Chapter 69
The tea party went well.
“Ahh. Drink! Drink!”
“Vision of Sperom! The ultimate tea!”
At Sperom’s table, the predicted catastrophe, the predestined mishap, was unfolding, but it was peaceful because it was routine.
The Lesser Demon Twins did what they do best against the horde that had come for the Duke of Sperom.
‘Another strange one.’
She could tell by the way all the guests at the table fled without taking a sip of tea.
Perhaps because it was not a formal event, the tea party in general had the finite atmosphere of a kindergarten joke-fest.
With the exception of the popular Imperial, Mubisk, and Sperom tables, it was a tight-knit group of friends introducing themselves to each other, and families mingling.
… Except for the Halbern table.
“Sorry. I don’t have any friends.”
“What?”
She blurted out, stung.
Mehen and Lena exchanged glances.
“No, Young Lady, it’s better that we have our own little tea time, hehehe. On the contrary, I’m very excited to feel like I have the lady all to myself…”
“Lena.”
Mehen said softly, restraining Lena who was about to run away.
“It doesn’t matter, we’re here to see Arell.”
“Mehen…!”
“And for generations, Halberns have not been very sociable.”
“…?”
Is this a consolation?
She shook her head, and Lena laughed harshly.
“Mehen, you should try to comfort me in a more affectionate tone.”
“Be quiet, Lena.”
Mehen blushed in embarrassment. It’s awkward to say, but she’s cute, and I’m about to tease her.
Something caught her eye at the edge of her vision.
“?”
She jerked her head around, then stiffened.
“!”
The man leaning on the railing of the hall’s second floor met her gaze, his beastly golden eyes narrowing into a grin.
Why is that stalker up there-!
“Arell?”
“Uh, uh…”
She was so stunned she couldn’t speak, she knew no one would see him anyway, she just didn’t expect to run into him here.
‘What do you think you’re doing…’
The smirking man leaning against the railings waved. He looked harmless enough, but she couldn’t help but feel nervous.
And then she blinked.
He was gone.
“Uh, where did he go?”
She glanced around, but there was no sign of her mysterious stalker.
‘Did he leave because I wasn’t alone?’
Looking back, she always remembered approaching them when she was alone, and then frowned in confusion.
Trouble to see, trouble to not see.
“Arell, what happened?”
“Oh.”
She broke out in a cold sweat.
She barely smiled at the worried Mehen.
“Looks like I ate too much cold food.”
***
Mehen suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and looked at his lady, who seemed to be relaxing.
He’d seen her in the mansion, but the Arellin he saw outside was different.
‘… I see you’ve come to the right place.’
When Arellin told him she was joining this tea party, he was skeptical and opposed to the idea, but it turned out not to be a bad thing.
All the while, the killing list is being diligently compiled inside.
‘We’ll see.’
As a commoner who was knighted and made a nobleman, Mehen has always had a lot of eyes on him.
Now that he’s older and more used to it, he doesn’t mind, but when he was Arellin’s age, it hurt him quite a bit.
Mehen never wanted Arellin to have those memories.
‘… In my case, I always had Valar by my side, which was fine.’
A look of annoyance crossed Mehen’s face as he remembered his lord, who had been a source of comfort and reassurance at times.
‘I want to punch him, but he exudes a presence that I can’t seem to shake.’
He doesn’t know what to do with this ambivalence.
“This is delicious. Try it.”
“Is this the tea the twins recommended?”
“Yes!”
How did such an angel come out of such a bastard?
Taking a sip of the tea Arellin had poured for him, Mehen suppressed his irritation.
‘We’ll have to make time for tea when we get back to …’
He glanced at Lena, the education maid, who seemed to have had a similar thought. Lena smirked.
“You two are like mother and daughter.”
“…”
Mehen ignored her.
Ever since they’d found out about her “mum,” the nursery group had often teased him this way. More than that, Mehen was bothered by something else.
“Arell.”
“Huh?”
“Are you okay?”
“What?”
