(Reden’s 3rd Person POV)

Dark red blood flowed from her mouth. 

She hurriedly covered it with her fingers but it was helpless. Blood flowed through the gaps before she could do anything to prevent it.

‘What’s going on?’

Reden couldn’t figure it out. She was perfectly fine until recently. She claimed she only hurt her arm. 

Plop.

Renée spilled so much that a pool of blood dripped to the ground. At the same time, she staggered as if falling, and Reden caught her reflexively.

Just a while ago, her clothes, which had only been slightly dirty, were now stained with blood. Her mouth wasn’t the only place that was bleeding. Her stomach was bleeding too. 

“You have to use healing magic right now! If she bleeds this much, she’ll die!”

Nearby, someone shouted at Reden devotedly but that didn’t reach him. Reden was deaf as if his ears were submerged in water.

How did it end up like this? With a blank mind, Reden looked back on what had happened so far. 

With a boiling fever, she went back to the mansion, woke up within the day normally, and made a strange expression after declining to attend the banquet, but he followed her otherwise here. 

He was suspicious but he just thought it would be better to keep her by his side and see what she does. 

And now……

Pale face. Neck stained with blood, drooped body, and weak, closed eyes due to the constant vomiting of blood.

She looked like she was about to die at any moment and seemed to be at peace somewhere. Reden just stared blankly at her.

Somehow, this scene was not unfamiliar. 

Yes, it wasn’t unfamiliar. 

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Renée’s POV)

Today’s Last Mission

“At the week-long welcome banquet for the Hugo Knights, let’s throw a noble into a cake and humiliate him!”

[Tl: I debated for a second if it’s ‘throwing the cake to the noble’ instead, but nope, XD the noble itself is the one being thrown omg hahaha.]

I sneaked a glance at the unanswered mission and gazed at the cake on top of the white table. 

Do I have to throw a noble on that cake? 

Ha… 

Just imagining it made me stressed. 

If only the first mission wasn’t to push Catherine from the top of the stairs….

Or the second mission wasn’t ordering me to set fire into Reden’s room…

I wouldn’t have had to come to the banquet like this. 

“What kind of trick should I do to succeed in this mission?”

As I was quietly sympathizing with myself, Reden, who had finished talking to other nobles, whispered. 

“Be honest with me. Why did you come with us here?” 

“I’ve said this over and over again, that I didn’t want to come either.” 

“Your body…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s in good shape.”

“Did you know that Solen took you to the carriage yesterday?” 

“I’m going to thank her when I meet her.” 

Our conversation was interrupted and continued intermittently. This was because people who wanted to talk to Reden occasionally came. 

It seemed that people are still reluctant to approach us because of me, but Reden was still as popular. 

That’s true. He is smart, has a good face, a good body, and a good status. Anyone would want to be close to Reden. 

I had no choice but to look at the nobles with unfamiliar faces because I didn’t know them. Anastasia and Aiden were not around. 

Rather, only uncomfortable people were seen. For example…

A black-haired man surrounded by as many people as Reden. 

Yeah, like Diwen Fergus. 

When I saw Diwen smiling beautifully surrounded by people, I remembered the scene yesterday replaying in my head. 

“Anastasia, do you have a mirror?”‘ 

“Hey, you dammit!” 

“If I hit you, you wouldn’t kill me right?” 

“…You really won’t kill me, right?”

I was sick.

I couldn’t remember the events clearly.

I must have been out of my mind because I was sick and in a hurry because of the mission.

It’s quite understandable that my memory of yesterday was hazy.

I don’t even remember who I slapped! 

“It can’t be Diwen Fergus…”‘

An ominous feeling came up. The moment it tickled my chest, I shook my head. 

‘No. If I had slapped Diwen Fergus, my head and body would have said goodbye to each other. It must have been someone else….’

Who the hell was it? 

The reason why I glance over the aristocrats as if I were observing them now was because of today’s mission, however, it didn’t slip my mind to look for the person I slapped yesterday.

I might remember him if I see his face.

However, the more I observed the aristocrats, the more skeptical I had to leave the place as soon as I could rather than recalling yesterday’s memories. 

Their gazes showed their intentions on how much they disliked me. I wanted to be alone, away from Reden, but the person himself gave quite a strict order. 

‘Don’t ever be away from me today.’

“By the way… It’s the first time that guests are seeing you two together.” 

It was then. I heard a voice near me. 

‘Oh, is it about me?’

When I lifted my head away from the thoughts that were flowing elsewhere, I saw a man I had never seen before.

The man who looked much older than Reden glanced at us and didn’t make a good impression openly.

‘Did I do something? He looks mean.’

Still, I was a person who knew how to hide my feelings.

