ICMF 04

Chapter 004

Hailers?

Putting my confusion aside, I naturally greeted Hailers.

“Greetings to Duke Hailers. I am Eloa Rumania, the daughter of Count Rumania.”

I wasn’t the only one surprised.

“Duke Hailers, what do you mean by that?”

“I mean that the Lady of Rumania said the person she must take responsibility for is me. Isn’t that right, Lady?”

“……”

Is this bastard trying to push the blame onto me?

“Surely you aren’t saying that you won’t take responsibility after seeking the Duke’s lips.”

Before I could even say anything, Marquis Kiwoor, whose face had turned red, raised his voice.

“S-seeking your lips?!”

Hailers… Is this man trying to embarrass me right now?

Fine. If that’s what he wants, then I’ll use him too.

I naturally intertwined my fingers with Hailers’ large, thick hand.

Although he was wearing gloves, I could still feel his body heat.

Hailers’ eyes slightly widened, as if he had not expected me to hold his hand like this.

However, he soon smiled slyly and looked at me.

Slowly, I gave him the answer he wanted.

“Responsibility… would indeed be necessary for this kind of… situation.”

The moment he heard my answer, Marquis Kiwoor shouted as if he didn’t need to hear anything more and left.

“Lady Rumania, I will not let this go!”

After Marquis Kiwoor left, I immediately let go of Hailers’ hand.

“Duke Hailers, what exactly was that?”

“It seemed like the Lady was trying to avoid taking responsibility.”

“My, avoid responsibility?”

You bastard. Does it sound like I’m saying this while gritting my teeth?

Because that’s exactly how I meant it.

I swallowed the words I couldn’t say out loud.

If I stayed here any longer, I felt like I would get dragged into his schemes beyond control.

Before he could say anything else, I politely bowed and returned to the party hall.

After escaping from Hailers at the Imperial Palace party the previous night, I had no idea what conversations I had with people or how I even managed to return home.

The only thing I remembered was that I came back completely exhausted.

I was heading toward the carriage when Lady Mayer stopped me, and after that…

Then, when I said I would just sleep, Summer desperately stopped me.

“Miss, you can’t.”

“Summer… you won’t die from not washing your face or brushing your teeth for just one day.”

“But still, Miss. Your beautiful skin will be ruined!”

In the end, I lost completely to Summer.

But thanks to her, after washing myself with warm water, I was able to jump into bed feeling tired yet refreshed.

Yeah… thank you, Summer.

Seeing my condition from the previous day, Summer handed me a cup of water filled with ice.

Without hesitation, I filled my mouth with the cold water and swallowed.

Even though it was ice water, the cold sensation somehow felt like heat spreading from my lips all the way inside my body.

After drinking the refreshing water, I let out a satisfied breath.

“Haa.”

As if reminding me that what I drank was ice water, cold air escaped from my mouth before disappearing.

When my hazy mind cleared, the first thing I worried about was Marquis Kiwoor.

How would Marquis Kiwoor react?

Would he sue me?

Actually, that would be better.

If it was Kiwoor, he would definitely do something disgusting…

Before I could finish organizing my thoughts, Summer opened the door while making a huge fuss, holding something in her hands.

“Summer?”

“Miss, I’m sorry for entering without knocking. But it’s because of this…”

With a small voice and a gloomy expression, Summer carefully handed me a newspaper.

A newspaper that mentioned my name.

The headline read:

“The headline writer really knows how to make things dramatic.”

My name was not in the headline, but inside the article, there wasn’t even the slightest attempt to protect my identity.

Since the name of one of the empire’s founding families was involved, people across the entire nation would probably read this newspaper.

The article roughly said:

It has been revealed that Eden Clure Hailers of the Hailers Duchy, one of Ermensel’s founding families, spent a night with Marquis Kiwoor’s fiancée.

The fiancée of Marquis Kiwoor is Eloa Rumania, daughter of Count Rumania. Lady Eloa broke off her engagement with Marquis Kiwoor after spending a night of pleasure with Duke Hailers during the Imperial social party.

When Marquis Kiwoor confronted him, Duke Hailers threatened the Marquis, saying he was not a patient man.

Of course, there was nothing technically wrong with the article.

If I had to point something out, it was that it wasn’t a night of pleasure.

It was only a kiss.

“How do we do this, Miss…?”

“……”

“Marquis Kiwoor will definitely see this newspaper too. What should we do?”

Of course he saw it.

It was because of Kiwoor that this happened in the first place.

“Summer, can you help me prepare to go out?”

“Where are you going?”

Instead of answering, I only smiled sweetly.

Knock, knock.

After a short knock, a butler opened the door with a troubled expression.

His master kept his eyes fixed on the documents on his desk and only asked casually.

“What is it?”

“Well… Lady Rumania has suddenly come to visit.”

For a moment, the hand that had been moving quickly stopped.

Then it began moving again.

“Tell her I’m not here.”

“I know you are here, Duke Hailers.”

At that moment, leaving the troubled butler behind, I stepped into his office.

“Greetings to Duke Hailers. I am Eloa Rumania, daughter of Count Rumania.”

“I apologize, Your Grace. The Lady entered without permission…”

Once I fully entered the office, Hailers put down the quill he was holding and gestured toward the butler.

It was a signal to leave.

“Are you fearless, Lady? Or do you simply lack common sense?”

His sarcastic tone did not sound pleasant.

Anyone could tell his attitude was completely different from yesterday.

What is this? Is he Jekyll and Hyde?

Does his personality change completely whenever he wants?

“Unfortunately, I have both fear and common sense.”

“If you had both, you wouldn’t be standing here.”

“Because Your Grace won’t eat me.”

Hailers stood up and slowly walked toward me with an extremely relaxed expression.

“Inside the Hailers Duchy, where they say even living people are eaten.”

“……”

“Especially when a lady comes alone without even a knight.”

“I believe only what I see. If I witness Your Grace eating a living person, then I will bring a knight with me next time.”

His eyes looked as if he found this situation quite amusing.

His gaze was like that of a beast.

He was a tiger calmly deciding whether to devour me or not.

And I was the unfortunate rabbit placed in front of him.

“So, what is your reason for coming?”

“Take responsibility.”

“For what?”

“For what Your Grace said in front of Marquis Kiwoor… that you tasted my lips, or whatever it was. Because of that, rumors spread that I seduced Your Grace with my body.”

“But.”

But?

But?!

Wow.

I take back thinking this man was somewhat kind.

He’s completely shameless!

“Since it was something Your Grace caused, you must take responsibility.”

“You were the one who refused to take responsibility first.”

“What?”

“It is true that you took my lips first. So why should I take responsibility for those rumors?”

At his answer, I let out a short sigh.

Eloa, or rather, I, Jang Hye-ah, had a habit.

Whenever I got angry, I blew my bangs upward with my breath.

And that habit appeared right now.

“Listen, Duke. I think you have misunderstood the facts from the beginning, so let me correct them.”

“……”

“It is true that I approached Your Grace first, but I never kissed you. I clearly kissed my own thumb first. Then you moved my hand away and covered my lips. Wasn’t that Your Grace?”

“……”

“So shouldn’t Your Grace be the one responsible instead of me?”

“Fine.”

“Exactly! So— wait, what?”

“I said I will take responsibility.”

His straightforward answer was so unexpected that I wondered if I had heard correctly.

All I could do was stare blankly and ask again.

“Does it really work like that?”

“Didn’t you just tell me to take responsibility?”

“That’s true, but…”

Hailers tapped the desk lightly with his fingertips.

Then he stood up and approached Eloa.