“It seems the Duchess is quite sensitive today. This is merely a gathering for socializing.”
Marshal decided to paint Esika as a woman who couldn’t read the atmosphere.
However, Esika did not react as Marshal had expected.
“Though this is a gathering for socializing, shouldn’t we maintain basic courtesy towards one another?”
At those words, someone dropped a spoon.
A cold and heavy silence descended upon the previously cheerful tea party.
Marshal, gritting her teeth, forced a smile.
“There’s a need to distinguish between rudeness and mistakes. Lady Palmania merely made a mistake due to confusion, yet you’re making the atmosphere too heavy. It seems the Duchess… is not accustomed to such gatherings due to her lack of experience in social circles.”
It was a tone that clearly exposed Esika’s shortcomings and excluded her.
Marshal thought that by this point, Esika would lower her tail.
In fact, the Esika she knew shouldn’t have dared to refute Bolan’s words earlier.
But the situation unfolded in an unexpected manner.
“I apologize if I’ve dampened the party’s atmosphere.”
A clean, concise voice of apology flowed immediately.
“In the social etiquette I learned from the two Countesses, when hosting a party, seating should be arranged with the wives of higher-ranking nobles at the head table…”
Cold sweat ran down Bolan’s back.
“…In truth, I was displeased from the moment I was guided to my seat, wondering if this was a slight against House Klaus, and my emotions got the better of me.”
Marshal’s hands trembled slightly.
There was nothing wrong with Esika’s words.
The seat Esika currently occupied was between the Baroness and the Viscountess.
It was far from the head table, and if Riona had attended, she would have been seated where Marshal was now.
Even if she was young, Esika was the wife of a Duke.
According to etiquette, Marshal had committed a grave offense.
And it was only natural for the Duchess to point this out.
It was tantamount to disrespecting the Duke’s family.
“I’m not sure if I learned incorrectly from the two Countesses, or if the Countess has greatly violated etiquette.”
Esika flashed a cold, faint smile.
Whichever she admitted to, Marshal would end up smearing her own face.
‘Damn it… That wretched woman… What is she saying now?’
Of course, even if someone like Esika were to sit on the floor, House Klaus wouldn’t raise any objections.
However, because everything she said was textbook correct, Marshal couldn’t dare to refute.
“You said there’s a need to distinguish between rudeness and mistakes, didn’t you? Which of the two would you say you’ve done?”
The ladies who weren’t fully aware of the Klaus family situation began to whisper.
Quite a few girls learned etiquette from the two Countesses.
Among the ladies were their mothers as well.
Marshal was burning inside, unable to explain to them that Esika was nothing…
“I was shortsighted. I sincerely apologize for the offenses I’ve committed today, Duchess.”
In the end, Marshal had no choice but to bow her head to Esika.
Esika calmly sipped her tea while looking at the crown of the party host’s head as she apologized.
The apple-scented tea was quite fragrant.
**
Marshal and Bolan excused themselves midway through the party, citing headaches and dizziness.
It seems they had become considerably uncomfortable.
“Is there not a maid working here by the name of Heremiya?”
After the tea party ended, Esika, who had remained seated sipping tea the longest, asked a maid who was clearing the table.
The freckled maid flinched and shook her head.
“There’s no maid by that name, my lady.”
The most important reason Esika wanted to come to this tea party was to meet her.
She would become one of the powerful advantages to be used someday.
In the original story, all the tragedies began twenty years ago, with a nightmarish civil war.
All members of the imperial family, except the Emperor and Resban, were captured and dragged to the guillotine.
But there was one more survivor among the princesses.
Her name was Astia Lucein, a baby seven years younger than Resban, who was cleverly smuggled out by her wet nurse and saved.
Astia grew up in a rural village like a tomboy, unaware that she was a princess, until she found out around the age of fifteen.
Her new name was Heremiya, and around the age of twenty, she began working as a maid in the Bolan Count’s household.
“…Hmm…”
Now was the time for action.
Esika was drawing a bigger picture, looking further ahead.
Watching the maid who was intently clearing the table, Esika moved her lips.
“The eastern border is lax, and if you travel for about three days past the border, you’ll find the Maroun Plains.”
“…”
The maid’s hand paused as she was clearing away a plate.
“It’s a good place for newlyweds to settle. The reason I recommend the Maroun Plains is because Brigitte’s relative runs a livestock farm there. With my letter of recommendation, you should be able to find a suitable house and job.”
At Esika’s words, the maid slowly turned to face her.
