“Thank you for coming. I hope this will be a pleasant gathering.”
Even after entering the Duke’s residence and taking a seat, no one approached or spoke to Delrina. Holding her teacup, Delrina began to ponder. Regardless of Betty’s teachings, this was clearly animosity, and she was trying to figure out the reason.
‘Did I insult the Duke’s family when I came here before?’
Recalling past social gatherings that seemed probable, Delrina considered. But the more she thought about it, that couldn’t be it.
‘Or maybe that monkey dumped some food scraps in Sylvia’s room…’
It seemed more likely that the man who always irritated her had done something. While Delrina was lost in her thoughts, the other ladies were engaging in their conversations. Amidst this, Sylvia’s gaze was intense.
“Do you like the cookies, Lady?”
It was when Delrina picked up a cookie, avoiding Sylvia’s gaze. All eyes were now on Delrina.
“…Yes, it tastes good.”
“Of course it does. Our family always uses top-quality ingredients.”
Sylvia spoke boastfully, signaling a servant nearby.
“How about trying another cookie? There’s something specific I’d like to recommend to you.”
“A recommendation, you say?”
“Rona, bring the cookies here.”
Upon Sylvia’s command, a maid approached and placed cookies on Delrina’s plate. The crowd began to murmur.
“This is a new cookie developed by our family. Would you mind giving it a taste?”
The cookie Sylvia presented to Delrina was unusual just by its appearance.
Its muddy green color evoked an image of a contaminated swamp, and it seemed undercooked and gooey. The smell wasn’t particularly appealing either, causing Delrina to involuntarily furrow her brow.
“I thought it might be useful for you, so I prepared it specially.”
“…Is this for me?”
“Yes. It’s actually a diet cookie.”
A diet cookie.
Sylvia emphasized the word “diet,” naturally raising Delrina’s eyebrows. And then Delrina was able to consider another possibility. If Sylvia had seen her at the debutante ball and knew who her partner was…
“Were you at the debutante ball?”
“…”
“You didn’t look very pleased while dancing. This cookie definitely seems necessary for you.”
Indeed.
The obvious scrutiny confirmed it. Sylvia was mocking the fact that Ashud couldn’t lift her. Delrina now understood Sylvia’s animosity.
‘She must be a lady who dislikes anyone more conspicuous than herself.’
Finally realizing this, Delrina sighed softly. She didn’t know how Sylvia had realized she was the one dancing with Ashud, but the current situation wasn’t good.
As Sylvia openly offered Delrina the cookie, the other ladies started to take notice. Of course, the ladies around Sylvia chuckled while looking at Delrina’s cookie.
“The only downside is that it’s tasteless. Is that alright with you?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
Sylvia stared at Delrina, surprised at her indifferent response. But Delrina’s “fine” was no empty word. Even in the face of the terrible cookie and Sylvia’s hostile gaze, Delrina remained unfazed.
‘Compared to fawning over those five guys, this is better.’
In comparison to her miserable experiences in the Duke’s home, this cookie was a cute joke. Soon, Delrina, having collected her thoughts, smiled with her eyes.
“A cookie just for me? It must be delicious. I’ll enjoy it.”
“…What?”
“And about the debutante ball, I had a wonderful time. So much so, that the other party wanted to dance with me again.”
“What, what did you say?”
“It was a great experience.”
Delina flashed a bright smile as a final touch, while Sylvia just fumbled with her mouth, unable to say anything. Delina turned her head away from Sylvia’s reaction and focused again on her tea and cookies.
‘I really did say let’s do it. The problem is that I said it so intensely, as if I was going to kill…’
But there was no need to elaborate on what happened afterward. Just the fact that Ashud had proposed to dance again was enough to muddle Sylvia’s mind.
‘Well, it’s probably not poisoned.’
As if to demonstrate, Delina took a bite of a diet cookie, chewing it slowly before swallowing. Of course, the taste was utterly dreadful. Yet, Delina’s expression remained unchanged. Only her hand that held the tea cup became a bit more hurried.
‘I might as well have ingested poison.’
While Delina was quickly consuming another cookie and screaming a silent scream, the young ladies around were busy glancing here and there, trying to read the room. Sylvia was glaring at Delina with a face even more inflamed with anger than before.
“Come to think of it, His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday is coming up soon, isn’t it? It’s not far away.”
“Yes, I’m actually looking forward to attending it for the first time.”
One young lady hastily changed the subject, and the others quickly chimed in.
“The Emperor’s birthday is actually an occasion where dignitaries from various countries come and go. I can’t even imagine how grand it will be.”
“Yes, I’ve heard it’s incomparable to a debutante ball.”
‘Ah, the birthday.’
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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