Chapter: 49
Seraphina, who had been looking up at Dietrich with her long eyelashes fluttering, flinched for a moment.
It was because Dietrich was looking down at her as though she were nothing more than an annoying insect.
‘So it’s that lady.’
Tap.
Dietrich irritably released the woman’s arm.
‘The one they say treats Lady Ansi like a maid…….’
Without so much as a formal greeting, Dietrich simply walked past her.
Left alone, Seraphina’s eyes widened in shock.
‘This can’t be happening.’
The source of Seraphina’s confidence, something she had always possessed.
It was the absolute certainty that she could somehow attract the attention of men.
Wherever she went, every man would at least spare Seraphina a glance.
The only difference was whether they quickly came to their senses and pretended not to be interested in her.
Or whether they approached her openly.
In other words, this was the first time Seraphina had ever encountered a man who was this indifferent to her.
‘How could this happen……?’
Seraphina’s pupils trembled violently.
An overwhelming sense of despair, as though the solid ground that had always supported her was collapsing beneath her feet.
The name of that ground was none other than—
Self-esteem.
“What the hell are you doing right now?!”
……I’m the one who wants to ask that.
Why had he suddenly appeared in front of me and started getting angry until his face turned bright red?
“Enough already. Why did you even hold this party?”
Gregory shouted again, the veins in his neck bulging.
“Are you seriously planning to insult House Gusto?!”
“Insult?”
“Yes! The very fact that you deliberately held a party on the same day as our family……!”
Gregory was the same as always.
Which meant he was spouting complete nonsense.
With an incredulous expression, I slapped Gregory’s hand away.
“Is there some imperial law stating that only House Gusto is allowed to hold a party on July 5th?”
“W-What?!”
“Otherwise, you have no reason to be angry, do you? ……Ah, wait.”
I blinked and tilted my head.
“Did no guests attend House Gusto’s party? If so, that’s unfortunate.”
Then I smiled sweetly at him.
“Maybe you should have made better friends?”
Well, the Young Lady had told me I could make free use of her name as much as I wanted.
Surely this much was fine to say?
“…….”
After glaring at me for a long while, his shoulders trembling, Gregory gritted his teeth.
Then.
He put a hand to his forehead and let out a long sigh.
“Ha…… Laritte. Isn’t this enough already?”
His attitude was practically that of someone dealing with an immature child.
“If you’re trying to make me jealous, you’re making a huge mistake.”
“…….”
I was genuinely speechless.
“Make you jealous? Me? Why?”
When I asked out of genuine curiosity, Gregory proudly puffed out his chest.
“Because you like me.”
Ah.
So his only evidence was simply ‘my gut feeling.’
I shook my head from side to side.
“My goodness, Gregory. When delusions get to that level, they’re a sickness.”
“D-Delusions?!”
“Exactly. If I still liked you, I wouldn’t have asked to break off our engagement.”
Perhaps I had caught him off guard, because Gregory’s previously confident expression stiffened ever so slightly.
But only for a moment.
Gregory instead raised his voice.
“Don’t make me laugh. Do you think I don’t know what you’re really after?”
“Really? You know an ulterior motive that even I don’t know I have?”
I answered teasingly, and Gregory’s face turned as red as a ripe tomato.
He spat out the words as though chewing on them.
“You’re trying to make me beg for you by asking to break off our engagement. Aren’t you?”
“…….”
At this point, I felt that I really needed to clear up this ridiculous misunderstanding.
Otherwise, it seemed like I would have to keep wasting my time on this pointless conversation with Gregory.
“Why would I do that?”
I let out a deep sigh before speaking.
“Why would I cling to a fiancé who doesn’t even like me?”
Having been struck right in the heart of the matter, Gregory’s shoulders stiffened with a flinch.
“T-That’s…….”
“An engagement is a very effective way of keeping someone tied to you. Especially if it’s a man who doesn’t like me.”
I calmly continued.
“And I gave up that effective method of my own accord.”
“……Laritte.”
“That means……”
I shrugged and asked Gregory,
“Doesn’t it mean that I’ve finally gotten over you?”
“…….”
Gregory’s face twisted horribly.
Still, I couldn’t quite understand his reaction.
Who was the one who had treated me, his fiancée, like a servant all this time while following Seraphina around like a puppy?
“Shouldn’t you actually be grateful to me?”
“Grateful?”
“Of course. You like Seraphina, don’t you?”
I calmly met Gregory’s deeply distorted gaze.
“Now you no longer have to be tied to me, and you can formally propose to Seraphina.”
Well, you could follow her around for the rest of your life, and Seraphina would never choose you.
I stared at Gregory with a pitiful look before rubbing salt into his wounds once more.
“Even if you won’t be able to become Viscount Ansi, Seraphina is far more valuable than some mere title, isn’t she?”
“You……!”
At those words, Gregory bit his lip until it bled.
He couldn’t bring himself to say whether I was right or wrong.
“More importantly, is it really okay to leave Seraphina alone? You’re always saying she’s so fragile that you’re worried she might collapse if she doesn’t have you escorting her, aren’t you?”
When I threw his usual words right back at him, Gregory looked as though he had been caught completely off guard.
My mood sank considerably.
The two of them were always stuck together like a pair of cockroaches, so I had only tried to get under his skin a little.
I never imagined Seraphina would actually be at this party too…….
“Anyway, it looks like we’re more or less finished here, so I’ll be going. You should go back to Seraphina as well.”
I didn’t want to waste any more time with Gregory, so I turned around.
But then.
“You’re just like all those pathetic women who are everywhere.”
Gregory suddenly spoke.
‘Where did that come from all of a sudden?’
Confused, I turned around.
Gregory met my gaze with a sneering smile.
“What? Just because Duke Claudius danced one dance with you…… do you think you’ve become something special?”
“…….”
For the first time, I found myself at a loss for words.
Honestly, it wasn’t as though I had never thought about it.
I, who had always lived as someone else’s supporting actress, had felt as though I were the main character this time…….
‘But what’s wrong with that?’
A question suddenly popped into my mind.
This party had been hosted by House Ansi.
‘My parents and I are the hosts, so isn’t it only natural for the hosts to receive attention?’
More importantly, whether I thought that way or not, Gregory had absolutely no right to interfere.
‘Damn it. I almost let his belittling words get to me again.’
I really needed to fix this habit of shrinking back whenever someone said something to me.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Meanwhile, perhaps thinking he had gained the upper hand, Gregory scoffed loudly enough for me to hear.
“Hah! Enough already. Why don’t you apologize and say you’re sorry? This is your only chance to remain my fiancée…….”
“Apologize?”
At that moment.
A pleasant, deep voice interrupted the conversation.
At the same time, a man emerged from the darkness.
That handsome face revealed beneath the dazzling moonlight was……
‘The Duke?!’
My eyes widened.
‘No, why is the Duke here?!’
The Duke was approaching us at a leisurely pace.
