A brief silence hung in the air.
The Wittlow ducal family did not immediately grasp the meaning of Jamie’s words. Glovern, realizing the implication a beat late, shouted, “What is that supposed to mean!”
“I believe the Duke would know better than anyone what it means.”
“Ah, it seems Iris has been spinning lies again, dear.”
Denise quickly grabbed Glovern’s wrist as she spoke. Glovern regained his composure and let out a dry cough.
“Sir Jamie. It seems there is some misunderstanding here… The truth is, our Iris suffers from pathological lying.”
Glovern changed his tone.
“That’s right. We were worried about that part, too… Sigh. It seems she couldn’t shake that habit even after coming here. We thought she would improve once she was married.”
Britney also chimed in to support Glovern.
“Still, please don’t hate our Iris too much. It’s just a habit that slips out, so she can’t help it. She has been trying very hard to fix it, too.”
Britney said this with the look of a sister worried for her younger sibling. Jamie smiled silently.
“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but our Iris actually said she didn’t want to get married yet. In such a situation, for Count Green to force it—oh, excuse me. He is Sir Jamie’s master.”
Britney covered her mouth with one hand.
“Not at all. Please, continue. It is a matter I was unaware of as well.”
“Hmm. Anyway, it seems my sister is very angry with us for making her enter a marriage she didn’t want. That seems to be why she is avoiding us. But you know how it is. The flower of the Wittlow Duchy. We raised her with such care.”
“The problem must be that you spoiled her too much,” Denise added.
“She’ll surely be happy once she sees our faces. Her heart will soften. Sir Jamie, go and tell her that we are waiting.”
Glovern said.
Jamie was amazed. The Wittlow ducal family was speaking and acting exactly as Rishi had tipped him off.
-They will probably tell you that I suffer from pathological lying. Britney will pretend to be a good sister and pretend to worry about me.
-Then how should I react?
-Pretend to believe them. And tell them you will guide them to the study.
-Will they go to the study willingly?
-No. They will try to find me.
It was exactly as she said.
When told that he would guide them to the study where the guest rooms were and that they should meet Iris again tomorrow, Glovern changed his attitude, claiming he had to see Iris right away, and rushed out of the parlor. Denise and Britney followed, pretending to try to stop him. Jamie did not intervene.
-Leave them be. That is as far as Jamie’s job goes.
Jamie’s job was done. From now on, it was Rishi’s work. It was a pity that he couldn’t see the scene in person.
+++
Two men were guarding the door to Rishi’s room, which they had found by asking the maids.
One man, with deep ash-gray hair and a beard, gave off a wild, feral impression. The other, a man with a cold gaze and brown hair, stood expressionless. Though their vibes were different, both were tall and strikingly handsome.
Britney had seen them before guarding Kay at a party. She remembered the wild-looking man as Wallace, and the man with the cold gaze as Eugene. As the Wittlow ducal family approached, the two men reached for the swords at their waists. At their threatening attitude, displayed without a word of explanation, the Wittlow family’s own escort knights grew tense.
The Wittlow escort knights knew Eugene and Wallace very well. Even if they risked their lives to charge, they wouldn’t be able to inflict even a small scratch on them.
“Is this Iris’s room?” Glovern asked with feigned dignity.
“It is the room of the Countess Green,” Eugene replied.
“You knights know who I am, surely? I have come to see my daughter.”
“The Countess Green is busy.”
“Busy, busy, busy! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been hearing that she’s ‘busy’? What on earth does a girl have to do!”
Glovern’s patience reached its limit. At his shout, Wallace frowned.
“In what country’s etiquette is it forbidden for parents to see their child? Move aside this instant! I am going to see my daughter today!”
Glovern took a step forward, but Wallace and Eugene did not budge. Britney quickly grabbed Glovern’s arm.
“Father, please calm down.”
“How can I be calm right now? Everyone… what if they are doing something terrible to our Iris? Isn’t that why they are using this ‘busy’ excuse to make her avoid us?”
“That’s right. What if Count Green has been hitting our Iris? Has he left a scar on our Iris’s face, which is why she’s hiding from us?” Denise chimed in to assist.
Unlike Eugene, whose emotions were unreadable, Wallace’s expression was becoming increasingly terrifying. Cold sweat beaded on the brows of the Wittlow family knights.
*Click-*
At that moment, the door opened, and a maid stepped out. A woman with an elegant air and black hair spoke to Eugene.
“The Countess said it is too noisy outside and asked to find out what is happening.”
Glovern did not miss the moment the door opened and threw his body forward to get inside. However, he could not surpass the keen senses of Eugene and Wallace. They grabbed one of his arms each and pushed him into the hallway as if tossing him aside.
“Ugh!”
