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Chapter 08
“Huff!”
“G–Good heavens!”
The people nearby all instinctively took two steps back the moment they saw Baekho’s bare face.
Standing behind him, Iba felt bad that Baekho had taken the hit meant for her.
“You actually hit someone?! You real piece of—”
Since Baekho, the one who’d been hit, stayed silent, Iba was about to throw a punch at the wolf in his stead.
“Ah—ahhh! I–I’m sorry. No—no, I’ve committed a grave sin!”
But then the wolf’s attitude changed 180 degrees.
The drunken, belligerent demeanor vanished, replaced with a pale, trembling face.
What the heck? Who could he possibly be so terrified of?
Curious to see Baekho’s face herself, Iba tried to move closer for at least a glimpse of his profile.
But Baekho smoothly turned his body, brushing his hair back in a way that blocked her view.
“…Would you pick that up for me?”
“Y–Yes!”
His voice—though phrased like a request—sounded more like a command to pick it up now.
The wolf, almost kneeling before Baekho, handed him the mask. His hand trembled like a leaf in the wind.
Baekho immediately put the mask back on, hiding his face before Iba could see it.
“Get up.”
He spoke to the wolf still sitting on the floor.
“N–No, I’ll just stay like this.”
“If that’s what you want.”
Baekho’s gentle tone nonetheless pressed down on the wolf’s spirit with ease. Judging by his bearing and the way he dealt with people, he had to be the child of some noble family.
Looking at Baekho’s golden hair falling to his shoulders, Iba wondered who this man could be to command such influence.
“Not only did you cause a scene, but you also dared to threaten a lady weaker than yourself.”
“I–I’m sorry.”
“Lady, are you unharmed?”
Baekho turned his head back to check on her. Their eyes suddenly met, and startled, Iba quickly nodded.
“Mm-hm, thanks to you, I’m fine.”
The moment she answered, the surrounding air didn’t just chill—it froze solid.
Had she said something wrong? She quickly checked Baekho’s expression.
“As long as you’re not hurt, that’s what matters.”
He seemed completely unbothered, which only confused her further.
“Lady, can you forgive this man?”
He tilted his head toward the kneeling wolf.
The wolf flinched at Iba’s gaze and trembled, but his eyes darted anxiously toward Baekho rather than her.
“Forgive?”
“I–I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
“What exactly were you wrong about?”
“H–Huh?”
“Tell me what you did wrong.”
“Let’s just let this go…”
The wolf, about to snap back, caught sight of Baekho’s piercing gaze from beside Iba and hastily mumbled,
“I–I’m sorry for speaking carelessly.”
Looking at his deeply furrowed brows and clenched jaw, Iba didn’t feel like forgiving him at all.
But since they’d already made such a big scene and every eye was on them, she decided to back down.
“Just make sure you never say such insulting things to anyone else again. Got it?”
“…Got it.”
With the tension easing, Baekho smiled faintly.
“It’s nice to see the two of you making amends. You may stand now.”
“Y–Yes. Thank you.”
The wolf, who had been glaring daggers at Iba moments ago, now straightened at once and bowed deeply at Baekho’s words.
It was hard to tell who he was actually apologizing to.
“I won’t pursue the matter any further. That’s the unspoken rule of this place.”
“Thank you so much for your mercy.”
“But—”
Baekho took a step closer to the wolf and murmured in a voice too low for Iba to hear.
“When my friend hears of this, I doubt I’ll stop him from paying you a visit.”
It was a clear warning to watch his mouth and live quietly.
The wolf, knowing exactly which “friend” Baekho meant, nodded violently, overcome by terror.
“I’ll keep it a secret for the rest of my life!!”
“A good attitude. Now, let’s all enjoy the party again.”
The words were meant not just for the wolf, but for everyone watching, in an attempt to restore order.
But the atmosphere had frozen too much for anyone’s spirits to recover. Deciding it would be hard to enjoy herself now, Iba chose to slip away.
“Thanks for your help today. I’m going to head out first.”
“Lady, wait—”
She gave a brief thanks to Baekho and headed toward the rear garden.
“Whew—”
Once outside, the cold breeze washed over her, and the tension melted away, letting the alcohol hit her full force.
She had put on a brave face before the wolf, but facing someone that much bigger than her was frightening.
If Baekho hadn’t stepped in, she probably would have been punched hard enough to not only lose her mask but possibly faint on the spot.
“Maybe I should take this chance to learn self-defense. Become the Empire’s champion brawler or something.”
“Lady.”
While muttering to herself, a man’s voice came from behind.
Had the wolf followed her here? She whirled around, wary.
“Oh, it’s you.”
Seeing Baekho instead of the wolf, she relaxed and patted her chest in relief.
“You were staggering—are you all right? I think you’ve had too much to drink. I’ll call a carriage.”
“What about your face? It must hurt a lot.”
She pointed to the cheek where he’d been struck, but Baekho covered it with the back of his hand.
