“Episode 27”
“Damn it!”
“You said we were going on a picnic!”
“We did. It’s an activity picnic.”
Daphne shrugged and adjusted the hefty rifle in her hands. The maid, dressed prettily, followed along but continued to grumble like a disappointed performer.
“Isn’t this a dress you bought with two months’ worth of wages, miss?”
Narid’s hem was dirtied from stepping on damp mud, prompting her to pout slightly. The layered dress had ribbons dangling from each tier, clearly not suitable attire for the clay shooting range.
“It’s a bit excessive, isn’t it?”
Even as Daphne said this, she was wearing a black silk dress that clung to her skin.
“And! You’re not even fully recovered yet, and you want to shoot again.”
The maid, with windblown cheeks, seemed more concerned about Daphne’s health than her clothes.
“Ah~ I’ll buy you a new one, where to?”
“It’s fine. You have plenty of money, don’t you?”
“More than me?”
“Don’t stop me from indulging in my pleasures!”
Kisha argued that Daphne was unusually similar to her usual self, but Narid subtly sensed her melancholy.
Daphne, wearing clothes unsuitable for the occasion to cheer up her melancholic mood, hoped to liven up the atmosphere with her loud voice.
Daphne knew this and smiled briefly. Then, a few seconds later, her expression vanished.
“It looks like the rainy season is coming.”
Misha, standing at a distance, approached and held out an umbrella towards Daphne. Meeting Daphne’s gaze, Misha smiled for a moment.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Daphne lightly tapped his arm. Misha’s gray eyes flickered over her before adjusting his glasses. He was watching Daphne closely.
“Why?”
“What?”
Misha adjusted his glasses again. Daphne tilted her head to the left.
“Why are you watching me like that?”
Was he hinting at her being busy while the boss was playing around? It was a reasonable suspicion. Daphne gently tapped his arm with her elbow and chuckled softly.
“I was sick, you know. I’ll be back to work from next week. Nothing happened at the hotel, right?”
“No. You can take as much time off as you need.”
“Then can I rest until the end of the engagement ceremony?”
“Oh, that’s a bit too much.”
Misha lowered the hand that was touching his glasses and stiffened his expression as if he was truly troubled. Daphne joked and extended her hand.
There were only two weeks left until the engagement ceremony. It meant that the success of the ‘Happy Ending Project’ was just around the corner.
‘But.’
Daphne wasn’t happy at all. In fact, everything she had planned had gone awry.
It had only been ten days since Celestian Therios had disappeared.
Romeo was the only one she could ask to find him, but he refused, leaving Daphne without anyone in Sekradion to help her.
The underground organization she turned to had strict conditions and was very expensive. Without friends and without money, Daphne, who once had both, stepped into the notorious underworld.
― Daphne Viewcater, request not accepted due to unmet conditions.
A red stamp with the words ‘Unmet Conditions’ struck her like a hammer on the back of her head.
‘Oh, Mom.’
Amber Green had tied up all of Daphne’s inheritance money in a trust fund. It was surprisingly fast, considering it had only been three days since she lost consciousness, and this time, her father, the bank manager, sided with her mother.
‘When I woke up, my unlimited credit card was blocked…’
If Amber declared that she would use the gold mine as collateral and convert it into real debt, Daphne would be in a huge debt. And she might even have to sell all of her own businesses.
― Marry the prince of Azenthar.
With her enchanting red lips, Amber told Daphne the solution.
‘Don’t look for him.’
For that reason, Daphne gave up on finding Celestian.
‘Actually, I didn’t even like him that much.’
She said while consoling herself.
Thanks to ten days of leisure, new flesh had sprouted where the bullets grazed her. She learned the lesson that she needed to be even more careful when shooting in the future.
“It looks like the rainy season is coming.”
Misha held out his finger, wet with raindrops, to compare with Daphne’s. Daphne looked up at the sky. Her yellow eyes didn’t sparkle as much because of the gloomy weather.
The rainy season in Sekradion, known for its clear skies, was unpredictable. With continuous showers for the past few days, a long period of heavy rain was expected soon.
The rain was light enough not to interfere with shooting, but Narid, adorned from head to toe, seemed to think it wouldn’t do and requested to leave work first, which Daphne allowed.
Bang!
With a carefree face, Daphne fired at the rising red targets. Despite the increasingly rapid firing of the targets, she continued to think about the elusive man.
“But really, what didn’t I do?”
Bang.
“Not giving him the townhouse? Folding the small bed for him?”
The townhouse was a security concern, and the canopy bed suited him well.
Bang, bang!
“Why did he destroy the master bedroom and then blame me?”
Although she couldn’t give him the townhouse separately, she was planning to give him the lavishly decorated large room to suit his princely heart.
“Why won’t you come to me?”
Blink.
“Sleep with me. You want to, don’t you?”
Second blink.
“Ah, Miss.”
Two bright green targets shot up into the sky and fell to the ground in a parabolic arc.
Even in hindsight, it was a fiery statement. Whatever his intentions were, the sensation of that day seemed to fill the wrinkles of her brain.
“You don’t love me…”
How many times had she said she loved the prince who behaved like a love-deprived child? Saying “I love you” wasn’t difficult, and about half of it was sincere.
Daphne gritted her teeth. Because of that man, all her property was tied up in an instant, and she looked like a fragile bird at the mercy of her helpless mother.
That arrogant face, which had pushed her into such a corner…
“Do you miss him?”
