Chapter 17

“It’s not like you would’ve gained anything even if you’d won the duel.”

As soon as I asked, I worried that it might have sounded like I was confronting him out of nowhere, but thankfully, Louis didn’t call me out on it.

“I couldn’t just let that idiot keep running his mouth. At the very least, he needs to pay the price.”

I agreed with that sentiment.

This time, Diego tried to hurt me without thinking things through.

If I wanted to prevent this from happening again, he needed to face proper consequences.

“Unfortunately, we failed, and you didn’t get what you wanted either.”

“What I wanted?”

“You deliberately provoked Marquis Regen, didn’t you?”

‘…Huh?’

At his relaxed question, I blinked. It seemed like he had realized everything from the start and just played along.

“That’s  right, there was something I wanted from all this.”

But there was one thing Louis got wrong.

“Fortunately, I managed to get what I wanted after all.”

“…You got it?”

Louis lifted his head. His red eyes, meeting mine up close, were full of curiosity.

“There it is.”

After instructing the coachman to halt the carriage, I stepped out with Louis. A knight, who had come on horseback as if carrying urgent news, handed him a letter.

“He requested a swift reply,” the knight said.

“….”

Louis glanced at me for a moment after reading the letter, then fixed his gaze back on it.

“Tell them I accept his proposal.”

“Understood.”

The knight departed on horseback as soon as he received Louis’s confirmation. The moment he vanished from sight, Louis turned to me.

“Lady Leonia, just what exactly did you do?”

A smile full of intrigue spread across his lips.

“What did you do to make Marquis Regen send me a letter challenging me to a duel?”

“It was nothing special. I merely poked him a little.”

I answered in a deliberately casual tone.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

Before Diego’s disciplinary confinement began, the emperor briefly stepped away with Marquis Branto and Louis. Thanks to that, only Diego and I were left in the lounge.

Watching Diego, who was desperate to strike up a conversation with me, I spoke first.

“It seems the Marquis receives plenty of love and favor from His Majesty the Emperor. I sincerely envy you.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“You escaped the duel without lifting a finger, after all.”

I took a sip of tea and tilted my head at him slightly.

“Am I wrong?”

My words must have gotten under Diego’s skin, because he shot me a glare.

“I hear His Majesty treats you so kindly in memory of the late Prince Lionel, who died so young. That must make you even happier.”

“….”

“Even when you fail your duties, His Majesty could never abandon you, Marquis.”

“Shut your mouth!”

Diego slammed his fist on the table in anger. The impact tipped over a teacup, spilling tea all over his sleeve.

“Just because I’ve shown you kindness doesn’t mean you can overstep your bounds. If you keep this up, I won’t let it slide anymore.”

He had always harbored an inferiority complex toward Prince Lionel, and that hadn’t changed even after Lionel’s death.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to imply with those words, but it doesn’t matter. That bastard is dead, and the one standing here now is me.”

“….”

“Someone who died in an accident means nothing to me.”

Though Diego seemed to get riled up easily, he regained his composure sooner than I expected.

“It seems I overestimated your comprehension. I hadn’t realized you’d fail to grasp even this.”

Feeling a bit disappointed about that, I continued calmly.

“Doesn’t it say enough that I broke off an engagement I’d held onto for years and chose Duke Louis instead?”

“That just proves you’ve got terrible judgment. To think you’d choose that guy over me.”

“Still better than marrying a man who can’t accomplish anything without relying on someone else.”

I added, making it clear that this was exactly why I didn’t choose him, “I want a partner to walk alongside me, not a pet that I have to take care of.”

At my blunt words, delivered in a gentle tone, Diego’s eyes wavered. This was probably the first time in his life he’d received such blunt criticism.

“What kind of man resorts to his father’s power to flee a duel?”

“….”

“Isn’t that just advertising to the world that you can’t do anything on your own? It’s honestly shameful to even mention.”

Of course, there were plenty of people like that. Even if they didn’t borrow their father’s influence, it was common to send a knight to fight in their place in a duel.

“His Highness Lionel would never have done such a thing.”

At the very least, Lionel would never have done something like that. He was an outstanding knight, after all.

Diego’s face contorted as he understood what I was saying.

“His Grace isn’t someone who goes back on his word in public.”

It was about time for the emperor to return, so I needed to drive in the final nail.

“You remember, right? He offered to use a wooden sword while you could use a real blade.”

I let it sound as if that would give Diego a chance at winning.

“And as you know, Duke Louis only commands the knights and plans strategies. He’s never participated directly in battle himself.”