Why did this terrifying man ask me to dance?

Karla, matching Rude’s lead with fairly decent skill, completed one turn and deliberately stomped her foot to make a loud thud.

Still, Rude didn’t look at her.

While dancing perfunctorily, he was staring intently elsewhere with persistent eyes.

That is, towards the collateral woman who had shocked Karla earlier.

The woman was dancing, her dazzlingly sparkling blonde hair swaying gently.

With looks like that, she must be receiving countless dance requests. Karla understood immediately.

“Do you know who that bastard is?”

“…Pardon?”

For a moment, thinking she had misheard, Karla widened her eyes and asked again. But the reply remained the same.

“That worm dancing with Merche. I’m asking if you know who he is.”

“…You, you just cursed in front of me. Are you aware of that?”

“What, worm? How is that a curse? You’d faint if you heard worse.”

“No, just now…! What did you just say?”

“Stop being annoying and just answer. I’m asking for the third time who that bastard is, Lady Karlina.”

“It’s Karla!”

Misaddressing someone’s name was a grave discourtesy among nobility.

Karla, unable to contain her anger for a moment, shouted loudly, then gradually quieted down as she noticed Rude’s expression.

He may have a handsome face, but his actions are pure thuggery…!

Rude, with his uniquely sensual looks, only made a good first impression.

A man born with both good looks and a strangely dangerous aura was rare, so she had been intrigued… Now Karla wanted to stomp on her past self.

“…He’s the eldest son of the Fondo family. Diego Fondo. He’s famous as the almost certain heir to the Fondo family, but I guess you didn’t know.”

Karla obediently revealed the man’s identity. The partner dancing with the blonde woman Rude had been watching intently.

Though not as handsome as Rude standing before Karla now, Diego Fondo was still a fairly proper-looking man, so she knew a little about him.

“In your opinion, what kind of moves do you think that Diego bastard is trying on Merche right now?”

“…You’re really going all out now. ……I don’t know. Since he’s dancing with such a pretty woman, he’s probably just making some common advances. Like asking her to go to the balcony together, or to meet again somewhere else…”

“Damn it. That son of a bitch really has some nerve? Just because I left her alone, some worthless worm thinks he can approach her? At least he has an eye for quality.”

“…………Are you aware of what you just said? That was too much just now.”

Stunned by the shock, Karla let go of his hand completely.

Rude also stopped moving as if he had no intention of holding on, then for the first time, he looked straight at Karla.

“As you can see, I’m a guy who rolled around in the gutter, and this is how I normally talk. So whatever you saw in me to approach me, you won’t gain anything from me. If you understand, let’s stop this ridiculous dance game.”

“…I heard you were raised by adoptive commoner parents. Is that not true?”

“Ah. Commoner parents…. I guess that bastard who calls himself my father said that.”

He’s quite good at lying, after all. Rude let out a twisted laugh.

It would be difficult to pass him off as someone raised in a noble household no matter how you look at it, so it seems they planned to say he was raised by some commoner couple. Well.

“…This is worse than I thought.”

Watching Merche smile at another man the way she did with him while dancing, he simply couldn’t swallow his curses.

“Lady Karla. I’m of slave origin.”

With half the intention of ruining Genovefa’s plans to irritate her and half because he couldn’t hold it in anymore, Rude revealed the truth to Karla.

Instantly, Karla’s face turned pale, and she frowned as if looking at something filthy.

The contempt that leaked out more easily than breathing was familiar.

“A slave… How could you hide such a thing!”

“By the way, if you go around blabbing about what I just told you elsewhere, that bastard I call father will immediately have you seized and beheaded. So keep your mouth shut.”

Taking a few steps back to create distance, he turned towards where Merche was, where he had wanted to go from the start.

“I’m leaving, so you should get lost too.”

“I heard Louis committed a discourtesy.”

Diego, who had just completed a graceful move holding Merche’s hand, said.

His voice was slightly higher and more youthful than Rude’s.

His smiling eyes curved down gently at the corners, and the dimples that appeared whenever he smiled were charming.

“I heard he proposed to you, how flustered you must have been at such a first meeting. I feel embarrassed just thinking about it.”

“It’s alright. Though it was a sudden proposal, his manner was respectful.”

“I’m glad to hear that. However, let me say one thing, Louis will soon be expelled from the family.”

Even while speaking of his half-brother’s imminent expulsion from the family, Diego didn’t lose his gentle eye-smile.

“The attendant who accompanied Louis has already been expelled. To dare steal a precious item from the castle they visited as guests and run away. It was quite a bold act for just one attendant, don’t you think?”

