“……I thought it would be better to clear up the misunderstanding quickly.”

In response to Ibi’s words that she called him earlier than expected, Cassel replied with only a smile on his lips.

At that time, Cassel’s appearance was lighter than usual.

His hair was half disheveled, not meticulously styled, and there were hardly any sparkling jewels or fancy accessories visible.

Of course, his innate nobility was still there, but it was a very uncharacteristic appearance for him.

“I was really surprised yesterday. I didn’t know our Ibi had that side to her.”

Cassel joked, despite not having had time to dress up properly. Then he added kindly towards Ibi.

“I understand. You were upset after hearing that I was going to support Tuha as the saint, right?”

“No, I wasn’t upset about that.”

“Then?”

“I did it because I couldn’t stand the sight of your mentality, Marquis.”

Ibi answered the Marquis’s question in her usual earnest voice. However, the content was the opposite, devastatingly so.

Moreover, Ibi said this with a bright smile, and blood finally shot to Cassel’s eyes as he tried to act generously.

A scream rose to the tip of Cassel’s throat. But he swallowed it back down with great self-control.

“……Anyway, the important thing is to clear up the misunderstanding.”

“Is it a misunderstanding?”

“Yes, it’s a misunderstanding. Anyway, there are too many ears here, it’s scary to say anything.”

When Cassel repeated the word misunderstanding, Ibi tilted her head. At that cute sight, Cassel maintained his smile while gritting his molars.

Although he was pretending to be generous, he was actually dying trying to contain his anger. He was almost going crazy in this situation where he had to humor Ibi.

However, Cassel Montra was not a fool, just a libertine. Rather, he belonged to the cunning side, and thus came to a conclusion fitting the situation.

The conclusion that, despite last night’s humiliation, he needed to sweet-talk Ibi now.

‘Damn it, why am I doing this crap……’

Cassel clenched his fist under the table, overcome with anger.

In fact, just two hours ago, he had been thinking of stomping Ibi to death.

Last night, Ibi sat on top of Cassel and said this.

―Born so prettily, living so easily.

―You’re going to keep getting scolded by me from now on.

―You filthy house pig!

Cassel Montra, with his dirty private life, was used to being cursed at.

He was a gentleman who knew how to embrace the resentment of ladies, and at the same time, a rake who regarded women’s criticism and curses as medals. So he had never been affected by the words of beautiful young ladies.

However, the words Ibi had burst out with the previous day still remained in place, striking his heart like the blade of a guillotine.

Because those words were not a resentful outcry fueled by anger, but mockery that looked down on him infinitely and struck him down.

How dare a lowborn from the lower continent, how dare someone who just pretended to be nobility by sucking up, how dare someone who lost their mind because they were indulged, to whom.

Cassel felt like his heart would burst with anger just remembering Ibi’s expression as she sat on top of him.

So he decided to pay back this humiliation several times over. He felt like he wouldn’t live out his natural lifespan if he didn’t.

But Cassel soon realized an astonishing fact.

It was the very unexpected fact that he couldn’t retaliate against Ibi.

‘This can’t be true?’

The first thing Cassel did when he realized this was to deny reality.

He was confident he could bring down even a fairly prestigious family within half a year. When he wielded his power and wealth with malice, there were rather few nobles who wouldn’t kneel before him.

So he vaguely thought he could easily crush someone like Ibi, but when he thought it through carefully, it wasn’t the case. It was because of Ibi’s wretched and unfortunate circumstances – having no family, no property, no family – that there was nothing to crush even if he tried.

If she were a noble, he would shake her family and show her hell, but his power and wealth were rather useless against that girl who didn’t have even a handful of crumbs. He couldn’t freely beat up that child with no shield either, because of the Tower’s protection.

In the end, all Cassel could do to strike a blow against Ibi was to suggest her punishment to the Tower Master, but even that would be at most a reprimand, and even this required being prepared to be disliked by the Tower Master.

So the great Marquis Montra not only couldn’t rebuke Ibi for her insubordination, he didn’t even have the authority to restrain her if she were to spread his weaknesses recklessly.

Just like how the even greater Duke Laurel couldn’t do anything to Ibi who had insulted his younger sibling.

‘……Why didn’t I realize this until now?’

Cassel was extremely flustered when he realized Ibi’s position and his own reality.

It was the bewilderment of someone who belatedly realized that the cat he had been petting and tormenting all this time was actually a lion, and moreover, that the lion’s cage was wide open.

Cassel felt a chilling sensation run up his spine as he tried to understand this nightmarish situation.

He pondered why he had failed to grasp the situation so badly, and soon came to one conclusion.

He didn’t not know. He had just forgotten. No, he had been deceived. By that viper pretending to be a rabbit.

‘Damn it, that cunning thing deceived me!’

Cassel sincerely thought this. It was a fairly reasonable claim.

Initially, when Ibi first appeared, the nobles of Tienda worshipped her, calling her Manya’s devotion.

But when she showed interest in high society and humbly poked around, the atmosphere flipped.

The nobles’ noses were held high at the fact that God’s favorite was a commoner who had longed for the Tienda aristocratic circle.

