Chapter 17.
As soon as Elisa’s answer dropped, Adrian led her toward the center of the floor.
The second dance music began, and though she was stepping as Adrian led, Elisa could not focus on the dance with Adrian at all.
She could vividly feel the gazes of the people glancing at her. The sound would have been buried by the orchestra’s performance, but the conversation they would be sharing was obvious.
That, just like her mother, she was trying all sorts of tricks to become the Grand Duchess with her body.
No, those floating words were nothing. For an illegitimate child whose mother had finally entered the Duke’s estate with the title of the most beautiful woman in Roserica, brushing off such rumors was something she had become as accustomed to as could be.
What bothered her more terribly than that right now was the other side. For instance, the gaze of her father, who was looking over this way with great satisfaction.
Elisa knew very well what that look meant.
You have finally become useful.
The Duke of Roserica was looking at Elisa with exactly those eyes.
It really is a perfect picture.
The fiancé who made a monetary bet over me,
The father who has nothing but thoughts of selling me off at a high price,
Even my half-sister standing next to Father looks aggrieved that she isn’t the one dancing with my fiancé.
Compared to that, the future Schultz Tugrahan promised Elisa contained everything she wanted.
He respected Elisa as a Naval Admiral and promised that he would not make any issue of her status.
Though, it would be a pie in the sky anyway.
As Elisa let out a sigh while thinking so, Adrian noticed at once the fact that Elisa was not focusing on the dance with him and was thinking about something else.
His eyebrows furrowed, and displeasure welled up in his red eyes. Adrian had absolutely no intention of just standing by and watching Elisa think of another man in front of him.
Adrian forced a turn into Elisa’s step, lifting and spinning her body.
Under normal circumstances, there was no way Elisa could not keep up. Because the one who could plant a bullet in a pirate captain’s head even on a storm-tossed ship was Admiral Shooter.
There was no way she would misstep just because a step got twisted in a mere ordinary waltz.
Something felt as if it were boiling furiously inside her stomach.
“Ha… Where on earth is your mind wandering to?”
“Dance properly. What kind of dog trick is this?”
Adrian Oberon could not tolerate Elisa thinking of something else even for that brief moment and rebuked her. Elisa moved her feet a bit faster to restore the tempo of the step that Adrian had twisted back to its original state. Her heel stung a little. It seemed her foot was being chafed by the shoe.
As she barely restored the step like that, the sound of a sigh poured down from above Elisa’s head.
“What did Schultz Tugrahan say to you a moment ago?”
By this point, Elisa could not endure it either. She thoroughly disliked Adrian’s attitude of trying to catch her like a cornered rat just because of a single slip of the foot.
However, whatever Adrian thought of Elisa’s silence, he continued to press her.
“I asked what kind of conversation you had with Schultz Tugrahan that made you lose your senses like this.”
“Do I have to report even that to you one by one?”
“What came in under the guise of a gift is gunpowder. Do you think this matter won’t reach Her Majesty the Queen’s ears? Does your brain not even work that much?”
“I will report directly to Her Majesty the Queen, so you back off. Does it make sense for an Admiral to report to a Vice Admiral?”
“Why on earth! Do you twist a person’s words and listen to them like that? I am not telling you to report.”
“Then, your attitude shouldn’t be like this. If this isn’t a command right now, is it a request?”
Not wanting to lose even a single word, Elisa shot back at everything he said. Adrian let out a sigh as if frustrated by such an attitude from Elisa.
He was truly obnoxious. The attitude of trying to escape like that as if he himself were noble even though he had done the exact same thing resembled that of the nobles so much that she truly did not want to face him any longer.
While the two were fighting frantically, the dance music was already rushing toward its end. As soon as the orchestra’s melody ended, Elisa let go of Adrian’s hand. As Elisa turned around first and stepped down from the floor, Adrian’s voice followed behind her back.
