Chapter 11
Chapter 11
The Protagonist Is Brave
"Lady Goldrun."
Bianca spoke with a gentle smile.
"This banquet is being hosted by His Highness Manuel. So why did you approach His Highness Rouang first instead of greeting the host?"
"Uh... pardon?"
It was an entirely reasonable question.
A light jab thrown straight from the front.
Yet Angela looked as though it hadn't even occurred to her to defend herself.
It wasn't the face of someone upset by an unfair accusation.
It was the face of someone who genuinely didn't understand why this was a problem.
Bianca narrowed her eyes inwardly.
'What is this? Don't tell me she really acted without thinking at all?'
Unlike Angela, Bianca Lascacci had grown up in the very center of traditional noble society.
House Lascacci was an ancient family that had supported the First Prince before anyone else.
Long ago, they had even been connected to the Imperial Family through marriage.
Because of that, Bianca had naturally become one of the central figures among the younger noble ladies.
But positions like that weren't maintained by a family name alone.
The hierarchy among women was sharper than most people realized.
They didn't wield swords.
Instead, they stabbed people with words.
Expressions.
Tone of voice.
Eye contact.
Silence.
Using such small things, they pushed others away, established rankings, and determined who stood above whom.
And surviving in that environment for a long time became a valuable asset when it came time for marriage.
It proved that one could manage a great household and navigate the web-like relationships of high society without difficulty.
That was why Bianca had to protect her position today as well.
When someone appeared who disrupted the social order, it was necessary to draw a line.
Even if only lightly.
So she had poked at Angela.
But—
Her opponent was far too defenseless.
Angela wasn't slyly smiling and slipping away.
Nor was she forcing tears into her eyes to gain sympathy.
She was simply standing there, taking the blows with a blank expression.
Honestly, Bianca herself was beginning to lose momentum.
"Does House Goldrun intend to serve His Highness Rouang rather than His Highness Manuel? Revealing such intentions at a banquet hosted by His Highness Manuel is rather bold."
"N-No! I don't have the authority to decide things like that!"
"Then could you explain why you greeted His Highness Rouang first?"
"That's..."
Angela's lips moved before freezing.
Bianca had been about to press further when she suddenly stopped.
The truth was, she didn't know much about House Goldrun.
Everything she knew came from a brief explanation given by an attendant who had memorized the guest list.
They were pro-Imperial.
That much was true.
But even within that faction, it was unclear whom they were closer to.
At first, Bianca wondered whether Angela had been sent by her family.
People this clumsy often looked more natural when given simple instructions like:
"Go there and say exactly this."
But judging from Angela's reaction, that didn't seem to be the case.
Her family hadn't ordered her to do this?
Then why?
From the perspective of noble common sense, her actions were difficult to understand.
At banquets like this, whom you approached first, how long you spoke with them, and how openly you smiled all carried meaning.
Especially when princes were involved.
Yet Angela either didn't know that—
or ignored it entirely.
At Manuel's banquet, the order of priority was obvious.
No matter how much of a prince Rouang was, the host came first here.
Even if she wanted to approach Rouang, she shouldn't have run over to him alone like that.
And she smiled.
And spoke with him for a long time.
In front of everyone.
People would interpret that in one of three ways.
Either she was crazy too.
Crazy about men.
Or on Rouang's side.
Bianca glanced around.
Nobody intervened.
Everyone simply whispered among themselves and watched.
That meant House Goldrun hadn't established a strong network inside this social circle.
Which made things easy.
How much Angela would be pushed down tonight was essentially Bianca's decision.
'What should I do? If I go too far, I'll look petty.'
Angela wasn't the type to cleverly hide her intentions.
If anything, she was so innocent that she bordered on foolish when it came to common sense.
Stripping someone like that bare and mocking them to the end wouldn't look impressive.
It would look low-class.
So Bianca decided she would simply take Angela somewhere quiet and firmly explain things.
Teach her where the line was.
If she learned this lesson once, she probably wouldn't make the same mistake again.
Just as Bianca was reaching that conclusion—
"Hey."
"Eek?! W-Who—"
Tap.
A strange hand suddenly landed on Bianca's shoulder.
The thick, rough sensation of a man's palm touched the bare skin exposed by her dress.
