That damn woman is using a roundhouse kick. Even if we're having a casual conversation, this is still rude at our first meeting. I asked nervously.
“Are you picking a fight with me now?”
"Not at all, Countess. I was just curious. He seemed to take human feelings too lightly. He wounded every woman who tried to woo him."
“It doesn’t matter to me as long as he treats me well.”
“You never know, ma’am.”
Olivia covered her mouth with a lace fan and laughed, her body swaying. "What a curse," she thought. "I've been trying to avoid social gatherings because I don't want to waste my emotions on these common bitches." I snorted and asked kindly.
“Are you one of them, Lady Daywood?”
"Well."
“As a fox sees sour grapes.”
Her face grew darker. The other women, who had been huddled together, listening to the casual conversation about love and newlyweds, were at a loss as to what to do with the chilling air lingering around them.
"I wanted to tell you that I'm not the kind of guy who just builds walls and draws lines. I'm the one who gives you hope and room to make advances, and then rejects you with aplomb."
"You must be very hurt by the misunderstanding. It's okay. It's understandable if you have little dating experience. And I don't think we'll be talking again. Judging by the fact that we're not at all enjoyable, I think our personalities just don't mesh."
Olivia's small lips twisted into a sharp line. Those who receive a lot of public attention are not immune to malicious rumors. The intention was so obvious that she remained completely unfazed on the outside. But inside, she felt needlessly uncomfortable.
"Madam, please talk to me. We don't badmouth Count Rotsilt behind his back. That's only true for people who confessed and were rejected and harbor resentment."
Barbara grabbed my arm, her expression like a pitiful baby bird, as if she were about to storm out and go home. Olivia glared at Barbara with a venomous expression at her harsh words, but Barbara, with the confidence of a general's daughter, paid no attention. Apparently, this family has greater political influence and is wealthier.
Barbara asked me with a flushed face.
Why bother writing letters?
“I guess he's busy. Just write when you make plans to meet.”
The organizer of this obscene book club was such a newbie to dating. I drank tea after tea, feeling like I wanted to go home. Olivia didn't speak to me again until the club broke up.
Erita, hearing the news of Noah's visit to Tempshire Palace, hurried her pace toward the audience room, as was her custom. Standing in the hallway, she paused for a moment and sighed.
“Even though he married another woman, why did I...?”
She just wanted to see his face. Seeing Noah walking towards her from a distance, Erita hesitated for a moment, deciding whether or not to speak to him before calling his name.
“Noah.”
Instead of answering, he just stared. Erita, who had been looking down, slowly raised her head.
“Did you hear that day? Her Majesty said he would marry me off to someone else.”
“So?”
“Are you okay?”
"Yes."
At his dry, short reply, Erita clutched the hem of her skirt tightly. What kind of answer did she hope to hear? A pang of anguish welled up in her chest, yearning to find even a shred of regret in him.
"Noah, I've endured so much. Now, I'm going to return the favor, the insults, the toying, the hurt you've done to me."
"Yes."
“I’m saying that I won’t leave your wife alone.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Noah's blue eyes narrowed with a murderous glare. He let out a snort of laughter through the tip of his nose.
"You were the one who threatened the Prince of Hessen, orchestrated Diana's kidnapping, and ordered the murder of the Duke's nanny. You sent me useless women and tried to get men to approach my wife. What exactly did I endure?”
“Who said that?”
"In the previous case, the Queen covered it up and closed the investigation as soon as the results came out. Isn't that fortunate?"
"What are you talking about? Even if you don't do that, I can still torment her. I could even make her my maid."
“I don't want to hate you. Why do I keep disappointing you?”
Noah sighed, his eyes cast down pitifully. Erita's frown gradually relaxed as she watched the shadows of his eyelashes cast across his cheeks. Noah, wiping his face, spoke softly again.
“I hope you do it in moderation. Pretending not to know is also limited.”
It was a threat that seemed to know everything. Erita released her clenched lips.
"You're going to threaten me like that, after all. Do you find it fun to manipulate people's minds like that?"