Startled, Daphne turned to Misha. Her cheeks flushed, and Misha, too, seemed surprised.
“Who? Me?”
“No, the scoreboard.”
“Yaya. You don’t have to bring it. I’m going to win today.”
It was Kisha’s turn next. Singing a tune as if he had been waiting, he quickly lifted the loaded gun towards the sky.
“It’s annoying.”
Daphne dropped her long hat under her feet.
“Don’t you like the hat?”
“Are you saying that for no reason?”
Misha and Kisha both asked.
“Huh.”
Daphne stiffened her expression and gave a vague answer.
Thunk.
The bulging part of the hat collapsed under her step. What was supposed to be a single step gradually intensified. Moving as if her frail body was swaying, Misha grabbed her arm in alarm.
“Boss, you’ll get hurt if you keep going like this.”
“Misha Serenade, you go shoot instead.”
Daphne snugly nestled the Winchester into Misha’s arms. Misha, staggering under the weight of the gun, blinked once.
“You can’t shoot, boss.”
“I taught you.”
“I learned from you, boss. But you know, my eyesight is bad, so I can’t shoot.”
Saying so, Misha tapped his glasses a few times.
“What if the boss can’t shoot because he’s become a sissy? If you can’t shoot a perfect score, I’ll dock your pay for three months, got it?”
“What? All of a sudden?”
Misha was taken aback by Daphne’s yellow eyes staring at him and hugged the gun tightly. Daphne started to crush the hat again under her foot.
Kisha and Misha looked at each other. It felt like there was someone’s head under her foot, and for a moment, their hair stood on end.
“I’ll buy the drinks.”
“Miss, you shouldn’t drink.”
“Boss shouldn’t drink either.”
After flicking her finger once, Daphne reached out and punched the button on the pillar with her fist. Taking the gun from Misha’s arms, she took aim.
Red clay targets began to appear in the sky without pause. Daphne and Kisha took turns smashing the plates amiably.
Kisha didn’t seem to be in good condition today, as he didn’t give away points easily. Daphne, who was anxious about whether she would actually win, hesitated to smack Kisha’s thigh.
“What’s this, isn’t it Mr. Viewcater?”
Daphne was a dignified adult and an independent business owner, so it was appropriate to address Viewcater as “Mr.” instead of “Sir.”
Daphne glanced at the nonchalant group. They were aristocratic businessmen who supplied sugar, amenities, or cigarettes to her hotel.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out once, and the plates shattered, falling onto the grass. Daphne’s Winchester had already knocked down twenty plates.
She lowered the gun to greet them. Kisha did the same. The momentarily quiet shooting range was filled with strange laughter from the men.
“Mr. Karen, Mr. Dotty, Mr. Hanon, right? Hello.”
“I heard you collapsed from overwork, but you’ve already recovered?”
“Were you indulging in men’s games?”
“Could be.”
Daphne replied dryly. Her yellow eyes glanced upwards as if tired of it all.
“Still acting modest, huh… You guys really don’t know.”
They laughed among themselves and didn’t notice Daphne’s blatant annoyance.
“So, we were worried when we heard Mr. Viewcater was bedridden for three days. Are you feeling better now?”
“Thank you for your concern. But I’m fine, as you can see.”
Misha and Kisha exchanged brief greetings with them before stepping back a few paces. When Kisha lowered his voice and asked who they were, Misha simply replied, “The Three Stooges.”
“The Three Stooges?”
“Because they talk loudly, stupid.”
“They look fine though. Are they businessmen?”
“Yeah.”
The Shasha brothers whispered as quietly as possible. Kisha pressed the button after smashing one more plate that came to mind. As a result, Daphne fell behind by three points. The plate didn’t rise again.
“But today, Prince One doesn’t seem to be around.”
A man who looked like he had buttered his hair suddenly spoke up.
“Shouldn’t you stop, Miss?”
“Wait.”
Daphne remained still, but Kisha jumped in surprise for no reason. Misha, seeming to understand what he was thinking, grabbed Kisha’s bicep as he moved towards them.
“You’re taking everyone everywhere, and now you’re trying to tie the knot with two servants again.”
“Where’s the traitor? Ah, did you tie him to the bed…?”
Kisha twitched again. From the brothers’ perspective, they only saw the back of Daphne’s head. Her foot moved slightly. The hat that had protruded a little was squashed under her foot once again.
“Hey. Shouldn’t you stop?”
“It’s okay.”
But it seemed like the hat buried in the mud was begging for mercy.
Romeo said he would announce Celestian’s death, but since there was no trace of him, the plan fell apart. As a result, the chaos in the cafe became a non-event.
The royal control of the media was still remarkable. Even though she was shot as the “villainess of Secradion,” Romeo’s former fiancee, not a single article remained.
“Ah, Mr. Dotty is right. I’m bored.”
Despite the full aegyo in her voice, it sent shivers down their spines.
“It seems to be going on longer than I thought…”
“So I killed him.”
Daphne inserted her finger into the trigger of the Winchester. There was only the clear sound of an empty gun chamber clicking.
“Haha, you’re good at lying. Trying to scare us?”
“I don’t lie.”
As Daphne spoke roughly, the face of the businessman who had just spoken stiffened.
“Do you want to be buried with the prince? I don’t remember where I found you…”
Daphne shrugged, then hoisted the heavy gun with a grunt. The slight upward curl of her lips made her look even more dangerous.
“They say human fertilizer is good for tree roots.”
