Strategic Marriage with the Mad Villain - Chapter 26

Dwin, who was following right behind me, was startled and ran out, almost leaping.

“Your Highness…! Are you alright?”

It wasn’t a wine baptism, but perhaps because a water baptism was something I often experienced, I unconsciously replied as if it were nothing.

“Ah… It’s fine…”

Then, seeing the wine dripping down my hand onto the grass, I came to my senses.

To brush it off as if it were nothing, the high-quality sky-blue dress was severely soaked in wine, ruined to the point of being unwearable.

Reminding myself that I came here as the Grand Duchess, I quickly changed my expression.

“I was just… a little startled.”

Perhaps interpreting my flustered expression differently, Dwin, not knowing what to do, took out a handkerchief from his pocket. Then, as if to say a word to the person who had committed the discourtesy, he immediately turned his body.

Even before the words left Dwin’s lips, the culprit who caused the incident began to shed tears very miserably.

As a result, only Dwin, who had done nothing wrong, was put in an awkward situation.

I stared intently at the woman whose hands were trembling in shock.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness…. I have committed such a great discourtesy to you….”

Standing in front of me with a complexion as pale as if she had been doused in wine herself, the woman was, ridiculously, Verodica.

Verodica was not the type of person to make such a ridiculous mistake. Even without drawing on the story from the novel, just recalling the moments I had seen her, it was clear.

So, it was right to regard what had just happened as Verodica’s intentional malice. Just like the relentless bullying she had repeatedly inflicted on Iris in the original story.

Casien’s gaze directed at me, not Iris, and Verodica’s sudden behavior….

For a moment, the thought that something had gone terribly wrong crossed my mind.

‘Could it be that Casien still thinks I like him?’

Even if Casien hadn’t lost interest in me, it was clear that there would be absolutely no love in that interest. In the first place, such affection had never existed.

But seeing how this absurd misunderstanding had been triggered, it seemed that my choice had influenced not only Casien but also Verodica.

Whether I liked it or not, it was one of the prices I would have to pay in the future.

The fact that Casien doesn’t like me is something that will naturally be realized over time….

‘For now, let’s send her away quickly before she can do anything foolish.’

Regardless of acknowledging it as a price I had to pay, it was definitely advantageous not to get involved with Verodica, who had ill intentions.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I have truly made a grave mistake.”

“…Don’t cry, Lady Flona. I’m fine.”

“But, Your Highness’s dress….”

“It was a mistake. It’s alright….”

“However…! If I leave like this, I….”

“Lady Flona. You may go now. Really.”

But for whatever reason, despite my repeated refusals, Verodica hesitated and showed no intention of leaving. Then, she suddenly took a step closer to me.

“Your Highness… Allow me to make amends for my mistake−.”

But the quick-witted Dwin firmly blocked Verodica, who was about to come closer.

“Lady Flona…! Please leave the handling to me and return to the banquet hall.”

“Yes. I’m really fine, so it would be best for you to leave now, Verodica.”

“…If that is truly Your Highness’s wish, I shall take my leave.”

Verodica, who reluctantly bowed her head, looked so pitiful. However, the moment our eyes met briefly, I froze.

The emotion that flashed very briefly in Verodica’s eyes was unmistakably malice.

* * *

After successfully sending Verodica back, I went to the VIP lounge on the second floor of Britian Palace with Dwin.

Fortunately, the lounge was empty. Dwin excused himself to fetch a change of dress.

I approached the window and gazed at the lake, its boundaries blurred by the dark sky.

On the stage installed on the lake, Iris was expressing her gratitude to the people.

The stage she stood on, the servants and knights she firmly believed to be her own people. She had no idea that all of it was an intricately arranged trap according to the Empress’s will.

As soon as Iris lights the candle, that stage will collapse instantly. And Iris will fall straight into the lake.

I clenched and unclenched my innocent hands in anxiety.

‘Even if I know, there’s nothing I can do….’

After this incident, a significant change will come to Iris, who had been viewing the situation with unwavering optimism, excited about her first entry into the imperial palace.

It’s an event that occurs for the awakening of the protagonist, but the problem is that among the people guarding the banquet hall right now, there is no one to save Iris.

As I said, the knights guarding the banquet hall and the servants waiting nearby are no different from the Empress’s possessions. And expecting the aristocrats to rescue her?

