As Anasha grumbled, the carriage arrived at the main branch of the Pison Guild. Through the window, I saw that the jewelry shop on the ground floor was, as always, bustling with elegant noblewomen coming and going to purchase gems.
“Wait a moment, Anasha.”
“Yes?”
I stopped Anasha as she moved to open the carriage door.
“It’s better if you don’t get out.”
“Why not?”
“It wouldn’t be good for anyone to know you’re involved.”
Fortunately, the carriage we were in didn’t bear the family crest. As long as Anasha stayed out of sight, no one would know she was with me.
“Will you be alright on your own?”
“I’m the daughter of the Eliant Marquisate. No one would dare harm me in the middle of the city.”
“That’s true, but…”
She trailed off, still uneasy.
“Anasha, you have work to do from now on. Helping with that will be far more useful to me than staying by my side.”
“…Alright. Please, be careful.”
I gave her another smile as she reluctantly agreed. With a face blending worry and resignation, she tapped the carriage wall to signal the driver. The door opened, and I stepped out carefully, ensuring Anasha remained unseen.
The moment I appeared, every eye turned toward me. I saw a few women recognize my face, their expressions shifting to shock. With confident strides, I entered the shop.
“How shameless.”
“Look at her, showing her face so brazenly while His Highness the Crown Prince is on death’s door.”
“The rumors must be true.”
“Tch, how did His Highness end up with a woman like that…”
Once one voice broke the silence, the women around began whispering among themselves. Even without straining to listen, their murmurs were clear enough to pierce my ears.
They knew full well I could hear them. They were deliberately speaking loud enough for me to catch every word.
If I lashed out at them here, I’d be the rude, ill-mannered one eavesdropping on others’ conversations. Being seen as discourteous wasn’t a problem, but I had no reason to play into their hands.
The old me would have grabbed their hair and caused a scene, but there were plenty of ways to repay them without stooping to that.
I turned my gaze toward them. The woman who met my eyes fanned themselves, pretending they hadn’t been gossiping. Some even smirked slyly when our eyes locked. I returned their looks with a radiant smile.
“Whispering like rats in a gutter, tch.”
There was no need to raise my voice. Everyone in the shop was watching me. Even a mutter under my breath would be heard by all.
I saw the woman who met my gaze stiffen. Some flushed red with indignation. But none dared confront me openly.
It was the same tactic they’d used against me. If they took offense at my murmured words, they’d only advertise their own lack of manners. Ignoring them, I naturally shifted my gaze forward.
“Who’re you calling rats!”
All eyes turned to the young woman who shouted. Caught off guard by the attention, her face turned beet red, and she seemed at a loss.
She was a young lady, barely past her debutante, her face still soft with youth. Perhaps just after her coming-of-age ceremony or on the cusp of it.
Was it innocence untouched by the ways of high society, or just foolishness? She wasn’t worth engaging, but I couldn’t let her slide. I’d make an example of her so thoroughly she’d never dare climb again.
“My, eavesdropping on someone’s muttering? How ill-mannered.”
“What did you say!”
She hesitated briefly under the weight of the stares but soon bristled at my words, shouting again. A middle-aged woman, likely her mother, grabbed her arm, but she shook it off and stepped toward me.
“You’ve got some nerve showing your face after what you did to His Highness the Crown Prince!”
Instead of replying, I crossed my arms and looked her up and down. She wore a fashionable, high-end dress. The middle-aged woman behind her, holding her forehead, was also clad in an elegant, expensive gown. To wear such luxury meant they came from a wealthy or powerful family.
I racked my memory, but neither face was familiar. They weren’t from a house prominent enough to be invited to the imperial hunting tournament.
“Everyone knows what they say about you! Seducing this man and that—”
“If I may, what is your family name?”
I cut her off. At my sudden question, she froze, her face blank. Recovering quickly, she snapped, clearly annoyed at her own hesitation.
“What’s it to you?”
“I’m asking if you’re in a position to address me first, young lady.”
Unlike her shrill, excited voice, I lowered my eyes to look down at her, speaking with a mocking tone.
“Or perhaps you’re a member of the imperial family I wasn’t aware of? My apologies if so, Your Highness.”
“Spouting nonsense like that—guess the rumors about you being mad are true!”
Unlike the young lady, who clearly didn’t grasp the situation, the middle-aged woman recognized the escalating gravity and rushed forward, bowing to me.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Eliant. The child lost her senses…”
“Mother!”
“Be quiet!”
The middle-aged woman, her face pale as death, shouted at her daughter. The shop fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Lower-ranking nobles couldn’t address higher-ranking ones first. Doing so wasn’t just rude—it signaled disrespect or disdain.
That alone could spark a duel or a territorial feud, but the middle-aged woman’s panic-stricken bow had another reason.
