Chapter 215: Side Story 7

Side Story 7

That is to say, Gary had completely severed the thread of reason that he had been desperately clinging to.

“You’re the one who’s nothing!”

He said, gripping Sabina’s cloak even tighter.

“The power I hold is my talent and strength. As evidence, I will become a royal knight, while you’re helplessly walking towards death right now.”

Moreover…

He looked around with a defiant expression and added with a sneer.

“It’s amazing that no one is seeing off the daughter of a count on her journey to the afterlife.”

Count Valois was currently away on a trip.

He knew that only a carriage would be sent from the Valentine family.

“And the Grand prince didn’t even come to greet you himself.”

Gary raised his voice in mockery of Sabina.

“This is the proof that you’re nothing!”

There was no need to listen anymore.

Sabina looked at him indifferently, then clenched her fist.

And she struck him straight on.

“Cough…”

She coldly looked down at Gary, who was coughing and even vomiting saliva.

“No one’s watching, how fortunate.”

Of course, it wasn’t that no one was there, as a servant guarding the door was watching them.

However, he quickly averted his gaze when Sabina’s eyes glanced over him.

“Did you see?”

She asked for confirmation.

The servant seemed to struggle for a moment, then obediently answered.

“…I can’t open my eyes, perhaps due to a speck of dust.”

It was because offending the young lady who would soon become the Grand Duchess was even worse than going against the master’s orders.

Sabina smiled contentedly.

“Since my brother went out of his way to see me off, let’s go to the afterlife together. I’ll send you off.”

She casually cracked her wrist, making a thud, and slowly moved her steps.

A shadow loomed over Gary sprawled on the floor.

“Open it.”

Sabina commanded, while wiping her bloody fist on her cloak.

It was when the coachman, who had been watching the whole process from afar, tremblingly approached to open the carriage door.

The door opened weakly by itself.

“Huh?”

She looked inside the carriage with a puzzled and absurd expression.

There was a black-haired man, with his arm outstretched toward the door, shivering his shoulders.

In an awkward stance as if he had stopped while trying to kick the door and leave the carriage.

“What’s this?”

Sabina muttered unknowingly.

There was a reason for such a reaction.

The man in front of her was not a pleasant first impression, even at his best.

“…The smell of alcohol.”

Sabina frowned and muttered.

It didn’t seem like he had been drinking in the carriage.

However, it was as if he had just crawled out of a liquor store, the smell of alcohol was emanating from him.

At the carriage sent from Valentine, what could it possibly mean that a drunkard was riding?

‘Is it a test?’

To see how I react?

Or is it a new kind of harassment to teach me a lesson?

It was confusing.

But soon, she thought:

‘So what?’

Having stepped on the perpetrator who had forced her to sacrifice her entire life, there was nothing left to be afraid of in life.

Although it was a reckless act driven by reaching her limit, it was very satisfying.

‘I’ll survive.’

Sabina had already made up her mind.

She couldn’t die because she had unfulfilled dreams.

But for her, who would become the Grand Duchess, there was only one way to live.

‘To be divorced.’

To get out of the Valentine family no matter what.

For that, Sabina had to actively show that she was not the person Valentine wanted.

‘What should I do?’

She looked down at the man who was still silently laughing with his waist bent, lost in thought.

What Valentine wanted was clearly a ‘sacrifice.’

In fact, Sabina had lived a life no different from a sacrifice so far.

But ironically, it was only after becoming a ‘real sacrifice’ that she wanted to escape from this sacrificial life.

‘Wouldn’t I be able to get a divorce if I show the opposite attitude of a sacrifice? Being rebellious, not being humble, having a strong desire to live, not listening to what people say, acting as I please, being arrogant…’

Anyway, she had to show a completely different side from the way she had lived so far.

But Sabina felt like acting that way would suit her.

“I never thought you’d raise your fist there…”

It was then.

The man spoke in a voice that seemed to be suppressing his laughter.

“Did you see everything?”

