There Is No Mercy

                                                                                        Chapter 16
She glanced at Layton and jerked her chin.
“I don’t think Belietta has danced yet, either, and I think it would be best if the Marquis could lead her for her first opponent tonight.”
Layton’s expression brightened at my words.
He grinned so wide his mouth hung over his ears.
Feeling like the alcohol I had just consumed was coming up, I turned my gaze to Belietta.
He smiled and spoke briefly to her as she approached.
“Where have you been?”
“ I had some work to do. Anyway, what did you talk about? “The Marquis is smiling very happily, isn’t he?”
Turning his head, he managed to control his expression and cleared his throat.
“Nothing, just…….”
He glanced at me.
“What are you looking at? He lowered his gaze, took a sip of his drink, then lightly tapped Balietta’s shoulder.
When Bellietta looked at me asking me where I was going, I pointed to the balcony with my chin and moved my legs.
Staying here with you will only make me look bad.
Belietta nodded as if she understood.
I glided by her side.
A voice came from behind her.
“Princess Belietta, if you don’t mind, would you like to join me for the next song?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d be happy to…….”
I glanced behind and saw two people entering the concourse just in time for the song to change.
Hands clasped together as if in pleasure.
It felt like my hand, the one I had once placed in his palm.
I bit my lip and turned my head away.
I don’t need to remember.
No need to care.
It’s in the past.
So there’s no need to feel bad about it.
I muttered to myself and shifted my feet.
I moved my legs toward the balcony, away from the stares gathering on Belietta and Layton.
I tried not to pay attention, but I could feel the stares and gossiping mouths around me.
I don’t know if it was Belietta’s doing, but the rumors that were already circulating about me were destroying my reputation.
Part of me wanted to chase them down and tell them to shut up, but after what I’d seen earlier, I didn’t have the heart.
I felt stuffy and suffocated.
I walked to the open balcony to escape from the summer heat.
I pulled back the blackout curtains and stepped outside, letting the cool summer breeze wash over me.
Suddenly, I felt the stiffness disappear.
“Hah…….”
I let out a long breath and shook my new glass.
” Apple cider.”
I thought it was grape wine because it was red, but it was cider.
It wasn’t my favorite.
It was too sweet.
I sipped the cider, sighed again, and lifted my chin.
Night had already fallen.
I heard music behind me, along with the voices of womens near the balcony.
I closed my eyes slowly.
I felt the world around me grow still and silent.
The fluttering sensation subsided.
“I never thought I would come back here…….”
I thought I would never set foot in this building again.
To me, this place meant suicide.
I found myself holding the man’s hand and smiling brightly, not knowing what the future held.
“……Mother.”
Suddenly, I pictured my parents leaving in a carriage.
I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye, and their backs were cold.
It was an accident, everyone said, but was it really an accident?
‘Belietta.’
I still think Belietta killed my parents.
Belietta was the first to find the carriage after the accident, when no one else could.
We searched for four days and couldn’t find it, and she found it in one day.
It was as if she knew everything.
That was the first time she let her emotions get the best of her.
Layton took advantage of the situation.
Belietta had trusted him with her heart, unaware that he was using a human to seduce her.
“I was so naive.”
The wind blew as if it knew what I was thinking.
It was a cool breeze that blew away the summer heat. I smiled slowly and closed my eyes slowly.
“…What about the story?”
“What story?”
“The story of the Princess of Bozbourne and His Highness the Archduke Ripleton. Have you heard of it?”
Just as I was beginning to loosen my grip, words I didn’t want to hear pierced my ears.
The door to the balcony was open, and the high-pitched voices easily escaped through the blackout curtains.
“Oh, that’s it, I think I heard that. Someone told me today……. I thought you were playing a prank on me when I first heard it. My goodness, the Bozbournes and the Rippletons, it’s so out of the blue, I was stunned.”
“That’s what I thought, too, but she’s a beautiful duchess, isn’t she? She’s got a nice personality and a good heart. Besides, she’s a good match for Marquis Vladia, who’s dancing over there. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the lords were smitten, would you?”
“I can’t believe such a princess would marry into the Rippeton family……. It’s a little pitiful, but also surprisingly fitting, don’t you think?”
There were murmurs of agreement from all around.
“A ghostly archduke and a gentle princess. Isn’t this a combination that only exists in novels?”
