“Ugh! Miss Id… Ah, no, Del! Are you okay?”
She’s not okay.
How could she be okay after suddenly getting splashed with water as soon as she entered the café?
Idel brushed off her damp hair and clothes with her hands, turning her gaze away.
Sigmund, who was holding her hand, looked like a drenched dog.
“You’re not okay… are you?”
“Yeah.”
He was already glaring at the direction from which the water had come, as if he wanted to kill whoever was responsible.
Idel, after instructing the flustered Diane to get a towel, turned her head to where Sigmund was glaring.
‘I’m curious too. What kind of inconsiderate person would throw water like that right near the entrance?’
There were two men sitting in the direction that both she and Sigmund were focused on.
Given that one of them was completely drenched, it appeared that the blonde man sitting in front was the culprit.
“Why, are you upset? Embarrassed? If you didn’t want something like this to happen, you shouldn’t have been so foolish and flirted with someone else’s fiance.”
“Lord Farell. Isn’t that disrespectful to the Countess? The Countess hasn’t officially been engaged to anyone yet.”
“Officially? Ha, this is why not all nobles are the same. I knew you were the kind of journalist who digs into other people’s affairs from the start. You have no sense of nobility or dignity.”
“Lord Farell.”
“Even if there aren’t any official documents, families like ours, with a long history and strong lineage, settle engagements verbally from a young age. Do you understand now, Ivan Ernest? Vivian has been mine since I was six!”
Unfortunately, the inconsiderate person who had thrown the water seemed too absorbed in his own emotions to care about his surroundings.
‘Or maybe he’s just a selfish person who doesn’t pay any attention to those around him.’
Looking at the kettle that had toppled over on the floor, it seemed more likely to be the latter.
The act of throwing water not from a cup but directly from a teapot was clearly driven by malice.
Idel, who was silently watching what looked like a scene from a melodramatic drama, squinted her eyes and tilted her head.
‘Ivan Ernest? A journalist? The name sounds familiar…’
Just as she was trying to dredge up a memory that was on the tip of her tongue, Diane came running in with someone who seemed to be in charge of the café.
“Miss, here’s a towel! Please, let me help you clean your clothes.”
“Forget it. Just pass me the towel and go tell that man to apologize.”
Diane’s eyes widened at Idel’s thunderous words. Apologize? Did she apologize?
“Apologize? M-Me?”
“Then should I go myself? Didn’t the head maid assign you to attend to me?”
“Oh, y-yes! But, um, Miss Idel, I’m not a lady-in-waiting; I’m a maidservant. Is that… okay?”
That was the problem. It was more common for a lady-in-waiting to handle matters on behalf of their noble employer than a maidservant.
Moreover, this wasn’t just about delivering an item or a letter; it was a situation where they needed to receive an “apology.”
Sensing the situation from Diane’s words, the owner of Florent Café cautiously stepped forward and spoke.
“Oh, if that’s the case, milady, perhaps it would be better for me to step in and receive the apology…”
“No.”
Of course, that didn’t work on Idel.
With a stubborn expression, Idel raised one eyebrow, placed her hands on her hips, and spoke again.
“He won’t listen to you anyway.”
“Um, then I feel like he’ll listen to me even less since I’m just a maidservant…”
“Are you going or not?”
“I-I’ll go right now!”
Seeing Idel’s frown, Diane swallowed hard and started walking toward the table.
She wanted to turn around and say she couldn’t do it at all, but it was already too late.
The man, who had been pushing the conversation with a sharp voice, shot a glance her way as he sensed a presence.
“What are you doing here?”
“Um, hello, young master. I’m sorry if I interrupted your conversation. It’s just that our young lady has gotten involved in a matter between the two of you…”
“Your lady?”
A small, derisive laugh escaped the man’s lips as he nodded and noticed Idel holding a towel and Sigmund beside her. He looked Diane up and down as if judging something trivial, then crossed his arms and twisted his lips.
“From the looks of it, you’re not even a lady-in-waiting since you don’t know how to properly introduce your master… Seriously, why are there so many nobles who don’t even act like nobles these days? Has the standard of Florent Café fallen this low?”
“…Um, the lady…”
“How dare you interrupt my conversation without permission? Did your master teach you that? Though I didn’t expect much from a noble whose face I don’t even recognize. I’ll pay for your clothes, so just pass a note to the café staff and get lost.”
His intentionally raised voice further dampened the already quiet atmosphere of the café.
“Hah.”
“Um… Milady.”
Seeing the café owner fidgeting beside her, Idel couldn’t help but smirk slightly.
‘Good, he’s giving me an opportunity to intervene.’
If that Farell had apologized willingly, it would have been even more troublesome.
Normally, it would be fine for her to get angry about such an interruption, but today Idel was in a good mood, having met a “very close friend” after a long time.
‘If he had directly apologized, I would have had to let it slide, even if I was annoyed.’
But if he was going to act so arrogantly, the situation was different.
The “second child of Clementine” wasn’t someone who would let such comments slide.
Idel was aiming to provoke a commotion even outside.
In other words, someone who was “a troublemaker with a short fuse” and “a loyal and fierce ally when on their side.”
“You’re lucky you still have your head attached.”
…thinking about it, he seems similar to Sigmund.
Idel glanced at the original mad dog, who was cynically laughing at the man, and calmly spoke.
“Hey, pick one. A towel? A drink?”
“Ah…”
Sigmund, who understood Idel’s intentions perfectly without him having to say more, slowly dragged out his words.
“Probably a towel.”
“Is it the humiliation from the hit?”
“Yeah.”
Facing each other, Sigmund and Idel both wore sly smiles. Their expressions were exactly the same, as if they had never engaged in a war of nerves before.
Having decided on her course of action, Idel released Sigmund’s hand and confidently walked toward the scene of the incident.
Despite the sudden movement, she could feel the eyes of not only Farell but also the other customers on her, and she found it rather pleasing.
Idel stood before the man, enjoying the attention directed at her, and before the other person could say a word, she abruptly threw the towel she was holding.
The towel, aimed perfectly, hit Farell on the face, making him stumble backward.
“What the…!”
“Throwing a fit over just a towel?”
“What kind of absurdity is this…!”
“And what about you, Mister? You must think it’s perfectly reasonable to splash water on others. I graduated from such childish pranks at five.”
“Mister? You’re calling me an old man?”
(TL/N: He called her 아저씨. In Korea, they call middle-aged men 아저씨.)
Farell’s eyes widened in disbelief at Idel’s words. He seemed like someone who had never once imagined he would be subjected to such humiliation.
With a surge of indignation, he clenched his jaw and pointed a finger at Idel, glaring at her.
“You must be too young to understand. Do you even know who I am?”
“Hmm, not really interested.”
“Ha! I’m just amazed! You’re as clueless as Ivan. They say ignorance breeds courage,huh? Did you think I would just stand by…”
Farell paused for a moment as he heard a small giggle near his ear. His voice filled with anger.
“…Are you laughing right now?”
“Ah, Miss. No matter what…”
“Why? It’s funny, Diane.”
Ignoring Diane, who was trying to intervene from the side, Idel looked at Farell and spoke again, her voice still laced with laughter.
“What are you going to do if I don’t stay quiet? Are you going to run to your dad and tell him?”
“What?”
“What are you going to tell him? I’m so curious. That you fought with a seven-year-old girl and she laughed at you? Or that she told you to stop playing with water?”
In front of Farell, who was at a loss for words and merely twitching his lips, Idel tilted her head slightly and smiled brightly.
Thanks to having practiced a lot against the servants of the duke’s household, she was able to wear a more annoying smile than ever.
“Wow, so manly, right?”
