This situation was like a bolt from the blue.

Diana ran to find Arthur without even finishing brushing her hair.

Sitting in the dining room having a late lunch, he smiled softly upon seeing her rush in.

“Ah, Lady Diana. You look lively this morning. I was having a meal, would you like to join me?”

“A meal? Is this the time for that?”

He raised his eyebrows, leisurely sipping his coffee.

Next to the plate of unfinished foie gras was a stack of newspapers.

He must have seen the scandal article as well.

“Did you see the newspaper?”

“I did. Is that why you ran over here breathlessly? I suppose it’s understandable.”

He put down the coffee he was drinking and picked up a newspaper. Then, as if nothing had happened, he very slowly and leisurely turned the pages.

“How can you be so calm? We’re in the newspapers!”

“I know. That’s why I was busy since morning.”

He clicked his tongue with a displeased expression as if it was unpleasant to see again, folded the newspaper with their faces on it twice, and put it down.

“They drew the faces quite ugly. I requested a correction, so the reprinted afternoon edition should be better. Don’t be too upset.”

Diana pounded on the desk roughly and shouted.

“No! No! The face isn’t the problem right now! The article is introducing us as engaged!”

“What’s the problem with that?”

“…Is that something you should say? We don’t even know what will happen between us, so there’s no need to announce it so publicly. You even introduced my father as my guardian.”

“I thought we clearly defined our relationship that day. Do I need to repeat the same thing twice?”

“…I understood what you were saying too. I know what being a debutante partner means. But it’s not something that should be in an article. Father hasn’t even officially called you my fiancé yet.”

“Are you saying you don’t like being engaged to me?”

“Is this a matter of liking or disliking?”

“If you liked me, would there be any reason to be averse to the article? It’s a chance to officially stake my claim on you.”

Diana hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Of course, I think you have excellent qualifications too, Arthur. But…”

“But what?”

Arthur’s expression turned quite serious. Diana hesitated for a long time before finally opening her mouth.

“But you’re not my type… An engagement isn’t child’s play, it’s only natural to carefully consider and announce it.”

She couldn’t think of any other excuse to refuse.

In reality, whether she had a fiancé or not didn’t matter, but thinking of Raoul, it was better to cut things off decisively.

‘He’s already having a hard time, I don’t want to give him this news on top of it!’

Above all, she felt sorry for this man who would have to keep his chastity for 3 years because of a runaway fiancée.

‘It’s unfortunate you can’t find your family heirloom, but that’s not my responsibility…?’

Arthur got up from his seat and asked in a much lower voice. He looked like someone upset and angry.

“Are you serious right now?”

The closer he got, the more an unknown pressure choked her neck.

‘Again. His eyes turned red again…’

Diana, who was backing away to avoid Arthur, ended up trapped between the closed dining room door and him.

He unfolded his arms and asked seriously.

“I’ll ask again. Are you serious? Are you really rejecting the position of being my fiancée?”

“…Y-Yes. I’m sorry the article came out since it’s gone this far, but I have no interest in you at all.”

“Huh…”

“I should have said it sooner, but it was my mistake to think optimistically. But I didn’t know things would get this big either…”

“You’re serious…”

Diana twisted her fingers feeling guilty.

If she had known Arthur was such a hot topic, she would have rejected the debutante position from the start.

She had casually agreed not wanting to argue with her father, who would have thought it would garner this much attention.

She blamed herself for being out of touch with society news.

Looking down at her naive face, Arthur held back a laugh. What was with this woman?

His enchanting powers had no effect on her at all. He had tried again and again in desperation, but her answer was always the same.

“I sincerely apologize. You don’t have to think about saving face for me, so issue a correction if you want to.”

“What do you mean issue a correction?”

“I heard it’s a huge disgrace for a debutante’s dance partner to back out… What if we make an excuse that I persistently pursued you and you accompanied me just this once? For the sake of your business relationship with my father.”

“I have plenty of bigger business partners, you really think they’ll believe that? It might even turn into a business issue. It’ll look like you rejected me but your father accepted me.”

Diana pulled at her hair in dismay.

“Then say I unilaterally chased after you and we attended together just this once. I don’t mind, so go ahead.”

Arthur’s voice dropped even lower.

“Are you going to make me out to be a pathetic man who ruins a woman’s reputation to save my own skin?”

“Ah… It turns out that way too?”

The more she spoke, the more Diana felt like everything was her fault and broke out in a cold sweat.

‘I should have rejected from the start… I should have refused the debutante position I didn’t even want…’

She berated herself over and over, biting her lips.

And Arthur looked down at Diana backed into a corner, letting out a hollow laugh.

‘To think such a naive woman wouldn’t even flinch at my enchantment…’

In fact, Arthur was known as a Casanova in high society.

The reason reporters had such great interest in him was because he had recently seduced a viscount’s noble wife.

He had no intention of touching the wife of a business partner, but the courtship was persistent and he was running low on energy from having his bead taken.

