Obey Me

About nine people participated in the salon.

The host, Countess Rachel Vivian Hill, welcomed her with a bow as soon as she saw Kyrie.

“Miss Buchanan! You’re here!”

“Hello, Miss Hill. The landscape of the garden is beautiful, even in winter. Thank you for inviting me to this wonderful mansion.”

“Not at all! On the contrary, I’m very glad Miss Buchanan could make it!”

It really looked like that. Rachel Vivian Hill guided them to the drawing room and subtly put on a haughty attitude.

“Actually, I thought you came because we often exchanged letters.”

Kyrie smiled sincerely. It was cute to describe greeting cards as letters.

“Yes. Miss Hill is very literary so it brings me great pleasure to read your letters.”

Rachel’s face brightened. She happily led the people, who had envious gazes, to the drawing room.

Standing at her seat, Rachel tapped the teacup twice with a teaspoon.

“Everyone, thank you for coming to my salon.”

She heard voices saying, ‘You’re welcome’ from all over the place.

“I’m so happy to have you beautiful and wonderful ladies and gentlemen who make me forget that it’s winter winter. Please enjoy the salon.”

Rachel smiled broadly. Kyrie checked her smile again. From now on, it was the territory of a group of fancy piranhas(1) feasting off the rumors.
(Q/N: Basically saying they are so hungry for rumours.)

The quickest to act were the young people they pretended to approach Rachel, while fixing their eyes on Kyrie.

“Miss Hill! The interior decoration is wonderful, Countess Hill has a good eye.”

“Miss Hill, we’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“Miss Rachel! The salon is so wonderful. But the person next to you…?”

Kyrie waited politely for Rachel to introduce her.

“Have you two met yet? This is Miss Kyrie Buchanan! She especially attended today!”

Kyrie smiled at the ostentatiously uttered words.

“I’m Kyrie Buchanan. Nice to meet you, Miss Eleanorra Duntrich and Miss Liana Torvalt.”

“Oh my! You know my name?”

“Of course, Miss Duntrich’s proof of Ferelman’s conjecture caused a stir in the society and everybody knows the vintage wines of the Torvalt family.”

“My word… I’m quite impressed, Miss Buchanan!”

Nothing was as easy as pleasing someone who was interested in you. Kyrie easily took over the salon.

A few of the esteemed sons and daughters were eager to go up and strike a conversation.

However, for a while, they were busy chatting while looking at each other, and it was only until Viscount Hastings, who had the strongest temperament, approached and spoke.

“By the way, Miss Buchanan, does the Legendary Lord not like engaging in social activities?”

Everyone’s ears twitched, Kyrie endured the desire to burst into laughter and spoke softly.

“He doesn’t like to make a fuss.”

“Oh…… then it would be hard to see him.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Can’t you open a salon or something?”

Rachel nudged in and asked.

“I’m not sure what happened in the past, but it is a huge loss to not have someone as elegant and wonderful as him appear in the social world!”

Kyrie smiled softly.

“I understand how you feel. Unfortunately, I do not have the right to ask this of the Legendary Lord. As you know, he’s literally a legend. You understand, don’t you?”

Everyone sighed. Their eyes were full of regret.

“I hoped to see him at least once…”

“I heard he is very good at swordsmanship. He can separate mountains and seas. I wonder, is it true?”

“It’s true that the Marquis’s son’s pants were cut off… hehe”

Since then, people criticized the ‘Marquis’s son’ for a while with subtle derisive remarks.

Kyrie watched quietly as people blew up the rumors. When she did not participate in the conversation, people noticed and changed the subject.

“What are you going to do, Miss Buchanan?”

Someone asked. Several pairs of people’s eyes went back to Kyrie.

“What do you mean Miss?”

“For example… I was wondering if you had a good relationship with the snow and the Patriotic Lord”

In the midst of those who pretended not to listen, Kyrie calmly raised her chin and smiled.

“I think you might have misunderstood because I received such a big gift from the two of them.”

“Misunderstood?”

“Yes. The two were very merciful, so they only shared what they had.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Of course. They are the Legendary Lord and Patriotic Lord. Besides….”

Kyrie deliberately trailed off.

“They said they would give me control of their lands, but who knows? Maybe it’s because I happened to have a good relationship with them. If so, they’re willing to entrust the rights they had to me for the meantime.”

A jingling sound that couldn’t be heard resonated in everyone’s ears. People’s eyes grew as big as gold coins.

“The annual income is 120 billion dollars?”

“Since it is an undeserved position for me in the first place.”

“Ugh……”

“No matter how much it is, 120 billion…..”

“How much was the royal budget?”

“With that money…”

Kyrie sat still and waited patiently for the people to whisper among themselves and finish their calculations in their heads.

To Kyrie, it would be beneficial if the interest of the people and the royal family passed over Kyrie and went to the two main perpetrators, the Legendary Lord and the Patriotic Lord.

Kyrie’s position was very vague. Nathaniel cared about her, but it was limited to Kyrie.

What if she brought royal family hatred to herself and they began to touch the Buchanan family and the people around her, instead of Kyrie specifically? Would Nathaniel care about that?

