Chapter 25: Chapter 25

* * *

parties should be enjoyable by definition, yet why does this feel so joyless? it was only natural to get drunk in the atmosphere of endless laughter, haha, hoho, along with the magnificent food prepared by emma with all her heart and soul.

“how is it? i didn’t know your preferences, so i prepared a bit of everything. i hope it suits your taste.”

“i don’t know how to praise this enough. everything is excellent. you seem more skillful than the cooks of our family.”

antes, recalling the cook he hadn’t seen in more than ten years, complimented emma. the cook of the marquis’ family was a renowned artisan across the continent, boasting a career of over thirty years.

even though she knew it was flattery, emma’s lips curled up to her ears at being praised better than the culinary master.

“oh my, comparing me to the marquis’ family chef is too much! how could you compliment me like that!”

yes, it’s certainly because of him that the party isn’t enjoyable. the heads of the family should be the father and luna, but for some reason, emma asked antes for all food reviews.

laura wasn’t much different either. she also paid full attention to antes, catering to his needs before he even requested anything. as if he was the protagonist, and the baron and her were his sidekicks.

“eat as much as you like. all this was prepared for the young lord.”

“thank you, baron.”

it’s natural to feel upset seeing this, but why does the rightful head of the family, the person who should be the most respected, look so happy with a generous smile?

it felt like she had lost all his family to antes, and luna’s appetite vanished. yet she couldn’t give away her feelings of disappointment, and throw her fork away. because the one who caused this was herself.

she wouldn’t have had to hold this awful party if she hadn’t loudly proclaimed that she was dating antes in front of everyone. so, she couldn’t say anything and just sipped cold water, feeling isolated and chewing on her embarrassment, when an unexpected guest sought the baron.

“nice to meet you. i’m royer trust, the former attorney for the marquis vincent family.”

it was the lawyer antes mentioned. judging by the number of servants he had brought with him, he seemed as competent as antes had said. the man with neatly combed dark brown hair greeted politely.

luna, not expecting the lawyer to be introduced so soon, felt a bit relieved and greeted him politely.

“i’m luna from the baron peils family.”

royer trust sighed briefly while looking at luna. it seemed like he was wondering what his lord did wrong to such a polite and beautiful lady.

“i’m not sure what my lord did wrong, but please don’t worry. i will handle it sincerely and diligently.”

“excuse me?”

luna opened her eyes wide, but royer trust continued as if it was something familiar.

“first, we need to understand the circumstances of the incident, so please explain as detailed as possible. ah, if it’s uncomfortable, i’ll discuss it with the lawyer you’ve hired. here’s my business card, so please contact me at your convenience.”

was this an unexpected treatment as a victim?

luna was taken aback, having been treated outright as a perpetrator before, but this was her first time being treated as a victim outright. antes, who became a perpetrator without doing anything, annoyed royer.

“there’s nothing unpleasant between the young lady and me, so shut up.”

“really?”

royer’s eyes were tinged with disbelief. it was clear that antes had caused countless accidents, and each time, royer would pull his hair out and negotiate with the other party.

upset, antes wiped away the friendly face he had shown to the people of the baron’s estate, and issued a guest order with a gaze that dropped sharply.

“go out. wait in the carriage. i’ll call when the meal is over.”

“i’m not surprised because you are still ruthless. you’ve grown a lot taller since i last saw you. you’re already strong, and your physique has improved, so it will be difficult to fix if you really have an accident.”

but royer didn’t back down. after all, he was the one who had taken on the cases antes had been involved in since he was young, and it would have been impossible to endure without considerable courage and eloquence.

antes’ eyes grew fierce at the dignified royer’s attitude.

luna hurriedly intervened between the two, afraid that another fight would break out before resolving the baron’s matter.

“hold on. young lord is not the one who had an accident, i am the one who did. fersen did make a bigger mistake… anyway, the young lord introduced me to a lawyer who knows about duke rodrian, right?”

“is that it?”

that bastard introduced me? royer stared at antes as if he couldn’t believe that someone with such a face was the real deal.

“what.”

ah whatever. winter is still a bit away, but thanks to antes’ cold words, winter jumped closer, making the atmosphere frosty.

laura and emma, who had only seen his friendly demeanor, blinked their eyes, not knowing what was going on. even amidst all this, the tactless baron happily invited royer to the party, saying it was good timing.

“haha! the story seems to be long, how about having a meal together?”

“thank you for your words. i was just hungry, so it’s good.”

royer, who quickly accepted the invitation, disappeared into the dining room with the baron, as if he didn’t see antes’ expression of not wanting to eat with the likes of him.

“if you hate it so much, you shouldn’t have introduced him.”