Sabina glanced at Gary lying on the floor and asked.

But after saying it, she realized it was a foolish question.

Of course, he couldn’t help but see it with the window there.

“I heard everything, too.”

However, the man’s following words were completely unexpected.

“You heard the whole conversation? How?”

“My ears are a bit sharp.”

It was convincing since the conversation wouldn’t have been completely inaudible if the carriage door was open.

But to have heard the whole conversation…

‘No, it’s better this way. I was showing a completely different side from the sacrifice that Valentine wants.’

Where would there be a sacrifice that threatens to personally send their own flesh and blood to the afterlife with their fist?

Sabina was secretly pleased.

If she continued to act recklessly and uninhibited like this, it would be fine.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a family matter.”

“I can see that you don’t seem to need any help, but I was willing to help.”

Help?

‘Ah, so that’s why he was in that awkward position.’

The man tried to open the carriage door and step out when Sabina was about to suffer a great humiliation from Gary.

Because of Sabina’s sudden outburst, he ended up sitting down and laughing like crazy.

“Well, even if you say you’ll help…”

She glanced down at her slightly bruised fist swinging violently in the wind and looked back at Gary.

Could it be that his actions were amusing?

This time, the man burst out laughing outright.

“No, no, it’s not that. I misspoke.”

Fortunately, she understood.

Sabina relaxed her clenched fist.

Then, she looked at the man with disbelief and blurted out a remark.

“You must have a wicked sense of humor to laugh at someone in pain like that.”

This only made him laugh even harder.

Sabina had never seen someone laugh so heartily in her life.

‘And his face is…’

Sabina couldn’t help but admit as she scanned the man from head to toe.

‘…incredibly handsome.’

Black hair contrasting against his pale skin and obsidian-like eyes that seemed to absorb all light.

The combination of colors appeared neat and refined. However, his unusually dark lips and the area around his eyes gave him a strange aura.

Especially his relaxed eyes, which seemed to complete the picture. Along with the colors around his eyes, they gave off an inexplicable sense of desolation.

‘Although he doesn’t look strong…’

Tall stature, broad shoulders, and a muscular chest that looked like they belonged to a warrior.

Despite his masculine appearance, strangely, the first impression he gave was that of beauty.

A peerless beauty who possessed both classical and extravagant beauty at the same time.

‘A friend of the Grand Prince? Or someone who serves by his side, like a handsome attendant?’

Having never been involved in high society, Sabina couldn’t figure out who the man was.

She didn’t know much about nobles either.

That’s why she could easily strike up a conversation with this listless drunkard as if they had been friends for years.

“Are you going to keep standing there?”

The man, who had risen from his seat, boldly grabbed her hand and pulled her.

Sabina was startled and tried to shake him off, but the man was faster.

He lifted her up with one hand, pulled her over, and sat her down on the opposite seat.

“Make yourself comfortable. We’ll be riding for a while.”

The man tapped on the wall near the coachman’s seat, and the carriage soon started moving.

Sabina sat blankly on the seat, staring at her hand.

Then, she raised her head.

‘Huh.’

He seemed oblivious to the audacity of his actions.

He leaned back in his seat, calmly closing his eyes.

After a while, Sabina finally managed to speak.

“What are you doing?”

Resting his arm on the seat handle, he slightly tilted his head and opened his eyes narrowly.

“What do you mean?”

“Who said you could hold my hand?”

Sabina had hardly ever had any contact with people, let alone the opposite sex.

She had never left her family’s estate, and even within it, she had been ignored, never having been properly escorted.

Naturally, she reacted sensitively.

“Did it make you uncomfortable?”

“What do you think?”

“It’s a problem…”

A problem? What exactly?

Just as she was about to retort, he spoke.

“We have to do more than that, you know.”

The man reached out, tapped the tip of her finger, and playfully winked.

“Get used to it quickly.”

It was then that Sabina realized that this man was Grand Prince Tristan Valentine.

◊