Erita asked with a face on the verge of tears. Noah's head slowly tilted.
“I was just being gentlemanly, so why is that?”
“...Are you really serious about Diana?”
“I’m serious.”
He quickly gave a pretty smile.
Only those who are mistaken are foolish. Tears welled up in Erita's eyes as she realized that she had fallen for that smile, but it had never been hers to begin with.
“That woman, is she carrying your child?”
Noah, who had been staring down at Erita indifferently, a corner of his mouth twitched with a sigh. It was obvious irritation, but she, who was hanging her head to hold back tears, couldn't have noticed.
"No."
Erita raised her head at the sound of shoes as he left with a short reply. With tearful, wet eyes, she gazed indifferently at her first love as he passed by. He was someone she couldn't grasp, yet she yearned for more, a person she felt vaguely.
Why not me? Foolishness, like phantom pain, brought an unbearable pain to the nonexistent illusion. Erita pondered for a long time on Noah's intentions, seemingly tolerating what would become her weaknesses despite knowing it.
Erita returned to her room, sitting there with a gloomy expression, staring out the window. The room was filled with luxurious and ornate furniture, expensive dresses purveyed only to the royal family, and jewel-encrusted shoes handcrafted by artisans. The very idea of a life of luxury felt meaningless to her.
The Queen provided her with everything she needed materially, but she felt a constant, unstoppable emptiness. Erita was consumed by a dark melancholy and loneliness. No matter how much she ate or how much she wore, no matter how much expensive clothing and jewelry she wore every day, it never seemed to fill or improve.
“Then what? It’s all fake, and I have no one on my side.”
People always say sweet, flattering things like "Medea's Star" and "Royal Lady." These are the same obvious words they say to every other privileged woman, without exception. Her mother, the Queen, has always warned Erita not to be fooled, as not all of their words are sincere.
Are you saying no one is sincere to me? Then the only person who doesn't deceive her is her mother, who always nags at her.
The Marchioness of Wales sometimes offered harsh advice, but she would eventually reassure her with kind words. She was just like everyone else, but she enjoyed hearing her words.
Although she had many friends, many of them women from noble families, she had no one with whom she could openly share her feelings. The slightest change in Erita's expression would instantly transform them from friends to subordinates, bowing and currying favor.
For some time, Erita had been plagued by extreme loneliness and a thirst-like lack. She, who could have anything she wanted, desperately yearned for one thing. Was there no one with whom she could truly share her feelings, someone who would love her despite her clumsiness and shortcomings? The Queen, with her cold, cold face, would always add these words after harsh admonitions.
'I'm doing this because I love you.'
As a child, she often gifted Erita with exquisitely crafted dolls, but never once did she play with them. She knew in her head that a mother's love for her daughter was natural. But she couldn't feel it in her heart. The Queen expressed her love only in material things.
Erita had nothing to boast about beyond her wealth, power, and birth, and she was acutely aware of her own shortcomings. Her inferiority complex had become a sharp thorn, and she easily hurt and trampled on others to confirm her worth. Then, she met a prince who would elevate her worth and free her from this meaningless life.
She fell in love with Noah at first sight, but she was even more drawn to him by his unpretentious, rude manner, his seemingly unassuming compliments, and his occasional kind words, seemingly drawn out of the blue. Even a scrap of firewood left behind in the bitter cold felt warmer than anything else.
Noah Rotsilt was a woman's trophy, an elusive fantasy. He never had a serious relationship with any woman, and his seemingly indifferent, yet friendly, smiles were equally shared by everyone, carrying a terribly frivolous meaning.
'If you were truly my Princess, wouldn't you know?'
This was what he always said to the women who approached him. Seeing that smile, the women who saw the words "real princess" glimpsed potential and dreamed of becoming his one-of-a-kind princess. Some women even secretly bribed soldiers in their unit to gauge Noah's tastes.
'I will be different.'
'I might be special.'
Most people, despite knowing Noah well, interpreted the slight margin he offered differently and harbored false hopes. Like women who cling to a low probability despite knowing they can't become special, and end up looking ridiculous, Erita couldn't easily give him up. Competitiveness and possessiveness were also intertwined. Other women wouldn't be interested in the man everyone desired.
