🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 37
“I like her face more than anything. When I saw her up close, she was even prettier than I expected—it really surprised me.”
Empress Serena’s notorious weakness for beautiful faces was well-known even among her family.
She was fully aware of this herself and sometimes even flaunted it openly.
It was a widely accepted rumor that the only reason she had finally accepted Emperor Alexis’s proposal—despite hating the idea of becoming Empress—was because of his handsome appearance.
“Especially her eyes. They were so beautiful. I once managed to get my hands on a rare yellow sapphire, and her eyes looked just like that. I immediately thought, I’d love for her to become my sister-in-law.”
Smiling as if the thought alone delighted her, Empress Serena suddenly dropped her smile and turned toward Rixion.
“But after seeing how you acted today, I’m starting to think it might not be so easy….”
She looked her younger brother up and down with clear disapproval.
Rixion, however, only smiled, showing no sign of irritation.
“Was it really that bad?”
At her pointed remark, Rixion recalled his encounter with Elizabeth in the ballroom.
The memory of her expression—eyes wide with horror the moment she saw him—made him laugh unconsciously.
And then, when he had gone so far as to ask her for a dance not once but twice, she had looked as though she’d like nothing better than to punch him in the face.
He’d nearly burst out laughing trying to hold it back.
He was genuinely enjoying the situation, though it wasn’t as if he truly wanted her to hate him…
Still, the fun of it was hard to give up.
How strange it was—to find amusement in being hated by the one person his eyes kept following.
Just as people had always said, perhaps he really wasn’t quite normal after all.
“Well, I suppose I should reflect on my behavior, then.”
Rixion answered with a bright smile still plastered across his face, making Empress Serena’s frown deepen.
He doesn’t look even remotely remorseful.
She was worried.
At this rate, forget about becoming her sister-in-law—her little brother looked more likely to suffer his first heartbreak instead.
If you come crying to me later, begging for help after she dumps you, just you wait.
Empress Serena could already picture it—her younger brother, heartbroken and tearful after being rejected by Lady Christener.
The thought made her heart ache a little.
But when she imagined what she herself would be doing then, she could only sigh.
Because she knew she’d end up helping him, of course.
Whatever it took—her title as Empress, her influence, any card she could play—she’d use it all for him.
There’s no helping it.
Even if he now towered over her, even if the entire Empire revered him as a war hero, even if he was capable of severing a man’s arm for stealing his toy as a child—
none of that changed the fact that he was still her one and only beloved little brother.
“Come on, get in quickly.”
My brother, Michael, skillfully pushed aside the nobles who were desperate to speak to me and managed to escort me safely out of the ballroom.
Seething somewhere between anger and indignation, I took his hand and climbed obediently into the carriage.
“What on earth happened? You said you weren’t dating him!”
It seemed he intended to send me home first as promised.
After shoving me into the carriage, Michael stared at me with a bewildered expression.
“I’ve never seen the Duke act like that. That’s just… not who he is.”
He looked like he still couldn’t believe what he’d witnessed.
To be honest, I understood perfectly—up until earlier, I hadn’t been able to make sense of that man’s behavior either.
“No matter how I look at it, he seems completely taken with you. So why—”
“No.”
I cut him off before he could say another word.
“He doesn’t like me. Not at all.”
Really. Absolutely not.
“He’s just enjoying himself right now.”
Saying it out loud only made me more certain.
Anger and frustration bubbled up inside me until my breathing grew ragged.
I threw myself against the carriage seat and let out a long, muffled scream.
Michael gave me a long, pitying look, as if he’d seen this scene too many times before.
“He knew from the start that I hated him! He must’ve known I’d been dragged around on all those blind dates, and that I always tried to ruin them somehow! He knew that, and he’s doing this on purpose!”
So much for calmly explaining the situation. My words burst out in a furious rant.
“He’s deliberately acting like that just to see me lose my mind—it amuses him!”
Remembering what had happened at the ball—the things I’d said and done, the way Rixion Luhanes must have been silently laughing at me the whole time—made me want to scream again.
Michael stared at me seriously for a moment and then said quietly:
“So you’re admitting that you’ve been ruining all your blind dates on purpose.”
The anger that had shot up to the top of my head suddenly drained out of me in an instant.
“……”
Hic.
A hiccup escaped before I could stop it.
I felt like an idiot—like a thief caught red-handed.
I lowered my gaze; I didn’t dare look at his face.
“Well, fine. We’ll talk about that later.”
His calm tone was scarier than yelling.
Experience told me that even if he let it go now, I’d be getting a very long lecture later.
“But I’ll admit… your theory makes more sense than him falling for you at first sight.”
Despite my trembling, he leaned back in the seat, arms crossed, and muttered thoughtfully.
“Still… for someone supposedly just having fun, he made quite the spectacle.”
I had technically won the argument, but I didn’t feel the least bit happy about it.
Something about his tone made me feel vaguely insulted, though I couldn’t quite say why.
Michael furrowed his brows in thought, then nodded to himself as if reaching a conclusion.
“Yeah, your explanation sounds more convincing.”
Again, that unpleasant feeling.
I wanted to argue, but doing so felt wrong somehow, so I bit my tongue.
After all, I’d already been caught admitting I sabotaged my own matches—better to stay quiet.
“So the two of you really have nothing going on?”
“Yes! He’s just doing this to mess with me! Ugh, the more I think about it, the angrier I get! How could I not notice from the start?!”
The embarrassment of my earlier slip vanished as I pounded my chest in frustration.
Now the puzzle pieces were finally clicking into place.
When I’d pretended to like him at first, he’d looked disgusted and tried to leave early!
But after I’d accidentally slipped up, his attitude had changed completely!
Since then, he’d only done things guaranteed to make me uncomfortable—because he’d figured out I hated him and just wanted to get this whole match over with!
I took several deep breaths, unable to swallow my rage.
Even Michael seemed convinced I wasn’t lying.
“If what you’re saying is true, then this can’t just be ignored.”
His voice was calm now, but there was a distinct chill to it.
“Who does he think he is, playing games and ruining a noblewoman’s marriage prospects?”
He spoke as though ready to file an official complaint with House Luhanes the very next day.
“You go home first.”
“Huh? W-what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know when I’ll get another chance like this, so I’ll go talk to the Duke right now.”
Correction—my brother was far more proactive than I’d thought.
The way he said it—determined to settle things tonight, not tomorrow—made me both startled and strangely touched.
After being caught sabotaging my own dates, I’d worried he wouldn’t take my side—or worse, that he’d seize the chance to force me into marrying that lunatic just to “fix” me.
I’d even feared he’d say this was a good opportunity to get rid of his useless, freeloading sister.
But no—apparently, he still had enough brotherly loyalty not to let his only sister be treated like some toy by a madman.
If Michael handled this personally, maybe things would actually work out for once.
Surely Rixion Luhanes wouldn’t dare keep up his ridiculous act in front of him.
Once Michael told him off—Don’t you dare ruin a noblewoman’s engagement for your amusement—that would be the end of it.
It wasn’t like that man actually wanted to marry me.
So as soon as Michael intervened, this whole mess would wrap up neatly.
Wow. Was it really that simple all along?
Just realizing that made the tightness in my chest finally ease.
Looking at Michael with eyes full of gratitude, I clasped my hands together and said earnestly:
“Please tell him never to show his face in front of me again.”
My heartfelt plea made Michael grimace slightly before he gave a curt reply.
“…Alright.”