And with a trembling voice, she asked.
“Why… are you telling me this?”
Esika didn’t say it out loud.
She only conveyed it with her eyes.
‘Because you are Princess Astia.’
In the original story, Astia wasn’t a main character, nor did she have any significant episodes.
Esika merely guessed that her life in the imperial palace might not have been entirely peaceful.
Her elder brother Resban always roamed the battlefields, and her half-brother Breyton was of poor quality.
As for the Empress… let’s save that story for another time.
“……”
The eyes gazing at Esika were trembling.
Esika, who had read the original story, knew that Astia did not want to return to the imperial palace.
Perhaps the reason was the Alet ring on her fourth finger.
“Love is bound to change, you know. No matter how sweet words a man whispers, he cannot stop the power of time. If you give up the luxurious and warm life in the imperial palace and choose him, you might regret it until you grow old and die.”
And she put the last cherry left on the plate into her mouth.
Astia asked Esika.
“Is that… your experience, my lady?”
Instead of answering, Esika smiled faintly.
“Who knows. I’m merely warning you. I cannot judge whether that man is worth it or not.”
“He is worth it.”
Astia’s brown eyes rippled.
They were the eyes of a woman in love.
“He’s worth risking my life for……”
“Then I shall support Heremiya’s love.”
**
She handed over the prepared identification documents and two letters of recommendation to Heremiya, then left the party.
There would come a day when the help she bestowed upon her today would return as profit.
As Esika was walking to board her carriage, someone called her name from behind.
“Duchess!”
She paused for a moment, and the woman who had come running up approached Esika’s side, panting.
It was Baroness Helenia Merhin.
Her expression was not good, and she seemed quite nervous.
“…I’m sorry about earlier.”
Helenia spoke while looking slightly downward, unable to meet Esika’s eyes.
She must be referring to the incident when she had spoken to Esika but couldn’t continue the conversation due to the watchful eyes of the other ladies.
She seemed to feel guilty about that gathering where they had blatantly ostracized one person.
“And……”
Helenia hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“I overheard your conversation with the maid earlier. Oh, I didn’t eavesdrop on purpose. I had left something behind and came back briefly to find it……”
To Esika, who was coldly looking at her for overhearing a conversation she shouldn’t have, Helenia smiled innocently and said.
“You blessed the maid’s love, didn’t you? I was truly… touched.”
Helenia clasped her hands together and her eyes sparkled.
“In a world where love and romance have disappeared, women who believe in love are rare. In fact, I’m one of those rare ones too.”
Esika lowered her guard.
It seemed that in the innocent eyes of Helenia, it had appeared as if she had simply supported the maid’s love.
“Actually, when I saw you render the two ladies speechless, I thought you were truly a frightening person, but I realized it was my misunderstanding. You are truly a warm-hearted person. How wonderful it would be if I could become friends with such a person……”
“……”
“If you have time, may I invite you to my home someday?”
She asked in an earnest voice.
She looked like she might cry if rejected.
It seemed that Helenia had fallen for Esika’s charm.
In any case, Esika thought it was fortunate that Helenia was oblivious.
If she had realized that Heremiya was not an ordinary maid, she might have had to make an unpleasant choice to silence her.
Perhaps she couldn’t even imagine how savage a thought had crossed Esika’s mind.
Esika’s lips moved.
“…Let’s do that.”
Esika didn’t view innocent and honest types like Helenia unfavorably.
Esika’s voice was dry, but not cold.
“See you again.”
There was no intimidating aura flowing like when she had dealt with the two countesses earlier.
Helenia’s eyes sparkled again.
She looked like a child who had gotten what she wanted.
Esika, who had been watching Helenia slowly raise her gaze to meet her eyes in awe, turned around.
“…I’ll be sure to contact you!”
Without responding to Helenia’s words from behind, Esika boarded the carriage.
Helenia, who had been blankly watching the carriage depart and disappear into the distance, moved her lips.
“She seems like such a wonderful person. This is like love and war!”
Meanwhile, Esika, who was leaving the count’s residence in the carriage, leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes.
She was tired from talking so much after a long time.
Although her original business was with Astia, she had dealt with them because she had no intention of being scratched by the wildcats that rushed at her on the path.
‘By the way… Earlier, the person who was watching me……’
She felt as if she had sensed someone’s gaze throughout.
When she turned her gaze in that direction, it disappeared without a trace.
‘…If it was Helenia, there’s no need to worry about it.’
Esika decided not to think about it any further.
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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