Chapter 2
“What are you doing? Open the door.”
“Well, that is…”
“Move aside. I’ll open it myself.”
Frustrated with the hesitating employee, Aveline opened the door herself. She heard the employee cry out “Ah!” behind her, but she ignored it and went inside.
‘I just need to meet him briefly and leave. It shouldn’t be difficult.’
It was a formal meeting, and after today, she wouldn’t have to see him again until the engagement ceremony. If she was lucky, Viscount Berta might even reject her.
Of course, that would hurt her pride in its own way, but from Aveline’s perspective, being mocked was far better than being sold off in marriage to a stranger.
“Ugh. The smell of alcohol.”
As soon as she entered, she understood why the employee had hesitated. The room reeked of alcohol, as if someone had been drinking heavily alone.
“Ah, you’re here.”
“Viscount?”
Empty bottles were strewn across the table. Viscount Berta, already thoroughly drunk, stood up unsteadily when he saw Aveline.
“Hehe… You’re very beautiful.”
It was the moment when Aveline’s small hope that the viscount might reject her shattered.
Seeing Viscount Berta approaching her, stumbling like a newborn giraffe, Aveline failed to maintain her composure.
However, trying her best to stay calm, she carefully spoke.
“Viscount. You seem to have had a lot to drink. Are you alright?”
“What? Are you looking down on me, thinking I’m not okay?”
Viscount Berta suddenly became angry at Aveline’s words.
“I’m perfectly fine!”
‘He’s clearly not fine.’
The viscount managed to approach Aveline with his bizarre gait and stopped in front of her. Pushed back involuntarily, Aveline found her back against the door with nowhere to escape.
“You know why we’re meeting today, don’t you?”
As the viscount mumbled with a satisfied expression, Aveline inwardly cursed at him.
‘I do, you ugly bastard.’
Aveline was uncomfortable with the current situation for several reasons. The ugly face was too close, and every time he opened his mouth, his foul breath assaulted her face.
‘Ugh, his breath.’
None of the male leads in the romance novels Aveline had read were this plain-looking or had breath that smelled like rotten oysters.
She had never even heard of a male protagonist who was such a drunkard!
She wanted to raise her knee and get rid of this drunk immediately, but she was here to do what her father had ordered.
‘I can’t go back and disappoint him like this.’
Aveline, barely composing herself, spoke calmly.
“Viscount. Please step back a little.”
“What? You’re telling me to back off? How long do I have to back down behind my annoying older brother!?”
The viscount, his blood vessels already filled with alcohol, was completely unreasonable. Unable to hold her breath any longer, Aveline spoke calmly but firmly.
“That’s not it. It’s because your breath smells.”
“Hehe. They say your younger brother is handsome, but you, his sister, are quite good-looking too.”
Viscount Berta casually ignored Aveline’s comment as if he hadn’t heard it. Then, he raised his damp hand and grabbed a handful of Aveline’s pink hair.
‘Be patient. Be patient.’
Though she wanted to swat his hand away immediately, Aveline squeezed out every last drop of patience wedged between the folds of her brain, remembering her father’s face.
“Viscount. You seem very drunk. Why don’t we just go home and say we met well today?”
“What if I refuse?”
Viscount Berta curled his thick, pale lips into a smirk.
“Aren’t you just a cast-off from your family anyway? Isn’t this just them trying to pair up the useless ones?”
The viscount suddenly raised his voice, spitting as he spoke.
“But… you’re quite lucky. To end up with such a young and pretty wife.”
Viscount Berta’s gaze suddenly darkened. His drunken bluster disappeared, replaced by a sticky gaze that looked Aveline up and down.
“If you’re going to marry me anyway, I think it would be fine to have a little taste now… What do you think?”
Viscount Berta came closer, narrowing the distance between him and Aveline. With her back against the door, Aveline couldn’t escape and tried to calm the viscount down.
“Viscount. If you step back now, I won’t lay a hand on you.”
“Hahaha! Hand? What can a mere woman do even if she tries? It’ll be like a feather, ugh!”
The viscount, who had been laughing like a madman, suddenly clutched his lips and tumbled backward. Aveline had punched him in the mouth.
“My feathers are a bit heavy, you see.”
Aveline left behind the viscount, who was lying flat on his back, clutching his mouth and groaning, and rushed out the door.
To think that the benefit of her physical training, inspired by a phase of obsession with female knight stories, would come in handy now. Aveline, surprised at herself and still dazed, walked towards the exit.
“My lady, do you need anything… gasp.”
