Chapter 9
Even though I had expected things to be far from ordinary, having my throat practically squeezed the very moment I first sat down was suffocating.
While I tried to catch my breath, Princess Vanerinne smiled sweetly and held back her lady-in-waiting.
“Don’t be too angry, Baroness Sage. Lady Azian is still clumsy in etiquette. Isn’t it the role of a duchess like me to teach her each thing?”
Her face looked angelic and beautiful, her voice gentle. The noblewomen seated at the table with me all blushed and murmured:
“How kind you are.”
“Indeed, Duchess.”
They clearly meant it sincerely.
Well, if I hadn’t seen Vanerinne’s true nature with my own eyes, I might have been fooled just like that too.
That’s how flawless her smile was.
And yet, though I had only just arrived and spoken a single word of greeting, I was already being torn to pieces at the table.
“But how can she be clumsy with etiquette? Does that mean she hasn’t even learned the basics at her age?”
“Could she be a commoner?”
“Heavens. Even though Lord Cerulean has his own lineage, is he really trying to take a commoner as his fiancée?”
“In some ways, birds of a feather, aren’t they?”
“A family has its honor. How could such an engagement be permitted? Duchess, you must reconsider this!”
Excuse me, and who exactly are you to decide what’s permitted or not?
I let their thorny words slide past, sighing faintly through my nose.
Ah, I made a mistake. I should have just turned the carriage around. Even if they cursed me for standing them up.
Maybe I should just say I need the restroom and bolt. I was thinking that when I lifted my head—
And saw Vanerinne’s eyes staring straight at me, without a single blink.
The moment our gazes met, a chill raced down my spine. I clutched at my skirt with both hands.
…She remembers.
Vanerinne surely remembered me too.
That I was someone who had witnessed her real nature.
This isn’t good.
A woman who obsessively hides her true self would never leave alone the one person who knows her secret. I swallowed nervously.
And suddenly, Vanerinne’s round eyes softened, curving into crescents. I froze, thinking she was about to speak to me. But instead, she sang out in a honeyed voice:
“Oh my, who do we have here? What brings my beloved son here today?”
Her smile bloomed like a rose in full flower.
For a moment, I thought it was directed at me, confused, until I turned and looked behind me.
And I froze in shock.
“…Cerulean?”
That tall frame, long limbs, lips pressed tightly giving a stubborn impression, eyebrows set in a detached air—
That refined face, poised between delicacy and sternness, could belong to no one else. It was my fiancé, Cerulean.
How is he here?
Did he hear I had come to the duchess’s tea party and rush over? Beads of sweat dotted his otherwise expressionless face.
No way… he wouldn’t really rush here for me, would he?
Yet, my heart began to beat faintly, thump-thump.
Even though he had clearly come in haste, Cerulean said not a word. Vanerinne, frowning lightly, scolded him for standing silent.
“My, even when your mother greets you first, you don’t bother to answer?”
“…That’s not it.”
Her tone—half jest, half barbed—made Cerulean step forward at last. His eyes gleamed an icy blue, like light off a drawn sword.
“It has been a while, Mother.”
Vanerinne lifted her chin and extended her hand with haughty elegance, befitting an imperial princess.
Cerulean took that hand gently, bent low, and was about to press his lips to it—
When suddenly, someone yanked her hand away roughly.
“Huh?”
I let out a stupid noise, and Cerulean froze. The one who had dared commit such a shocking rudeness was none other than Baroness Sage.
In a sharp voice, she rebuked him:
“How dare you bring your lips to her hand? Even after years in the ducal house, it seems you still cannot master etiquette. Blood will tell, after all.”
Touching one’s forehead instead of lips to a royal hand was an outdated custom, long gone in this modernizing age.
Yet the baroness deliberately dragged out that obsolete rule to pick at Cerulean.
My mouth fell open.
That’s going too far!
I turned to Cerulean in shock.
Why aren’t you saying anything?!
But he just stood there, stiff and silent, like a statue. Not even a flicker of displeasure crossed his face.
At least shout something! Get angry!
His calm only made my insides burn more fiercely.
While I fumed, Baroness Sage blithely changed the subject:
“When you arranged this engagement, you gave no word to the duchess, did you? Do you know how deeply she was hurt? You must offer an apology.”
Everyone knew Cerulean and Vanerinne were rivals for the ducal succession.
Only an idiot would share every move with their enemy.
And why in the world should he apologize for that?!
But more shocking still was that even after such insults, Cerulean just stood there in silence, as serene as a still lake.
I couldn’t hold back anymore. I shot up to my feet and, before I knew it, clung to his arm.
Flinch!
His shoulders jerked hard enough for anyone to notice. He instinctively tried to pull away, but I tightened my grip, then beamed up at him, cheerful as a sunflower.
“Since Lord Cerulean is not a man of many words, may I speak in his place, Baroness?”
Baroness Sage blinked at me in stunned disbelief, her lashes fluttering, then her brows shot up.
“…What did you just say?”
Her face twisted sourly.
Oh no, this is only the beginning.
You know what? People like her can’t stand clueless people.
Hiding my mouth with the back of my hand, I lowered my eyes shyly and said:
“You seem to be overlooking something. As you know, our betrothal contract has already been approved. Even if the ceremony hasn’t taken place, we’re as good as married.”
“Approved…?”
At my words, not just the baroness but all the ladies at the table went pale.
Approval of a betrothal contract meant the family officially recognized the union as binding.
Leaning against Cerulean’s shoulder, I smiled brightly.
“So I should be addressed not as Lady Azian, but as Lady Luc. Since His Grace has already granted his permission, my fiancé has no reason to apologize.”
And, with lowered eyes, I added sweetly:
“Surely… you weren’t unaware of such a momentous event as the stamping of the contract, were you?”
“Ha…”
Even Vanerinne herself had clearly not anticipated this. Her face was ashen as she stared at us.
Still clinging to Cerulean’s arm, I smiled secretly where they couldn’t see.
Of course I expected this—since Cerulean rushed here right after getting the approval, Vanerinne couldn’t possibly know yet.
But I still pretended as though she did, for one simple reason:
Because I wanted to throw her completely off balance!
And that’s easy enough.
Grinning, I added with a cutesy lilt:
“But Edel is kind, so I won’t demand an apology for not treating me with respect. Cerulean said he fell for me because I was kind, after all.”
Referring to myself in the third person with a babyish tone made my toes curl in embarrassment—
But the provocation worked splendidly.
Baroness Sage’s face went from white to a furious red in seconds. She shrieked:
“D-Don’t be ridiculous! His Grace would never approve such a thing! He didn’t even permit a neighboring princess, yet you—a worthless commoner?!”
Though nobles and commoners were divided, calling someone “commoner” outright to their face was gravely rude.
She looks frail—probably low blood pressure. Let’s help raise it a bit.
I smiled sweetly.
“Oh my, so you really didn’t know. His Grace was quite fond of me, you see.”
Whether Duke Luc had even bothered to learn my name before stamping was debatable, but I declared it as fact. After all, bluffing was half the fun of stirring the pot.
Besides, there was no way anyone here could disprove me on the spot. So I kept smiling and added one more blow:
“He even said he thought of me as his own daughter.”
That might have been too much—Cerulean himself gave a startled twitch at those words.
