Chapter 13
“Would You Like to Start by Dating Me?”
Rorilols took a step closer—so close that their toes nearly touched.
Laurencia, startled, instinctively stepped back by the same distance he had closed.
The social dances she remembered didn’t require partners to stand this close.
They began with a polite bow, and the movements were smooth and elegant, bodies gliding as if they might touch—but never truly did.
There was none of this kind of overt embrace or physical contact.
“Lady Laurencia, a proper social dance begins like this—with the man and woman this close. You mustn’t pull away.”
Each time Rorilols stepped forward, Laurencia retreated.
It repeated, again and again, until he finally lost his patience.
“Are you even trying to learn?”
“Shouldn’t a social dance begin with a greeting first? Also, please, do not stand so close.”
“Just do as I say. Why are you acting like the teacher? I’m the one teaching you.”
It was painfully obvious why Madame Anne had assigned this man to her.
Rorilols’ lecherous gaze swept over Laurencia’s still-developing figure, and her lips parted in disgust. Her patience ended there.
His eyes—murky with lust—filled her only with revulsion.
Just as she was thinking how best to kill him in her mind, the world shifted.
Rorilols froze as though time itself had stopped. Then, like ripples on water, his figure wavered—until a vortex rose up and swallowed him whole.
Laurencia gasped—but only for a moment.
The whirlpool stilled, and in his place appeared a new scene before her eyes.
“No… please, let me go home.”
“Sophie. Didn’t I tell you you’re mine?”
The image was of a woman—Sophie—crying and begging to be released.
Before her stood Rorilols, clutching an empty bottle after draining its contents. He rolled it across the floor toward the corner where Sophie cowered.
The bottle clattered as it rolled, and a sickening grin spread across his face.
“If you don’t listen, I’ll kill your whole family, you filthy commoner.”
His face was twisted with unrestrained desire.
Laurencia reached out, desperate to help Sophie—to stop him—but no matter how hard she ran, they grew farther away.
The image flickered again.
“I’m tired of you now, Sophie.”
“Disappear.”
Laurencia covered her mouth. Tears streamed down her face.
Sophie, already broken, sat blank-eyed, her tears unending.
“I starved you because I liked thin women, but you just got fat!”
“I only bear your child, Lord Rorilols…”
The vision rippled again, and then vanished like a dream.
“Lady Laurencia. What are you thinking so deeply about?”
She didn’t know why she’d seen Rorilols’ past—but she knew one thing clearly: what she’d witnessed were his crimes.
“You look even more beautiful when you’re thinking.”
He looked down at her with satisfaction, brushing a hand against her cheek. Laurencia shuddered.
“This isn’t right, Lord Rorilols.”
“What isn’t?”
“I don’t wish to learn social dance through physical contact like this.”
“That’s what social dance is. Don’t resist—just trust yourself to me.”
He licked his lips again.
Madame Anne had told him: No one will come into that room.
This was a prepared “dinner setting.”
“Please leave.”
“Did you know? We might end up getting married someday. I heard you haven’t even had your first cycle yet.”
“You heard that from Madame Anne?”
“She was worried about your prospects, so I told her I’d take you.”
Rorilols yanked her slender wrist.
“Let me go, Lord Rorilols.”
He smirked—and reached for her hair.
At that instant, a vase nearby began to move on its own.
Startled, Rorilols dropped her wrist.
“Wh–what is that?!”
The vase floated briefly in midair, then crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.
Rorilols stumbled backward, pale with terror.
“What’s happening?!”
The vase on the table moved next, trembling violently.
Goosebumps broke out over his skin. His body shook uncontrollably. He wanted to flee—but his legs wouldn’t move.
“What’s the matter, Lord Rorilols?”
He stared at Laurencia, wide-eyed with fear.
Even after witnessing the impossible, she stood calm and composed—almost amused.
She picked up the bell from the table and rang it hard.
No one came.
She rang again—still, no sound of footsteps.
It was clear now: Madame Anne had ordered that no one enter, no matter what they heard.
Fury surged within her. She dropped the bell to the floor and strode toward the door.
With each step she took, the decorations on the walls—clocks, frames, ornaments—fell and shattered.