Bianca's entire body froze.
Literally froze.
For a noble lady, physical contact with a man wasn't merely rude.
Her value, reputation, and future marriage prospects were all tied to such matters.
Men could usually hide whatever they did outside.
Women couldn't.
Pregnancy left evidence.
Because of that, noble families strictly controlled contact involving their daughters before marriage.
Bianca herself had almost never been touched by a man outside of her father.
Which made the shock even greater.
And the moment she turned around and saw the owner of that rude hand—
she lost her voice.
"Your name was Bianca, wasn't it?"
"Y-Your Highness Rouang?! Wh-What are you doing right now—"
"Hm? Aren't we simply standing shoulder to shoulder?"
Bianca's eyes shook.
In a public banquet hall.
In front of so many people.
So casually.
No normal man would ever do something like this.
Even if he intended to harass a woman, most men would choose somewhere private.
Nobody wanted a feud between noble families.
But when the other party was a lunatic who didn't listen to reason, everything changed.
If she provoked him unnecessarily, something even worse might happen.
Today it was her shoulder.
Next time, who knew what he might do?
Bianca felt her heart hammering wildly.
She wanted to run.
But she couldn't.
His arm was stronger than she'd expected.
Every time his fingers lightly brushed her shoulder, goosebumps ran across her skin.
It felt like being caught by a beast.
The noble ladies who had been glaring at Angela moments ago had all stepped back the instant Rouang appeared.
Before, they looked like a pride of lions.
Now they were frightened cats.
"I heard my name being mentioned. I assumed Lady Bianca wanted to become friends with me as well."
"Huh? Wha...?"
"Haha, I knew it. I'm really quite popular."
It was nonsense.
Absolute nonsense.
But what made it frightening was that he genuinely seemed to believe his own interpretation.
No matter what answer she gave, it felt like he would twist it however he wanted.
"So, what were you discussing?"
"Th-That is..."
"Hmm. Difficult to answer? Very well."
Rouang's gaze slowly shifted.
The sword followed his eyes as it slowly rose.
For a moment, Bianca feared the blade might point toward her.
Before her heart could burst, the tip of the sword stopped in front of Angela.
"Uh... me?"
"Yes. You, Lady Angela."
The atmosphere of the banquet hall visibly sank.
"Tell me honestly. What exactly did this young lady say to you?"
At that moment, a chill ran down Bianca's spine.
She was completely isolated.
Groups are strongest when they stay together.
The moment someone becomes separated, they become weak.
That was exactly Bianca's situation now.
If Angela acted even slightly cleverly here, it would be over.
"She insulted me."
Or—
"She interrogated me."
Just one sentence.
That was all it would take.
Bianca didn't know how Rouang would interpret those words.
But at the very least, her reputation would suffer greatly because of whatever madness Rouang chose to commit afterward.
The most frightening thing in high society wasn't swords or poison.
It was attracting the attention of the wrong man at the wrong moment.
If Bianca had been given an opportunity like this, she wouldn't have hesitated.
Because otherwise she wouldn't have survived this long.
So she closed her eyes tightly, almost resigned.
Angela couldn't believe what was happening in front of her.
Surely this wasn't what Rouang meant when he said they should meet again.
At least one thing was clear.
Rouang had saved her.
Just moments ago, she had been confused because she didn't understand the rules of noble society and was being scolded by Bianca.
That much she understood.
The problem came afterward.
Rouang appeared.
And ended everything in an extremely aggressive way.
'Wait a second. He definitely helped me, but...'
Angela looked at Rouang's arm still draped over Bianca's shoulder with a complicated expression.
'Looking at this, he isn't exactly normal either. If the Saintess were here, she'd probably calm him down gently... but she isn't. What am I supposed to do?'
Her thoughts were complicated.
But she wasn't panicking.
Angela wasn't weak.
If she had been timid and passive, she never would've stepped into noble society alone in the first place.
A little while ago, she hadn't even understood what the problem was.
Now she did.
The situation was strange.
Very strange.
And she arrived at a very simple conclusion.
'Even so, you can't just put your hands on a woman's body like that!'
Angela made up her mind.
She needed to stop Rouang.
...Though that conclusion, in many ways, was exactly the sort of conclusion someone completely unfamiliar with noble society would reach.