Soaked in the Rain, Ridiculed at the Entrance
“Hah! Idel… no, wait, Sir Del! Are you alright?”
It wasn’t. At all.
The moment I stepped inside the cafe, I got blasted by a sudden downpour of water. How could I possibly feel fine after that?
Idel shook her wet hair and clothes with both hands while turning her gaze sideways.
Sigmund, the one holding her hand, looked no better. He was drenched like a dog that had fallen into water.
“You’re… fine… right?”
“Nope.”
He was already glaring at the source of the splash like he wanted to kill it, eyes full of curses.
Idel told Diane to fetch towels, then turned her head toward the direction Sigmund was staring at.
‘I’m curious too. Not some random spot—right by the entrance, of all places. Who in their right mind just dumps water on someone like this?’
The spot where Sigmund and I were staring together held two men seated inside. One of them was already soaked, so the blond man sitting opposite him was probably the culprit…
“Why? Angry? Embarrassed? If you didn’t want trouble, you shouldn’t have been flirting with someone else’s fiancée in the first place.”
“Prince Farel. That’s quite disrespectful toward the count, isn’t it? The count hasn’t officially engaged anyone.”
“Officially? Hah, that’s why I said nobles aren’t all the same. Even before I knew you were that nosy journalist, I could tell. You look like you have neither grace nor dignity.”
“Prince Farel.”
“Even if we don’t exchange formal documents, nobles with deep roots and old blood have been exchanging words since childhood. Now do you understand, Ivan Earnest? Vivian has been my woman since I was six!”
Sadly, the person who poured the water in this used space showed no concern for the surroundings, lost in his own emotions.
‘Or maybe he’s just the kind of selfish person who doesn’t even glance at those around him.’
The overturned teapot on the floor suggested the latter was more likely.
He hadn’t just splashed water from a cup. Pouring it straight from the pot wasn’t the act of a mere prankster.
Idel watched the disaster unfold like a scene from a melodramatic novel, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head.
‘Still, Ivan Earnest… journalist, you say? Why does that name feel so familiar…’
Just as she was rummaging through a half-recalled memory, Diane came running toward the cafe with its manager in tow from afar.
“Miss, here are the towels! Just a moment, let me dry your clothes.”
“No need. Just hand over the towels. And tell that man over there to come apologize.”
Diane’s eyes widened at Idel’s thunderous words. Apologize? Right now?
“Apologize? I-I do?”
“Then I’ll go myself. I was told to bring a lady-in-waiting for my service.”
“Ah, th-that’s right! Yes! But, Miss Idel, I’m not a lady-in-waiting, I’m a maid… isn’t that a problem?”
That was the issue. When the master sends someone else to deal with another noble, it’s usually a lady-in-waiting rather than a maid.
And right now, it wasn’t just delivering something or a letter—it was an actual apology.
The cafe’s master, sensing the situation from Diane’s explanation, stepped forward cautiously.
“Ah, if that’s the case, young miss, perhaps I should handle the apology instead…”
“I don’t want that.”
Of course, that didn’t work for Idel.
Idel pushed one eyebrow up with a stubborn expression, placed her hand on her hip, and spoke again.
“You think he’ll listen to you? No way.”
“Then… the words of this mere maid will mean even less…”
“Will you hurry up and go?”
“I-I’m going right now!”
Diane swallowed hard, her throat bobbing, and stepped toward the table, having read Idel’s frowning brow.
She wanted to turn around and declare she couldn’t do it, but it was already too late.
The man had sensed the approach and looked over.
“What are you again?”
“P-Please, young master. If I’ve interrupted your conversation, I’m sorry. It’s just that my miss got caught up in matters between you two…”
“Miss?”
The man let out a small scoff as he glanced at the towels held by Idel and Sigmund.
After scanning Diane top to bottom as if seeing through her, he crossed his arms and twisted his lips.
“It seems you don’t even know how to introduce your master properly. So you’re not even a lady-in-waiting… ah, really, why have so many nobles appeared lately who don’t look noble at all? Has the standard of Cafe Florant fallen this low?”
“Y-Yes, the young miss…”
“You dare interrupt my words without permission? Did your master teach you that? Well, since I don’t know your face, it’s obvious you won’t listen. The dry-cleaning bill is on you. Tell the cafe staff to deliver a note and get lost.”
His deliberately loud voice made the already quiet cafe atmosphere even more tense.
“Hah.”
“I… miss.”
Idel noticed the cafe manager fidgeting beside her and let the corner of her mouth twitch up.
‘Lucky. He gave them the chance to interfere as planned.’
If Prince Farel had apologized honestly, it would have been even more troublesome.
Normally, she would have just barged in and gotten angry. But today, Idel was in a good mood after meeting her very close friend after a long time.
‘Even if he apologized, I’d grumble and move on.’
But when Prince Farel acted so indifferent, things changed.
‘Clementine’s second in the rumors wasn’t the type to stay quiet after hearing such words.’
Idel had outsiders in her sights as well.
In other words, the ‘nonsense who looks normal on the outside and is a crazy dog when you need him’ and the ‘fiercely loyal friend when it suits me.’
“You’ve got guts.”
…Come to think of it, he was similar to Sigmund in some way.
Idel glanced cynically at the original crazy dog who mocked others, then spoke calmly.
“Hey, pick one. Towels? Drinks?”
“Ah…”
Without being told exactly, Sigmund grasped Idel’s intention perfectly and dragged out his words slowly.
“Towels, then.”
“Feeling humiliated from the hit?”
“Yeah.”
Sigmund and Idel faced each other and both wore cruel smiles. They looked exactly alike, as if they had rehearsed the same expression many times.
Idel decided on her next action, released Sigmund’s hand, and walked briskly toward the scene of the incident.
The sudden movement made Prince Farel and the other customers feel watched, but she actually felt good about it.
Idel enjoyed the attention fixed on her and stood in front of the man.
Without waiting for him to speak, she tossed the towel she was holding.
The towel, aimed perfectly at his face, slapped Prince Farel and slid down his head.
“What?!”
“Just throwing a towel around like that.”
“What kind of…!”
“Then what about you, sir? You’ve got so much common sense you’re splashing water on strangers. I graduated from water-prank school at age five.”
“Sir? Sir?”
Prince Farel’s eyes bulged in disbelief at Idel’s words.
It seemed he had never imagined he would be humiliated like this.
The rising humiliation made him clench his jaw and point a finger at Idel.
“You look like you don’t know anything about anything, but you made a big mistake. Do you know who I am?”
“Mhm, not curious.”
“Hah! I’m furious! And that Ivan guy too! He said brave people are stupid! He thought I’d just stand by and let it happen…”
Prince Farel’s neck veins bulged as he poured out words, then paused.
A faint giggle reached Idel’s ears.
“……Are you laughing?”
“Ah, miss. Even if it is…”
“Ah, why? It’s funny, Diane.”
Idel ignored Diane’s protest from the side and spoke to Prince Farel again, her voice still carrying a laugh.
“What if I don’t stand still? Are you going to go cry to your father?”
“What?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? I’m dying to know. You fought a seven-year-old girl and she laughed? Or did she tell you not to splash water?”
Idel tilted her head with a bright smile in front of Prince Farel, who was stunned into silence.
Thanks to plenty of practice against the duke’s servants, she could smile without remorse more easily than ever.
“Wow, so manly. Right?”