After Erita, who was shocked by the news that the Grand Duke's family had sent a marriage proposal to Noah and that the Grand Duchess had personally gone to Frogen to meet Noah, went to the Grand Duchess and sorted things out, the women who were afraid of Medea's Princess withdrew on their own and did not woo her.
'Thanks to you, the hassle has been reduced.'
He had once again given her high hopes after a single compliment from him at a diplomatic event, but she was ultimately just another woman who fell into delusion. Noah mercilessly rejected Erita, who had once again confessed her feelings.
'I told my mother I was giving up my right to inherit. But she wouldn't listen.'
'I see. I'm going to pick up someone who might be my princess.'
‘...Are you talking about me?’
Noah smiled, as if he found it amusing, at Erita, whose face was filled with excitement. What was in his moon-like, gently curved eyes was something akin to contempt for the fool.
'No. I wasn't interested in the first place.'
Erita's heart sank at the firm rejection, and she felt everything crumble. She couldn't shake the feeling of being used, and the fact that she couldn't give up was miserable.
She felt special because no one else could possess him, but Noah looked at the ordinary, unremarkable Diana with a tenderness she'd never seen before. A bonfire burning brightly, entirely for someone. Erita envied it, yearning for it. That yearning became an obsession, and it gradually twisted into a hideous, resentful, and hatred.
But since she was the woman Noah had chosen, neither the power of authority nor any schemes could sway her. Diana remained unshaken by any words, letting them go in one ear and out the other. With nothing to lose, there was nothing to threaten her with. Though Erita tried hard at intervals to drive a wedge between them by scheming this way and that, everything was neatly resolved on Noah's end without Diana even realizing it.
“Are you picking a fight with me now?”
"Not at all, Countess. I was just curious. He seemed to take human feelings too lightly. He wounded every woman who tried to woo him."
“It doesn’t matter to me as long as he treats me well.”
“You never know, ma’am.”
Olivia covered her mouth with a lace fan and laughed, her body swaying. "What a curse," she thought. "I've been trying to avoid social gatherings because I don't want to waste my emotions on these common bitches." I snorted and asked kindly.
“Are you one of them, Lady Daywood?”
"Well."
“As a fox sees sour grapes.”
Her face grew darker. The other women, who had been huddled together, listening to the casual conversation about love and newlyweds, were at a loss as to what to do with the chilling air lingering around them.
"I wanted to tell you that I'm not the kind of guy who just builds walls and draws lines. I'm the one who gives you hope and room to make advances, and then rejects you with aplomb."
"You must be very hurt by the misunderstanding. It's okay. It's understandable if you have little dating experience. And I don't think we'll be talking again. Judging by the fact that we're not at all enjoyable, I think our personalities just don't mesh."
Olivia's small lips twisted into a sharp line. Those who receive a lot of public attention are not immune to malicious rumors. The intention was so obvious that she remained completely unfazed on the outside. But inside, she felt needlessly uncomfortable.
"Madam, please talk to me. We don't badmouth Count Rotsilt behind his back. That's only true for people who confessed and were rejected and harbor resentment."
Barbara grabbed my arm, her expression like a pitiful baby bird, as if she were about to storm out and go home. Olivia glared at Barbara with a venomous expression at her harsh words, but Barbara, with the confidence of a general's daughter, paid no attention. Apparently, this family has greater political influence and is wealthier.
Barbara asked me with a flushed face.
"I'm trying to get in touch with an Air Force officer, but he's taking forever to reply. What would you do if it were you?"
“I guess he's busy. Just write when you make plans to meet.”
The organizer of this obscene book club was such a newbie to dating. I drank tea after tea, feeling like I wanted to go home. Olivia didn't speak to me again until the club broke up.
***
Erita, hearing the news of Noah's visit to Tempshire Palace, hurried her pace toward the audience room, as was her custom. Standing in the hallway, she paused for a moment and sighed.
