Chapter 96 - Hostility And Conflict

Rose, who was sitting next to me, smiled sweetly. “I’ll be looking forward to it,” she whispered.

“Huh? Looking forward to what?” I asked without thinking twice.

“The tea party with your special tea,” she answered with a laugh as if she thought I was joking. I sighed at her words then glared back at the tree where Max was. I wasn’t sure if I was fortunate or not when I saw that he had disappeared before my eyes.

‘I’ll speak to him later,’ I decided.

At that moment, Mikhail rose from his seat. “I’m going to get some fresh air,” he announced. I could see Lady Terence standing up to follow him.

“Oh, me too…” she started, but Rose called out to her.

“Veronica, shouldn’t you set the date for our next tea party?”

Frowning, Lady Terence sat back down. “Darn it! Alright.” I was relieved since things had gone smoothly but sighed when I thought about Max again.

‘This contract… will be okay, right?’

* * *

“Um, Lady Floyen,” a grumpy voice called out. “Why did you sigh after looking at me?”

I glanced up and saw Lady Terence giving me a look. “Oh, I…” I wasn’t a nosy person. My safety came first, and it was my principle that everyone should take care of themselves. But seeing how her expression was similar to the faces I’ve made in the past; I couldn’t leave her be. “I’m angry,” I admitted.

“What?” she asked as if I said something ridiculous. There was no backing down now.

“I was often ignored as well,” I said.

“Who are you saying was ignored?” She stood up from her seat, trembling.

It was understandable for her to not want to admit it. I acknowledged her feelings because I was once like her. “I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.” She continued to glare at me as I apologized and stood up from my seat. If I stayed here any longer, I was only going to hurt her more. “As promised, I’ll host the next tea party. However, if it will distress you to take part, you don’t have to come. I’ll be going now.” With these words, I left the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mikhail was wearing a dark expression as he stomped out of the drawing room. ‘How dare that shallow man…!’ It was irritating that the man next to Jubelian was scowling at him, but he chose to ignore it because it was ridiculous. He would only end up looking foolish if he let out his anger at a petty commoner. But just now, when he found out that Jubelian’s attention was on that man and that she showed all kinds of expressions while looking at him, it felt like his heart was being burned black.

‘That can’t be true!’ Mikhail didn’t want to admit the fact that such a lowlife was able to stir up such emotions in Jubelian. It was because of this reason that Mikhail would glare at Max with bloodthirsty eyes whenever Jubelian looked away. However, the arrogant commoner only smiled back at him while motioning to cut his neck as if threatening to kill him.

‘I’ll kill you, you conceited rascal!’ Mikhail left the mansion in search of Max. As he passed by a deserted area, he heard a low voice speaking vulgar words. 

“Crawling out of there pretty late, aren’t you?” Max, who had just insulted a nobleman, was staring at Mikhail with his red eyes. He was standing in a slightly dim area.

‘You’ve lost your sense of fear, you egoistic man.’ One of the virtues of the Imperial Knights was for them to not easily boast their strength. However, Mikhail had no intention of showing generosity to the commoner who had just committed mutiny against him. ‘It should be fine if I just break his arm, right?’ Mikhail, who was about to make his move after finding the right excuse to punish this man, was swept by a powerful blow and grabbed by the collar in an instant. It had happened before anyone could notice.

‘W-what did he just do?’ his face scrunched slightly as he was trying to understand what was happening. “Ugh!” He cried out as his body was slammed against the ground. Mikhail tried his best to lift himself from the sudden shock when a long shadow cast over him.

“Just as I thought, crawling suits petty people,” the man said bleakly. There was something close to madness looming inside his slightly curved red eyes. Mikhail stared at Max in shock. He had thought that Max was just a good-looking playboy because of the disinterested expression he wore. But the quick movements he had just shown and the overwhelming pressure from his red eyes felt completely different from the same man he saw a while ago.

‘This man. What on earth is he?’