TAPED 28

Chapter 28

“What’s with that doll? Look at that big ribbon. So tacky.”
Ban, who had been quietly minding his own business, flinched at the insult.
I quickly clamped a hand over Ban’s mouth.

[Ban, be careful here. Everyone’s watching me, so we’ll get caught right away.]
[But she’s the one talking weird! The ribbon on her head is even tackier! Hiss! Can I bite it?]
[You think you can? Behave.]
[Grrr.]

“The doll’s eyes look kind of weird…”
“Don’t give her any attention. It’s not like this is the first time the young lady’s pulled some stunt to get noticed.”

I can hear you, you brats.
And stalker? Seriously? Why would I ever be desperate enough to stalk Rio?

I was the one who first brought up breaking the engagement, okay? I dumped him!

But the rumors going around were different.
They said I’d been dumped by Rio, but was pretending I had broken up with him first to save face.

Please, just let me live in peace…

I wanted to refute it, but then I heard something that made me shut my mouth.

“What kind of scene do you think she’ll cause today?”
“Maybe she’ll start by throwing a plate?”

They were looking forward to seeing what kind of outrageous behavior I’d put on for their amusement.
I snorted.

Hmph! In the past, I would’ve charged in without thinking like a mad dog, but I’m different now!

Instead of going at them, I leaned toward Heraise and whispered,
“Play along.”

Quick on the uptake, Heraise’s pretty eyes curved.
“Baby, it’s so noisy here.”

All I needed was for him to complain about the noise a little… but the effect was immediate.
Pfft! Cough! Somewhere, someone spat out their drink.

“Did he just call the princess ‘baby’?”

For reference, “princess” was how they referred to me. It had two meanings—one, a spoiled tyrant who had been raised delicately like royalty. The other…

“Yeah, guess there’s a rat in the café. I keep hearing squeaking.”

…a mouth that brought terror.

“R–rat?!”
“Oh my, Irene, why are you upset?”

Gotcha. I hid a smirk and covered my mouth as if startled.
“Don’t tell me… you brought a rat into the café? I heard keeping pet rats is trendy these days…”

“W–what?”
“Even a five-year-old knows you shouldn’t bring a rat into a café… but, I guess it could happen. Still, please be careful next time. Other people might find it unpleasant.”

Even a five-year-old knows gossiping is wrong. You might want to keep that in mind.
Irene clearly understood the underlying meaning, and her face flushed red.

“Don’t frame me! How can you accuse someone without proof?”

She pouted in false indignation, then muttered just for me to hear,
“Well, no wonder Marquis Maze dumped you for Daphne.”

A blatant provocation—intended to make me lose my temper and cause a scene.

“Oh dear, did my advice upset you? Sorry.”

She clearly hadn’t expected me to apologize, and her face froze.

“W–what?”
“If I hurt you, I’m sorry.”

Objectively speaking, there was nothing wrong with what I had said. And now I’d even given a polite apology.
At this moment, she was the one behaving badly—not me.

You think I’m going to fall for your tricks again?

I glanced coldly at Irene and her group.

You’ve had a great time using me, haven’t you? Pretending to be my friend while gossiping behind my back?

Irene’s method was simple—if Daphne annoyed her, she’d subtly rile me up so I’d go after her instead.

And I used to take the bait so easily, raising hell without her ever getting her hands dirty.

How easy I must have been to use.
But those days were over.

Realizing too late that I wasn’t playing along, Irene bit her lip, then ran out. The young ladies at her table scrambled to follow.

As I watched with satisfaction, Heraise whispered in my ear,
“Nicely done. I thought you’d pounce and tear her apart.”
“Do you think I’m a dog?”
“You are—a mad dog.”

His blue eyes sparkled with mischief.
“That’s fine, baby. I like that fiery side of you.”
“Don’t you think that’s enough?”
“Sure. Baby, are your legs tired?”

It was pure nonsense, but to anyone who hadn’t heard our earlier conversation, our body language and words would seem like those of a sweet couple.

“Young lady, we’ll take you to your seat.”

Hearing Heraise, a staff member rushed over to guide us.

I sat down at a sunny window seat and scanned the room. People quickly looked away, startled.

Hmph. You can’t even say a word to my face, but you act so bold behind my back.

I was basking in the rare feeling of victory when Heraise’s hand brushed my lips.

Startled, I turned, and he smiled as he plucked away a stray hair I hadn’t even noticed was there.
“Baby, did I do well?”
“Yeah, you did.”

But… was it really okay to keep letting him call me “baby”?

“Why?”
“No reason. Do what you want.”

It was too late to correct him now—once the nickname was out, the rumors would spread on their own.

Wait… maybe I can use this. If the word gets out that Heraise, who’s a hundred times better than Rio, is my new lover, maybe those stupid stalking rumors will finally die.

I’d moved on from Rio ages ago, but his shadow still followed me everywhere.
Like earlier—just because I came to a place he frequented, people accused me of stalking him.

If they thought I had a new man, I’d be spared that nonsense.
And I didn’t care if new rumors spread. No matter how dirty they were, it was better than being linked to Rio.

One more scandal won’t hurt me.

I deliberately scooted my chair closer to Heraise.
He chuckled low at the look in my eyes.
“Baby, what are you thinking?”
“That I’m lucky to have met you?”
“Only now?”
“Of course not. I always think about you.”

I could feel eyes on us from every direction.

Come on, hurry up and spread it—tell everyone the young lady has a new lover and they’re head over heels.

The bigger the rumor, the better for me.

My brother will raise hell when he hears, but I can explain it away.

As I wondered how to make the rumor spread even faster, Ban’s voice rumbled in my head.