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Chapter 20
It was a maid in Toilan’s uniform.
“Miss Rosalyn has invited Lady Selena for afternoon tea.”
Rosalyn’s tough personality came to her mind. She was the one who had the audacity to make Selena fall sick.
“Inform her that I wouldn’t be able to attend.”
“Pardon? But…..”
She knew Rosalyn was planning to increase the chances of her getting attacked. Fortunately, she had a good reason today.
She pointed to her clothing. Even lazy young children were dressed nicely on an afternoon similar to this.
“Miss can wait for you.”
“No, I can’t. I don’t have a dress to wear.”
“Pardon?”
The maid’s eyes widened as if she heard such words for the first time.
“Yes. So, please tell her that I won’t be able to have tea with her.”
“B-But…..According to the principle, you can’t refuse invitations from those who belong to families that have a higher rank than yours…..”
That’s what she had heard from Kalcion yesterday.
Selena only shrugged her shoulders at her. Discipline and rules were always a nuisance to her.
The anxious eyes of the maid scanned Selena, who proudly ignored her.
“Uh, then I will inform Miss…..”
The maid withdrew with a pale face.
“The gown is not that comfortable. Maybe I should just wear my garment.”
Selena smiled nervously at the maids of Renbird, who were staring at her in a row.
“Pardon?….Ah, yes! But it’s not a proper dress, Miss. Should we look for something else?”
“Never mind. It’s annoying.”
Selena smiled kindly and declined the maids’ suggestions. Today’s strategy of hers was to dress poorly.
As she was filling her hungry stomach with a couple of snacks, Rosalyn’s maid returned.
“Uh, there is……”
“S-She strongly urges you to accept the invitation and mentioned that she would not disrespect you even if you wore rags…..”
“Tsk.”
Selena openly clicked her tongue.
Not disrespect her? It was obvious that she was impatient to insult Selena. She wasn’t even prepared to clearly say her lines.
“Oh, really?”
“Ah, no, that’s…..”
However, the maid shuddered without making eye contact. Selena raised herself, clicking her tongue again.
“Fine, I’m going. So that you don’t have to stutter anymore.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes….”
Selena walked past Rosalyn’s maid, who hurried behind her.
What Selena was wearing right now was the thin garment that she wore last night. Surprised, Renbird’s maids rushed in.
“Wait, Miss! Are you going to leave in that clothing?”
“Well, I don’t have anything else.”
“But, this is…..!”
“What else should I do? She wants me to go there right now.”
After spatting out her reply, she stormed out of the door.
The servants waiting at the door hurriedly made way for her. They lightly blushed at the sight of her dress that made Kalcion get flushed as well.
How would Rosalyn react to this outfit? Selena bravely strode towards the battlefield.
***
“M-Miss Selena is here…..”
Selena smirked as Rosalyn flinched at the maid’s words. She was visibly embarrassed, perhaps because she did not expect her to appear in such an outfit.
“Alright, I’m here. Just because she said I shouldn’t refuse invitations from higher families.”
“How can you dress like that?…… There’s a certain limit to the degree of disrespect.”
“I didn’t have any dresses left.”
“I surely said that your clothing wouldn’t bother me, but….”
‘Hmm, look at your stealthy subtraction of the word “rags”.’
Selena rolled her eyes, inwardly giving a cold smile.
“Well, the Duke tore it up last night.”
“……”
‘And it’ll be amazing if you can add your imagination.’
Rosalyn couldn’t bring up her next words as the servants rushed in.
Her bewildered gaze inadvertently scanned Selena’s body, while Selena stood quietly as she waited for Rosalyn to speak.
Every time the breeze touched her, the thin cloth wrapped around her body revealed her fair, smooth skin and figure. And every time that occurred, the servants would turn their heads at her.
With curves at the perfect places, her physique was top-tier.
No matter how promiscuous a person was in the capital city, they never showed such blatant appearances to each other.
The more Rosalyn stared at her, the more her face got red. But still, she said something more resolute than others would have said.
“In all honesty, your intentions were to simply provoke me with such a lie. You thought I would get jealous if you acted vulgarly, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t think I needed to appear in a luxurious dress, so I just kept it to the basics.”
“It was my own consideration not to take any issue with your behavior. I didn’t know that you didn’t observe this simple courtesy. It’s all my fault.”
It seemed that pretending to apologize and taking the blame for others was the superior act in this world, whereas such people were rare in Selena’s world.
Still, it was not difficult for Selena to adjust to that trendy level.