He had been in contact with women for the sake of maintaining his life force, and each time, his target was a noble wife.

‘A clean relationship with no strings attached or demands for responsibility.’

Despite these dirty rumors, there were countless people who fell for his qualifications and handsome appearance.

His reputation was already in tatters and it wasn’t very important to him anyway.

But Diana was not a woman with wide enough connections to know about this underworld.

Such a naive woman who knew nothing of the ways of the world – prod her and she would react accordingly.

Arthur knew this fact better than anyone.

‘The bead is one thing, but now I’m truly intrigued.’

Suppressing the rising desire for conquest inside him, he smiled bewitchingly.

“It seems you feel sorry towards me.”

“…That wasn’t my intention, but since you’ll bear ill repute because of me… I’m truly sorry.”

“Then let’s do this. No need to issue a correction, just accept me as your fiancé.”

Diana slipped out of Arthur’s arm and rubbed her goosebump-covered arm.

“I told you I don’t want that. I don’t think of you as a romantic interest…”

“Then why do you run away every time I approach? Are you actually flustered because I feel too much like a man?”

“As if! Anyone would be startled if you suddenly approach them.”

“Because you were startled?”

“Yes…”

Arthur matched eye level with Diana, arms folded. Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“Shall I try to read your true feelings?”

As his face neared, Diana backed away in surprise. But Arthur didn’t stop talking. He bent down even lower.

“You think of me as a man. But you can’t accept me because you have a beloved. Am I right?”

Her deep eyes wavered like they had been hit by a heavy rain. Diana answered falteringly.

“Whether I like someone or not, I don’t see you as a romantic interest. Can’t you just take no for an answer?”

“Another man might obediently accept that. But not me.”

Because I know how to enchant.

Arthur’s eyes flashed red again as he looked at Diana.

But she only trembled, not trying to hold his hand or kiss him.

‘Why?’

He continued, hiding his bewilderment.

“To reject a man of my caliber citing preferences. I’m curious about the man who shaped those bizarre preferences.”

Diana fled from his piercing gaze.

“Bizarre is too harsh! And saying a man of your caliber is too arrogant. Some people dislike that attitude.”

Arthur shook his head with a snort.

“That can’t be. Absolutely not.”

When his enchantment didn’t work, there was always a reason. Enchantment was a technique that preyed on human emptiness.

So it had no effect if the target had someone they deeply loved and satisfying, solid bonds.

‘I thought she was a novice, but to think she’s in the midst of such a grand love.’

Arthur took two steps back from Diana.

“Then meet that man too. No need to feel guilty.”

Diana finally frowned.

“…Look. I told you I have no intention of seeing you?”

“I refuse that on my end. I must get my heirloom back no matter what.”

“You said you could get it back just by becoming my guardian.”

“That’s your father’s wish. My stance is a bit different.”

He drank the rest of his coffee, wrinkling his nose bridge.

“Was it always this bitter? Ah, anyway, no correction. Let’s continue dating too. Preferences can change after all.”

He was skilled at finding the emptiness in people. No matter how solid the bond, there was always a crack to infiltrate.

At that moment, Raoul had just returned to the barracks.

As he headed to a nearby stream to wash off the blood, he heard the bustling voices of knights gathered around a campfire.

“Where did the newspaper come from?”

“I picked it up this morning after the knights read and discarded it. Take a look at this! Our lady made the front page!”

“Huh? Lady? Our lady?”

“Yes! She’s featured prominently in a special article!”

“What’s this…? A sweet time with her fiancé…?”

They grumbled that their stomachs hurt.

“Driving the people of the estate to their deaths while going to the opera with her fiancé! She sure is lucky!”

“As if it was the lady’s decision?”

Suddenly, the newspaper was snatched from the man’s hand. With a surprisingly vicious sound.

Unfolding the newspaper, Raoul couldn’t believe his eyes for a while and double-checked the face of the woman largely featured in the illustration.

Though much inferior to the real thing, the woman whose cheeks were held was undoubtedly Diana.

Seeing her eyes wide open in surprise, a cold flame rose inside him.

“Um… Are you alright?”

Seeing him frozen like a stone statue, the soldiers carefully gauged his mood.

It was the first time they had seen his composure so shaken, so they seemed a bit frightened.

After a long silence, Raoul put down the newspaper and turned around.

Some of the soldiers tried to follow, but didn’t dare speak to him with the blade-sharp murderous aura emanating from his large back.

Raoul bit his teeth hard, his eyes dark.

The duke must have dismissed his warning as the prattle of an immature boy.

‘I warned you that if you sent Diana to another man, I would stab you in the neck first.’

A soldier’s worried shout came from behind him.

“Where are you going! It’s time to change shifts!”

But he crossed the forest with large strides without answering.

To think he would leisurely take a break when his limbs were intact. Wiping the blood obscuring his vision, he headed back deep into the ravine.

He felt that if he didn’t somehow move up his return date, he would turn into a monster before going back.