IJNSTH 30

30 ❖ ❖ ❖

Vivienne and her companions deliberately chose seats along the edge of the vast banquet hall, distancing themselves from the center of the noise. Even so, stewards crossed the wide hall to deliver dishes directly to her table.

Vivienne glanced sideways without thinking—and immediately realized that a single look from her had made Daniel intensely conscious of his table manners. She could feel the tension in every one of his movements.

Her aristocratic bearing often came across as intimidating to others. Feeling inexplicably guilty, Vivienne focused solely on eating while listening to Madison chatter away. Madison, at least, ate with genuine enthusiasm.

When the conversation eventually drifted toward stories of the battlefield, Vivienne found herself with nothing to say.

She smiled occasionally, nodding along—until all three of them lifted their heads and looked forward.

“Excuse me.”

Vivienne’s expression stiffened as she scanned the man standing there.

“I recognized a familiar face and couldn’t help coming over. Would you mind if I joined you?”

As he spoke, Edmund—Count Colt—directed his gaze squarely at Vivienne.

Vivienne had believed that once her memories of the agent had been exposed as deception, she had let everything go.

She had resolved to abandon this man.

And yet, for reasons she couldn’t understand, only in front of him did she instinctively become the proper noble lady once more.

Still, she spoke as though addressing a complete stranger.

“Of course, Count Colt. Please, have a seat.”

“I noticed you haven’t contacted me since we last met.”

When his heavy gaze settled on her, Vivienne deflected.

“Let’s discuss that later.”

At that moment, someone beside her sprang to their feet.

“No, no. Do it now. Hey—don’t just sit there cluelessly. Get up, Daniel.”

Waving her hands, Madison stood and dragged the young air force officer away by the arm. In the end, only two people remained at the round table.

Vivienne felt herself sink back into suffocating air.

“I trust you’ve been well.”

He spoke politely—but she could tell the courtesy was hollow.

“Of course. Taking time to think about the engagement ring made me realize just how reckless I was back then—”

Before she could finish, Edmund cut her off.

“So that’s Madison—the one living at 86 Maybrium Street.”

“Th-that’s ri—”

Once again, Vivienne couldn’t finish her sentence.

Only one person in her memories had ever spoken to her like this: the agent.

When she had run away from home on her birthday last year, she and the agent had gone together to find Madison’s boarding house.

Back then, standing in front of it, Vivienne had impulsively called Madison from the public phone outside—only to hang up the receiver the moment it started ringing.

As the memory surfaced, her fork slipped from her hand and clattered against the floor.

It was a mistake she only ever made when she was tense at the table.

Vivienne realized her eyes had grown red.

Did he already know she had guessed at his true identity—and that she was avoiding him?

A sudden thought crossed her mind: predators always seemed to read their prey’s thoughts one step ahead before hunting.

No.

He could just be speaking casually. Vivienne forced herself to remain calm.

She didn’t want to get hurt again. She didn’t want more headaches.

She didn’t want him to ruin her life any further.

Edmund watched Vivienne from across the table.

His mind drifted back to the moment he had first spotted her at the entrance to the banquet hall. Her name had been announced along with her escort’s, yet all eyes had focused on a single person.

On her.

Most of the gazes had been filled with shock. The last time many of them had seen Vivienne Mergoville was at her engagement announcement banquet.

That day, as today, she had appeared as Ludwig Rex’s fiancée.

But back then, she had been gaunt from barely eating, awkwardly wrapped in an ill-suited luxurious gown, moving as though each step might send her stumbling.

The same people who had once stared at her like scavengers eyeing prey now looked upon her with reverence.

After he had restored both her reputation and her health, Vivienne Mergoville had once again become the most striking noble lady among them.

And yet she seemed oblivious to it all, glancing around with an indifferent expression—as though she were simply accustomed to such attention.

As Vivienne searched for someone to socialize with, a noblewoman in a yellow dress approached her.

Edmund remembered clearly how that woman had treated Vivienne at the engagement announcement banquet.

Even then, his gaze had been fixed solely on Vivienne, so the words spoken by that yellow dress—Lady Hansbury—still rang vividly in his ears.

“What is the meaning of this rudeness?”

Yes. Vivienne Mergoville had been the host of the party—and yet she had been forced to endure raised voices.

Lady Hansbury’s voice continued to echo in his thoughts.

“I thought you were a refined and elegant lady when I last saw you—but I was mistaken. Now that I look at you, you’re so careless you’re worse than a street commoner.”

What had he thought at that moment?

Edmund leisurely reconstructed the image of Vivienne’s slumped shoulders in his mind—and remembered what he had muttered silently.

