Chapter 18

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: There is No Mercy 18

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“And I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into this matter. You wanted an answer, right? The one answer I can give you is this. If you hadn’t shown up today and had broken the contract instead.”

If that had been the case.

I tugged on Aden’s hand, hooked around my fingertip.

My breath brushed the tip of Aden’s chin as he naturally drew closer, following my lead.

When I gave a quiet smile to Aden, who had widened his eyes in surprise, his brows furrowed.

“Sier……”

“You must have experienced how much colder a single woman’s wrath can be than the goddess’s blessing upon Harmonia.”

“……”

“If you want to see frost fall even in the height of summer…… by all means, go ahead.”

I rolled my soft gaze up and down his stiffened face before stepping back.

As the long coda played and the music ended, the dancers parted and exchanged greetings with one another.

I, too, offered my final greeting amid them.

“Riplton Ghost Archduke.”

Aden’s own greeting was nowhere to be found.

“Wh-what on earth? What in the world just happened?!”

Richel, who had been staring in horror at Sierra and Aden smiling amiably as the music ended, finally let a voice escape her lips.

The people who had been holding their breath while watching the scene snapped to attention at her sharp, high-pitched cry.

Sierra and Aden’s smiles held no real warmth, but in their eyes, at least, the two looked like a graceful pair of peacocks.

“Y-yeah. Why did those two……”

The voice of one lady trailed off slowly toward Bellieta.

The gazes of the other ladies all turned to Bellieta as well.

The sympathy they had felt moments ago for Bellieta—who had been badmouthing Sierra and getting entangled with Aden—was gone without a trace.

Now, they were watching her like hyenas, eyes gleaming as they awaited her reaction.

Bellieta, who had been observing the pair, hurriedly collected herself under the ladies’ stares.

She met the hyenas’ eyes—glinting as if ready to tear into her at the slightest opening—with a composed gaze of her own.

“They make a fine pair. Don’t you all think so?”

“Pardon? Ah…… yes, y-yes, they do.”

The Cherni Count Lady nodded in awkward agreement, her face uneasy at Bellieta’s nonchalant response, which didn’t match what she’d expected.

The other ladies, seeing Bellieta show no real reaction, couldn’t press further and turned their heads away with forced nonchalance.

“I think there’s something wrong with this.”

“Lady Richel. Enough……”

“It’s not ‘enough’—don’t you all think the same? Dancing at the ball right after rumors started flying about the Lady and the Riplton Ghost Archduke. Doesn’t it seem off?”

Just as Richel said, every lady present shared the same thought.

No—anyone who didn’t would be the odd one out.

The idea that Sierra’s rumors had entangled Bellieta’s fiancé, that Sierra had stolen him away, had lodged firmly in their minds.

“Look! Smiling and greeting each other so intimately—no one could call that normal! This is definitely……”

“Lady Richel. It would be best to stop there.”

Piolett Baylor, unable to stand it any longer, calmly reined Richel in.

But Richel, with her round eyes and chattering lips, ignored Piolett’s plea and kept babbling on.

Bellieta smiled placidly as she listened to Richel’s noisy prattle, but Richel showed no sign of stopping.

“Anyone would find that suspicious! It’s as good as the Lady stealing your man!”

“L-Lady Richel.”

“Lady, this isn’t the time to just stand here—you need to go reclaim what the Brilloxen Lady took from you right now. Otherwise, you’ll look like the loser!”

In her excitement, Richel spat out words she never should have.

The ladies, fed up with Richel’s refusal to listen despite their attempts to stop her, took a step back with weary expressions.

Piolett stepped forward, her face flushed, trying to silence the nonstop chatterbox that was Richel.

“Enough now……”

“How intriguing.”

Before Piolett could intervene, Bellieta’s voice cut in.

Piolett and the ladies’ gazes snapped to Bellieta.

Bellieta, her expression serene, met their stares and opened her mouth.

“Lady, you think the same as me……”

“A loser? So that’s how you saw me and Sierra. How fascinating.”

“Pardon……?”

Richel, who had thought Bellieta was agreeing with her, continued with a thrilled face—only to widen her eyes like a startled squirrel at the words that followed.

Bellieta smiled coolly and took a step toward her.

“Sierra and I have been friends for a long time. Outsiders who don’t know better may gossip about us, but I’d rather you not badmouth my friend or frame us as rivals to my face. Sierra and I are very close friends.”

“I-I…… th-this is…… um……”

“I understand what you think, Lady Richel. A loser—how amusing.”

Bellieta rolled her eyes toward Sierra, who was retreating to a private corner, then let out a quiet laugh.

“I hope we don’t cross paths again.”

“L-Lady! I’m sorry! I-I……”

Bellieta was the only daughter of the Bozbon family, which held real power in the empire, and wielded immense influence in high society.

