Chapter 38
Swoosh.
Having heard Lady Vixen, I set down the saucer I was holding and rose from my seat.
Though the tea on the saucer spilled and wet my hand, it wasn’t enough to worry about.
“Lady Fortune?”
Esdia and Clary, who had been sitting beside me, looked at me with concerned expressions.
I gave them a small reassuring smile, then slowly headed toward where that fox bitch was sitting.
“L-Lady Fortune!”
“Please calm down for a moment….”
Were they acquainted with that fox bitch or something? Several young ladies stood up and blocked my path, but…
“Ugh…!”
“What kind of strength?!”
‘It’s only because Heter and Ruby are around me, but I’m pretty strong for a woman, you know?’
Besides, I also had memories from when I was a man.
In other words, I was more physically capable than the average woman.
“Eek!”
“S-Someone, please call the guards!”
“Why are you just standing there instead of stopping Lady Fortune?”
“M-Me?”
Some screamed, some called for guards, and others urged their attendants to stop me.
The guards, naturally, and even an ordinary male attendant should have been able to stop me.
However, I could state this with certainty.
No one here would be able to stop me.
Do you know why, unlike the others who were addressed as young ladies, I was called the head of the Fortune family?
There was only one reason for that difference despite our being around the same age.
Their parents merely held titles; they themselves held no titles at all.
But me?
My parents had died, and I had inherited my family’s title.
There was a world of difference between laying hands on a young lady and laying hands on a noble.
Of course, if Lady Vixen’s guard came, I wouldn’t be able to approach her so easily either.
‘It would take at least a few minutes for her guard to arrive, right?’
In the end, leaving the other young ladies behind, I reached Lady Vixen’s side.
“W-What are you going to do? Are you planning to resort to barbaric violence?”
She forced a smile with her eyes, but couldn’t hide the trembling of the hand holding her teacup or her voice.
When I finally raised my left hand, Lady Vixen’s eyes widened to the size of lanterns.
“Eek?!”
The young ladies seated at the table all let out shrill screams and either covered their eyes or rose to stop me, but…
Pat.
“…?”
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, my hand merely stroked the head of the fox bitch, who had squeezed her eyes shut and hunched up.
“Just this once.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll let it slide this once.”
In any case, she was also a prospective customer who might buy my soap.
I glanced sidelong at Clary, who had risen from her seat with a pale face.
‘This is a tea party I was invited to for the first time in ages, and if I cause a commotion for no reason, Lady Clary will be put in a difficult position.’
Of course, I very much wanted to grab her by the hair and slap her right now, but I couldn’t inconvenience Lady Clary for my own personal satisfaction.
Besides, no matter how much Lady Vixen had picked a fight with me first, the moment I laid hands on her, this could escalate into an issue between our territories.
If that happened, we would have far too much to lose.
Still.
“If you make one more disparaging remark about Sir Heter.”
I bent over and whispered into Lady Vixen’s ear, then gripped the back of her neck with the hand that had been patting her head.
“Ugh?!”
“Then I won’t let you off like this again. Got it?”
“….”
“Answer me.”
I tightened my grip on her neck.
“Ugh….”
Yet though Lady Vixen was clearly in pain, she refused to say she understood until the very end.
‘She’s a tough one, too.’
Well, that was probably why she had openly said something like that to my face.
“Ghk.”
At this rate, what had been mere touching would become an actual act of harm.
“Hah….”
In the end, I stepped back and removed my hand from her neck.
“Over here!”
“What on earth happened…?”
Right then, the guards arrived in the garden at just the right moment.
“My lady?”
And Heter was among them, of course.
“Gasp?!”
“Is that Lady Fortune’s guard?”
“I think I understand why Lady Clary made such a fuss….”
The young ladies were deeply impressed the moment they saw Heter’s face.
Seeing that, I felt a surge of irritation, but since it was true that he was exceptionally handsome compared with the other guards, I decided to let it go this time.
“Miss, what is…?”
“Lady Fortune, what happened here?”
Then a man who appeared to be Lady Vixen’s guard and Heter approached us.
‘Now, what is she going to do?’
Would she tell the guard what I had done, or let it slide?
“Lady Fortune and….”