The young lady’s initial approach could be excused as youthful ignorance, but my mention of the imperial family made that impossible. I was the crown prince’s fiancée—half an imperial member, in a sense. Insulting me was tantamount to insulting the imperial family. Defaming royalty wasn’t something that could be brushed off as youthful folly.
Of course, as merely a fiancée, I wasn’t fully imperial yet—just the daughter of a marquis. But it wasn’t entirely untrue either. It was a matter subject to the emperor’s judgment.
Most wouldn’t think to leverage their status as a fiancée with the imperial family. The women who picked a fight with me hadn’t imagined I’d pull that card. It was proof they didn’t take my position as the crown prince’s fiancée seriously.
This was a squabble among young ladies fresh from their debuts. Even if the emperor heard, he’d likely laugh it off. But there’s always a “what if” in life. The middle-aged woman knew that, which was why she humbled herself before me.
“So, not being imperial, you dared address me, the crown prince’s fiancée, first?”
“I’m truly sorry, Miss Eliant. Please, show mercy. You too, apologize to Miss Eliant at once!”
The middle-aged woman grabbed her daughter’s head and forced it down. The young lady, clueless but sensing something was wrong, bowed under her mother’s pressure. Her lack of resistance showed she felt the mistake, even if she didn’t understand it.
Her trembling hands clutched her dress’s hem. She’d likely never faced such a blow to her pride. Well, that’s probably why she was bold enough to challenge me.
“Family name?”
“Angriver, my lady.”
Despite my curt tone, the middle-aged woman answered meekly. I saw her hand tightly gripping her daughter’s trembling one, hidden by the folds of her skirt. I spoke deliberately, with a mocking edge.
“Angriver? Never heard of it.”
At my murmured words, the woman’s face flushed with humiliation, her jaw clenched visibly.
I’d said I didn’t know, but I knew the Angriver viscountcy was a long-established, fairly prestigious house. It was a bit of a shame to crush them for an example, but I wasn’t gentle enough to avoid a fight they’d started.
It seemed true that the current viscount doted on his only daughter. The Angriver young lady, fearless as if she’d lost all sense of caution, raised her head stiffly and shouted at me.
“Poor His Highness! A woman like you… why… why…!”
Overcome with emotion, she faltered, unable to finish. Tears welled in her eyes as she glared at me. Only then, seeing the malice in her gaze, did I realize.
She was in love with Sys.
The greed for what she couldn’t have, the malice toward someone who possessed what she desired.
How had I not noticed? Her eyes were so like mine had been, blindly chasing the crown prince.
“Why am I his fiancée, you ask?”
I moved faster than the Viscountess Angriver, who tried to stop her daughter. I stepped close to the young lady. Startled by my sudden approach, she stumbled back but then stopped, glaring at me with wide eyes. Her pride seemed wounded by the brief moment she’d shown fear.
Her lips, bitten so hard they might bleed, and her venom-filled eyes were fixed on me. So much like the old me that my lips twisted into a smirk.
I knew exactly how people like her worked. Leaning close to her ear, I whispered.
“Because he loves me.”
As all eyes were on me and the Angriver girl, a man briefly appeared at the passage leading to the second floor. He met my gaze, then quickly hid himself.
I stepped back, putting some distance between me and the trembling young lady. Her face was contorted with emotion. Shaking off the middle-aged woman’s restraining hand, she screamed.
“With your family aside, you’re nothing better than me!”
As our confrontation continued, some onlookers fidgeted nervously, while others watched with gleaming, intrigued eyes. A few familiar faces observed us closely, nodding subtly in acknowledgment when our eyes met.
“You whore, seducing every man you see!”
Slap!
The Angriver girl’s head jerked to the side. Her pale, freckled skin swelled red instantly.
“Not everything that comes out of your mouth counts as words, young lady.”
I flexed my stinging hand and smiled brightly at her. I already knew the rumors. Hearing them again from someone else’s mouth didn’t wound me or stir my emotions.
“You do realize your words just insulted not only the Eliant Marquisate but also the imperial family, don’t you?”
Her outburst wasn’t just a personal slight against me—it insulted the crown prince, my fiancé. Whispering in secret was one thing; saying it to my face was another. Calling me a whore was the same as calling the crown prince a man engaged to one. It was blatant defamation of royalty.
Thud.
The middle-aged woman staggered and collapsed to the floor. No one in the shop had missed her daughter’s words. It was an irreparable mistake.
Realizing her blunder too late, the young lady paled and covered her mouth. But the words had already spilled into the air. They couldn’t be taken back.
“F-Forgive…”
The viscountess reached toward me. As her fingers grasped for my skirt, I roughly pulled it from her grip.
“You’d do better to beg His Majesty’s mercy, madam. Though I’m not sure His Majesty, who cherishes me, will forgive you.”
Taking advantage of their panic, I strode out of the shop with composure. The man hiding in the corner cautiously approached me.
