Shouldn’t you be completely smitten with me so you’ll come looking for me later without giving up? It’s a shame that I can’t tell you my plans in advance.
If I tell him, that man will surely oppose it.
As I headed back to the reception venue, someone’s cautious footsteps followed.
“…You shouldn’t walk alone.”
Masera, who had returned at some point, had a very rational expression.
You’re the one who left me and ran away…
“It’s an important event, so we don’t know what might happen.”
Just as he was delivering those somewhat ominous words, I noticed a servant pouring champagne into Count Queensguard’s empty glass.
Under the servant’s sleeve, a tattoo briefly appeared and disappeared.
It happened so quickly that I couldn’t make out exactly what shape it was.
‘Something feels off about this.’
Suddenly, I recalled Masera tasting the food before me.
‘Did he judge that poisoning could occur now that the picture of royal succession is emerging?’
As I stared intently at the champagne glass in Count Queensguard’s hand, I sensed something and grabbed Masera.
“Honey! Catch that man holding the champagne!”
Masera, who had stiffened slightly, immediately signaled to the security guards.
***
“Right now Princess Cynthia and Prince Carlos are likely to be the heirs, right? The Duchess has been completely pushed aside. And Prince Edford is… well, out of the question.”
Despite the words heard from afar, Helene sat alone with a subtle smile.
“Thank you for your congratulations.”
At that moment, Valeria and Carlos, who had changed into reception attire, could be seen greeting the attendees.
Valeria approached Helene, who was sitting alone, and sneered.
“You came after all, Duchess.”
It was a blatantly disrespectful remark towards Helene.
But Helene smiled leisurely.
“You must have some resentment towards me. Perhaps because I unintentionally stood out on a day that should have been about you.”
“You’re someone who stands out wherever you go, aren’t you, Duchess? Whether surrounded by people or alone like now.”
Valeria passed by with a mocking laugh.
Meanwhile, Carlos, who had stopped in front of Helene, let out a deep sigh.
The Helene he knew was a stubborn woman who wouldn’t let go once she bit down.
She might even take measures to deal with Cynthia.
“Helene. How far are you going to push your greed? You should have been satisfied with the position of Duchess.”
Helene, who had been staring at Carlos, tilted her head.
“Aren’t you just as greedy, brother? Becoming the Prime Minister’s son-in-law just to hold onto a lowly maid girl.”
“You… what exactly do you want?”
Helene gestured to a servant serving champagne.
A particularly tall and sturdy servant handed Helene a glass of champagne.
“I will become the supreme ruler, not just the wife of a powerful man.”
Her smile was calm, but there was a strange madness in her eyes.
Carlos let out a hollow laugh.
“Certainly, you were in an advantageous position to aim for the throne. But because of your greed, you lost everything – power, connections, reputation. What more are you trying to do in a situation where you have nothing left to lose?”
Helene lowered her eyes as she swirled the champagne glass.
“There’s a saying that those with more to lose should be more careful.”
At the end of her elegant voice, a strange silence fell.
Crash-!
“Urgh!”
Just then, the sound of a champagne glass breaking and someone’s agonized scream was heard.
Carlos’s eyes widened as he looked towards the source of the sound.
“Father!”
Carlos shouted and rushed over urgently.
As Count Queensguard, who had drunk the champagne, clutched his throat and collapsed, commotion broke out around him.
Helene set down her champagne glass with a calm expression.
“…What those who have everything fear most is, paradoxically, a person with nothing left to lose.”
‘Since Father had no hesitation in abandoning me, I have no choice but to do the same.’
Of course, Cynthia will be the one framed.
‘A maid killed her master who was having her impersonate someone to claim the royal inheritance – it’s an outrageous but plausible story.’
So to reveal Cynthia’s true identity, the cunning Count Queensguard had to be dealt with first.
Lost in thought, Helene’s eyes met Cynthia’s, who was standing next to the collapsed Count Queensguard.
“…!”
Cynthia was looking at her with a chilling expression.
It was a hateful gaze as if looking at a bug, no longer worth dealing with.
‘When you’re the one who’s wrong, why are you looking at me with such eyes…’
Helene did not yet realize that she was facing the complete collapse of the world she had believed in.
