Chapter 59
“I was looking for you, and you were here.”
Mary, the youngest daughter of the Vincent family, had gone out in search of them.
She brought snacks for the two of them and set them on the steps.
She said, “I think Karen was rude to the Duke in the break room earlier. Please accept my apologies.”
Lionel didn’t respond, so Riv laughed. It seemed that the ring leader among the girls who caused trouble was Karen.
“It’s okay. We wanted to cool off before going back in.”
“Please.”
Mary quickly left the two, allowing them to spend time alone.
Lionel murmured, eating a few raspberries that Mary had left behind.
He had been angry ever since Marianne and her coming-of-age ceremony were brought up.
“Lionel, are you going to stay mad all night?”
“What?”
“About the girls earlier.”
“They are not my taste.”
Riv’s question seemed to make him uncomfortable. He made a face.
“Then what is your taste in women?”
Lionel watched her with blazing eyes as if he was going to eat her at that moment.
“Li-onel?”
He grabbed Riv’s face and kissed her like he was going to devour her.
Even though someone was probably watching them.
As if to show off, openly.
After a while, the sweet kiss ended.
Riv’s head started to tingle, and Lionel reluctantly pulled his lips away from hers.
“Lionel?”
What was Lionel thinking?
Those words faded from her mind as soon as Lionel met Riv’s hazy eyes and brushed his finger across her lips.
Lionel whispered, his eyes burning with passion.
“Didn’t I tell you that you look terribly pretty? Did I ever say you weren’t my taste?”
“You’re pretty too.”
“I keep thinking about tearing this dark red dress off you right now, and your long legs wrapped around me.”
“L-Lionel!”
Riv was afraid that someone would hear, so she covered his mouth.
Lionel’s lips curled up under her palm.
Slowly removing her hand, Lionel looked around the Vincent’s beautiful garden.
It was a quiet garden full of late spring flowers.
“I like this place. I’ll have to hire the Vincent’s gardener.”
Lionel took Riv’s hand and kissed the back.
He asked as a respectful gentleman.
“Would you like to dance with me, Riv Sentoren?”
They danced under the moonlight, with very faint music as their guide.
It was a romantic night.
Those who watched them sighed softly.
***
After the ball at the House of Vincent, rumors about the Duke and Duchess of Sentoren spread wildly.
Those who argued that Riv Sentoren was not Madame Katana had finally come to admit that they were the same person.
In the meantime, there was much gossip that the Duchess of Sentoren in Madame Ezerca’s dress was beautiful.
There were many discussions about how she matched Lionel well, as if they were always a pair.
Those words spread and reached the Royal Family. The more Queen Selina heard such rumors, the more uncomfortable she became.
“Do you think they’re a real couple?”
Queen Selina’s cousins and maids watched the Queen’s despair first hand.
“Q-Queen Selina, H-How about bringing in the Duchess and scolding her?”
“For what reason?”
“Because the Duchess was formerly Madame Katana, they’re saying that all of our maids are masters of disguise and transformation!”
“But it is true that Madame Katana disguised herself. What do you want me to say? Madame Katana was under me for five years. She was a hideous girl!”
It was Queen Selina herself who told the teenage girl to disguise herself with a big body to look ugly.
The maids closed their eyes tightly at the Queen’s words.
“What if Madame Katana gossips about Queen Selina or Princess Marianne?”
“Has anyone heard her spreading rumors?”
“N-no.”
Queen Selina let out a sigh.
“There is no way that girl can talk about us easily. If she ever does, I won’t stay still or leave her alone.”
Madame Katana was no longer the problem. The Queen was reminded of her daughter, the source of all her troubles.
“What the hell is Marianne doing?!”
The Queen had headaches from the numerous scandals of Marianne.
Rumors and questions about Madame Katana also returned to the Royal Family.
Why did Madame Katana hide her true self and become the protagonist of such infamous gossip?
Why did the Royal Family keep spreading rumors about Madame Katana? If the rumors about Madame Katana were fake, the Royal Palace must’ve started them.
“The rumors about Princess Marianne are nasty.”
“Marianne has been confined and neither Riv nor the Duke have talked, so why?”
Even if the Duke of Sentoren and Riv were silent, many knew of Marianne’s bad deeds and her temper. The Queen’s clown maids were also concerned about it.
