Looking up, Idel saw a boy with dark blonde hair and green eyes extending a hand toward her.
“Ah….”
Idel involuntarily made a sound and quickly shut her mouth. Although she hadn’t heard his name yet, she felt she knew who this boy was.
‘So he’s the male protagonist.’
Even without hearing about Dante from Diane, she would have recognized him.
The boy before her radiated a sparkling, protagonist-like aura, much like when she first met Gianna.
As Idel faced the central figure of this world, she clenched her hands slightly. The sand on the ground scraped between her fingers.
“Um….”
“……”
The boy awkwardly withdrew his extended hand and scrutinized Idel with a worried expression. His concern was likely due to her lack of response.
Bending his knees, he placed a hand on Idel’s shoulder and spoke seriously.
“Are you having trouble getting up? Or are you feeling dizzy?”
The green eyes that met his gaze matched the midday sunlight perfectly. Seeing the boy who was so highly praised by her younger sibling, Idel swatted his hand away.
“…I’m fine, so don’t touch me without permission.”
“Oh, I see. I thought you were seriously injured because you couldn’t move. I’m glad to see you’re alright.”
Despite the awkwardness of ignoring his kindness, Dante showed no sign of discomfort. He even waited for Idel to get up before apologizing to her again.
“I was careless. I’m sorry.”
Seeing him bow his head as if it were natural, Idel responded with a sulky tone.
“Just… don’t do it again.”
To be honest, Idel wanted to accept his apology graciously, but she was unsure how things might unfold if she did.
‘It’s unlikely, but what if he suddenly tries to mediate between me and Gianna?’
To block further conversation with Dante, she responded in an irritated tone and quickly walked past him. At that moment,
“Excuse me, Milady, please wait a moment.”
With a voice full of small realization and embarrassment, Dante called out to her.
“What now?”
“I apologize. It’s just that…”
Dante, who had immediately apologized for his previous mistake, fell silent briefly. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully to avoid making any more mistakes.
Of course, he couldn’t remain silent for long.
Idel’s increasingly irritable gaze compelled him to continue speaking.
“Why are you holding me up without saying anything? Are you playing games with me right now…?”
“I did think it was possible, but I didn’t know how to bring it up…”
Dante quickly replied, cutting off Idel, and continued with a look of certainty and pleasure.
“I’m glad to meet you, Lady Gianna. I am Dante Knightley.”
…What is he saying?
Idel blinked slowly at his unexpected words. She was momentarily taken aback, but after a moment’s thought, she came up with a possible explanation.
‘Ah, so they haven’t met yet? Their first meeting must be during the swordsmanship classes.’
In that case, it wasn’t surprising that he was confused. It’s unusual for adults to be unaware of rumors about her, but he’s just a kid.
‘Seeing him smiling and saying he’s glad to meet me, it seems he was looking forward to meeting Gianna…’
It’s quite cute, but it can’t be helped.
Still, she couldn’t change her attitude and kindly clear up the misunderstanding.
The ‘second child of the Duke’s family’ in the rumors doesn’t tolerate any offense, whether it’s from the novel’s male protagonist or someone meeting her for the first time.
‘And on top of that, you’ve now angered me three times.’
Once when he bumped into her, twice when he stopped her from walking, and thrice by mistaking her for Gianna. The last mistake was especially significant.
With her lips tightly pressed and fists clenched, Idel responded sharply to Dante’s words.
“Gianna Clementine? Did you just call me Gianna?”
“…Yes?”
“Ha! How amusing.”
With a smile that wasn’t amusing at all, Idel glared at him with narrowed eyes.
“Hey, did you lose your sight when you bumped into me? Can’t you see my hair color? Or are you deliberately trying to provoke me? What on earth are you even doing here?”
“I believe there’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t mean it like that…”
“You didn’t mean to? You didn’t think I’d react like this?”
For Dante, who had only offered a greeting, this must have felt like a great injustice. Nevertheless, it was his fault for making such a sensitive comment at such a bad time.
‘If I hadn’t been in a feud with Gianna, I wouldn’t have reacted like this.’
Now that it was public knowledge that Idel had a feud with Gianna, she had to maintain her harsh demeanor outwardly.
‘I’ll have to gradually soften my tone as if it’s fading away on its own.’
Meanwhile, she needed to watch for opportunities.
Ignoring Dante’s expression of confusion and slight discomfort, Idel decided to drive her point home.
“Stop talking nonsense and move. I’m not that person.”
“…”
“And don’t talk to me again. Don’t touch me either.”
With a fierce glare like a cat with its claws out, Idel turned sharply and entered the training grounds.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
A few minutes after causing a scene with Dante,
While preparing for the class alone and letting her guard down, Idel soon realized she had misjudged the situation.
“Milady.”
Dante, who had clearly ignored her earlier warning, came up and spoke directly to her.
‘No, even Gianna wouldn’t have acted like this.’
As Idel momentarily lost her words while looking at him, Dante took a deep breath and began speaking slowly.
“…First, I apologize for disregarding your wishes and stopping you again.”
“If you know it’s wrong, then why not just stop?”
“But there’s something I must say…”
His hesitation was brief.
“In fact, I saw the lady at the Café Florent the other day. A man was splashed with water, and you stepped in to help him.”
‘What is he talking about? Dante Knightley was there?’
Idel’s eyes widened slightly at Dante’s sudden revelation.
“It was my mistake. I only knew of one Duke’s daughter of my age, and that was ‘Gianna Clementine,’ so I didn’t think there would be someone else.”
“…”
“I didn’t mean to offend you. On the contrary, I… I would like to become friends with you. Ever since I saw you that day. So, if…”
Dante paused and made eye contact with Idel.
“If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to be given another chance. Not now, but when you’re willing to give me one.”
After expressing his thoughts, Dante lowered his gaze slightly. An awkward silence lingered between them.
While Idel was hesitating to respond to the sudden information, a noisy sound came from the direction of the training ground’s entrance.
“Ah, I found it! Thank you so much, Lady Gianna! Thanks to you, I was able to find my destination without getting lost. You’re so kind!”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was on my way here anyway, so I just happened to be able to guide you.”
“Wow, even being modest? This Patrick Icadorn is deeply impressed by the young lady’s kindness!”
“Oh, you flatter me.”
One of the voices was definitely Gianna’s, but who was the other?
Reacting to the unfamiliar voice, Idel reflexively looked toward the entrance of the training ground. Next to Gianna, who had her hair tied up high for the class, stood a man she had never seen before.
‘He looks a bit younger than Duke Clementine… Is he a swordsmanship assistant teacher?’
The man, with hair close to a pinkish-red, was bustling about with an exuberant expression.
His yellow eyes, which had been focusing on Gianna, lit up with vitality as soon as he spotted Dante.
“Oh, young master Dante!”
He called out Dante’s name loudly and quickly moved toward him with his arms open.
“Patrick.”
“Oh, why does your voice sound like that? Hmm, are you feeling lonely because this Patrick wasn’t around?”
Hmm?
Idel, standing behind Dante, subtly rubbed her arm in reaction to the sudden display of the man’s affection. Her expression naturally hardened without effort.
TL/N: By the way, I know I kept changing their titles. Like from Miss to Milady and vice versa. It’s because they sometimes call the two girls Idel-nim/Gianna-nim / Gianna 영애/ Idel 영애. It doesn’t really have an exact English translation or I just couldn’t find it. I don’t know.
