Chapter 44
As if asking what I would do now.
The bastard wiped the smile from his face and stared straight at me.
Thump.
Under that sharp gaze, it felt like my heart dropped all the way to my feet.
I reflexively looked at the Duke and shook my head.
The Duke also seemed puzzled by the nonsense the man was spouting.
“Pardon? You mean… to speak directly with Edith?”
“Yeah. The young lady is the owner of the earring, isn’t she?”
“That’s true, but… then how about you play a game of chess with me until my eldest son arrives, and then we all dine together?”
Good, good!
I cheered the Duke on fervently in my mind.
‘What are you going to do now?’
With the host inviting him so politely, it wouldn’t be easy to insist on his own way.
But the man easily exceeded my expectations of insanity.
“Tch. Why are you so dense, Duke?”
“Pardon? What do you—”
“It means I want to talk to the young lady alone.”
“……”
At those words—ones that could easily be misunderstood—silence fell over the lobby.
Everyone, including the Duke, turned to look at me with strange expressions.
‘This lunatic…!’
Horrified, I shouted,
“N-no! I want to talk together with my father…!”
“Your Highness, it’s embarrassing to say, but my daughter is still immature, so she lacks the ability to receive a guest alone.”
Thankfully, the Duke tried to smooth over the awkward atmosphere.
“She’s still at an age where she doesn’t even understand what ‘compensation’ means. I’ve spoiled her too much… haha.”
“A-ah, Father is right!”
I quickly nodded in agreement.
“I have nothing I could offer Your Highness as compensation!”
“Well, I don’t mind.”
“……”
“Then shall we talk about that game of hide-and-seek we had before, in front of the Duke—”
“W-wait a moment!”
I cut him off again, almost like a scream.
Then, holding back tears, I calmly spoke to the Duke.
“…Father. I momentarily forgot that I had something to tell His Highness privately.”
“Huh? You? To His Highness?”
“Yes. At the banquet, I accidentally spilled a bit of wine on His Highness, and I didn’t get the chance to apologize.”
“W-what? If that happened, you should’ve said so earlier!”
At my hastily made excuse, the Duke frowned deeply.
With a dazed expression, I muttered again,
“I collapsed, so I wasn’t in my right mind. I only just remembered…”
“I told you not to act rashly… ahem!”
The Duke, whose face had reddened as he was about to scold me, glanced at the Grand Duke and cleared his throat instead.
Feeling a deep sense of defeat, I added,
“…So I thought I should apologize to him privately first, and then we can dine afterward.”
“I apologize, Your Highness. For my sake, I hope you can forgive her generously.”
“Hmm.”
The male lead #4, who had been watching my lie with great interest, stroked his chin.
It seemed he was considering whether to play along.
I cursed at him with my eyes.
‘You’re the one who said you wanted to talk alone! Cooperate properly!’
He smirked as he watched me panic.
“Very well. It’s just a little spilled wine.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“More importantly, Duke—have you heard the news? About why my head is in this condition—”
“Steward! Please bring some refreshments!”
Seeing him start to run his mouth again, I hurriedly called the steward.
Then I quickly turned to the Duke.
“It’s rude to keep a guest standing in the entrance too long, Father.”
“Ah, that’s true! Your Highness, please come inside!”
“This way, Your Highness.”
I glared at the man and said through clenched teeth,
“Ha ha. I’m very much looking forward to how you’ll apologize, my lady.”
He burst into a cheerful laugh.
The look on his face—like he truly meant it—made my skin crawl.
I wanted to run away immediately.
Or grab onto the Duke’s trouser leg!
‘Please, someone save me…!’
It was my reunion with male lead #4 after three days—someone I had desperately wanted to avoid.
Since I had come here once before because of Vincent, guiding him to the drawing room wasn’t difficult.
After taking a short breath in front of the door, I turned the handle and stepped aside.
“…Please go in first.”
“Shall I?”
He walked in without hesitation.
Following behind him, I quickly scanned the room.
Thankfully, there was a decorative vase on the table right beside the door.
Its long neck made it perfect to grip.
I quietly grabbed it and hid it behind my back.
Then I left the door slightly open instead of closing it fully.
‘Just in case something happens, someone needs to hear and come running.’
Once I finished preparing, I lifted my head—
And met a pair of dark, gleaming eyes staring right at me from a few steps away.
“……!”