Everyone screamed in small shrieks at the sound of a young lady’s voice.
I sighed inwardly.
The rumors have already spread.
Yeah, in a society of noblemen who are known for spreading rumors quickly, a scandal like this would be nothing.
There was no use talking about it now.
Aden should come. No, it’s okay to just talk about it. If I opened my mouth on my own, it was obvious that I would get strange looks.
“Where the hell is he?”
He said he’d be there when I needed him, but when I need him, he is nowhere to be seen.
“Speaking of the Princess of Bozbourne, did you know that there’s a story going around about the young Brilloxen?”
“Ah! I’ve heard of that, too. It’s the story about Young Lady Brilloxen trying to imitate Princess Belietta, isn’t it?”
“That’s right, I hadn’t realized it until I heard about it…… at the Marquis de Saxion’s banquet last time, and again to-night, and the dresses they wore are similar, aren’t they?”
“I thought of that too. I thought it was strange, even though there was no overlap between those things. But as expected, that’s the story… … .”
“Poor Princess Bozbourne, she’s been so nice to her friend and now she has someone copying everything……. I can’t imagine how upsetting that must be.”
I chuckled at the sound of their affirmations.
Who copies who? I copied Belietta? It was ridiculous, and I wasn’t even angry.
Come on, come on.
There was no point in getting emotional over all this. What’s the point of getting involved in stupid chatter?
So…….
“‘She’s a pathetic Brilloxen Young lady. I mean, you don’t know how to do anything but copy, do you?”
But as I listened to the next words, I felt the fine thread of patience I had been holding on to thinning.
No matter how hard I tried not to get angry, that kind of chatter always crossed the line.
Don’t they think anyone is listening?
If I put up with it, I wasn’t being patient or thoughtful.
It’s annoying.
As soon as I finished my thought, I turned around, the heels of my shoes making a cheerful sound on the smooth floor.
At that moment, the darkness fell like a blackout curtain.
And a small voice called out.
“You don’t have to listen to that.”
A deafening silence followed the gravelly voice.
A small beeping sound rang in my ears.
The voice that had been digging into my ears, raging in my mind and muddying my thoughts, was cut off.
Then I heard my heart pounding in my ears, racing against the calm I thought I had achieved. I felt the blood rushing through my veins slow down.
I realized I had been biting my lip tightly, and when I released it, my bottom lip tingles.
And my palms ached.
There was a moment of silence.
With my hearing and sight cut off, the anger that had nowhere to go dissipated naturally.
I opened my eyes, feeling my heart return to normal.
Then the hand covering my ear fell away and I heard a noise.
I lifted my head.
And I opened my mouth.
“I don’t like showing up like a character in a novel.”
His golden eyes softened.
“I’m sorry I’m late, but something came up.”
“It’s a good thing you’re here now, because I didn’t think you’d come, because you didn’t answer.”
Aden took the letter from her arms.
He opened it cautiously.
“No texts are allowed in or out of Rippleton. If a pigeon or hawk roams the skies, the demons eat them.”
“……Really?”
I asked, skeptical of the story, and Aden pushed the corners of his mouth together as if to make me believe it.
……I can’t believe it because I can’t confirm it.
I slowly took the letter he held out to me.
His other hand grasped mine.
Then he turned.
“Aden?”
“First, since we’re here, why don’t we dance? You’ve been waiting for a long time.”
“Before we do that, have you heard the rumors? I’ve been thinking about how the information got out and what to do about it. I think it would be good for you if things turned out differently than the rumors……..”
“No way, you’re thinking about that here.”
Aden’s face, illuminated by the light streaming in through the crookedly open window, wore a very lazy smile.
“Why don’t you put such petty worries aside for a moment, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to a banquet, so it might be a good idea to put your other worries aside for a while. And rumors. What happened to the woman who stood up in front of me and demanded her man?”
Aden’s hand went up.
He gripped the tightly closed blackout curtains and walked away in a flash.
Then a wave of golden light poured past his shoulders and head toward me.
“I hope it’s not scandalous to dance with someone else at a banquet.”
“That’s…….”
“I just want to dance with you, so what does it matter what the rumors are?”
Turning his back to the light, Aden’s eyes widened in amusement.
“Come on, Sierra. I want to be with you for the first time tonight.”