Lady Vixen chose—
“We had a brief argument. It seems the other young ladies were startled when they saw it and called for the guards.”
“Is that so?”
Fortunately, it seemed to be the latter.
‘At least she seems to have had some sense of shame.’
I was about to think of it as a simple incident and let it go, when—
“Yes, but speaking of which, that gentleman must be the guard of Lady Fortune I’ve heard so much about.”
“…Huh?”
The fox bitch, who had gently risen from her seat, lifted her skirt slightly and greeted Heter.
“I’m Renard Vixen, the second daughter of the Vixen family. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“…Yes. I’m Heter, the knight serving Lady Fortune.”
“Lady Fortune said she couldn’t introduce you to me, so we had a brief quarrel, but now I think I understand why.”
“Haha.”
Ignoring me, the fox bitch spoke to him in a friendly manner.
‘Ah, so that’s why she didn’t report it to her guard?‘
If she reported what had happened earlier, she wouldn’t have been able to greet Heter and would have had to return to her territory right away.
“Your hair and eyes are unusual in the North. May I ask where you’re from?”
“That… may be difficult to answer.”
“What a shame.”
“Heter.”
When I called his name, cutting into their conversation, the fox bitch and Heter both turned toward me.
“Yes?”
“Come over here.”
“….”
He seemed flustered by my sudden command, but followed my order for now.
“You heard her earlier, right? Lady Vixen says she’d like to be introduced to you. What do you think?”
“…Ah.”
When I looked at him sternly, Heter let out a subtle exclamation.
“I’m sorry, Lady Vixen.”
Heter then bowed his head toward Vixen, the corners of his mouth faintly raised.
“I have no plans to see anyone at the moment.”
Crack.
“Is that because of Lady Fortune?”
The fox bitch’s smile cracked as she asked, looking at me viciously.
‘Surely she’s not going to repeat what she said earlier?’
I didn’t care, but for some reason I didn’t want Heter to hear something like that, so just as I was about to silence the fox bitch by force—
“That’s right.”
“…Pardon?”
He had just confirmed that I was the reason he wasn’t seeing women.
“Did he just say he isn’t interested in other women because of Lady Fortune?”
“Really?”
Everyone in the garden began murmuring in curious voices.
Ruby even watched the scene while secretly eating refreshments and drinking tea.
‘That’s not what’s important right now.’
Feeling my face grow hot, I pointed at Heter with my finger.
“Y-You, what are you saying….”
Couldn’t he just say he wasn’t interested in romance right now?!
“Because I….”
Heter then knelt on one knee and clasped my hand.
When I glared at him as if asking whether he was seriously going to do it here, he gave me a sly smile and—
Peck.
“Because I belong to Lady Fortune.”
“Kyaaaaaa!”
‘Oh, damn.’
The moment Heter kissed the back of my hand, the young ladies let out admiring shrieks with flushed faces.
“What do you think you’re doing, Sir Heter…?”
When I asked him with a forced smile, Heter looked at me with a composed yet oddly tender expression.
“Why are you suddenly being so formal? And there’s nothing wrong with it, is there?”
‘Yes, technically there’s nothing wrong with it under the terms of the contract….’
After all, Heter technically did own my hand.
But even so, there was a time and place for everything.
I gestured for Heter to come closer, then scolded him in a voice only he could hear.
“Do you have any idea what kind of rumors will spread because of what you just did? Don’t you know there’s a time and place for everything?”
“It’s to my advantage if the men approaching Lady Fortune disappear, and besides….”
Heter gave me a knowing smile and leaned toward my ear, whispering just as I had.
“Don’t you think doing this right now could cause even more misunderstandings?”
“Huh?”
When I turned my head at his words, I saw the young ladies gazing at us with sparkling eyes.
For some reason, even Clary was staring blankly with a nosebleed while Esdia pressed a handkerchief to stop it.
Now, what sort of sight did Heter and I make to them?
First, Heter had declared himself mine, then kissed the back of my hand.
‘I had him come closer and then whispered in a voice no one else could hear… Ah.’
Only then did I begin to grasp the current situation from an objective perspective.
“Ah.”
My face grew hot as though I were warming myself by a bonfire.
Apparently, it would be impossible to continue the tea party any further.