C134
I screamed silently.
"Oops! It's cold!"
The area around my thigh got wet unexpectedly. The light purple silk dress started sticking unpleasantly to my body because I got soaked with cold champagne.
"Oh, I made a mistake with the beautiful lady."
His hand movements while pouring the champagne were obviously deliberate, but the man in front of me, who claims to be the third prince, pretended to be surprised as he raised his eyebrows.
"Mistake...?"
The man squinted his eyes strangely at my murmur.
"Well. It's regrettable that you seem offended by my mistake. Of course, I'll compensate you generously for ruining your dress until you're satisfied."
He suddenly spilled alcohol on me, but he didn't even apologize and instead expressed his regrets.
"I'll give you a dress from a more famous designer than the one you're wearing now by sending a servant..."
I grabbed the tablecloth and threw it even before he finished his words.
Soon, the champagne and the plate of snacks on the table spilled over the third prince's left leg, and the white cream stuck to his black suit pants before falling onto the floor.
"..."
A moment of silence flowed in the tea room.
"My hand slipped by mistake. Unfortunate. I'll send you an expensive robe as compensation."
"..."
"Ugh, the smell is terrible."
I didn't forget to speak sarcastically in a cold tone while shaking the dress that reeks of alcohol.
I deliberately decided to speak more audaciously than the third prince. I thought of the rude guy from his department in his previous life at times like this.
"While we live, we're destined to make one or two mistakes. Anyway, Do Hee, you're too much of a perfectionist."
When he tried to make amends by saying it was a mistake for causing me trouble, the past me couldn't respond properly and let it pass distractedly.
In moments like this, it's part of human nature to make the other person feel the same embarrassment I felt.
Moreover, the fact that he's acting this way may also be because I'm confident that Isidor will back up my words with assurance.
"You're like the rumors. Audacious."
The third prince suddenly laughed heartily while showing his teeth, and I took a sip of champagne in my hand.
"I guess I'm famous enough to be the subject of rumors. I don't know who you are, but I think you should see a doctor if you think what happened just now is just a mistake."
I assumed the man in front of me was the third prince because his appearance resembled the fourth queen, and he had dark blue hair, but I spoke pretending ignorance.
He's someone I haven't been officially introduced to yet. Of course, I might have seen him while passing through imperial events in the past, but his face could have changed since he was stuck in the north for quite some time, and I can only say that I didn't know him.
"A doctor?"
"The fact that your hand is shaking badly, unable to hold the champagne properly, means it's a serious illness. You should consider it more seriously to succeed with your father's title..."
I rubbed a bit of salt into the wound of the third prince's situation, as he's far from the Imperial Throne.
"This person is the third prince, so what do you mean by hand tremors?"
The foolish guy I rejected dancing with at that moment angrily intervened.
"You're still rude. Where did you learn your manners to keep interfering when superiors are having a conversation?"
Isidor interrupted the guy with a cold voice.
"His words are harsher than usual. Perhaps Isidor is... angry?"
The guy shivered in surprise when Isidor's coldness touched his skin, and Isidor turned his gaze back to the third prince with a cold expression.
"He also knows better than anyone that he did not act as a member of the imperial family at this moment.
"Ah, are you giving me a lecture right now? My father, the Emperor, never gave me a lecture, but you, who have just become a duke, are you?
"No. I'm not lecturing you. It would be better if you said it clearly in a direct way instead of seeming petty.
Suddenly, I realized why the third prince deliberately poured champagne on me despite Isidor's harsh criticisms.
If there's someone the royal family wanted to be introduced to, it's customary for their acquaintance to be the one to introduce them.
However, there isn't a suitable person to be a bridge between the third prince and me.
The third prince wanted to talk to me, so he suddenly poured champagne on me because he wanted to save face.
If I didn't cause a commotion, he would probably change the situation as he intended with the pretext of compensating me accordingly.
"But why are you doing this to me? Please, speak all you want with the heroine, Mia."
The third prince, who turned pale at the word petty, twisted his lips as I felt absurd.
Duke Visconti. You'll regret moving your mouth recklessly.
It was the typical phrase of a villain who had no words.
I'll be waiting.
Isidor suddenly took off his outer coat while squinting like a fox.
Then, he suddenly covered me with it.