In other words, she had effectively sentenced Richel to social death.

Richel, pale as a ghost, desperately opened her mouth to beg forgiveness, but stopping Bellieta, who had turned away indifferently, was impossible.

The other ladies had no desire to stick by Richel—who wouldn’t heed warnings and had now incurred Bellieta’s wrath—lest the sparks fly their way too.

Left utterly alone, Richel savored the final moments of her abruptly ended social life.

“Will she be all right?”

Piolett, following behind Bellieta, glanced back cautiously and asked.

Instead of answering Piolett’s careful question, Bellieta moved her steps even more calmly and deliberately.

‘Loser’.

Richel’s words burrowed back into Bellieta’s mind.

Richel hadn’t meant anything by it, but it struck at her reverse scale.

A reverse scale built up over many long years.

“What do you mean?”

Piolett asked no more after Bellieta’s delayed response.

She simply followed quietly behind.

The private corner, slightly removed from the boisterous ballroom, was comparatively quiet.

Sierra, who had been speaking with Aden, looked toward Bellieta approaching her.

As their gazes met, Bellieta hurried over with a bright smile.

“You’re here?”

Sierra spoke first.

Bellieta nodded, then turned not to Sierra but to Aden and bowed her head.

“Riplton Ghost Archduke.”

“Bozbon Duke’s Daughter.”

Aden dipped his head lightly in return for her greeting.

Bellieta stared at Aden for a long moment in the silence before turning away.

“I was looking everywhere for you. You vanished while I was dancing the first piece with the Bladia Marquis, so I thought you’d gone off to rest. But……”

Bellieta trailed off, glancing back and forth between the two, then tilted her head with an innocently puzzled expression.

“I was surprised to see you two show up together. How do you know each other? Oh! Don’t tell me the man you mentioned being interested in before was……”

Her voice rose in pitch, as if deliberately loud enough for all to hear.

In the quiet private corner, Bellieta’s words scattered to those around.

The nobles sipping their wine perked up their ears at the intriguing conversation, stealing glances and wondering what Sierra would say next.

Sierra, watching Bellieta’s deer-like innocent face, gave a faint smile and lifted her wine glass.

As Sierra evaded the question, Bellieta took another curious step closer.

“Sier……”

“More importantly, have you heard the rumors?”

“……Rumors?”

“Rumors that you and the Archduke beside you are engaged. Everyone’s dismissing it as baseless gossip without foundation, but still, whispers of a marriage between a duke’s house and an archduke’s house are hard to ignore.”

Sierra leisurely tilted her wine glass to wet her lips.

The red liquid trailed down her even redder lips.

The glass clinked several times as it swirled.

Thirsty, perhaps—Sierra drained half the wine and laughed as if delighted.

“Bellieta. My dearest, most treasured friend whom I love and cherish above all. I worry that my actions might displease you. So, could you tell me? Is that rumor true…… or false?”

Bellieta couldn’t easily open her mouth to Sierra’s words, sharp as an awl.

Sierra had struck right at the heart.

No matter if Bellieta affirmed or denied it, the situation would turn against her.

Sierra gazed at the silent Bellieta and tilted her glass again.

‘Deny it, and my ties to the archduke’s house aren’t a scandal. Affirm it, and you strangle yourself with your own hands.’

Sierra flicked her eyes toward Aden, who was observing the situation, then met his gaze as he lowered his.

After briefly exchanging looks with him, Sierra set down her glass and tilted her head.

“Bellieta?”

At Sierra’s call, Bellieta let out a long breath.

She shook her head, clicked her tongue softly, and spoke curtly.

“I don’t know either.”

“……You don’t know?”

“I can’t tell where the rumor started, but honestly, I don’t know for sure myself. You know how it is—engagements between families often blindside the parties involved. I haven’t heard from my parents, so I can’t say for certain. That’s why I can’t give you an answer. Sorry.”

“……”

A calm, rational response.

A diplomatic sidestep perfectly suited to a tricky situation.

Sierra bit her lip, realizing Bellieta was even shrewder and sharper than she’d thought.

“Sierra. Even if the rumor were true, I wouldn’t mind you dancing with the Archduke or getting close to him. You know that. It’s just a dance, nothing more. I danced the first piece with the Bladia Marquis tonight too. So, no need to worry about it. Got it?”

With that, Bellieta took a step back and bowed to Aden in greeting.

Then she turned and slowly walked away from Sierra.

Sierra watched Bellieta deftly extricate herself from the disadvantageous spot, then set her glass down.

“Bellieta.”

Bellieta paused and looked back.

Sierra met the pale eyes gazing at her and smiled brightly.

“Thank you for thinking that way. Bellieta. You’re always the friend I love and want to be like.”