“What are you doing, the conversation isn’t over yet.”
Adrian shouted like that and hurriedly went down the floor following Elisa. At that moment, someone hurriedly cut in between Adrian and Elisa.
It did not even matter who that person was. Even if she looked, they would just be someone trying to take care of their own benefit by sticking to Adrian’s side anyway, and one of the nobles who ignored Elisa by treating her like an invisible person.
“Then I hope you two have a pleasant time.”
Without even giving Adrian room to stop her, Elisa handed him over to the other noble and headed for the deck.
Upon escaping from the party venue, only then could her nose, which had been paralyzed by the vibrating scent of perfume and powder inside, breathe properly. Facing the sea breeze, she felt like she could finally live.
As Elisa was walking toward the deck like that, someone thudded down, blocking her path.
As expected, she shouldn’t have come to this kind of place.
“Long time no see, bastard? No, should I call you a high-class whore now? Which one is it? Did you sell your body to Schultz Tugrahan? If it’s not that side, could it be Adrian Oberon?”
It was Garon Heisen. When Elisa did not react, he continued his provocation.
“Why? Is it unfair because a whore’s daughter is about to hear herself called a whore? I guess you have some pride in that miserable state of yours?”
“So, is that why the precious son of the grand Marquis Heisen couldn’t even graduate from the academy that a whore graduated from? Is that why you aren’t even recognized by the Marquis, and your younger brother is receiving the successor lessons?”
“This damn bitch…! Who is all that because of!”
“Who else would it be because of, aren’t you the one who pulled a stupid stunt believing only in Adrian Oberon?”
“This really!”
It was obvious he was raising his hand. Heavily drunk, his movement was slow. Just as Elisa was about to subtly turn her body to avoid it, someone’s body collided in. Looking back slightly, she saw the figure of Enoch tightly gripping Garon Heisen’s arm.
Enoch bent that arm backward with a very calm expression.
“Aaah! Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing right now? Won’t you let go of this?”
Enoch merely clicked his tongue, tsk, and did not relax the strength in his grip.
“Get a hold of yourself. This person is a Naval Admiral personally appointed by Her Majesty the Queen. I am saying she is the Queen’s soldier. Surely you don’t fail to know the fact that attacking her is treason against Her Majesty the Queen?”
As soon as Garon barely confirmed Enoch’s face with a face flushed with pain, he pointed his finger and screamed.
“You, you! Weren’t you clearly a junior from the academy days? Can’t you let go of this right now? Where do you dare against a senior! Do you think you’ll be safe even after doing this? Do you know who I am!”
“Who on earth gives senior treatment to an idiot who couldn’t even graduate, Senior.”
Even at Garon’s threat, Enoch merely snorted. It was natural, for there was not a single person in social circles who did not know the fact that Garon, who had not even graduated from the academy, was a child cast away by his father.
Elisa, who was watching the two, sighed. It would be best to mediate at this point. If the matter grew bigger, it was obvious it would become disadvantageous for Enoch, who held a naval status.
“Enoch, let go of that arm.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
At that single word from Elisa, Enoch, without asking or questioning, immediately took his hand off Garon’s body and stepped one pace back.
“If you have a complaint about my naval appointment, go and tell Her Majesty the Queen directly. Or come directly to the naval base. Then I will gladly put a bullet hole in your head.”
“Do you think you can be fine even after saying such things to me! A bitch who hides behind a man and acts cowardly now just as in the past!”
Even while saying so, he massaged the arm that had been caught by Enoch and turned tail.
The one who became enraged at his last words was Enoch, not Elisa.
“I will bring that bastard back. Let’s just shoot him right here without even needing to go to the naval base.”
“Did you forget who is riding on this ship right now? If you want to start a war, go ahead and try.”
“Admiral!”
At Enoch’s aggrieved cry asking why she wouldn’t take his side, Elisa burst out laughing comfortably for the first time since boarding this ship.
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