“L-let’s talk about this calmly.”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t come any closer.”
“……”
Tatiana firmly shook her head at Alexei as he approached, her eyes downcast. When he, having hastily pulled on his trousers, tried to speak again in his urgency, she raised her sharp gaze.
“I believe I’ve already apologized for the rudeness of wandering through someone else’s house.”
“Tiara.”
“So regarding the rudeness of showing me such a spectacle, would it be too much to ask for a moment’s peace?”
“……”
Please, let me think!
Tatiana pressed her fingertips to her throbbing forehead, her demeanor both sorrowful and composed.
How dare they humiliate me like this.
The urge to drag these two out and shame them was overwhelming. Even without making a tearful scene, simply opening that door now would make today’s events the talk of society for years to come.
“……”
And that was precisely why it would harm her too.
If anyone thought rumors about these two panting lovers would end with just them, they severely underestimated this society. Affairs between men and women weren’t even worth raising an eyebrow here. But add a third person to the mix, and everything changes.
They would fabricate a hundred stories about how the proud Cartien family’s youngest daughter ran out crying, what the three of them were doing together—whatever suited their taste for scandal.
Whatever the case, she couldn’t deny that this was turning out to be the worst birthday in her twenty-one years.
“Hah.”
Her only consolation was that she wasn’t particularly shocked by it all. Even Alexei’s half-naked form casting furtive glances at her wasn’t terribly surprising. While she hadn’t expected him to behave like a beast on the very day he was supposed to propose, he was at least the ‘type of man who might do this sort of thing anytime.’
“Tiara. Listen to me. This is a misunderstanding.”
“…A misunderstanding?”
Tatiana let out a light laugh, finding even his excuse perfectly fitting for him. The Duke flinched, fumbling to put on his shirt while clearing his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem, we can discuss the details later. For now, let’s go downstairs. The guests are waiting, and if we’re absent too long, people will talk. If we head straight to the banquet hall…”
“For someone so concerned about that, you seemed ready to start something just now.”
“……”
“Unless you were confident about finishing quickly.”
Tatiana’s lips curved slightly as she stepped back from him. Since she’d never spoken about such matters before, his look of disbelief was understandable. But if he had abandoned being a gentleman, she had no obligation to remain a lady.
‘What should I do?’
Still, she couldn’t keep dragging this out forever. She had only two choices left.
Either take that unsightly man’s hand and go downstairs to preserve their reputation or protect her dignity—though it would cause quite a commotion.
“Ti-Tiara, you seem a bit agitated. Calm down.”
“You’ve never seen me truly agitated, Your Grace.”
Of course, she had no intention of showing him. Clenching her teeth tightly, Tatiana suddenly stepped closer to him. Though she was suppressing her emotions and forcing herself to remain composed, one thing was clear.
“Listen carefully.”
The longer she hesitated and wavered, the more it would ultimately benefit this man.
“I’ll leave first, so handle the rest yourself. Whether you suddenly have urgent business at the palace or fall down the stairs and break something, I don’t care. Just make sure my name doesn’t come up in today’s events, and I’ll be deeply grateful.”
“What are you saying? What about our engagement?”
“So you did know today was the day of our engagement?”
“……”
Of course not.
Tatiana cast a cold smile at the woman crouched behind the desk, clutching her dress awkwardly and frozen in place.
Which family was she from again?
Even with her excellent memory for most things, this one was too faint to recall, suggesting she wasn’t from any particularly prominent household. Tatiana’s indifferent gaze soon turned to mild resignation.
“You don’t need to bother putting your clothes back on, my Lady. I’ll be leaving soon, so feel free to continue where you left off.”
“W-what are you—”
“If you say one more word, I might just remember your name.”
“Hngh!”
At Tatiana’s not-quite-a-threat, the woman turned pale and lost her strength, letting the dress she had been trying to cover herself with slip to the floor. Still blinking in confusion, Alexei, Duke of Atlas, stood there, unable to grasp the situation. Tatiana offered him her final words.