I smiled, and the opponent pretended not to see me and fiddled with the black cane he was holding dearly. 

“Is that so?” 

Reden replied calmly. Perhaps because of the mood, his gaze seemed to be directed at the cane held by the opponent. 

“Yeah. How about going around together more often? You two look like a painting, beautiful to the eyes” 

Huh? Is that a compliment?

It wasn’t like someone to look at me favorably. However, the way this person’s words were spoken was unpleasant to me.

I wondered if Reden would do the same if we were alone. Still, I glanced and saw his expressionless face. I couldn’t grasp the aim of such nonsense.

I pretended not to notice anything and smiled, but the man leaned forward a bit and spoke to me.

“By the way, Lady Blair seems to have changed these days.”

“Yes? Me?”

“Who else can it be than you? Just a month ago you were like an unbridled pony, but now…”

He looked at me from up to down.

“You look calm now, don’t you think? Have you come to your senses now?”

I couldn’t answer the man’s question. I just blinked and looked at him in embarrassment. 

This man… He was talking without hesitation. 

I didn’t like such sarcasm disguised as compliments, but I remained silent for now. 

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

The man tapped a bean on the floor with the cane he was holding.

“Anyway, it was nice to see you two. I don’t know why, but you must have decided to live a straight life. Then again, you can’t be protected by the Blair family forever.” 

“Uh…” 

“I hope you meet a good partner soon. I’m not sure I can find a family to connect you with due to the past interactions.”

“······Thank you for your concern. But I’ll take care of such private matters.”

“Ah! But you have your advantage, don’t you think so?”

I tried to cut him off due to his increasingly excessive remarks, but the man interrupted me again. 

“It means you have a lot of personal property. You can win over a money-blinded family from the outskirts.”

“… Excuse me.” 

“Don’t think of it too badly. I’m saying this because I’m worried.” 

Are you telling me to believe that? When he was no longer able to control his facial expression as he gradually disappeared, the man finally broke into laughter. 

“it’s quite true so it doesn’t sound so bad to hear, don’t you think so? Honestly, what else would they look at from the reckless Lady Blair beside her wealth?”

“…..”

“Oh, what?” 

The man looked up and down at me again. This time, it was different from before. It was a look that made me feel dirty. 

“The old aristocrat who is interested in young women must see something else.” 

This bastard….

It seemed that the line of reason had been broken. Regardless of his face or reputation, I wanted to make him shut up right away. 

What is this man saying to someone? His words were all outrageous! 

“That’s enough.” 

Reden intervened quietly. He even stopped using honorifics.

I didn’t know how to reply, so he stopped what he was going to say and looked up at Reden

Reden’s tone was stiff. 

“Since you’re staying still, is it your family’s lineage that doesn’t know anything?” 

“What?” 

“You’re treating me quite politely so I wanted to ask if talking without knowing the context is a characteristic of your family, Count Sirius.”

“I… Did I say something wrong? I was just saying this because I was worried about Lady Blair.” 

The man, called Count Sirius, looked bewildered for a moment but regained his momentum back. He answered with a sly face. He seemed to claim that he was not trying to insult me.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

Haa······ If you pretend you don’t know like that, there won’t be any end to this. I suddenly felt like falling to the floor because I was put in a bad mood. There was nothing good about Renée Blair’s reputation at all.

It became worse because of these missions. 

I thought it was best to ignore it. The moment I was about to tell Reden to ignore him, Reden suddenly approached the Count one step forward and looked down at the Count who was shorter than him. 

He asked bluntly with a cold voice.

“Count. Perhaps you······”

“…..”

“Thought I looked like a fool?” 

The atmosphere froze. I felt the aristocrats around me looking in our direction without realizing it.

Wow, at this rate, it’s going to be a spectacle! However, neither Reden nor the Count showed signs of resigning. 

“What do you mean, Marquis? When did I ever…”

“If it’s not like that, there’s no way that you’ll make such a claim without sincerity. Are you saying that because you’re worried about her? Unless you’re kidding everyone.” 

“…..”

“You’re probably holding a grudge from three years ago, that’s why you’re insulting this child these days, aiming for her docile nature, isn’t that right?”

“T-Three years ago? What do you mean…?” 

The man somehow blurred his words with an awkward face.

What happened three years ago? I tried to interrupt and block the two, but I stopped wondering because of what Reden mentioned. 

“Don’t you remember? How unexpected. You proposed to this child, how can you forget?”

“Wait!” 

“I can’t believe you even forgot the fact that she refused it. How amusing.” 

“Wait, Marquis!” 

As if asking why he was saying that, the Count called out to Reden with a hoarse voice. The banquet hall instantly went silent, and I looked at the Count stupidly.

That person… 

To me…. 

No… to Renée Blair…

A proposal of marriage?