Chapter 39:
‘Huh? Wait. Shina?’
Startled by the familiar name she had just vaguely heard, Sue blurted out,
“Lady Enzhe, what happened with Master Fritz…”
“Shut up!”
Before she could finish her sentence, a glass flew at her from the table. Sue reflexively covered her face with both arms. The glass crashed to the floor with a thud, but thankfully, it didn’t shatter. Sue flinched and backed away, looking down at the glass lying on the carpet.
A strange silence fell.
“…Your ugly face. Your grating voice. Get out of my sight.”
“…Yes, Lady Enzhe. Please rest well.”
The moment she was dismissed, Sue rushed out of the room. As soon as the door slammed shut, she collapsed to the floor, her legs giving way.
She forced herself to stand up and walked as far away from Enzhe’s room as she could. She was still inside the Lopetrefer residence, but she stopped in a secluded hallway where there were no servants.
“Sigh…”
As she collected herself and the tension began to drain away, she felt a burning pain on her left cheek. Only then did she remember being slapped. She took out a hand mirror from her sleeve. Her swollen, red cheek stared back at her from the mirror.
‘Should I go back to the ballroom?’
It was a dilemma. If she was completely disheveled, she would just get in the carriage and go home to recuperate.
‘Whatever. No one will care.’
She considered holing up in the lounge inside the ballroom, but she thought Eren might find fault with her later. If she just hid in a corner and sipped her wine like before, the ball would be over soon. Enzhe, the only person she had to worry about, was currently locked in her room, so it should be fine.
Sue put the hand mirror back in her sleeve and headed back to the ballroom.
As expected, the ballroom was no different from before. People were chatting and laughing merrily. Some were even dancing to the music.
Sue’s parents, Eren and Cheryl, were mostly excluded from the conversations. But they didn’t seem to feel any shame, perhaps because they were both shameless. Oblivious to the fact that others were avoiding them, they were the ones most engrossed in the ball.
Sue tried to get back to her secluded corner as quickly as possible. But to her surprise, someone stopped her.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
The sound of clicking heels echoed under the bright chandeliers. Sue quickly covered her cheek with her left hand, recognizing the familiar voices. The soft touch of her silk glove pressed against her burning cheek.
“Oh my, Master Fritz, Master Acrea.”
Sue quickly composed herself and smiled, calling out the names of the two young men standing before her. Shina Fritz and Woo Acrea. And peeking out from behind Fritz was Evan Fritz, whom she had seen earlier. Fortunately, he had found his brother.
“We have something to ask you, Lady Byron.”
Acrea spoke in a more formal tone than usual. Fritz was standing beside him, his expression unreadable, his gaze averted. They both looked dashing in their formal attire.
“Ah, she’s ugly.”
Evan, remembering their earlier encounter, pointed at Sue and said mockingly. Fritz looked at Evan, startled.
“Evan, don’t be rude to the lady.”
“B-brother…”
“Apologize. Now.”
Fritz reprimanded Evan firmly, ignoring his pleading eyes.
“Ugh… I’m sorry.”
Evan finally apologized to Sue, his spirit broken. Sue smiled gently, as if she understood.
‘He has no right to talk, considering how rude he is to ladies.’
But Shina Fritz was still the next head of the Fritz grand duke family. Even though he acted recklessly at the academy, he knew how to behave in formal settings.
“Master Acrea, what is it that you want to ask me?”
Sue asked Acrea.
For Acrea to personally seek her out because he had a question… It was a momentous occasion that would be passed down through generations in the Byron family.
“Lady Byron, do you know where Lady Enzhe is?”
“Ah, Lady Enzhe.”
Of course. What else would they want from me?
Sue replied pleasantly, unfazed.
“You haven’t seen her, have you? Lady Enzhe was a little tired, so she went back to her room to rest.”
“Enzhe did?”
Fritz asked back, his expression unreadable. Now that she listened closely, there was something strange about the way he said Enzhe’s name.
“Yes, she just fell asleep. She said she wanted to rest alone for a while…”
Sue added a little lie, worried that they might try to look for Enzhe, who was a little out of it. She felt a sense of futility, wondering if she really had to go this far.
‘There’s no other lackey as loyal as me.’
“I see. Grand Duke Antique was looking for Lady Enzhe. I’ll let him know.”
Acrea said in his gentle voice.
“Yes, I’m glad I could be of help.”
“Shina, that’s what she said. I’ll tell the Grand Duke.”
“Ah… Is that so… Okay…”
“…?”
Once again, his expression and his answer were strange. She wasn’t sure why, but Fritz had been acting restless ever since they arrived.
‘Hmm… Don’t tell me…’
An unpleasant thought crossed her mind. No, that can’t be it. She tried to dismiss the thought, but Evan, oblivious, confirmed her suspicions with a sly grin.
“So, if you had just made up with Lady Enzhe earlier…”
“Evan.”
Evan closed his mouth at the sound of Acrea’s emotionless voice. Fritz simply sighed, not reprimanding him further.
‘As I thought…’
But this time, Sue was grateful to Evan. She sighed inwardly. At the same time, she realized why Enzhe had been so angry. It wasn’t just because of Michaela. She had fought with Fritz.
Occasionally, Enzhe and Fritz, who maintained a good relationship as friends, would have arguments. And ninety-nine percent of the time, it was because of their engagement.
It wasn’t a good look for an engaged couple to be fighting about their engagement, so naturally, they didn’t show it publicly. But Sue, who had known Enzhe for a long time, could tell.
Whenever she fought with Fritz, Enzhe would either fly into a rage or become extremely irritable. There were even times when she had a mental breakdown. On the other hand, Fritz seemed to avoid talking about anything related to Enzhe. She didn’t know when they had fought, but it was clearly the case now.
‘Huh? Wait, she only slapped me a couple of times after fighting with Fritz? That’s really lenient.’
Sue’s thought process, warped by Enzhe’s crazy behavior, was going haywire.
“…Forget about Enzhe.”
Fritz sighed briefly.
“By the way, there’s one more thing I wanted to ask.”
“…?”
Just when she thought the conversation was over, Fritz, who had been looking away, turned his gaze to Sue.
Sue waited for him to speak, but he remained silent for a long time. He seemed troubled. Sue tilted her head, confused.
Then,
“Lady Sue Byron of the Viscount family.”
Acrea broke the awkward silence.
“…There’s one more thing we’d like to ask, Lady Sue Byron. Would that be alright?”
“…Yes, it’s alright.”
Sue stared at Fritz, dumbfounded, as his expression relaxed. She nodded vaguely, but she could barely suppress a chuckle.
Hadn’t they just been teammates, working together for the Sports Festival two months ago? Well, maybe not exactly teammates. How self-centered could he be to be so indifferent to others? He had just reprimanded Evan for being rude, but he didn’t realize that he was the one who needed to be reprimanded.
“Do you have any particular theme in mind for the September Festival?”
“The September Festival?”
The September Festival.
Fritz and Acrea were the overall representative and vice-representative of the sixth-year students. Did they want to hear her opinion as a student regarding the September Festival?
‘He actually remembers that I’m a student.’
Summer vacation was almost over. They usually decided on the theme and started preparations around this time, but it seemed like they were having trouble reaching a consensus this year.
“Anything is fine, even if it’s just a random idea. We haven’t been able to come up with anything good at the meetings.”
Fritz’s voice sounded almost pleading. Sue glanced at Acrea, wondering if there was a predetermined answer. But he just raised an eyebrow and remained silent.