“It’s a bit sore.”
“You should put something cold on it. Ah! Wait a sec.”
Iba spotted a bucket of ice with wine bottles nearby and handed one to him.
“For now, at least hold this to your face.”
“Thanks.”
She had really done it in hopes of getting a look at his face. As she waited for him to remove his mask, Baekho instead took a handkerchief from his inner pocket.
He wetted it with the cold condensation from the bottle, then pressed it to his cheek under the mask.
It seemed he was determined to keep his face hidden, so Iba decided to drop the matter. Instead, she popped the cork on the wine bottle and handed it to him.
“Here—my way of saying thanks for helping me out.”
He awkwardly accepted the bottle.
“…There’s no glass.”
“Who needs a glass? Just drink from the bottle.”
“That’s bad manners.”
“It’s just the two of us here. Who cares about manners?”
Though the garden was empty, Baekho still glanced around to make sure.
“Manners aren’t about who’s watching. They’re important everywhere, all the time.”
“…Would it really hurt to just drink? It’s not like you’ll die.”
Iba demonstrated by taking a sip without letting her lips touch the rim.
“See? For me, my mood matters more than manners or formality. Do you dislike me for being rude?”
Eyes gleaming playfully, she offered the bottle to him again. He looked at her hand for a moment, then took it more decisively this time.
He tried to drink the same way she had, without touching the rim—
“Mmff!”
—but tilted it too far, spilling wine onto his white mask and formal clothes.
“Hahaha! Why’d you tip it up like that? You can take your time.”
She laughed, pointing to the wet stain. Baekho hurriedly wiped his mouth.
“I’m just clumsy, that’s all.”
Unlike the confident man from earlier, this was a different side of him. Iba patted his back, straightening him up.
“Cheer up! I’ve spilled plenty of times myself. You can’t get good at something instantly. With practice, you’ll improve.”
“I don’t really want to get used to it…”
“When I was practicing, my servants scolded me so much for being improper. ‘Young lady—you mustn’t!’ But I didn’t let it stop me from doing what I wanted.”
She even mimicked her maid Jane’s voice to lift his spirits, and it worked—Baekho smiled faintly.
“But I really am clumsy. That’s why I have to stay on my guard all the time. I was too clumsy to even stop that guy’s hand earlier.”
“There’s no such thing as clumsy or not in a situation like that.”
Iba met his gaze squarely.
“Out of all those people, you were the only one who stepped in to help.”
“It’s only natural to protect the weak.”
“Plenty of people know that, but you were the only one who actually did it. That’s not clumsy—it’s brave.”
Baekho looked straight back into her green eyes behind the black mask.
“If you can’t do something perfectly, isn’t it worse than not doing it at all?”
“Who says? Nothing in the world is ever done perfectly. Everyone makes mistakes.”
“…”
“Just praise yourself once in a while. In this tough world, the only one who’s always on your side is you.”
Their eyes locked, and Iba noticed for the first time that Baekho’s eyes were a clear, oceanic blue.
“What’s your name?”
Baekho’s question made Iba smirk.
“Really? You’re asking for names at a masked party?”
“Ah, I forgot where we were for a moment. My apologies.”
“I’m not asking you to apologize. If you’re this timid, how are you going to survive in this world?”
Since he’d helped her, she decided to offer some veteran life advice—as someone who’d “died twice” already.
“If you apologize too often, people will think you’re a pushover. Save it for when you’ve really done something wrong, got it?”
“Haha, I see.”
“And don’t trust people too easily. If someone asks you to buy them something, don’t do it. Oh, and anyone who says you’ve got an ancestral spirit riding on your shoulder is lying.”
“…Ancestral spirit?”
How could someone be this innocent?
Iba took another sip of wine before continuing.
“How about I hire you instead?”
“What?”
“I’ve been thinking about moving to the countryside to start a raspberry farm.”
“A farm?”
“You’re exactly the type to be the wholesome leader of a village youth club. The kind of guy who’d drop everything to help find a neighbor’s lost dog.”
The unexpected offer made Baekho laugh out loud for the first time.
“Hahaha. You really do say the most amusing things.”
“I’ll even give you room and board for cheap. Come with me.”
“Come with you?”
“Yeah—wake up early to pick raspberries, feed the dogs… Oh! Not that you’d do it all alone, of course. I’d hire other people—”
“Are you proposing to me right now?”
Huh? That wasn’t what she meant at all.
Then again, thinking about it, it could sound a little like that. She waved her hands frantically.
“No, no. I’m not getting married. I’m going somewhere where marriage isn’t a thing.”
“There’s no such place in the entire Beggen Again Empire.”
“I’ll just make it so when I get there.”
“What?”
“It’s my life. My words are law for me. No law or system can tie me down.”
Baekho chuckled at her bold dismissal of the system, murmuring softly to himself—
“…I’ve never met a lady like you before.”