“Even though he married another woman, why did I...?”
She just wanted to see his face. Seeing Noah walking towards her from a distance, Erita hesitated for a moment, deciding whether or not to speak to him before calling his name.
“Noah.”
Instead of answering, he just stared. Erita, who had been looking down, slowly raised her head.
“Did you hear that day? Her Majesty said he would marry me off to someone else.”
“So?”
“Are you okay?”
"Yes."
At his dry, short reply, Erita clutched the hem of her skirt tightly. What kind of answer did she hope to hear? A pang of anguish welled up in her chest, yearning to find even a shred of regret in him.
"Noah, I've endured so much. Now, I'm going to return the favor, the insults, the toying, the hurt you've done to me."
"Yes."
“I’m saying that I won’t leave your wife alone.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Noah's blue eyes narrowed with a murderous glare. He let out a snort of laughter through the tip of his nose.
"You were the one who threatened the Prince of Hessen, orchestrated Diana's kidnapping, and ordered the murder of the Duke's nanny. You sent me useless women and tried to get men to approach my wife. What exactly did I endure?”
“Who said that?”
"In the previous case, the Queen covered it up and closed the investigation as soon as the results came out. Isn't that fortunate?"
"What are you talking about? Even if you don't do that, I can still torment her. I could even make her my maid."
“I don't want to hate you. Why do I keep disappointing you?”
Noah sighed, his eyes cast down pitifully. Erita's frown gradually relaxed as she watched the shadows of his eyelashes cast across his cheeks. Noah, wiping his face, spoke softly again.
“I hope you do it in moderation. Pretending not to know is also limited.”
It was a threat that seemed to know everything. Erita released her clenched lips.
"You're going to threaten me like that, after all. Do you find it fun to manipulate people's minds like that?"
Erita asked with a face on the verge of tears. Noah's head slowly tilted.
“I was just being gentlemanly, so why is that?”
“...Are you really serious about Diana?”
“I’m serious.”
He quickly gave a pretty smile.
Only those who are mistaken are foolish. Tears welled up in Erita's eyes as she realized that she had fallen for that smile, but it had never been hers to begin with.
“That woman, is she carrying your child?”
Noah, who had been staring down at Erita indifferently, a corner of his mouth twitched with a sigh. It was obvious irritation, but she, who was hanging her head to hold back tears, couldn't have noticed.
"No."
Erita raised her head at the sound of shoes as he left with a short reply. With tearful, wet eyes, she gazed indifferently at her first love as he passed by. He was someone she couldn't grasp, yet she yearned for more, a person she felt vaguely.
Why not me? Foolishness, like phantom pain, brought an unbearable pain to the nonexistent illusion. Erita pondered for a long time on Noah's intentions, seemingly tolerating what would become her weaknesses despite knowing it.
***
Erita returned to her room, sitting there with a gloomy expression, staring out the window. The room was filled with luxurious and ornate furniture, expensive dresses purveyed only to the royal family, and jewel-encrusted shoes handcrafted by artisans. The very idea of a life of luxury felt meaningless to her.
The Queen provided her with everything she needed materially, but she felt a constant, unstoppable emptiness. Erita was consumed by a dark melancholy and loneliness. No matter how much she ate or how much she wore, no matter how much expensive clothing and jewelry she wore every day, it never seemed to fill or improve.
“Then what? It’s all fake, and I have no one on my side.”
People always say sweet, flattering things like "Medea's Star" and "Royal Lady." These are the same obvious words they say to every other privileged woman, without exception. Her mother, the Queen, has always warned Erita not to be fooled, as not all of their words are sincere.
Are you saying no one is sincere to me? Then the only person who doesn't deceive her is her mother, who always nags at her.
The Marchioness of Wales sometimes offered harsh advice, but she would eventually reassure her with kind words. She was just like everyone else, but she enjoyed hearing her words.
Although she had many friends, many of them women from noble families, she had no one with whom she could openly share her feelings. The slightest change in Erita's expression would instantly transform them from friends to subordinates, bowing and currying favor.