The crashing sounds filled the room, freezing Rorilols where he sat.
Laurencia grabbed the doorknob and twisted—it didn’t budge.
She tried again, but it was locked tight from the outside.
She had expected this. But living through it still made her skin crawl.
Laurencia turned back toward the trembling man. Her voice was cold.
Madame Anne must have told him it was fine to “cause an incident” inside this locked room—an incident that would bring shame upon the girl, while blaming her for seducing him.
Laurencia smirked.
If Anne wanted an incident… she would get one.
But it would be Anne who couldn’t handle the consequences.
Her smirk faded. Her expression hardened.
“Lord Rorilols.”
“Y–yes?”
“Marriage might be too soon, so… shall we start by dating instead?”
Rorilols stared, horrified.
She wasn’t scared—she was asking him out.
Even for his tastes, this was too bizarre.
“Lady Laurencia, perhaps it’s best you choose another gentleman for your debut’s first dance.”
“Step back.”
A loud crash! echoed.
A framed picture behind him fell and shattered.
“Do you think all these things breaking around you are coincidences?”
Rorilols began to hiccup uncontrollably, his jaw trembling.
“You’ll date me, won’t you, Lord Rorilols?”
Laurencia looked down at him—quivering on the floor—as if he were nothing more than a pebble on the road.
A pebble she could strike her enemy with.
The thought made her smile faintly.
“Lord Rorilols. You should answer.”
He bit his cheek, trying to suppress the terror rising within him, and nodded furiously to everything she said.
If he didn’t, he felt he might shatter like the broken frame.
He couldn’t even comprehend what was happening anymore—only that he’d been caught by a monster.
Madame Anne laughed loudly.
“My lady, you seem pleased?”
“Of course. Just thinking about that monster’s humiliation delights me.”
Even if Laurencia suffered something terrible, Prince Luance wouldn’t abandon her.
He’d comfort her tenderly—it was exactly what they wanted.
And besides, the thought of branding Laurencia with an unforgettable wound made Anne feel cleansed.
“We can open the door now. Go see what’s become of them.”
But when Laurencia emerged, she was perfectly fine.
Nothing seemed to have happened.
And the air between her and Rorilols was… strange.
“Lord Rorilols, I’ll see you tomorrow at ten.”
“Of course, my beautiful Loren—ah, I mean, Roa.”
“Yes, Lord Rorilols.”
Laurencia extended her hand.
Rorilols hesitated, then dropped to one knee and gently kissed the back of it—a lover’s kiss.
“Thank you, Madame Anne, for introducing me to such a wonderful gentleman.”
Anne blinked, confused.
“Lord Rorilols and I are officially a couple now.”
“Ha… ha… how embarrassing, Roa.”
To Laurencia, his laughter looked fake, hollow—like smoke.
But to Anne, it looked bashfully genuine.
Hadn’t she told him to cause trouble?
“Then, Miss Roa, I look forward to our date tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“What is the meaning of this?!”
“Lord Rorilols, please come pick me up tomorrow.”
“Of course, my fiancée.”
“Then goodbye for now.”
“I’ll come early, my dear Roa. Ha ha ha!”
Rorilols hurried out of the room.
Laurencia’s violet eyes watched him leave—utterly devoid of emotion.
“Laurencia! What’s this about being lovers with Lord Rorilols?!”
“Just as you heard. He confessed to me. Said he found me beautiful, even as a monster—and I began to like him. He was gentle. His touch was kind.”
Her cheeks flushed pink with false shyness.
“Do you even know what you’re saying?”
“Of course. I’m telling you I now have a lover. I can’t wait for the debut ball—my escort, my first dance—it’s all so exciting.”
“But you have Prince Luance.”
“Do you really think a prince and a bastard can be together? If His Highness liked me, he’d at least take me as a concubine. I know my place, Madame Anne.”
Anne’s eyes, half-shaded by her lashes, didn’t blink once as she stared at Laurencia.
‘Hurt her… destroy only her heart, nothing else, Madame Anne.’
That was the plan—to break Laurencia so completely she’d have no one but Prince Luance to cling to.
But instead of breaking, she’d gained a new “lover.”
If Luance and the others found out… Anne’s position would be in jeopardy.