It was not something to be hoped for. In the first place, the invited people were all either aristocrats of the Empress’s faction, whom she had meticulously summoned for today, or aristocrats from humble families with little influence.

That’s why Casien is absolutely necessary today.

‘Where the hell is Casien at a time like this…!’

It wasn’t that I was looking for Casien simply because it happened that way in the original story, so it should happen the same way today.

The only person who was not on the Empress’s guest list at this banquet hall. Yet, an aristocrat who does not belong to the Empress’s faction and has a family powerful enough not to fear the Empress’s hatred.

No, rather, one of the few people who can disrupt the Empress’s plans.

Casien was the only one who fulfilled all of those criteria at this banquet.

I even pressed my face close to the window, trying to find a man with black hair and red eyes among the crowd, but….

No matter how much I looked around every corner of the banquet hall, Casien was nowhere to be seen.

“He was definitely there until just now, why….”

But it was at that moment.

The sound of mechanical applause rang out, and Iris lit the candle on the candlestick.

Creak−

‘No…!’

What good would it do for me to stiffen my body and clench my fists?

As expected, the accident came unchanged. A strange resonating sound emanated loudly from the wooden stage, and it soon tilted steeply with a creak. The stage collapsed in an instant, without giving anyone a chance to intervene.

Splash−! The sound of Iris falling into the lake reached even where I was.

Now, in the banquet hall where strange emotions had been crossing all day, the applause and murmurs disappeared, and only the voices of people unable to contain their shock echoed.

And as expected, among the onlookers watching the ripples on the lake, no one stepped forward to say they would save Iris.

Everyone had a sympathetic expression, but that was it.

It wasn’t just the aristocrats. The servants were merely fidgeting, and among the knights, most of them were either closing their eyes tightly as if this very moment was a hardship or turning their heads completely in the opposite direction.

So where the hell did Casien go at a time like this…!

Actually, from the middle of the banquet, I felt that something had gone terribly wrong and thought that perhaps it might not unfold according to the original story.

But at this moment, with Casien being the only person who could save Iris, I desperately hoped for Casien to appear, clinging to that slim chance.

“What should I do…?”

Unable to take my eyes off the lake, someone suddenly came to mind.

Dwin. Dwin was there!

Just then, the sound of the door opening was heard behind me, and I reflexively turned my head.

“Dwin…! Outside right now….”

I was going to ask Dwin to save Iris, even though it was embarrassing. However, the person making eye contact with me was not Dwin.

“So this is where you were, Roel.”

There stood Casien, who, if I hadn’t twisted the original story, would have been standing in the banquet hall and saved Iris without hesitation.

“…Why are you here?”

“Why? Because I came looking for you, of course.”

“I mean, why are you looking for me….”

“I have something to say, Roel. Let’s… talk for a moment.”

That damn conversation. It’s been a while since we ended things.

I frowned at Casien, unable to guess what he was thinking.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps running from the hallway to the lounge was heard. Dwin, who had brought a change of dress just in time, desperately squeezed himself between Casien and the door.

“Last time, I didn’t explain properly…. So you… don’t know well, making this decision….”

“You can’t go in!”

“Haa……”

Casien frowned in annoyance. Even though anyone would flinch at that gaze, Dwin stood firm. Then, Casien tried to enter the room, threatening and pushing Dwin fiercely.

“Get out.”

“Absolutely not…! Go back! Don’t make Her Highness uncomfortable.”

“I said get lost.”

Of course, Dwin didn’t even blink an eye this time either.

Well, the superior he serves is… Reus, after all.

Casien seemed to have realized that there was little to gain from talking to Dwin, so this time, he treated Dwin as if he didn’t exist and fixed his gaze on me.

“Roel. Just a moment will do. Just a brief moment….”

“I have nothing to say to you, Casien.”

“You heard him, Lord Ercian. Then, I’ll close the door now.”

It was the moment Dwin was about to completely pull Casien out. From behind, there was a splash− in the water, and a greater commotion arose outside the window than before.

Someone had jumped in to save Iris. Who could it be?

‘There shouldn’t be anyone who would jump in?’

Startled, I ran back to the window, forgetting about Casien and everything else. Before the ripples subsided, the person who had jumped into the water revealed themselves on the surface.

‘…Reus?’

Surprisingly, the person emerging from the lake with Iris in his arms was Reus.