For some time, Erita had been plagued by extreme loneliness and a thirst-like lack. She, who could have anything she wanted, desperately yearned for one thing. Was there no one with whom she could truly share her feelings, someone who would love her despite her clumsiness and shortcomings? The Queen, with her cold, cold face, would always add these words after harsh admonitions.
'I'm doing this because I love you.'
As a child, she often gifted Erita with exquisitely crafted dolls, but never once did she play with them. She knew in her head that a mother's love for her daughter was natural. But she couldn't feel it in her heart. The Queen expressed her love only in material things.
Erita had nothing to boast about beyond her wealth, power, and birth, and she was acutely aware of her own shortcomings. Her inferiority complex had become a sharp thorn, and she easily hurt and trampled on others to confirm her worth. Then, she met a prince who would elevate her worth and free her from this meaningless life.
She fell in love with Noah at first sight, but she was even more drawn to him by his unpretentious, rude manner, his seemingly unassuming compliments, and his occasional kind words, seemingly drawn out of the blue. Even a scrap of firewood left behind in the bitter cold felt warmer than anything else.
Noah Rotsilt was a woman's trophy, an elusive fantasy. He never had a serious relationship with any woman, and his seemingly indifferent, yet friendly, smiles were equally shared by everyone, carrying a terribly frivolous meaning.
'If you were truly my Princess, wouldn't you know?'
This was what he always said to the women who approached him. Seeing that smile, the women who saw the words "real princess" glimpsed potential and dreamed of becoming his one-of-a-kind princess. Some women even secretly bribed soldiers in their unit to gauge Noah's tastes.
'I will be different.'
'I might be special.'
Most people, despite knowing Noah well, interpreted the slight margin he offered differently and harbored false hopes. Like women who cling to a low probability despite knowing they can't become special, and end up looking ridiculous, Erita couldn't easily give him up. Competitiveness and possessiveness were also intertwined. Other women wouldn't be interested in the man everyone desired.
After Erita, who was shocked by the news that the Grand Duke's family had sent a marriage proposal to Noah and that the Grand Duchess had personally gone to Frogen to meet Noah, went to the Grand Duchess and sorted things out, the women who were afraid of Medea's Princess withdrew on their own and did not woo her.
'Thanks to you, the hassle has been reduced.'
He had once again given her high hopes after a single compliment from him at a diplomatic event, but she was ultimately just another woman who fell into delusion. Noah mercilessly rejected Erita, who had once again confessed her feelings.
'I told my mother I was giving up my right to inherit. But she wouldn't listen.'
'I see. I'm going to pick up someone who might be my princess.'
‘...Are you talking about me?’
Noah smiled, as if he found it amusing, at Erita, whose face was filled with excitement. What was in his moon-like, gently curved eyes was something akin to contempt for the fool.
'No. I wasn't interested in the first place.'
Erita's heart sank at the firm rejection, and she felt everything crumble. She couldn't shake the feeling of being used, and the fact that she couldn't give up was miserable.
She felt special because no one else could possess him, but Noah looked at the ordinary, unremarkable Diana with a tenderness she'd never seen before. A bonfire burning brightly, entirely for someone. Erita envied it, yearning for it. That yearning became an obsession, and it gradually twisted into a hideous, resentful, and hatred.
But since she was the woman Noah had chosen, neither the power of authority nor any schemes could sway her. Diana remained unshaken by any words, letting them go in one ear and out the other. With nothing to lose, there was nothing to threaten her with. Though Erita tried hard at intervals to drive a wedge between them by scheming this way and that, everything was neatly resolved on Noah's end without Diana even realizing it.
The men she deliberately approached disappeared, and she gnashed her teeth trying to harass and bully her by instigating the social exclusion and exclusion of others, but it was of no use, as she did not even engage in social activities other than tea parties with the Queen or royal balls.
"Ha, that woman is really strange. What on earth is it about her that Noah likes so much that he married her?"
Diana Claire.
She won't be special after all. He'll just lose interest. Besides, if Diana finds out about him, even she, with her consistently indifferent attitude, will run away.
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