Lucia

< — The Capital’s High Society[2]– > (4)

TN: Test 2. No brackets.

‘Why is that child here…’

Beth watched her younger brother hit on the Duchess with a rather embarrassed expression. It was embarrassing to listen to and her face automatically grew hot. She never wanted to know how her brother seduced women.

After the Duchess left to the garden, Beth was busy instructing the maids to prepare the refreshments and the Duke of Taran showed up. Beth wondered if there was something urgent since he was looking for the Duchess and she hurried with him to the garden and was met with an unseemly sight.

Beth shifted her gaze to look at the Duke of Taran standing next to her. The usually cold expression of the Duke remained unchanged. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be greatly angered.

‘How do I kill this fool?’

Beth couldn’t not even imagine that the Duke of Taran was currently contemplating her brother’s murder in his head.

As Hugo watched the scoundrel make a pass at his wife, he was thinking of a dozen ways to end him. Beneath the icy mask on his face, his eyes sparked violently.

A little while ago, Hugo was certainly in a very good mood. He knew that she was in the palace so he made his way to the Rose Palace and was looking forward to seeing her surprised at his appearance.

However, as soon as he entered the garden and saw such a scene, his mood instantly hit rock bottom. It was a fly was buzzing around a fragrant flower. The radiant flower that he had been hiding away in his bosom had now reached the point where its blossoming fragrance couldn’t be hidden anymore.

Hugo clenched his teeth in worry. Damn it. Why is she so pretty? She ended up attracting this kind of bum. It was enough for him alone to know how lovely she was. Not for some other bastard to come snooping around the fortune that was his wife.

Outwardly, Hugo’s expression was unchanged but inwardly, his blood was boiling and he was on the verge of exploding. He took some deep breaths and barely managed to control himself. He had to find composure. He couldn’t kill the brother-in-law of the King inside the palace.

‘What? Blinded by beauty? This bastard should really go blind then he can’t pull this kind of crap again.’

Hugo could no longer stand the sight of the man zealously trying to woo his wife. When the man asked her to take a walk with him, Hugo stepped forward.

***

Lucia was wondering how to turn down the persistent David’s insinuation of a date. When she was in the north, she should have learned from Kate how to reject a man’s courtship without hurting each other’s face(dignity). She hadn’t pay any attention at all because she had thought it was something unrelated to herself.

“That is difficult. She has a prior engagement.”

Lucia’s eyes widened when she heard that familiar voice that made her heart pound every time she heard it. Before she could say ‘ah’, he was right beside her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his arms.

“Why are you…”

Lucia mumbled with a puzzled look on her face. His arm around her waist was holding her strongly.

“What business do you have with my wife?”

David was surprised at the sudden emergence of the Duke of Taran, he was surprised again at him naturally embracing the woman, and he was shocked speechless by the following words of the Duke of Taran.

“W…ife? Then, the Duch..ess?”

David’s eyes shook tremendously with shock. The woman who captured his heart in an instant already had a husband. It can’t be. David blankly stared at Lucia in disbelief. The sight of her nestled in the Duke of Taran’s embrace as though accustomed to it, shocked him all over again.

David’s gaze did not move away from her. Hugo wrinkled his eyebrows. It was a waste to even let the fool see.

Turn away! Hugo suppress the urge to yell and darkly called out to the man.

“Sir Ramis.”

When David’s gaze turned to him, Hugo was satisfied.

“Do not personally approach my wife like this again.”

And Hugo’s eyes were strongly saying: Get lost, greenhorn. It was a gaze that completely looked down on the other.

David was annoyed.

“You speak too harshly. It was just a momentary idle conversation. Marriage does not mean a woman becomes another’s possession.”

To Hugo, it sounded like he was saying he would make a pass at her again. The man was making great effort to die. Hugo’s scarlet eyes darkened sharply.

Should he just kill him and damn the consequences? He would have seriously considered it if she(Lucia) was not there. He couldn’t let her to see him killing people.

Usually, Hugo thought of David as beneath his notice. The sight of the man getting riled up alone was like an ignorant puppy so Hugo didn’t feel the need to deal with him as an opponent. However, with this incident, Hugo definitely marked David down.

If David knew, he would have been infuriated several times over. So far, he had been insignificant existence to the Duke of Taran, but because of a woman that David fell for at first sight, he had become a presence to be blacklisted, and that woman was the Duke of Taran’s wife.

