Chapter 3 : Suspicious Person (7)

*****

As soon as she entered the party hall, she felt people's eyes on her. Everyone wondered what kind of person the duke's fiancée was. 

Having received all kinds of attention, Regina tried not to listen to the whispering in her ears.

She's already learned that she'd rather not listen to such nonsense.

It was a fact she found out occasionally hanging out with Kai and Isota, who she used to be the protagonist of the story.

"Duke of Greroy!"

"Nice to meet you, Duke Haynes."

Upon entering the party, the Duke Haynes, who was greeting his guests, found them and approached them. 

The Duke Haynes greeted Arsene with a smile.

"I'm glad to see you."

At first glance, they looked like they could be mistaken for being very close friends.

"Then this must be the rumored fiancé."

"I'm Regina from Count Blois. Thank you for inviting me to the party."

Next to the Duke was the Duchess of Haynes, the goal of the day.

With her gentle impression, dark gray hair and black eyes, she was looking at Regina with her curious eyes.

"By the way, you two haven't really met yet? This is my wife."

"I'm Iria Haynes. Nice to meet you." 

Regina smiled softly at the unknown kindness shown on her expression.

For some reason, she already felt that she was a little friendly.

"Then let's talk for a while and let the two of you come." 

After her moderate introduction of herself, the Duke of Haynes recommended Arsene to move the place.

he seemed to want to talk quietly. She looked up at Arsene, who was standing next to her, and he signed his eyes into her not to forget her goal. 

"Wait a minute. I'll be back soon."

He then gave her a short kiss on her forehead, and he walked with the Duke of Haynes.

What is he trying to achieve by becoming friends with them? But it was not her domain to even think about it. 

She looked at his back for a moment, then Regina felt a stare poking her side face.

Recalling why she was here, she turned to the Duchess of Haynes, trying to smile naturally. 

The Duchess immediately froze her mouth, as if waiting for her eyes to meet. 

"Duke Greroy seems to really love lady a lot"

"I think it's because we fell in love at first sight." 

Regina lied casually. She didn't originally think she was so good at lying, and she felt like she had discovered a new talent.

When Arsene and the Duke of Haynes were away, the lady who were hovering around them approached them. 

In the meantime, Isota was also at the party today. Isota, who clasped right next to her, stared at Arsene, who was moving away, and turned her head.

"Duke Greroy, one of his nickname was duke of iron wall, he is different for the one he loves." 

One of the people who approached brought up the conversation with a reaction as if reading a Romance novel.

"You can't earn money in the presence of love."

"A man who does good to everyone, but is gentle to me. Is it like this? I'm so envious."

“Haha……”

Regina, who somehow became the center of the love story because she got caught in the crowd, answered everything with a smile.

A shrill voice was heard, "How passionately did the lady Blois clings to him, so the Duke of Greroy accepted it? I'm really curious." 

When she turned her head to ask her directly, she met sharp eyes for some reason.

Judging by the expression on her face, it seems that she probably liked Arsene, liked his appearance, or else liked his position, because she felt that she had a grudge against her.

If it had been just plainly out of curiosity, the choice of words would have been a bit odd, but she seemed to have deliberately chosen a word that was offensive. 

'What was this girl name... ...... '

She thought about it for a while, but it didn't come to mind. 

Unfortunately for a lady, Regina wasn't very good at socializing, so she couldn't memorize everyone's names.

In the end, Regina, who gave up thinking about who she was, answered her question simply.

"I'm not sure about that, because I didn't confess."

It couldn't have been her will to fall into a place like this. How much she didn't want to get involved with him. 

Regina agonized for a moment. She couldn't say she was threatened. 

"Well, Arsene proposed to me first."

The red-haired young girl frowned for a moment when she heard Regina say Arsene's name without hesitation, but then she barely opened her eyes.

"Oh my, I don't mean that I don't believe it, I mean that it's surprising. Maybe you misunderstood it?"

"Duke Greroy did ? That's an incredible story." 

Contrary to her intention to get over her, the lady took a quarrelsome attitude. She probably felt offended by the word proposal.

Others around her felt it too, and her expression hardened. 

'Really? You say you're arguing childishly like this?' 

She's now the Countess, but she was the one who would soon become the Duchess.

Moreover, externally, it is her marriage that falls in love with the Duke, and the red haired girl hostility towards her was no different from the attitude to make the Duke of Greroy her enemy.

It seemed that the young lady trying to do something she couldn't handle for a moment. 

Regina responded briefly to how she felt already tired. 

“I know. It feels like a dream to me, too.” 

It really is a story that could come out of a fairy tale.

'I wish I could have a dream like that, lady. I'm so jealous.' 

By that time Regina didn't feel the need to argue about this. It was a little unfair to be like she confessed, but it wasn't a big problem.

She was better off not having a conversation with someone she wasn't willing to talk to.

The moment Isota was about to open her mouth, Regina grabbed her hand and stopped her.

Then her eyes, as if she wasn't even angry, looked at Isota. She didn't want to make the problem bigger for nothing. 

As she slowly closed her eyes and opened her eyes once more, telling her not to do that, she took a deep breath and bit her mouth.

Isota, above all, seemed to dislike that Arsene had approached her 'first'. 

It's Arsene who refused all the young girls who tried to win his heart.

However, there was no way to prove it, so even if he continued to claim that he was married, it was of no use.

"The Duke of Greroy's proposal is really, like a dream, right?"

Now, she said, 'Isn't it really a dream that the Duke proposed to you first? Don't lie'. 