‘I don’t think so.’

Therefore, she should not pretend to be royal for the sake of the people around her rather than for herself.

(P/R: Pretending to be royal means that she shouldn’t be acting all high and mighty like the royal family if she wants to protect those she cherished. And people are looking down on her and feel uncomfortable because of how Nathaniel cares about her.)

Then, they wouldn’t look at her, who Nathaniel strangely seemed to care about, and feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, it would be good if the socialites thought ‘I can replace Kyrie Buchanan if I try’ as much as they want.

‘Take the pressure from my side, and turn all the eyes to Nathaniel.’

Unexpectedly, Nathaniel did not dislike the proposal. He was such a hard man to read. But Kirie could tell that he was thinking, ‘Will it work out your way?’.

‘I’m gonna make it work. I don’t want anyone to touch the walking ultimate weapon, but I will also not be a target for people.’

As Kyrie intended, the salon was excited by the story of the Legendary Lord. A servant rushed to Rachel, handed her a small note and ran back. Rachel, who was about to scold her servant, stood up like a thunderbolt.

“Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

People were surprised by her strange attitude, but Rachel didn’t care and started to groom herself out of the blue.

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God! If I had known this, I would have worn a more expensive dress!”

“Miss Hill, the air is stuffy. May I open the window?”

One Young Lady criticized her movement with an euphemism, saying ‘Your movements are so disruptive that it’s dusty.’ Rachel shouted, touching her hair with a red face.

“That’s not important right now! E-, everyone, in our salon right now…!”

She didn’t get to say more. The drawing room door opened. It’s polite not to be late for other people’s salons, but there were only three people in Trevereum who could ignore that courtesy.

The Emperor, The Legendary Lord, and the Patriotic Lord.

What appeared in the drawing-room was the Patriotic Lord.

〔Pardon me.〕

Everyone’s bodies stiffened.

Although not as good as Nathaniel, Leschaux was also a rare handsome man.

The soft curly blonde hair, and the ripe cherry-like reddish-purple eyes made the heart flutter.

A face like a statue without expression evoked a strangely protective instinct.

He was dressed in a light shirt, but didn’t seem to feel cold, and a thin dark-colored sword hung from his waist.

It was different from the sword he used the other day to block Nathaniel’s cane. People could easily guess that their swords could change shape according to their convenience.

Leschaux, who arrived unannounced, immediately approached Kyrie.

〔Kyrie Buchanan. Have you been well?〕

Kyrie grit her teeth. If you treat a person in such a way after they said you weren’t that close, everything they said would sound like a lie.

As expected, the gazes from the people around her became sharp. Kyrie smiled with a feeling of crying.

“Hello, Lord Leschaux. I’m doing well but if you participate in the salon, it is polite to greet the organizers first.”

〔Is that so. I didn’t know.〕

Leschaux turned to Rachel. He simply tilted his head. She didn’t expect him to say hello in the first place, but it certainly seemed like he had left his manners beyond the horizon.

‘Nathaniel was so polite that no one could ever complain, but why is he so different?’

Kyrie sighed inwardly, Rachel was so nervous that she couldn’t speak, and others were clearly unable to speak as well.

“What brought you here?” (Kyrie)

〔I came to drink tea.〕

“I see.” (Kyrie)

〔Can I have a seat?〕

The question was directed at Rachel. Rachel was so amazed that she nodded and called her servant.

The salon became quiet and bustling.

People wanted to talk to the Patriotic Lord, but Leschaux’s blank expression showed clear disinterest. So only the small sound of music flowed in the drawing room.

‘I want to run away.’

Kyrie once again opened her mouth with tears in her eyes. The only person who could solve this atmosphere was herself.

“Does the tea suit your taste, Lord Leschaux? Miss Hill’s tea is quite excellent.”

〔It’s delicious.〕

Rachel gave Kyrie a look that seemed to say she would be very fond of her in the future.

“I know that you don’t usually attend salons, so what brings you here?”

〔I stopped by because I heard you were here.〕

Kyrie’s back was tingling with the increasingly stinging eyes.

“If you were to visit the Legendary Lord, I’m sure he’d be quite pleased.”

〔I don’t want to speak in the presence of Nathaniel.〕

“Why?”

〔He wouldn’t like it.〕

“Is it a problem if he doesn’t like it?”

Strangely, the answer seemed to take a while.

〔Definitely.〕

Kyrie clenched her fist, she covered her tension with a smile.

“That’s right. It’s better not to do things the other person doesn’t like.”

Leschaux blinked his mysterious opaque eyes.

〔What kind of behavior do you dislike?〕
It was a nuance as if Kyrie were an extremely important being.

‘I really need to stop him now.’

Kyrie stopped laughing, she spoke in a voice that everyone around her could hear.

“I recently heard that you opened the port of Classico to FortDucane. Is it because of me?”

〔That’s right.〕

“Because Laura FortDucane is close to me?”

〔That’s right.〕

“Is there any other reason?”

〔There isn’t.〕

“But it wasn’t for me. Is that right?”

Leshaux’s reddish-purple eyes glowed strangely.

These transcendents sometimes saw humans with these eyes. Like humans who watched monkeys calculate math problems, as if they were very unique.

