Reina, who had been trying hard to suppress her anger, revealed her true colors as soon as she entered the living room of Dietrich's mansion.
“How dare you break your agreement with me? Even if you look down on me, you’re still oily!”
Reina, who got her teeth, glared at Dietrich, who arrived late in the living room.
The neckline stretched over his black collar, his wide shoulders falling at a right angle and his clear facial features.
The red eyes beneath the black eyelashes were as dry as the desert.
Dietrich, who had an indifferent face that didn't show a trace of his emotions, didn't even offer tea to Reina.
“I don’t know what kind of agreement you’re talking about.”
Reina's whole body trembled at Dietrich's attitude of clearly drawing a line.
“There are limits to how much I can look after you. If I just say something to my brother, that bitch will die right away...”
“Princess.”
Dietrich cut off Reina's words.
“If you touch even a single hair on Seliya, the Princess’s wrist will be blown off.”
“...”
“If you harm Seliya, your hair will fall off.”
Dietrich no longer showed courtesy.
He climbs up because it goes down so easily.
He doesn't mind people clinging to him.
However, if she tries to blackmail him using Seliya, the story is different.
“Dietrich!”
Reina, unable to control her anger, slammed the table with a loud sound.
Dietrich spoke without any sign of caring whether Reina was angry or not.
“You’d better find someone else to warm your bed. I guess I have tuberculosis.”
Dietrich pointed with the tip of his chin toward his drawing-room door.
“The exit door is over there.”
***
“Ahahaha!”
Upon hearing the news, Illeon leaned back and laughed loudly.
Illeon's subordinate had a strange look on his face because it had been a long time since he had served Illeon, but it was the first time he had seen him laugh so loudly.
Illeon's younger sister, Reina, was so harshly attacked by Dietrich that she was crushed to dust.
He thought Illeon would be upset when he heard the news, but instead, he laughed out loud.
The attendant continued to look at Illeon’s thoughts.
“What happened to what I said last time?”
“...Sorry, but it failed. After His Majesty's coronation, Dietrich was no longer absent from the residence. Today, he's having a knight feed the stables, so it seems like it would be close to impossible to bring in a new person to the mansion right now.”
After hearing what his subordinate said, Illeon thought about something for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“If you can’t enter the mansion, wouldn’t it be okay to take it out?”
His subordinate blinked at the unintelligible words.
“What do you plan to do?”
“Isn’t the ball going to be held in a few days? Then, you should send out an invitation. To Seliya Brillion.”
The subordinate expressed doubts about Illeon’s answer.
“Your Majesty, are you saying that you will only send invitations to Seliya Brillion?”
“If you send it to just one person, the other will inevitably come, so there’s no need to send an invitation to both people.”
“It is impossible to attend the ball without an invitation, so would Dietrich disobey orders and come to the ball?”
“Just wait and see. He will come no matter what.”
***
The sunlight slanting into the room woke Seliya from her sleep.
Seliya woke up from her deep sleep and woke up tired.
She seemed to have had a bad dream, or she seemed to be muttering something in her sleep.
'I think I heard Dietrich's voice in the middle.'
However, she was so deeply asleep that she couldn't remember anything about what he had said to her.
'...Was it a dream?'
Seliya tilted her head. Last night, she must have been thinking too much about Dietrich.
What is important to her is revenge, but because she is used to being with Dietrich, she continues to be buried in useless emotions.
The deaths of her father and mother, the King, and the heartbreaking cries of the King's people seem as vivid as if they happened yesterday.
‘Don’t become complacent. Don't be weak.'
Because she was exhausted both mentally and physically, she fell in love with Dietrich.
She wanted to depend on him, so her feelings grew on her own.
“This is an unnecessary feeling.”
Seliya muttered to herself.
Seliya, resting her hands on the bed, cast her gaze towards the window.
She could hear birds chirping through the open window.
The more comfortable your body is and the more comfortable your mind becomes, the more sinful you become.
The last Princess of the Shan Kingdom.
The unfortunate Princess of a kingdom that has completely disappeared from the map.
Her guilt for being the only survivor haunted her.
Therefore, she may have been overly reassured that Dietrich was her ally or from another principality.
If the Emperor she killed was not really her enemy, and if the three Dukes were really her enemies as Dietrich said, she planned to use her powers on all three Dukes at once and Seliya go to a place where no one knows about her and face her lonely death alone.