Glovern’s face turned bright red. Even if the Green family was blessed by the Holy Kingdom, it was absurd for them to treat a Duke this way. This was all because of the government policy to raise the status of those with ability. With every Tom, Dick, and Harry gaining noble titles and the social hierarchy collapsing, these kinds of unreasonable things were bound to happen.
“How dare… do you even know who I am…!” Glovern glared at them, trembling. “I am… I am…!”
He knew that saying “I am a Duke!” would not work on them. So, Glovern shouted, “I am Iris’s father!”
At that moment, a mocking sneer appeared on the lips of both the expressionless Eugene and the frowning Wallace. Britney felt a chill upon seeing that.
‘Why that expression? Jamie was like that earlier, too… Could it be true? Did she actually tell the people in this mansion everything we did to her?’
She thought that shouldn’t be the case. The Iris that Britney knew was not a person with the nerve to do such a thing. Even if she did, she wouldn’t go around blabbing about the shameful fact that she was treated like a maid at home. Who would speak of their own blemishes?
‘But…’
The attitude of the Green family’s employees was clearly strange. The Wittlow family believed that even if Iris had formed a tie with the Green family, she was still connected to them. They believed she would never be able to escape them, and that she would live like a dog—coming when called and bowing when told, just like before she was married.
‘Iris…’
Britney clenched her fists and glared at the half-open door.
‘That won’t happen. You must live as the flower of the Wittlow Duchy forever. Countess Green? That’s nonsense. I won’t let you have something that even I don’t have.’
The honor of the Green family, protectors of the holy relics and blessed by the Holy Kingdom. All the special treatment enjoyed because of them. And even the subordinates of Kay, the knight that everyone envied. Britney hoped that Rishi wouldn’t possess a single one of them.
Then, finally, Rishi revealed herself.
Rishi was dressed as if she were a man. Black trousers that accentuated her slender legs and a white shirt. A black vest over it and dark brown boots that rose to her calves. It was not an outfit a lady would wear, but she looked more elegant and sexy than any lady, and Britney held her breath.
‘Is that Iris? That’s impossible…’
She looked like a complete stranger. The cold gaze looking down on them, the confident smile, and the arrogant posture with her chin slightly lifted—it was an Iris that Britney had never seen before and never imagined she would ever see. Glovern and Denise were also stunned; seeing Rishi like this was a first, so he could only stare blankly at her face.
Recognizing her as Iris only a beat late, Glovern shouted, “Iris! What is that state you’re in?”
In the past, Rishi would have bowed her head at his reprimand. She would have trembled like a frightened animal. But the current Rishi didn’t even blink at his roar; instead, she gave a faint smile.
“Oh my. You all should have said something if you were coming.”
The Wittlow family was stunned by the languid tone flowing from her.
“We’ve come and spoken to you so many times already! You, right now, are you….”
“Father.”
Britney grabbed Glovern’s arm as he lost his temper. There were many eyes watching. They couldn’t treat Iris poorly in front of everyone. Only then did Glovern catch on to Britney’s intention and suppress his anger.
Watching that display, Rishi opened her mouth.
“I’m busy with wedding preparations, so I told my staff not to report trivial matters.”
“Trivial? You call this trivial? We came all the way here in person, and you call this a trivial matter?”
Though Glovern gritted his teeth, he rebuked her in a voice lower than before. Britney thought she had to change the atmosphere.
“I’m sorry, Iris.”
At Britney’s apology, Rishi tilted her head slightly.
“Because you didn’t want to get married, it turned out like this… You’re very angry with us, aren’t you? That’s why… you didn’t want to see us, and even lied about us doing terrible things to you… I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would dislike Count Green this much.”
Britney hoped Rishi would refute it by saying, ‘That’s not true. I didn’t lie about anything.’ Branding a person as a liar was easier than clearing one’s name. But Rishi didn’t offer any excuses. She just looked at Britney with a gentle smile and said,
“Come in.”
+++
Once inside, Britney quickly scanned the interior. Rishi’s room was clean, but not extravagant.
‘It’s worse than my room.’
What a relief. If it had been a more luxurious room than her own, her insides would have been boiling.
Glovern and Denise marched over and sat on the sofa as if they were the owners. Britney, who had been looking around, quickly sat down next to her parents. Rishi sat on the sofa opposite them and crossed her legs. Denise furrowed her brow at the insolent attitude.
“Iris, you. What kind of attitude is that? Have you no manners in front of your elders?”
“Please understand the rudeness. You know well enough that I’ve never received a proper upbringing, don’t you?” Rishi said, tapping her toe.
“Ha!”
Glovern and Denise let out a sharp gasp of disbelief. Sometimes when people are too angry, they lose the energy to explode, and that was exactly their situation.