Startled, I instinctively pressed myself against the door.
Bang!
Because of that, the door I had carefully left open shut completely.
‘Damn it…!’
As I fidgeted, Serge sneered at me.
“Now that I see it, leaving doors half-open is a habit of yours.”
“…It’s the bare minimum safety measure for my personal protection.”
“Why? You think I’d come all the way to the Duke’s residence to do something to you?”
As if he didn’t already know.
I glared at him in disbelief, tightening my grip on the vase.
Then—
“Isn’t it you who’s planning to do something?”
“W-what…!”
Whoosh!
As if someone was controlling it, the hand behind my back was suddenly yanked forward.
I lost hold of the vase instantly.
It floated through the air—
And the man easily caught it.
“This is confiscated.”
“……”
“Tch. Were you going to hit me with this? I don’t even have a weapon. Isn’t that a bit unfair?”
“Isn’t it even more unfair to take away the one weapon I had?!”
I snapped back, and he shrugged.
“I don’t feel like getting my forehead split open twice. See this? Thanks to someone, it hurt quite a bit.”
“…It hurt for me too.”
“I know. You collapsed, right?”
For someone who knew that, his tone was completely indifferent.
That made my irritation spike.
As I hurriedly looked for something else to use for self-defense, he had already moved to the table and gestured with his chin.
“What are you doing? Sit.”
But I stayed stuck to the door, unable to move.
‘If I go closer, won’t he grab my throat again?’
When I only stared at him warily, he let out a sigh.
“…Sigh. People who’ve grown up pampered never listen the first time.”
He beckoned with his hand like he was calling a dog.
At that moment, my body—perfectly fine just a second ago—lifted into the air like the vase had.
Then I was suddenly pulled toward the table at incredible speed.
Whooosh—!
“Kyaaah!”
I screamed reflexively and shut my eyes.
Being moved against my will was terrifying no matter how many times I experienced it.
Fortunately, it didn’t last long before I was dropped onto something hard—a chair.
The floating sensation stopped.
“Haa… haa…”
When I cautiously opened my eyes, I saw him sitting across from me with his legs crossed, looking at me with displeasure.
He had used telekinesis to forcibly seat me.
Still dazed by the almost magical situation, I quickly glared at him.
“W-what do you think you’re doing?!”
“You didn’t seem to know how to sit, so I helped.”
“As if that makes any—”
Curses rose to the tip of my tongue.
But the number that suddenly appeared above his head stopped me.
81%
Perhaps from using his ability, his rampage level had increased slightly.
After experiencing the power of his telekinesis firsthand, I could understand how it once reached 95%.
If he could move objects without even touching them, how often must he have casually used his ability in daily life?
“…If you keep using your power like that, you’ll lose control again.”
“Oh?”
He looked surprised.
“Are you worried about me?”
“No!”
I denied it immediately.
Then I lowered my gaze from above his head.
The bandage wrapped around his head—so deliberately visible—was incredibly irritating.
“Why didn’t you call a healer?”
“It’s practically the only evidence to catch the person who hit my head. Why would I heal it?”
“Did you find the culprit?”
“I came to catch them.”
He smirked and took something out of his pocket.
A small accessory case, about the size of a ring box.
Probably containing the earring of mine he’d stubbornly picked up.
“With the evidence in hand… I could arrest you right here as the one who attempted to assassinate a Grand Duke.”
Thud!
He placed it on the table like a threat.
But I was more surprised at how predictable he sounded.
The worst scenario I had feared was that the moment we were alone, he would grab my throat again—
Or try to kill me in a fit of rage.
Compared to that, even if he had used his ability, he hadn’t shown any intent to harm me yet.
‘Come to think of it… I can actually sit face-to-face and talk with this guy?’
As he said, the Duke was still inside the mansion.
He wouldn’t be able to do anything drastic right away.
‘Still… he could torture me by choking me again…!’
But as long as I didn’t die, I could get revenge someday.
Fixing that thought in my mind, I forced down my fear.
“…And then?”
“Hm?”
“What happens next?”
“What do you mean?”
“How are you going to prove that I’m the culprit?”
At my bold question, his eyes widened slightly.
‘If you think I’ll panic over just one earring, you’re dead wrong, you bastard.’
I scoffed and continued,
“You’re not going to claim that someone like me—an unawakened person, not even half as strong as Your Highness—beat you and knocked you out, are you?”