“Ramis <i>Gong </i>must have great talent. Since he has a son who lives like he has an extra life.”

For the first time in his life, Hugo made a gentle threat.

“Wha…what??”

David arrogantly faced the other.

However, in the face of Hugo’s fiendish bloodthirst, his throat was clogged and the words refused to come out. It was true bloodthirst that had reaped the lives of countless men. Even a courageous enemy general could only lower his tail. There was no way David could receive it upfront.

David went pale, shaking like a leaf and fell to the floor. Seeing this sight, the Duke of Taran raised his lips in a sneer. David felt dizzy as blood rushed to his head. Anger, shame, humiliation. The dark emotions that he’d felt throughout his life surged to their limit.

The Duke of Taran grabbed the wrist of the Duchess and pulled her to the rear of the garden. The two of them soon disappeared into the wall of rose vines.

David, who was on the floor, was stunned. He couldn’t understand why he was forced to this state. Beth approached her brother. She inwardly clicked her tongue at her brother who showed such an ugly behavior.

“Are you okay?”

“Sister! Did you not hear what that guy said? He threatened to kill me!”

“You don’t have to take it that far.”

Beth countered indifferently. Hugo’s bloodthirst was only focused on David so Beth did not feel the situation was that serious. She just thought that her weak brother could not withstand the Duke of Taran’s momentum.

“Didn’t I say you should regularly brush up on your training with the sword? Although the Ramis family is not a warrior family, it is easier to obtain the loyalty of the knights if one is be able to use to sword to some degree.”

“This is not a matter of swordsmanship! No matter how audacious one is, how could one make such a threat? Do you see this as something that should happen?!”

What threat? Beth was dissatisfied with her younger brother’s excessive statement. Actually, Beth had thought of it that way a little but because of David acting overboard, she ended up regarding it as not a big deal. She knew the character of her younger brother who thought that he was the priority in everything.

“You were at fault first. Did you not make a pass at the Duchess?”

“Did I know?!”

“Anyway, stand up already.”

Beth frowned at the pathetic sight of her brother sitting on the floor. David grit his teeth. He didn’t want to be like this either. What did she expect him to do when his legs gave out? After some time, he staggeringly got to his feet.

“Is that really the Duchess?”

“Yes. She came into the palace today and we had a meal together. So, do not be rude when you see her again next time.”

David’s shoulders sank down. He was really disappointed. He thought he had met his fated woman.

“Why didn’t you inform me that there was such a beauty? Since she is a princess, sister could have known first.”

“Now you’re saying all sorts of nonsense. Do you mean I am supposed to find out if the princesses are beautiful or not?”

Beth coldly cut off her brother’s whining.

“If there is nothing urgent, go back for today. I still have to attend to my guest.”

“…When you say guest, do you mean the Duchess?”

Seeing through to his obvious interest, Beth clicked her tongue.

“It seems you didn’t understand Taran <i>Gong</i>’s warning at all. Instead of engaging in this futile endeavor, go back.”

“Seriously? I’m speechless. Is there a law that a married woman cannot talk to others?”

It was, of course, rude to make a pass at a woman in front of her husband.

It was enough reason for one to apply for a duel. However, if there was no intention to ridicule and one applied for a duel with that reason, in Xenon’s aristocratic culture, it would be regarded as an act with no class and would draw ridicule.

The sexual customs of Xenon’s nobility was very liberal. The reason that one’s partner, whether it was the man or the woman, had a lover, was not enough grounds for a divorce. The culture was tolerant of the illegitimate child of the male as well as the illegitimate child of the female. Receiving a declaration of love after getting married could not even become a source of gossip.

In David’s opinion, the Duke of Taran’s actions were ugly. Restraining a woman was the action of country bumpkins.

“From the standpoint of a husband, if one sees a man approaching their wife in front of them, one will certainly feel bad.”

While Beth was talking, deep down, she was surprised. Taran <i>Gong’</i>s reaction was excessive. Anyone could see that it was the aggressiveness of a man that was overcome with jealousy.

‘Jealousy?’

To Beth, there was no word that did not suit the Duke of Taran as much as that one.

Translator’s Corner:<ol>Gong: (general description) A type of honorific. It is a title(공) given to a noble personage in a high position. It is usually a term of respect/honorific for a Duke. In this novel, it seems to apply to Marquis as well.</ol>