For her, her feelings are just a luxury.
Seliya slowly closed and opened her eyes.
The green eyes beneath the dense eyelashes sparkled like stars.
At that time.
Knock knock.
Dietrich's voice was heard along with the knocking sound.
“Shelly.”
The voice calling her name was unnecessarily friendly.
"Yes. Come in."
Seliya's visit was held.
Seliya's eyes widened at the sight of Dietrich next.
This is because Dietrich entered the room, dragging a tray full of food.
Buttered bread, juicy steak, savory soup with various vegetables, crispy bacon, fruit salad filled with various dressings, and even lavender tea.
She looked back and forth between the tray and Dietrich with a look on her face that asked, “What is this?”
“I’m afraid you might be very hungry.”
Dietrich spoke calmly and placed the food on the tray one by one on the table.
The fragrant smell of bread and steak seemed to revive her appetite.
Dietrich moved the chair from the table to Seliya's bed, took a spoonful of soup, and brought it to Seliya's mouth.
“I can eat by myself.”
Dietrich's brow narrowed slightly at Seliya's words.
Seliya felt puzzled by his somewhat displeased expression even though she said she could eat alone.
"Why?"
“...”
Dietrich was silent for a moment and then asked Seliya.
“Are you sure you can eat alone?”
Seliya felt embarrassed by Dietrich's attitude as if he were treating her as if she were a newborn baby.
Of course, it is true that Dietrich had fed Seliya something before.
'Thinking about it... Dietrich always spoon-fed me food.'
In prison, in the mansion...
This habit was so scary.
She was so used to being fed by Dietrich that she didn't notice anything strange as she spoke.
“You don’t have to feed me anything from now on.”
Dietrich's face became extremely displeased at her declaration.
It was Dietrich, with his eyebrows furrowed, looking at Seliya with a disapproving look on his face.
With a look of displeasure on her face, Seliya quickly snatched the spoon from Dietrich's hand and said,
“Thank you, I will enjoy the food.”
“...”
“Dietrich?”
Dietrich sighed deeply and opened his mouth.
“I apologize for yesterday.”
"What happened?"
“I did it on my own without consulting you... That's what I decided. And, this and that.”
Seliya shook her head at Dietrich's words.
“It’s not for you to apologize. Anyway, we have a contractual relationship, nothing more or less. So you don’t have to apologize to me.”
As Seliya drew a line, a deep shadow fell on Dietrich's face.
Seliya couldn't figure out why Dietrich had such a sad expression.
“Why is your face like that, Dietrich?"
“You don’t remember anything from yesterday?”
“?”
“What you said to me in your sleep.”
Seliya shook her head. She had no idea what Dietrich was talking about.
Really, she couldn't remember anything.
“...Did I say something to you in my sleep?”
Dietrich did not hide his hurt face.
For a moment, Dietrich returned to his usual dry face.
“It’s okay if you don’t remember.”
Dietrich sighed and got up from his chair.
“Even if you don’t remember, I just have to remember.”
With those last words, Dietrich turned and left the room.
Bang!
Seliya stared blankly at the closed door for a moment.
***
The past few days have been strangely peaceful.
Unlike before, there were no incidents or accidents of any kind.
Ieon, who had become Emperor, seemed to be busy with various tasks, and Balt and Arthur were nowhere to be seen.
What changed was the relationship between Seliya and Dietrich.
Dietrich did not visit Seliya unless it was absolutely necessary to bring her food.
Before, he would often talk to her in her room even when there was nothing going on, but that stopped happening at all.
In the quiet moments before the storm, Seliya assessed whether the three Dukes were worthy enemies or not.
However, she did not come up with an answer just because she thought alone.
After her contemplation, Seliya visited Dietrich's room.
Knock knock.
She knocked awkwardly, and then she heard Dietrich's voice through the door telling her to come in.
Seliya opened the door and came in.
Dietrich was sitting on the long sofa, his body leaning at an angle.
In Dietrich's hand, his arm draped over the arm of his sofa, he held an invitation.
The invitation was in tatters as if it had been crumpled while reading.
“What kind of invitation is this?”
In response to Seliya's question, Dietrich handed Seliya an invitation and said,
“This is an invitation to the masquerade ball sent to you by Illeon.”
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