Meanwhile, Ibi pretended to be innocent and revered the nobles, and everyone fell for it, giving her a foothold as if doing her a favor. Then they instantly forgot the situation. Intoxicated by the sense of superiority that they could adore this marvelous child.

Cassel was one of them. No, Cassel was at the center of it.

The young master of the great Montra Marquis family. Even for him who lacked nothing, there was a ceiling. Namely, those who possessed the dragon’s blessing, Laurel and Sedro, were an unreachable sky for him.

Ibi offered him excellent vicarious satisfaction.

To be able to get hold of and control someone who monopolized Manya’s grace. Cassel’s attitude gradually crossed the line and became frivolous with unspeakable satisfaction, and yet, seeing the docile Ibi, he eventually came to believe.

That as Ibi said, it would be fine to play with her and throw her away.

That there would be no consequences.

That she was just a girl who could only laugh or cry.

How foolish indeed.

“Since Ibi is smart, you’ll understand, but when you’re in a high position, there’s a lot you have to hear. Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about Ibi, so I’ve been worrying a bit too.”

So the cunning Cassel immediately changed his attitude as soon as he grasped the situation.

“But no matter how I think about it, I still feel that Ibi should be the saint.”

“Does that mean you’ll support me as the saint again?”

“Yes, so let’s clear up the misunderstanding.”

Cassel swallowed the anger burning in his stomach and sweet-talked Ibi.

Of course, this was a means to shut Ibi’s mouth.

He needed time.

He desperately needed time to confirm who Ibi’s letter had gone to and to clean up, and to find out how Ibi had obtained his weaknesses and how much more she knew.

So Cassel lowered himself for now, even though he had not the slightest intention of supporting Ibi.

Then Ibi smiled gently and said.

“Then can you write me a certificate?”

“Certificate……”

A spasm crossed Cassel’s face, which had been forcing a smile, at Ibi’s request.

“Ibi, do you really have to do this when I’m saying this much?”

“Of course, don’t you think so? How can I trust words that change overnight? You might just be stalling for time and stab me in the back again.”

Cassel forcibly pressed down his eyelids to suppress his eyes that were about to flip with anger.

“You’ll write the certificate, won’t you?”

Ibi said to Cassel like this, smiling as if she knew nothing.

Cassel simply couldn’t bear to look at that arrogant appearance. His breathing became rapid. In his mind, the table was already flipped over, and chairs and vases were smashed against the wall.

His two hands trembled, wanting to turn the impulse into reality, but Cassel endured once again, scraping his soul.

In just one day, no, in just a few hours, Ibi had tangled up Cassel’s connections and business suffocatingly. So there must be more cards left. Before confirming that, he needed to tie up that poison bag tightly.

Moreover, this was not submission, but an ambush.

The most effective way to make a child cry is to take back the candy you’ve given them. And Ibi Ariate’s candy is clearly the position of saint.

Cassel gathered his remaining patience, if only to see Ibi crying a month later, having expected so much but ultimately failing to become the saint.

“Alright, if Ibi wants, I’ll write it.”

“Then please stamp the certificate with your ring instead of signing it.”

But Ibi quickly said, as if she had read Cassel’s thoughts. Pointing to the only accessory Cassel was wearing now, the ring on his left thumb.

At that moment, Cassel’s eyes narrowed. The smile he had been trying to maintain suddenly stopped.

“……If you keep doing this, it won’t be good for either of us. If I show this much sincerity, you should at least pretend to make an effort.”

Cassel, no longer able to smile, said in a flat voice.

What Ibi had just pointed to was the seal ring passed down to the master of Montra for generations.

The weight of this seal was equal to the weight of the history and achievements that Montra had built up so far. So even the wayward Cassel had to keep his promises before this seal.

Ibi blocked the escape route as if she could see inside Cassel’s head, and with that, Cassel’s patience, which had been constantly pushing its limits, finally snapped.

“Even if you want to see me crawling, you shouldn’t be so stubborn. Think about the consequences, if you act like this, nothing will be left for you.”

Cassel’s eyes and voice, having long passed the boiling point, were now freezing cold. It was a fury more intense than rage, and the last warning of a cornered beast.

But Ibi just smiled at this raw threat, and that smile once again irritated Cassel.

“Don’t you want to become the saint?”

Cassel murmured quietly, hoping Ibi would become a little more polite.

However, an unexpected answer flowed from Ibi’s lips.

“I don’t want to.”

“What?”

“I have to become it, but I’ve never wanted to.”

Cassel’s face contorted at the unexpected answer.

And Ibi sighed and laughed.

“I wondered what you were going to say calling me from the morning, but it seems you didn’t listen to a single word I said yesterday, Marquis.”

Ibi looked at Cassel with calm eyes.

“You were wrong from the first word. Misunderstanding? I’ve never misunderstood.”

Ibi’s expression and voice were calm as she said this.

“The fact that you publicly declared your support for Rio Tuha, that you kept your mouth shut in front of me as if nothing had happened, and that the reason was because what I did in Bis was presumptuous, it’s all true, so how is it a misunderstanding?”

Ibi added, looking at Cassel with pitying eyes, as if there was no need to get angry.

“I clearly told you not to look down on me.”