“…A precious item. You don’t mean the precious item of this Lupinus Castle, do you?”

“Yes. It was written so in the letter sent by the head of the Lupinus family.”

Unable to believe it, Merche quietly closed her mouth.

“Actually, that’s why I visited this castle. As it’s such a major incident, my father was also furious, and above all, we must apologize to the head of the Lupinus family.”

“…I see. It must have been a difficult journey for you.”

“It was when I came, but not anymore. Rather, I think it’s fortunate now that I’ve met you. Though it’s a sorry thing to say to the family head, I’m a little grateful to that attendant.”

It was such a blatant expression of interest that even the most oblivious person would understand.

What words of rejection should she use this time? Merche’s mind became busy trying to choose the right words to decline.

It was then, as they completed another turn.

Rude. Without a doubt, it was him.

His clear eyes and high bridge of nose cast shadows, creating a cool atmosphere.

The line of his lips, raised on one side, was smooth, but his gaze towards her was piercing.

“…Isn’t that Lord Rude?”

As she hesitated, Diego, who had stopped moving with her, glanced at Rude.

“……Lady Merche. We need to call the knights. There’s someone holding a sword behind us.”

“What?”

Merche turned in surprise to where Diego was pointing. As he said, a man with bright red hair was holding a sword in his hand.

But suddenly, Merche felt a sense of déjà vu.

The face of the man holding the sword was somehow familiar.

Though the hair color was different and confusing, that was definitely… a face resembling Genovefa’s.

“…Torben.”

The moment she sensed the man’s identity, Torben, smiling ominously behind the approaching Rude, moved.

He walked, then quickened his pace, and soon ran as if flying. His sword, light as a feather, aimed at Rude’s neck.

In that instant where any thought was mere luxury, Merche ran and embraced Rude.

The banquet hall turned into pandemonium.

Those who had been lightly drinking and chatting fled early, and even those who had been dancing in the center of the hall scrambled away, gathering up their long skirts.

Some even stopped in their tracks, screaming in shock or freezing up, like Karla Benenum and Diego Fondo.

“Hahaha! To think you’d take the sword in his place… What remarkable love!”

Only Torben Carney burst into eerie laughter, seemingly delighted.

He wasn’t particularly disappointed that Rude, his original target, was unharmed.

Rather, he looked at Merche with satisfaction, as if this was beyond his expectations.

“……Merche.”

Whoever had tried to kill him, whether that person was now laughing loudly, none of it mattered to Rude.

The whole world seemed to slow down, and even sound stopped. The woman who had fallen into his arms made him feel that way.

Merche bled incessantly, staining Rude red and even soaking the floor.

Even though the smell of blood that he so hated and detested was overwhelming, he couldn’t let go of Merche.

“I’m… I’m, fi…ne.”

Merche, whose face was so pale she could die at any moment, spoke haltingly.

Even though she felt like she was being crushed by terrible pain, she still checked on Rude’s condition.

He’s safe. I managed to prevent his misfortune at least once.

Just that filled her with such relief.

The guilt that had been tormenting her since she had fiddled with the shoddy laurel wreath for a long time before returning it seemed to lighten a little.

“Be quiet. Don’t say anything, don’t say another word.”

“…Rude.”

“I’ll somehow call a doctor, even if I have to kill them all, I’ll make sure you’re saved. So……”

“…Be happy.”

Rude, who was hurriedly trying to stand up carrying her, paused at her words thrown like a last will.

“As much as… my share…… you, please, …be happy.”

It was intuition. The feeling that if she closed her eyes here, she would never wake up again.

Merche sensed this instinctively.

The truth is… she might have envied Rude.

Since coming to this castle, she had always been criticized for her weak power and blamed herself, but. She couldn’t help but envy Rude, who proved his power in an instant and gained Genovefa’s recognition.

Although his life must have been terribly unfortunate. Though it must have been a succession of days too painful for her to dare compare. Still, hadn’t she also endured times that weren’t entirely happy?

−You’re not even our mom and dad’s daughter! Why is a monster like you in our house? Get out! This isn’t a place for you to live…!

−You don’t fit in. You really don’t fit in the place where I sit, Merche.

−The young lady is a bit… different from us. Somehow she doesn’t seem to fit well with the Lupinus family either.

Wherever she went, whatever place she was in. There was always a lingering sense of alienation.

It wasn’t just her who felt this way; even those around her pointed it out.

She felt like a foreign substance. The impression of an impurity that shouldn’t be mixed in, intruding into some pleasing picture.

No matter how much she struggled and tried to shake it off, no matter how hard she tried to prove that this was her rightful place. The fact that she was alien remained unchanged.