Chapter 53

“You’re right. Did you see the young lady’s hands?”

One of the noble ladies sighed lightly as she continued speaking.

“They’re all blotched and stained. She says it’s from handling herbs, but what gentleman would like that?”

“Because of the young lady, Viscount Morrius must be terribly worried too.”

Honestly, up to this point, I just tried to endure it even though I didn’t want to hear it.

After all, Duke Diaz had invited me, and I didn’t want to stir up trouble for no reason.

But then.

“I’ve never seen a lady who got married this late and didn’t regret it.”

Huh?

I furrowed my brows slightly.

It seemed like the target of their attack had shifted away from ‘Lady Morrius.’

“All the good men have already been taken, so it’s useless to regret it now.”

“There’s a reason why people get married early.”

“You lose out if you don’t listen to your elders.”

Then.

I casually lifted my head and made eye contact with one of the noble ladies.

She was glancing at me sideways.

A smile, not fully concealed, was spreading across her lips.

‘Wow, this is…’

At that moment, I felt a wave of irritation surge inside me.

It reminded me of the nonsense the Empress had said before I joined the Azure Dawn Knights.

“Why don’t you consider getting married?”

“I’m your mother, after all.”

“I’m giving you this advice because I care about you.

Even as a villainous lady, I couldn’t escape those dreadful naggings.

As if not getting married were some kind of fatal flaw in life…

‘Ugh, I can’t listen to this anymore.’

Clack.

I put down my fork loudly on the table.

The noble ladies turned their heads in surprise, eyes wide like startled rabbits.

I narrowed my eyes gently as I met their gaze.

Then.

“Excuse me, but to all the noble ladies here—”

I began in a sarcastic tone.

“Do you all think that the ultimate goal in a lady’s life is simply to marry into a good family?”

“Y-Your Highness?”

“If someone heard you, they’d think the Empire’s laws require women to marry.”

I narrowed my eyes and asked bluntly.

“According to what you’re saying, I must be defective since I chose the knights over marriage, right?”

“What? No, that’s not what we meant…!”

The noble ladies, flustered, tried to smooth things over.

I asked again in a biting tone.

“Oh, that’s not what you meant? But I thought you were saying all that *just* for me to hear.”

“N-no way!”

“How could we possibly say something so rude to Your Highness?”

The noble ladies cried out in unison.

I stared directly at them and lifted the corners of my lips into a thick smile.

“I see. To be honest, I was very offended.”

The noble ladies stiffened their shoulders.

I continued, speaking softly.

“But I’m glad it was all just my misunderstanding.”

“O-Of course. A misunderstanding.”

“We really didn’t mean it like that…”

The noble ladies, now pale, continued to make excuses.

I clicked my tongue quietly in my head.

‘Wow, talk about killing the mood.’

It was the perfect example of that cliché phrase, “like a bucket of cold water.”

Someone might’ve thought I’d threatened to kill them or something.

Just then.

“What were you all chatting about so cheerfully?”

A gentle voice addressed us.

“Oh, Duchess!”

“We were waiting for you!”

The noble ladies welcomed the Duchess as if they had been saved.

Well, I was relieved too.

I had no idea how to recover the mood after that icy exchange.

But then.

‘Huh?’

It seemed she’d taken longer than expected for just a trip to the restroom.

Standing beside the Duchess was a neatly dressed handsome man.

But his face… looked oddly familiar.

“A distinguished guest has visited our duchy, so I brought him here to exchange greetings.”

The Duchess said with a bright smile.

“This is Sir Heinemann from the Central Command Headquarters.”

At the same time, my mouth dropped open.

Because I had just remembered who he was from Cassia’s memories.

‘Wait, what the hell is he doing here?!’

Terrence Heinemann.

Slicked-back silver hair and noble violet eyes.

From head to toe, he looked like a living portrait declaring, “I’m a pure-blood noble.”

He was the second son of the prestigious Marquis Heinemann family and a senior officer in the Central Command Headquarters.

A skilled swordsman who could rival Aura Knights with pure swordsmanship alone—one of the few elite knights in the Empire.

Just listing out his specs made it clear—Terrence was one of the Empire’s most sought-after bachelors.

And that meant—

‘There was a past engagement with the original Cassia, wasn’t there…’

That engagement quickly fell apart, and the blame lay entirely with the original Cassia.

Why?

Because she’d fallen for Giscard at first sight and chased after him.

Afterward, Terrence gave a scathingly cold evaluation of Cassia.

“Am I sad about breaking off the engagement with Her Highness? Not at all.”

“If we had ended up married, wouldn’t we both have been miserable?”

Though he maintained courtesy, nobles generally avoided speaking so bluntly.

So for a noble among nobles like Terrence to say something like that…

‘He must’ve thought Cassia was completely pathetic.’

Also, from Cassia’s memory, the last time she saw Terrence was probably—

‘Three years ago, at His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday banquet?’

At the time, Cassia had clung to Giscard’s arm, completely ignoring her fiancé Terrence.

“Sir Romanov, what were you talking about with that woman?”

“How could you smile at her—her—with me right there?”

“Is it because she has red hair? Should I dye mine too? Would that make you happy?!”

She’d spouted obsessive lines that sounded like something out of a stalker’s mouth…

‘Oh my god.’

I squeezed my eyes shut.

‘Cassia, how long are you planning to keep testing me like this?!’

After forcibly pushing down the shame.

I slowly lifted my eyelids and saw Terrence had somehow naturally taken a seat.

‘Ughhh!’

I screamed internally and buried my face in the dessert plate in front of me.

Of all places, he was sitting directly across from me, and if I wasn’t careful, our eyes might meet.

Meanwhile, the noble ladies were scanning Terrence up and down with eagle eyes.

Then, with satisfied expressions, they all began asking at once.

“What brings you to the North, Sir?”

“How long are you planning to stay in the North?”

“Are you seeing anyone, or is there a lady who’s caught your eye?”

An absolute barrage of questions began!

Many of the noble ladies had daughters of marriageable age, so they couldn’t just let a promising candidate slip by.

And I’m sure they found continuing to talk to me uncomfortable as well.

For reference, Terrence replied:

“Ah, I had some business at the Northern Command Headquarters, and thankfully, the Duke kindly invited me.”

“As for how long I’ll be staying in the North… I think that depends on when my work is finished.”

“For now, I’d like to continue devoting myself to my homeland.”

He responded smoothly to every single question.

And naturally, his refined answers only made the noble ladies’ eyes sparkle even more.

While everyone else laughed and chatted cheerfully.

I alone felt like I was sitting on a bed of nails…

‘Ugh, I’m dying of discomfort.’

I felt like I was going to get indigestion and jabbed at the pumpkin tart in front of me with my fork.

‘Ah, right.’

Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask the Duchess.

I lifted my head in a flash.