“If you want to be considerate, don’t you think you should think about the situation of the other person first?”
“It was a misunderstanding, and I didn’t have the opportunity to know everything about Miss Selena, did I? So, let’s keep in mind Miss Selena’s dressing situation now.”
She smiled sweetly, seemingly saying that she was pure.
‘This is really bad.’
It was true that she wanted Rosalyn to get jealous, but she didn’t think she would fight her back. However, it caused her to suffer from a terrible headache.
‘How can you be so annoying?’
“I know you’ll probably be seeing me more often in the future, so please take care of me.”
“Seeing you…..often?”
Rosalyn’s eyes glowed as if she just had a gun shot at her chest.
“But how can it be? I’ll be leaving tomorrow right away. It’ll be hard to see you often.”
“Well, I’m going to the capital with the Duke. So I thought I’d see you often, but are you going to withdraw from the society?”
‘Wow, it’s a good thing that this is our last meeting for now.’
Rosalyn’s eyes widened at her words.
“…..To the capital? With His Excellency?”
“Yes! The Duke has given me permission.”
“It’s unbelievable. His Excellency gave up his dignity and allowed you to accompany him?”
Selena grinned.
“Well, he couldn’t refuse a woman who was sitting on his lap, could he?”
“…….!”
Fire broke out in Rosalyn’s eyes and her chest, behind the colorful lace dress she was wearing, roughly went up and down as she breathed hard. Unable to talk anymore, she only glared at Selena in horror.
Selena waited calmly. The standoff lasted quite a long time, while the servants around the two of them became overwhelmed by the atmosphere.
The place where Rosalyn held her little tea party was beside a garden. Unlike at night, it was quite warm. The breeze, which was blowing over the table, was not that cold.
However, it was quite chilly for Selena, who only had a thin garment around herself. She shuddered every time the breeze brushed her arms and legs. By the time her jaw was about to tremble, the urgent sound of footsteps approached the place.
It was Kalcion.
‘Perfect timing.’
Selena grinned inwardly. A considerable number of guards and servants followed him.
As soon as Rosalyn’s eyes spotted Kalcion, she got up from her seat, quickly straightening her face. Soon, she delivered a smile towards Selena, who soon felt parched by the slightly cold breeze.
Whatever one might say, the situation was stark. It clearly seemed that she was harassing Selena.
Whether it worked or not, her dignity and justification were more important. Rosalyn quickly fixed her mind. Her motive was to bring down Selena, who intentionally dressed in such an outfit and tried to insult her in her tea party……
However, Selena was faster.
“Hng!”
Tears rolled down her cheeks within a second.
“!”
Rosalyn gritted her teeth.
As soon as a drop touched the ground, tears flowed like raindrops. By the time Kalcion reached the place, Selena’s whole face was already covered with tears.
“……Duke.”
Uttering in a tearful voice, Selena ran to him and hugged him. She was as desperate as if she had just met her long lost lover after a thousand years.
Rosalyn murmured a curse once again.
“That damn girl!”
Even her excuses were already running out.
Without even questioning her, Kalcion embraced Selena and covered her with his cloak. Shivering, she shed tears like a baby bird. At the same time, the feeling of her being abominable dominated Kalcion’s mind.
“This isn’t your dominant social circle, Miss Rosalyn.”
“…..I know.”
Rosalyn barely spoke up, gritting on her molars.
Kalcion glared at Rosalyn with an unpleasant look without spouting any long words. As if his sharp eyes were almost spatting, “How dare you openly harass the woman I brought in my castle?”
“Your Excellency! Miss Rosalyn has summoned her to her tea party!”
Although he rushed in after immediately hearing the news, he never imagined that such a situation would arise.
This time, Selena gave him the message and that’s why he could intervene in the situation. But what would have happened if he didn’t know?
His heart felt as though it would burn at the thought of the events that could have happened out of his sight.
Only
‘How dare you?!’
The momentum was felt by everyone. It seemed he could pull out his sword and swing it immediately if he could move.
In an instant, the atmosphere began to resolve around Kalcion. The Duke of the North, the Master of Renbird, the Knight with the most outstanding skills. Having the power to overwhelm the atmosphere just by his presence, he became even angrier.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on him. As if people could only feel his anger. Selena had to change the growing cold atmosphere.
‘Ugh, this is getting worse than I thought. What should I do?’
The solution was quickly found. The war of nerves with a woman in the middle eventually became more intense until Selena dug deeper into his chest, tightly wrapping her arms around his waist.
“!”
She felt his body hardening over her thin garment.