She says that Regina lies to save her face in front of others, and she wonders what she has to say to this so that she can end the sluggish conversation, but her answer comes from elsewhere.

"It's like a dream."

Suddenly, the arm that stretched out from behind hugged Regina's waist. 

She looked up at the top where she could hear his voice in surprise.

Arsene, who came up before she knew it, was looking down at her with eyes full of love.

From the perspective of a people, he looked so sweet that she thought he was really loved her. 

"How can I'm not loved such a lovely person?" 

His lips lightly landed on her forehead.

It felt as if there was a stamp on his soft lips. 

'I thought you were going to talk to the Duke Haynes.' 

Looking ahead, some had a surprised expression as if they didn't know he would appear, while others covered their faces with fan as if embarrassed to see him, and their eyes were sparkling.

"I think I'm really lucky to be able to propose before someone else takes her." 

He deliberately mentioned it, as if refuting the red-haired lady.

The young girl, whose name she couldn't remember, had a muddy face. It was a fight that would not benefit her in any way in the first place.

More than that. 'Before someone else took her...' 

She's probably the only one who hears his words in a different way.

*****

Regina had no intention of reacting seriously to that young girl from the beginning. 

She was more concerned about Arsene, who suddenly appeared than that.

'Why are you here?' 

Looking up at him, Arsene, who read her gaze, rolled his eyes and smiled. It was a smile that seemed to drip honey from the end.

A hand that wasn't holding her waist gently grabbed her left hand. 

"I forgot something." 

Arsene bowed his head and put his lips close to Regina's ear.

His hand caressed the engagement ring she was wearing. A light gesture felt like electricity went on from her fingertips.

"I've put a few more spells on it." 

The whispers tickled so soft that only she could hear it.

His voice is the same as usual, but her soft hair stands on edge all over her body. 

"Now, I've activated the magic."

One Arsene pressed his lips to her ring as light as a feather before he left her.

"......!"

Unlike him, who looked calm as if nothing had happened, Regina, who was out of shape, couldn't even smile and looked up at him. 

"Oh!" 

A few of those around them, who watched them with curious eyes, caught the scene and flapped their fan.

Isota did not miss the scene, and her gaze was satisfied as she watched the scene.

"Then I'll really go, Regina. Excuse me."

Arsene carefully let go of the overlapping hands with a gesture of regret. He even politely greeted the ladies around him and moved on.

Appearing suddenly, he returned to where the Duke of Haynes was waiting. 

His appearance was a bit disconcerting. It looked like it was planned, as if he knew someone was going to argue with her.

"Duke Greroy really... seems to love lady Blois a lot." 

Regina barely held her head as she was about to stir her temple. Because Arsene's stories were heard only by her, in the eyes of others they seemed to share the secret talk.

'That' Duke of Greroy sweetly smiled and whispered, it was a man who fell in love without fail.

But there was no way that Arsene Greroy would have forgotten such a trivial thing.

Even if you really forgot, there was no need to show off to the Duchess of Haynes in this way by joining the ladies.

Originally, it was an unwritten rule that they did not get involved in the fights of the ladies.

In a way, he was deliberately directing this scene in front of others. Arsene Greroy loves Regina Blois very much.

Certainly that helped Regina establish her place in her social circle. It was as if he had taken the fame he had and put it at her feet.

"......"

The red-haired young lady immediately left the room, probably embarrassed that she had teased her lightly.

It didn't seem like she would come around here for a while.

The Duchess of Haynes and others stared at her and clicked her tongue slightly.

"Are you okay, Blois little girl?"

"Looks like she's a little shocked by the news that the young lady is getting married to Duke Greroy. Why does she keep coming all the way here?"

"Don't be so upset with someone like that."

They worried about Regina being attacked by that lady out of nowhere and put her words on top of each other. 

Isota also looked at her expression. But Regina was more concerned about the warmth that seemed to still remain.

Her fingertips touched the part where he kissed her. 

"I'm alright."

It was really good. She's married to a celebrity, and she never thought she'd be blessed by everyone.

She didn't even love Arsene, so it didn't matter what the rumors were. 

Besides, she was even thinking of leaving this place anyway. There was no reason why it wouldn't be okay if there were a few more people like that, as long as it didn't harm her.

They feel jealous of her for getting a good husband like Arsene.

But that's just the outward appearance. He pretends to be a gentleman who is thoroughly sane in front of people. 

Doesn't he now wear his mask again just for her? Even though she was the one who even witnessed him killing people.

She has to get out of here before she falls for him, with that face.

Even she, who read the original story, was deceived by his act of pretending to be normal person with his beautiful face.

He was different from others since childhood, and he killed his father with his own hands, and she didn't know how many more people he will kill in the future.

And she could have been included in his homicide list. When she saw that she had survived so far, she realized. No one really knew the future.

"By the way, I'm going to have a tea party soon with a nice view this time." 

Iria Haynes brought up a different topic to change the flow of the conversation.

Regina, who had wandered her thoughts at her words, looked at her. Her eyes met immediately as she was also looking at Regina. 

"Can I send an invitation to Young lady?"

Her mind flashed. She reminded herself again of her purpose for coming to this party today. 

"Of course. If you could invite me to the event, it would be a very special message."

Ladies usually only invited close friends to the tea party. Calling her to such a place could be interpreted to mean that you want to build friendships with her. 

Arsene's command to her was to be friend with the Duchess of Haynes.

She was even invited to a tea party on her first meeting, so this was enough. 

If she meekly followed his orders, she wondered if her boundaries would loosen. 

At that moment, Regina, who had been smiling at the Duchess of Haines, turned her head to the faint gaze.