“i forgot that he was like that because i hadn’t seen him for over ten years.”

antes ran his hand through his hair in regret. seeing his annoyed face, after seeing only his face boiling her family members in the beauty world all the time, luna felt somehow refreshed.

“he’s like that? he seems like a good person to me.”

luna’s bright smile made antes feel even more uncomfortable.

it was the kind of atmosphere where he could enumerate one by one how dirty royer’s personality was, so luna disappeared into the dining room with light footsteps without even hearing his answer.

suddenly, peace came to her heart.

* * *

“huh? if that’s the case, you didn’t need to call me. it’s kidnapping, the baron and young lady will definitely win.”

after hearing the ins and outs, royer boasted that he could win the lawsuit without a lawyer.

“of course, with me, it’s even better. i’ll prevent them from even making a counterclaim.”

the baron was somewhat relieved by royer’s self-praise, which was at its peak. luna was also able to erase her uncomfortable feelings.

“i was worried internally, but i’m really glad. but what do you mean by preventing even a counterclaim?”

“please trust me. after all, there’s a track record of resolving things smoothly, even when my young lord broke young lord rodrian’s arms and legs.”

“…young lord broke young lord fersen’s arms and legs?”

at the same time as the baron’s question, antes made a hideous sound and put down his utensils. being considerate enough not to get scolded by antes, royer quickly jumped into an explanation.

“yes. but of course, it was an accident. why, don’t young boys play rough? it’s just one of those anecdotes. it was just that the situation got a bit bigger because of the social status.”

“oh! that’s right. boys are like that. i also played quite aggressively when i was young and broke my limb’s at least once.”

“that’s correct. young boys have a hard time expressing their emotions, so they argue and even hit each other on the head with pebbles, right?”

“…hit on the head with pebbles? who did?”

at the suddenly appeared extreme anecdote, the baron’s eyes opened wide again. and at the end of his gaze was antes.

what’s going so interestingly? as the unexpected character stepped on antes, luna sipped her water, trying hard to hide her thrilling feelings.

emma, laura, and even henry also stopped moving as if they were a bit shocked and waited for royer’s answer.

but the answer came from antes, not royer.

“the explanation might be a bit long, is that alright?”

he erased the uncomfortable look on his face and asked with a soft smile. it was like preempting so that royer wouldn’t ruin his image by speaking more.

suddenly appearing with respectful words, royer, who had been speaking well so far, turned pale as if he had seen a ghost.

“no, what kind of serious circumstance must there have been…”

the baron moved completely to antes. it looked like he was already feeling sorry for what had happened to the man with the angelic smile.

“the truth is, it’s not much different from what happened to you today, baron. …no, maybe it was even a bigger issue. it’s an incident from the past that i don’t want to remember and it’s a bit hard to talk about, but if you’re curious, i’ll tell you everything.”

despite saying it was a big issue, luna intuitively realized.

that he simply hit his head with a pebble. maybe fersen acted annoyingly so he threw it? it was that extent.

however, the servants, including the baron, couldn’t help feeling sorry for him as they imagined a million things that didn’t happen.

“i see… if it’s so hard to remember, then there’s no need to say it. it must’ve been for a reason.”

“thank you for your deep consideration, baron. but since it’s you, i’ll tell you anytime if you’re curious. it might be easier to talk about it over a drink.”

“don’t worry. i’ll hear it hundreds of times if it’s a good story, but what’s the point of listening if it’s not so good? rather, tell a good story!”

the baron who fell for antes’ face laughed heartily and raised his wine glass. it seemed like a trick to change the atmosphere with a toast.

antes lifted his wine glass as if deeply thanking him, and the servants also put down their work and lifted their glasses.

‘he’s like a snake.’

although it was annoying, he was a man who helped her in many ways, so luna had no intention of spoiling the mood. therefore, when she also lifted the glass, only royer, who was left with the cold food, was left.

“don’t you like wine?”

antes asked with a cold face, as if asking when he started to dislike it. it was close to a scolding for not lifting the glass to avoid spoiling the mood.

it was a somewhat unfamiliar and scary expression, but nobody pointed it out because it was only for royer.

on the contrary, the baron’s family, who had been getting along for a long time, seemed to think that it was because they were close and passed it off as a joke, staring at royer with a big smile, urging him to toast together.

“no, it’s not like that…”

as if controlled by the almost oppressive atmosphere, royer, who had brought up antes’ childhood stories to give a little back, reached out for the wine glass.

then, as if he had been waiting, the baron stood up from his seat and looked back and forth between luna and antes before loudly giving a toast.

“now, let’s toast to the couple who became lovers starting from today!”

crash.

at the most shocking toast he had ever heard, royer dropped the wine glass he was holding.

it was the beginning of a dead end drama.

(tl/n: dead end is a term used in korean culture to describe dramatic, often unbelievable plot twists in a story or tv show.)