Hurt, Mergoville?

Pulling his gaze back to the present, he watched once more as Vivienne faced Lady Hansbury.

“Oh my, Lady Vivienne. We met at your engagement announcement banquet, didn’t we? Fancy meeting again like this. I hear your fiancé wasn’t indicted due to insufficient evidence. Seems things worked out well after all?”

“Life is full of surprises,” Vivienne replied calmly.

“Oh, how wonderful. Truly wonderful. I almost misunderstood the both of you. The letters, that actress incident—it was all nothing, wasn’t it? I feel terribly sorry, my lady.”

Her tone was unmistakably conciliatory, almost fawning.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Lady Hansbury continued.

“Shall we socialize together tonight? Your fiancé seems terribly busy.”

“I’m afraid not. But thank you for the offer.”

Edmund observed the entire scene as though it were a black comedy.

And once again, he recalled what he had thought while watching Vivienne’s back at her engagement banquet.

People are all the same.

And they change so easily.

All it took was a small investment of time and money to design and execute moments like this.

As Edmund was about to move forward, he paused when he saw Vivienne reunite with her old friends.

Come to think of it, he had also invited the friend she missed so dearly—the one from 86 Maybrium Street. Madison Parker, was it?

Seeing the brightness bloom on Vivienne’s face when she spotted her, he decided to remain where he was.

Recently, the Metropolitan Police had reported that Vivienne had stopped by Madison Parker’s boarding house on her way home—but had only looked from outside, never entering.

Whatever she was hesitating over, only Vivienne herself knew. Still, seeing her smile like that made the effort worthwhile.

Vivienne Mergoville had lost her genuine smile at some point—no, more precisely, from the moment he interfered in her life. Ever since, she had worn smiles like a film actress, beautiful but hollow.

Now, she looked truly happy.

And suddenly, a thought crossed his mind:

Vivienne would never smile like that while looking at him.

For the first time in his life, an unfamiliar emotion stirred within him.

He didn’t understand it at all. Even the emotion she had once left him—love—still felt foreign.

His gaze followed Vivienne as she chatted with her friends, then moved to the ship’s main dining hall. Leaving behind the people pestering him, Edmund followed.

He took a seat at another table and watched Vivienne eat. He noticed how aware she was of her surroundings, and how the air force officer beside her—eyes brimming with excitement—tried to dine more properly than necessary.

Edmund watched it all with an amused smile.

Of course, Vivienne Mergoville never once looked at the officer.

After fully assessing the situation—and savoring Vivienne’s smile—he rose leisurely and approached her table.

His woman valued appearances, so he didn’t forget to act the courteous gentleman.

“Excuse me. I recognized a familiar face and couldn’t help coming over. Would you mind if I joined you?”

She spoke as though addressing a stranger.

“Of course, Count Colt. Please, have a seat.”

“You haven’t contacted me since we last met.”

The day Vivienne had stepped into the count’s estate, it had been he who held her—but by dawn, it had been Vivienne who possessed him.

And yet, she had begged for his mercy, insisting on returning home.

Granting that request had been his mistake.

From that day on, she had neither contacted nor visited him—only caused a charming little disturbance at the Metropolitan Police with her fiancé, trying to uncover his true identity.

As if confirming his suspicions, Vivienne replied stiffly,

“Let’s talk about that later.”

“No, no. Do it now. Hey—don’t just sit there cluelessly. Get up, Daniel.”

Vivienne’s friend Madison Parker, perceptive enough, waved her hands and led the air force officer away.

Once only the two of them remained, the smile vanished from Vivienne’s face. As the steward placed a glass of wine before him, Edmund unconsciously tightened his grip on the stem.

In the silence, he spoke a single line—laden with meaning.

“I trust you’ve been well.”

“Of course. Taking time to think about the engagement ring made me realize just how reckless I was back then—”

“So that’s Madison—the one living at 86 Maybrium Street.”

“Th-that’s ri—”

Her expression said it all.

His suspicions had been correct.

Although that day he had ordered the district chief to pull Ludwig out of police custody and free her—

She now knew everything.

And that was why she hadn’t returned to him.

Still, Edmund knew how to keep her by his side.

If he indulged in extravagance, her fiancé—Ludwig Rex—would inevitably come searching, tracing cash flows obsessively in an attempt to uncover his identity.

And Vivienne would be beside him.

Even if it was only that way, Edmund intended to have her.

Until Vivienne Mergoville turned her heart back to him.

After all, the bearer of bad news is always the one resented—and if, along the way, Vivienne Mergoville grew weary of Ludwig Rex, that wouldn’t be such a bad outcome either.