"Aaah!!"
Catherine screamed in pain.
Gremory moved Catherine's head with a merciless hand to make her look at her.
"You."
"What, what is this woman? Let go of me! Let me go!"
"You're ugly. Weirdly, you put so much makeup on your eyelids to make yourself look older."
"What, what did you say?"
"It's obvious that you're trying to act tough and ruin someone else's tea party. It's also gloomy that you know about someone else's tea party schedule and show up late without being invited."
Gremory pulled her out of her chair just as Catherine had done. And...
"Get out, this is my seat."
He threw Catherine to the floor.
The atmosphere froze in an instant. The ladies at the table were at a loss and murmured. This was because no lady had ever touched Catherine and come out looking good.
Ortega, the most powerful of the four major Dukes of the empire. Catherine used this position to persistently harass her opponents until they were completely out of control. It was common for her to ruin other people's parties and humiliate them at banquets, so people tended to tolerate Catherine's temper or avoid her.
But there was no mercy for Gremory, who had no interest in human families.
"Get out of here right now. There's no place for you to sit."
"This cheeky bastard...! Do you know who I am!"
Catherine gritted her teeth and stood up, swinging her hand fiercely at Gremory.
Gremory lightly dodged her hand. Catherine, who had been swinging her hand in the air, became angry and became very angry.
"Ha! Looking at your black hair, you seem to be a victim of a witch hunt whose life was saved by His Highness the Grand Duke. If you're a swindler who came from nowhere, act like one. Do you think you're a nobleman just because you live in the Grand Duke's residence? How dare you come at me, Ortega!"
"Shut up, you gloomy idiot who has nothing better to do but ruin someone else's tea party. You would do yourself a favor by reading one more liberal arts book at this hour. You idiot who goes around doing embarrassing things with that fancy Ortega name on your back."
"!"
Gremory read Catherine's confusion. She remembered the intense love affair between Isolene and Catherine over Chesion three years ago.
'In conclusion, it was a fight with no winner. If we had to be picky, Isolene was closer to being the winner.'
Chession didn't even pay attention to Catherine. Whenever Catherine dared to approach Chession, Chession would politely and cruelly push her away. With the words, "I don't keep people without 'dignity' around me." Those words left a deep wound in Catherine's heart.
And the anger over the wound was directed at Isolene, who was next to Chession at the time. The reason she came to ruin the tea party today was to vent her anger over the humiliation she suffered back then.
Gremory had no intention of letting the tea party be ruined because of such a fool. Today's tea party was something that Isolene had worked hard to prepare.
"Because you live like this, no one will accept your feelings. In the end, the only people around you are leeches who are just trying to take advantage of the Ortega family."
"Who are you to discuss the way I live? You lowly black hair!"
"Is the only thing you can cling to, and cling to except the color of your hair? If you go somewhere and pick on someone for having black hair, they'll treat you like you're a worthless, old-fashioned person. How many years have passed since it was known that there are no witches in the world, and you still talk about lowliness based on the color of your hair?"
Gremory raised her head proudly. Catherine was taken aback by her gaze, which seemed to be looking at something ridiculous. Up until now, only Chession had looked at her with such eyes.
"Who, close your eyes, you black idiot. How dare you look straight at me?"
"There's no trace of 'class' in what you say. Anyone who sees you would think you're a city swindler, not the Duke's daughter."
"!!"
Catherine's expression, stimulated by trauma, was distorted. And one corner of Isolene's mouth, who was watching, rose slightly. The invited ladies were also busy trying to suppress their laughter while keeping an eye on the situation.
"Get out of here now, before I call Chession and show him what you're doing."
"...Ha! Why did you call His Highness the Grand Duke when he's busy? I just happened to stop by a friend's party while I was passing by. I'm busy, so I'll be going now. I don't have time to talk to someone as low as you!"
Catherine, who had straightened her disheveled clothes, grumbled. Then, she glanced at the faces of Isolene and the young ladies sitting at the table, then turned around and strode away. She muttered some incomprehensible curses, such as that she would not leave them alone.
Gremory, who had defeated Catherine with an indifferent expression, returned to her seat as if nothing had happened and sipped her black tea.
The young ladies present whispered worriedly to Isolene.
"Isolene, is this okay? I feel relieved, but I'm worried that Catherine might try to harass Mori and Isolene at another party or banquet..."
"It's okay. As long as Mori is by my side. And if Catherine tries to bother you guys, just tell me. I'll take Mori with me whenever I want."
Isolene linked arms with Catherine's Exterminator and smiled happily. The young ladies, who had been worried for a moment, soon burst into laughter.
"Mori, that was really cool! I never thought I'd see Catherine make that face!"
"Haa, I feel like all the pain has gone away. Mori, please come to our banquets and parties often from now on. If Mori is here, I don't think Catherine will ruin the mood."
Gremory responded to their joy with a light smile. Her heart filled with pride at having protected the peaceful tea party.
Afterwards, a peaceful tea party followed, and Isolene became quite friendly with the young ladies. This was due to their common dislike of Catherine. Now, they began to talk freely.
Most of what they were saying was about worldly matters that Gremory couldn't understand. Still, Gremory pricked up his ears to listen in.
A new mineral was recently discovered in the mines of the Ortega duchy. It is more sparkly than a diamond and is cheaper, so it seems to have become famous among craftsmen.
"Perhaps in a few days, jewelry made from that mineral will become popular? The name of the mineral is... orienite, I think?"
"Anyway, all the good things come from Catherine's. It's annoying."
"Haa. I guess I'll have to watch Catherine act all arrogant for a while. It's tiring."
"It's okay. If she crosses the line. Mori will kick her out appropriately."
Gremory thought. It seems that humans and witches alike are equally fascinated by shiny things.
And gathering together like this and laughing and talking about worldly affairs was similar to witches. The only difference was the topic of conversation.
At that time, a young lady named Lillian started to bring up a rather interesting topic.
"I'm dating someone these days. The third son of the Count Orbiton."
"What? That Young master who's rumored to be handsome? Oh my, girl! You're talented! How did you seduce him?"
"I followed him diligently every day! I gave him letters, hand-embroidered handkerchiefs, and acted a little coquettish..."
Love. The table became noisy as soon as the topic was brought up. Gremory became a person who was isolated from the rest of the world and looked after Isolene and the young ladies.
'Why are they all so crazy about love?'
It's not that she didn't know anything about love. When she was teaching people in the Demon World how to eat their pain, the thing she emphasized the most was love. She learned that people suffer the greatest pain and shock when their love is distorted.
'Why? What on earth is love? Isn't love about kissing lips and having your body mixed with someone?'
The questions continued long after teatime was over.
Gremory went up to her room and asked Iris.
"Hey, ghost."
- Why, witch?
"What is love?"
- Yes? You said it yourself before. Lip smacking...
"Other than that. What is proper love? Listening to what the young ladies were saying today, it seemed like they gave letters and handkerchiefs, too. Is that love?"
- Love is the heart contained in a letter or a handkerchief.
"So, what is that feeling?"
Iris was struggling to figure out how to explain love to this dull witch, and then a good metaphor came to mind.
- Think about your favorite blank et. Just thinking about it makes you feel so soft and fluffy. Doesn't that make you happy?
"Well, I guess so."
- It seems like that. The corners of your lips are now turned up into a frown.
"Anyway, is this blanket love?"
- When you just think about someone and the corners of your mouth go up, that's what love is. You want to stay with them, do things together, and sometimes even have sex at night.
"Hhmm."
Gremory nodded. It was certainly a fitting metaphor.
- Have you ever felt that way?
"There is."
- When?
"When your brother strokes my hair."
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