It was hard to believe Mehen, even though she looked fine.
How untouched by the fact that her father hadn’t come.
He thought she might have been expecting something, but he guessed she really didn’t have any expectations at all.
“… No.”
It was Mehen who was hurt.
Even today, Mehen suppressed his murderous feelings towards his Lord.
‘There’s one over there, there’s one over there.’
Every other table had a father or mother present. Halbern was the only one without both parents.
‘Yes, we’ll just have to let this pass without incident.’
Mehen was about to make peace with himself.
“Sir Mehen!”
Another fly in the ointment interrupted. Duke Sperom approached the Halbern table.
“Sir Mehen, would you please send Sperom to… now?”
“I decline.”
“Listen to all the invitations and refuse!”
“Where have you put the twins?”
“Don’t talk about them…”
Duke Sperom turned away.
“Do you want what’s left, father?”
“Father, would you like a drink?”
… Perhaps the Duke of Sperom had run away.
“Good evening, Your Excellency.”
“Hahaha. Lady Arellin, you’re as cute as I’ve heard. If you don’t mind, will you take my boys to live with you?”
“Piss off.”
Mehen struck a steel wall. The Duke of Sperom’s willingness to repay a favor with enmity had done wonders for Arellin’s favor.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, Sir Mehen.”
“It’s been a long time, Your Excellency, Duke of Mubisk.”
Halbern may have been unpopular, but Mehen was different. As he approached the Duke of Mubisk, he was the center of attention.
The three of them were well acquainted, so she didn’t dare to interrupt.
“Where is the Archduke of Halbern? Has he not come?”
Duke Mubisk asked in a low voice, perhaps out of consideration for Arellin.
Mehen laughed bitterly, and the Duke of Mubisk sighed.
“What a harsh father.”
The Duke of Mubisk frowned.
“Arellin, is your father not coming?”
A shrill voice echoed loudly in the hall.
***
When the Marchioness de Belfort had decided to hold the tea party, as she had advised the Empress Ageni, she had been confident that she would be the real star of the show.
She thought she could bury Halbern once and for all, with no hostess.
The Princess of Shirua, the Duke of Mubisk, the Duke of Sperom!
‘You mean to tell me that the Fifth Duke is the Fifth Duke!’
The Fifth Duke!
The Marquis of Belfort is also a venerable family. It was as if there was an invisible wall above them.
But there was a trick up their sleeve.
“What? Arelene doesn’t even have a mother.”
“No one from her family is coming?”
“Then who are the people you invited?”
An ambiguity that would be ridiculous to explain. Some bastard child who doesn’t even know her mother’s face, trying to compare her to Leslie.
It was only her daughter who could be the Crown Princess.
The Marchioness de Belfort smiled with satisfaction.
There were no adults who could blame the innocent children for talking first.
Besides.
“Halbern… is famous.”
“And isn’t the Archduke always at the northern castle?”
“He hasn’t been to the capital since his daughter was born.”
“My goodness, if he didn’t want to see his daughter, would he continue to stay in such a remote location?”
“Of course, she is his daughter, isn’t she?”
“The guardian stone of Halbern resonated with her, so the blood must be there.”
Mehen’s expression hardened.
Malicious interest did not let such mouth-watering tales pass easily.
“Well, who wouldn’t want to see their daughter, their own stain.”
“I was forced to join, but I guess the rumors are true that she’s like an abandoned child.”
“She’s a deadbeat father, no use raising her, not even in a marriage of convenience.”
“So much for Halbern’s glory.”
He can’t take it anymore.
Mehen rose to his feet, knowing that he had to get Arellin out of this situation, even if it meant disrespecting the imperial family.
“Sounds like an interesting story.”
Mehen’s body froze at the unearthly voice.
Instantly, the hall fell silent.
All eyes turned to the entrance.
“Who’s not here?”
Immaculate platinum hair, violet eyes.
A gaunt, arrogant man who didn’t bother to hide the blood splattered all over his well-tailored uniform.
“This is a little late.”