I did a good job preparing various evening dresses. It was hard to choose just one since you look good in all of them.
I felt that the area soaked with alcohol was not only on the hem of my skirt and thighs but also on the upper part of my body.
You might catch a cold.
A group of nobles entered the tea room just in time, and when they saw me with Isidor's coat, they were confused.
They jumped to a hasty conclusion because they thought I had done something when they saw that my skirt reeked of alcohol.
What happened all of a sudden?
However, their doubtful gaze towards me changed soon.
Someone might have drunk too much because they were excited about being elevated to a higher title...
Isidor said words full of meaning as he looked at the third prince's group and quickly took me out of the tea room.
Isidor left them behind and waved his finger slightly as he did in Blanchia.
Crash!
A loud sound was heard from behind. I immediately realized that the disaster was caused by Isidor with his magic.
What the hell is going on?
I think some noble made a mistake like the previous one while being drunk.
Someone managed to translate Isidor's muttered words and walked away.
Oh my God...
The elderly noble, who stopped to appease his hunger, exited the tea room that smelled of wine and champagne and clicked his tongue.
It hasn't been long since the banquet started, but I can't believe they're already drunk.
No matter how delighted they are to be elevated to a higher title, it seems they are making a lot of noise without knowing how to behave.
When I saw Isidor change the situation in his favor in an instant, I was amazed.
I changed the wet dress for a new one and returned.
Isidor, who was receiving congratulations from the nobles, quickly left them as soon as I approached him.
Aren't you supposed to talk to them?
Who would dare to say anything to me, being a duke? They won't be so bold.
That's an abuse of power.
I have to be stronger to protect you.
He murmured something quietly with a meaningful voice.
What?
Let's go for a walk together for a moment.
However, the Fifth Princess approached me with champagne in both hands, and I was stuck with her for a while.
------------------------
The third prince gathered his blue hair nervously falling over his forehead.
The foolish Marquis of the North, who kept drinking alcohol from the moment he entered the hallway, suddenly fell onto the long wine-lined bar table, causing everything on top to collapse like dominoes. The inside of the tea room turned into a mess.
He was also considered a fool who drank too much due to the excitement of returning to the capital.
Damn it, the smell of alcohol.
He exited the grand hall and threw his black coat to the ground roughly.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
He completely believed his mother's words that the situation would turn to his advantage after returning from suffering in the North for a while.
He gathered power while enduring the complaints of the black mages given to him by his mother in that boring and cold place, but when he actually returned to the capital, another idiot devoured all the sweet rewards.
"How absurd that a woman without presence is considered holy..."
He clicked his tongue when he thought of Mia, whom his mother briefly introduced.
It would be better to steal Deborah from Duke Visconti instead of such a boring woman, and he felt it would be more exciting to make Deborah bow to him.
Deborah is the person who caught his attention the most today.
Of course, there were many beautiful women, but Deborah had a cold yet seductive appearance, just like her rumors of being a villainess. She also had a dark corner that stimulated his secret desires.
"So proud to be a Seymour. How dare you do that to the royal family?"
The third prince remembered those red eyes that looked at him as if mocking him, and his lips twisted.
Every time he saw the appearance of those who should be crawling beneath him with their heads held high, it hurt his pride. He never thought he would get used to these feelings at all.
"Javi. Why did you come back? Let's talk inside."
Javi is the nickname for Javier.
His mother, the fourth queen, approached and caressed her son's haggard face with a sad expression.
"Javi. What is this smell of alcohol? It's too early to get drunk..."
She remembered the annoyance in his black eyes.
"Should I endure it without drinking?"
"Why are you angry?"
"The plausible title of War Hero was taken by Rosad Seymour, and there are no nobles who don't know that Isidor, who recently assumed the title of Duke of Visconti, is close to the Crown Prince."
"..."
"I came after suffering in the north, but on the contrary, I'm constantly pushed away from the center of social life. I did everything my mother told me!"
"Calm down, my son."
She looked at her son, who looks exactly like her, and then her eyes shimmered like an abyss.
"Everything will be yours. Don't worry."
However, Javier clenched his teeth after pushing her away abruptly and quickly walked towards the Autumn Palace where his residence was.
The fourth queen stared at her son's back for a while with dark eyes. She also bit her nails enough to stain her lips with blood.