An employee she encountered in the corridor approached but drew in a shocked breath when he saw Aveline’s disheveled state.
“What you’re about to see in there is a secret.”
Even in her shocked state, she didn’t forget to silence the employee. The employee nodded reflexively and pointed towards the exit.
Aveline ran for her life as if that was her starting signal. She felt like the door might open again at any moment and the viscount would chase after her.
Thump, thump.
Aveline’s heart pounded abnormally loud.
– Prove your usefulness to me.
The sound of her heartbeat in her ears had somehow changed to her father’s voice.
‘Why can’t I even do this properly?’
She just had to meet him and come back. Maybe she should have waited for him to sober up before leaving.
But earlier, she had truly felt threatened. Of course, his bad breath was torturous, but the situation itself—a grown man cornering her against a wall—was frightening.
She remembered Ares desperately trying to stop her earlier.
‘I should have listened to him.’
Instead of getting excited because her father had given her a task and rushing out.
As soon as Aveline left the restaurant, she immediately boarded the carriage waiting right in front.
Clack.
As she entered the enclosed space, a sense of relief at finally being in a safe place washed over her.
“Hic…”
As the tension dissipated, the tears she had been holding back began to flow.
“Waaah!”
Aveline cried loudly like a child. Though she hadn’t shown it, she had been so scared earlier. The moment of meeting the viscount just now felt as distant as a dream from a few days ago.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your crying, but,”
A voice came from the carriage she thought was empty. Aveline wiped away her tears in surprise and turned her head towards the source of the voice.
“This is my carriage.”
A man with deep black hair and blue eyes was looking at Aveline with a wary gaze.
He was so handsome it was as if the Creator had accidentally leaked him onto the earth while trying to keep him for himself.
The man seemed more concerned about her suddenly barging into his carriage than about her crying.
“You’re the young lady of Count Herolds.”
The man revealed Aveline’s identity in a voice as captivating as his appearance.
‘How does he know me?’
She rarely left the mansion and had almost no friends. Yet Aveline couldn’t recognize who this man was at all.
“I heard you were twins, and you do resemble Lord Herolds. I often see Lord Herolds at the central council meetings.”
With these words, Aveline finally got a sense of who this man might be.
Someone so handsome you could never forget after seeing him once, but whose thoughts were difficult to discern. She had heard about him before.
“…Duke Ribes?”
The Emperor’s nephew and the leader of the noble faction opposing the Emperor.
And a man who, along with the Crown Prince and her brother, was always ranked in the top 3 most handsome men in the empire.
Along with rumors of being a polite madman.
* * *
“How could you send her to meet such a brute? Are you serious?”
“Hey now. Is this how you behave in front of your father?”
“Why didn’t you use me to make connections instead? I’m confident I could charm even men with this face.”
Count Herolds, who had been motionless all this time, now furrowed his brow.
“What nonsense. You have greater things to aspire to. Aveline has finally found something she can do. Didn’t you see? She was so happy to be given a task that she left on her own.”
At his father’s words, Ares recalled Aveline’s appearance earlier.
– It’s the first time Father has expected something from me, so I’m a bit excited. Don’t ruin it.
The image of her pretending to be strong and departing in the carriage while clearly nervous.
Even if his sister had been living in her room without much ability, this was too much. To pair Aveline, who was barely twenty, with an old man well over thirty!
It was obvious that rumors would spread about him selling his sister for his own advancement.
He absolutely detested the idea of such a dirty scandal being attached to his perfect reputation of excelling at everything and even being handsome.
As this thought crossed his mind, Ares felt even more anxious than before.
He had certainly come because he was worried about his sister, but at this point, he was also concerned about potential damage to his perfect reputation.
“No matter what Father says, I’m going to bring my sister back.”
“H-How dare you!”
“However.”
Before storming out, Ares turned to face his angry father with a composed expression.
“I’ll definitely obtain those documents from Duke Ribes that Father couldn’t get before.”
Bang!
After slamming the door shut, Ares rushed out of the mansion as if running.
“Bring me my horse.”
The stable boy immediately brought Ares’ horse. The beautiful white horse, well-groomed and gleaming, was Ares’ favorite.
“Let’s go, Beauty!”
“Neigh!”
The horse, aptly named for its appearance, recognized its equally handsome owner and whinnied loudly.
Ares nimbly mounted the horse. Atop the white steed, he exuded a fresh handsomeness like a fairy straight out of a fairy tale.
“Wait for me. Your brother is coming.”
With an expression full of self-admiration, Ares set off on his horse.