“Since I haven’t received the ring, there’s nothing left to settle. How convenient.”
“Tiara!”
“Oh… and you’ll have to return that nickname as well.”
With that, Tatiana completed her calculations and turned gracefully. She didn’t care whether they tried to stop her or cursed her behind her back. As she opened the door and descended the stairs, a few people acknowledged her, but she responded only with brief nods and moved quickly past them.
“Haaah.”
Just get out. I need to get out of here.
All she wanted was to escape this filthy, suffocating place as quickly as possible. Even in this moment, forcing a smile had left her cheeks stinging. Avoiding as many people as she could, she fled toward the front door, only to have a familiar, ornate carriage stop in front of her.
“Oh my, Tiara! Why are you out here?”
“Goodness, what’s with your face? Did something happen?”
“…Sister.”
The moment her third sister, Katarina, and fourth sister, Viviana, stepped out of the carriage, they began fussing over her. But before they could grab hold of her, the unusually subdued Tatiana climbed into the carriage.
“I’m leaving first.”
“Leaving? Where to? Is it already over?”
“Over? She doesn’t even have the ring.”
As Viviana looked up in concern, Katarina pointed to their youngest sister’s bare hand. Only then did Tatiana lower her left hand, which she had deliberately rested on the carriage window for all to see.
“Nothing ended because nothing began.”
“What do you mean? Tatiana, get out first. No, let me call Mother.”
“No.”
Tatiana, massaging her temple with one hand, used the other to pry her sisters’ hands from the carriage window. True to their twin nature, even their gestures of reaching for her were identical.
“Tell them to check the third room on the left from the second-floor reception room.”
“Why there? What’s in that room?”
“…Don’t you sisters want to see it too?”
The twins hesitated at the sight of Tatiana’s ice-cold eyes gleaming between her slender fingers. Though she was their much younger sister, in moments like these, they couldn’t help but yield to her.
“How beasts mate.”
△▲△▲△
“My Lady, you’re back already? We haven’t prepared anything since we thought you’d return around midnight.”
At the Cartien mansion’s entrance, Anne hurried after Tatiana. The bread crumbs at the corner of her mouth suggested she hadn’t expected her youngest mistress to return at this hour at all.
“Shall I have dinner prepared now? Or perhaps the bath first…”
“Anne, did you know too?”
“Kn-know what?”
“What I was supposed to experience tonight.”
Tatiana handed over her magnificent crimson cape while studying Anne intently. Quick-witted as expected of her personal maid, Anne clapped her hands lightly.
“Of course! You were to receive a proposal from Duke Atlas!”
“……”
Just how far had the rumors spread?
Now truly wanting nothing more than to lie down, Tatiana headed straight to her room. Though it was the largest and most luxurious space in their mansion, situated in the heart of Lebron, the Freya Empire’s capital, right now she’d accept anywhere she could stretch out her legs.
“Haah.”
The moment she lay on her bed, all tension drained from her body, and Tatiana finally released the breath she’d been holding. If even the servants knew, not just the nobility, their engagement must have been considered a foregone conclusion.
Well, who could she blame?
After all, she herself had believed it would happen.
“I’m thinking of seating Duke Atlas next to you at the charity fundraiser this weekend.”
Two months ago, that casual comment from her mother, delivered as casually as offering a jewel, had started it all. Sitting across from her mother, who gazed at her with utterly loving eyes while lifting her teacup, Tatiana had thought.
So it’s finally happening.
Since her fourth sister Viviana’s marriage four years ago, it was about time for her turn. The Viscountess observed her youngest daughter, who sipped her tea without showing any surprise.
“A Duke would be suitable, wouldn’t you say, darling?”
Suitable was an understatement.
The House of Atlas was the most powerful among the Empire’s mere three Ducal families. In the imperial palace, which lacked an empress, the Atlas family was effectively the true power, being the birth family of Queen Consort Charlize, who was the de facto mistress of the palace.
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