Those who sought Marianne, whose fiancé had disappeared, were numerous.
“Young men who claim they’ve spent a night with Princess Marianne are spreading the rumors.”
Things that could have been passed off as Marianne’s petty games when the Duke of Sentoren was her fiancé had now gotten bigger.
Marianne’s lovers wanted to be her husband.
“One of Princess Marianne’s lovers seems to have fought a duel.”
“What?”
“The Marquis Quill, who ran away after the accident, also seems to have wandered around publicly saying that he would marry Princess Marianne and become a member of the Royal Family. He even said he was going to deal with the Duke of Sentoren.”
The King and Queen had already dealt with the Marquis of Quill properly.
He never would have appeared in front of Marianne while he was alive.
Lionel’s search for him had also stopped.
She thought it would be all right if the Marquis disappeared, but it wasn’t.
His words and deeds, and the commotion he caused, still came and went from people’s mouths.
After Princess Marianne’s coming-of-age ceremony, when the Marquis had disappeared, it was said that he was delighted that he had killed the Duke of Sentoren.
At that time, the Duke was in danger, and some of the guards witnessed it.
Marianne’s promiscuous personal life and all the rumors surrounding her could not be controlled, and Queen Selina suffered another headache.
“Keep a close watch on Princess Marianne. Keep her out of contact with men from outside. She needs to find a new groom, so it’s not good for rumors to spread like this.”
As Queen Selina brushed her teeth, she recalled her Riv.
Her daughter’s bad behavior was a problem, but it was because of Madame Katana that the rumors had spread.
“If I had known that this would be such a problem, I would have killed her.”
Queen Selina stopped cursing Riv, called a maid and asked,
“What is Marianne doing now?”
“Princess Marianne… she is depressed that everyone is turning a blind eye and abandoning her.”
“What?”
“Princess Marianne wants someone to comfort her. If the Queen would offer her some warm words…”
“Why would I do that?”
Queen Selina sent the Princess’ handmaiden away.
She could only arrive at one conclusion.
“Riv… I can’t forgive that girl for running around like this.”
Queen Selina thought carefully.
There was only one way she could put all of this to rest.
“Riv Sentoren, send an assassin to the girl.”
Queen Selina’s face looked more terrifying than the reaper who brought death.
The Queen’s maids trembled with fear.
***
That night, a ‘guest’ visited the Sentoren mansion.
Riv slept so well that night that she didn’t wake up, but Lionel, who had been sleeping beside her, opened his eyes.
There was a moment of intense fighting outside, but the sound had subsided.
Lionel checked to make sure Riv was completely asleep and went outside.
His men were lying on the floor and the window was wide open as if someone had left.
“Your opponent?”
“We missed him. Sorry.”
“Okay.”
Lionel did not rebuke his men.
“Are you injured?”
“No.”
Lionel stared out the window on the third floor.
It would be difficult to find the intruder who had disappeared into the dark. He deliberately did not give orders to seek them out.
If the assassin was sent by the orders of the Queen, she would have sent her best man.
Even if the assassin was captured and evidence was obtained, the Queen would deny everything.
‘Maybe this will keep happening until Riv dies.’
Lionel asked his men.
“Do you think the killer has been aiming for the mansion for long?”
“We haven’t figured that out yet, but since he failed once, he might try again. Next time we will be thoroughly prepared and not make any mistakes.”
“I’m sick and tired of this.”
At Lionel’s words, his men nodded their heads in agreement.
Even Riv Sentoren did not know why she was hated by the Queen and the Princess’ object of envy.
Lionel stepped towards his office.
Michelle was with him.
“How about going down to your estate? Only until Princess Marianne’s marriage is decided. She is going to get married by the end of this year at the latest.”
“You mean running away? Riv said even if Marianne gets married, the Queen will still blame Riv for everything.”
“Why would she do that?”
Michelle was lost in thought.
The Queen thought Riv was like a doll that cursed them.
Madame Katana. A being who brought out hatred and caused misfortune, no matter how many bad things she suffered.
An object of anger who was not treated as a human being.
But Riv was human, and she escaped from her prison and bloomed into a different person.
Lionel wanted to know how Queen Selina and Princess Marianne would react to seeing Riv now.
“Wouldn’t that make them want to kill Riv even more?”
Michelle couldn’t answer.