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Chapter : 16
“You’re acting like that in this situation….”
“Yeah, hurry up.”
“Defenseless, just close your eyes.”
Briseis didn’t feel threatened at all, maybe because he was wearing a chastity belt. She wondered what he could even do.
Even he didn’t know where the key was. Only she knew.
Briseis quietly opened her eyes, checking if the key was safely in the first drawer next to the bed.
“I can’t do bed stuff, but I can do other things.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like a little beast.”
He said that, but he still looked pale, probably from the lack of blood flow. Then he held his breath to calm himself. After a minute or two of silence, he opened the round ointment container again, smeared some on his hand, and looked at her.
Briseis didn’t close her eyes. But looking down was hard because his lower body was too noticeable. She glanced at the drawer where the key should be, but worried he might notice, so she looked forward—and Kalisten was staring at her with a terrifying expression.
“Are you going to eat me?”
“Don’t move your lips. That’s how you apply it.”
He spoke while holding his breath, and then her lips touched his fingertips again. She made a quiet squeak from the ticklish feeling.
“Damn it.”
He leaned his head on her shoulder and shivered.
“The key is in the first drawer by the bed. Open it yourself and leave.”
She pushed his head away with her hand and tried to get up from the bed.
“By the bed, you put it there?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Seeing him trembling from pain but still smiling a little, she sighed.
“Don’t go. I’ll go instead.”
He staggered up first and tried not to look at her, forcing himself as he said,
“When Ella comes, ask about the reservation. I’ll help from tomorrow.”
Briseis didn’t answer, just watched him. He tried to smile, probably noticing her gaze.
He went out first, and Briseis locked the door with a sigh.
❖ ❖ ❖
Once Briseis locked the door after he left, Kalisten calmed down and took deep breaths.
Then he headed from her room to the room of the Grand Duchess of the Maze family.
Thinking about Ella’s letter, the Grand Duchess must have arrived on her own, so she wouldn’t be in the room on the third floor. The servants would be tidying up anyway.
That left the guest rooms on the first floor.
Not on the third floor, so probably the second floor.
Kalisten thought this and walked straight to the second floor.
“Oh, the little sun of the empire…!”
“W-wait! Ahead is the Grand Duchess…!”
Ignoring the servants, Kalisten walked forward, opened the door that no one held open, and looked inside.
“Your Highness?”
Inside, the Grand Duchess of the Maze family was holding a cup of tea alone. He entered and closed the door.
“Were you coming to scold me for earlier rudeness?”
“Eh? Ah, earlier…!”
The Grand Duchess put down the tea cup and stood up.
“I greet the little sun of the empire!”
She hurried closer to Kalisten, bowing properly. This time, she kept her head down to avoid mistakes.
“I thought the Maze family was neutral, but from your attitude earlier, it seems you plan to join the noble faction.”
“Eh? No! How could an argument with my daughter-in-law turn into that!”
“That daughter-in-law is my most precious family. And you hit my family.”
“Briseis is not your family! She is my daughter-in-law! Part of the Maze household!”
Seeing the Grand Duchess flustered, Kalisten thought this game was already won. A flustered opponent was easy to control.
“My mother left me with the Filia family. You know that, right? I spent my childhood with Briseis.”
It was a famous story. Before the previous Empress died, she entrusted Kalisten to the Filia family. That’s how he spent some time there as a crown prince.
“How dare you treat someone I consider family….”
“I-I made a mistake! Maybe I’m old and senile!”
The Grand Duchess was afraid of Kalisten. He had been close to the Filia family but maintained neutrality when needed.
In other words, he had risen to the crown prince’s position by his own ability.
A battlefield demon.
That’s what they called him on the battlefield. He was already notorious among noblewomen for his cruel nature.
“Old age must be graceful. Don’t dare touch Bri.”
He spoke calmly, but his smile was full of anger. The Grand Duchess thought maybe the smile made him less threatening.
He walked to the table where she had been sitting. She followed, thinking he might want to talk there.
“Don’t ever touch her again.”
“Yes, of course… ack!”
At that moment, he poured the tea from the cup on the table onto her face.
It was cool enough to avoid serious burns.
“Your Highness, how…!”
“I want to hit you back, but I’m holding back. If I hit, your neck would break.”
The Grand Duchess’s eyes stung from the tea, but she looked at him without realizing it.
Kalisten’s red eyes shone like blood. He smiled, but his expression wasn’t smiling as he stared at her.
“There won’t be a next time. If you touch Bri again, I’ll deal with you the same way.”
“Ah…!”
Kalisten sneered and left. The Grand Duchess thought Briseis had ordered this, but she was too scared of Kalisten to confront him directly.
❖ ❖ ❖
“I have good news!”
As soon as Ella returned to Briseis’s room, she closed the door tightly and whispered excitedly.
“Zeronis’ office said your case will be first on the waiting list!”
Ella’s face was bright with excitement. Briseis saw her cheek was swollen and wrapped ice in a cloth to press it gently.
She held Ella’s arm and had her sit on the bed.
“I’m fine!”
“I’m not fine, Ella. Don’t block things with your body anymore.”
Seeing her cheek, Briseis sighed in frustration and applied the ice.
“I’d do the same even if it happens again.”
“Don’t.”
“No.”
“I said don’t. What if you get hurt badly?”
“I’d rather get hurt than the lady getting hurt.”
Briseis wanted to hand her the paper Ella brought, but Ella kept holding the cloth. As the cold touched her cheek, Ella relaxed.
“I’m strong too.”
Briseis stayed silent, upset that Ella got hurt instead of her.
“Really? I’m fine, Lady. Look at the letter first.”
“No.”
Briseis felt childish but couldn’t let go. After some time, when the ice melted, she read the letter.
It said exactly what Ella had mentioned:
“I will consider the debt to Your Highness repaid with this matter.
I will prioritize this case, so I request a visit with the Grand Duchess of the Maze family.
– Zeronis Abain”
Briseis sighed in relief after reading it several times.
❖ ❖ ❖
After being warned by Kalisten, the Grand Duchess could not directly harass Briseis.
That’s why she made Delaila, whom she suspected as a mistress and considered humiliating, sit at the same table.
Even a noble sitting at the same table as a commoner is insulting in some ways. No matter how misbehaved, the Grand Duchess was still a noble.
But her desire to erase the humiliation caused by Briseis came first.
“You’re Delaila?”
“Yes, Grand Duchess!”
Delaila sat in Briseis’s seat with Damian’s permission.
When the Grand Duchess tried to speak to her, Briseis came down with a helpless expression.
“Miss Delaila, that’s my seat.”
“Demi said I could sit here.”
Delaila smiled brightly, not intending to move.
“Sit next to your mother, Bri.”
Damian said casually.
The Grand Duchess, seeing Delaila not bowing like ordinary mistresses, raised her mouth corners happily.
“By the way, Miss Delaila, I heard you saved my son many times?”
“Eh? Ah… the rumors are exaggerated!”
Yet she still kept a humble posture toward Briseis.
The Grand Duchess seemed very pleased.
“The person who gets someone as wise as Miss Delaila for a wife is very lucky.”