〔That’s right.〕

“It’s probably because of Lord Nathaniel because Lord Nathaniel said he cares about me.”

〔Exactly.〕

“Then, Lord Nathaniel cherishes someone else who wasn’t me, you would be nice to them as well, the reason you said you were giving me the estate was also because of the Legendary Lord. Is that right?”

〔Yes.〕

“So it doesn’t matter if it’s not me.”

Kyrie glanced around and said.

‘You hear that? It’s not because of me. You can be the same. Instead of speaking ill of me, try to win their favor.’

Fortunately, people understood the meaning and were in a strange state of excitement.

Greed to take over the territory that went to Kyrie Buchanan if they did well.

Leschaux responded gently until the very end.

〔Naturally. But…….〕

He was keen to say something more but Kyrie stopped it.

“That’s enough. Would you like some tea? There’s a rule in Salons that you have to talk for a short period with everyone.”

〔Is that so?〕

It wasn’t. However, he silently listened to her and began talking to everyone in the salon.

Filled with fatigue, Kyrie moved, her target, a chair lying on a remote wall. In the distance, Kyrie sat as if she was no longer involved and thought.

‘I wish Nathaniel could be half like Lord Leshaux.’ (T/N: leschaux listens to Kyrie but nathaniel doesn’t)

People became nice to Kyrie once again.

Their sharp gazes seemed to say ‘You gave us a chance to talk to the Patriotic Lord! As expected, Buchanan is fair!’

They all shared the same expression. This was exactly what they wanted. It was a power struggle that would be difficult to survive without maintaining neutrality.

“Ha…”

Kyrie smiled unrestrainedly with her gaze somewhere in the air. She was tired.

Leschaux approached Kyrie only after he had completed his mission to talk for a short period with all the participants.

At that time, no one glared at her any longer. Rather, their gazes were full of compassion, saying, ‘I’ll take your place soon, so I’ll understand the special treatment you have now.’

〔I didn’t know there was such a rule.〕

“It was a lie.”

〔……..〕

“What’s the matter? I don’t think someone like the Patriotic Lord would have come here for no reason.”

Once again, he gave her a look

(T/N: above it was mentioned how his eyes shined when he saw Kyrie trying to clean up the rumors, that’s the look he is giving now)

〔How is Nathaniel?〕

“You can come and see.”

〔How about you? Do you need anything?〕

“Will you listen to me if I tell you I do?”

〔To the best of my ability.〕

In response to the generous answer, Kyrie gazed at Leschaux.

“What’s the point of doing that?”

〔I told you earlier.〕

“My opinion is the same as before. Isn’t it possible for Lord Nathaniel to kill me tomorrow?”

〔Its possible.〕

“Is that so?”

〔Rather, it is better. Than if you were to die by someone else.〕

Kyrie looked around reflexively. There was no one around.

“Are there any plots to kill me?”

〔Not yet.〕

“You did that on purpose…… to raise the name of ‘Kyrie Buchanan’ in order to stop it. Don’t you even dare think about it.”

Leschaux looked out the window without any sign of agreement or denial. The weather was clear, but it was becoming cloudy.

〔Go back to the Buchanan mansion.〕

“That’s just normal winter weather.”

〔I know better than you. My coming here today is something I agreed upon with Nathaniel〕

“What? Why do you two have to agree on that?”

〔Because each of us is an independent individual representing a species, the first and the last. Respect each other’s territory as much as possible. There is an unwritten rule.〕

“An independent individual might end up feeling lonely in such circumstances.”

The conversation with Leschaux which had been running smoothly, stopped. She didn’t know whether he was having fun or was feeling offended.

〔First, if I were you, I would call it possessiveness. Second, if too much power is held in one place, order collapses.〕

There was tension in his rough voice, like a dog scratching a bark. A servant came in to report that the weather was getting bad. Kyrie asked softly as she watched Rachel draw the salon to a close.

“What was the last thing you were about to say?”

Naturally, Leschaux answered without hesitation.

〔It didn’t matter if it wasn’t you… But Nathaniel has already accepted you, so he won’t let you go. He is an immortal, and his choices are just as unchanging. If necessary, he’ll get you back, even if he has to take on death.〕

Because Leschaux’s manner of saying so was too calm, Kyrie realized it. That was the truth.

However, Kyrie’s heart shuddered.

“Thank you for your concern, but that won’t happen.”

After returning to the mansion, Kyrie headed to the billiards room where Nathaniel was.

Nathaniel appeared to be in the same reading posture she had seen before leaving.

“I’m here. Fortunately, there’s no head hanging in front of the door.”

〔You are the best at greeting without dignity.〕

Kyrie looked at Nathaniel. To be exact, the book he was holding.

Nathaniel, who was superior to humans, could read a book in a blink of an eye. However, the bookshelf remained the same as it was before she left.

He didn’t show it. Instead, he closed the book if he had noticed Kyrie’s gaze.

Their eyes met, his blue eyes colder than dawn. She smiled, but there was no response.

Kyrie became afraid.

‘What will happen to me if Lord Leschaux’s words are true?’

* * *