I quickened my steps, turning into the alley. In front of a shady establishment, my maid was being held by the wrist by someone, her voice raised.
“I didn’t come here to drink alcohol! You said we’d have tea, didn’t you?”
“One drink won’t even get you drunk. Haven’t you tried drinking before, kid?”
“I’m not a kid! But this doesn’t feel right!”
The maid wasn’t taking the bait of his provocations, but even her firm refusal seemed to amuse the older man, who sneered at her.
“Of course not. Just try a sip, then we’ll see. I’ll take you right back to where you were. Come on, hurry up!”
“No, I—ahh!”
Just as the man tried to forcibly drag her into the bar, I bolted forward and slammed the closing door open with a sharp kick.
Bang!
Inside, a few patrons already drunk in broad daylight looked up at the commotion. I stood tall in front of them, my head held high, and called out to my maid.
“Sally! How dare you wander off without me? And to a bar in the middle of the day, no less!”
Of course, my maid’s name wasn’t Sally. There was no need to give the local riffraff any real information.
“Are you coming out, or should I remind you how insufficient yesterday’s punishment was?”
“M-Miss...? I’ve committed a grave sin!”
Catching on quickly, the maid yanked her wrist free and played along. Good thing she was quick on the uptake. I stepped back, holding the door open.
“Call for a carriage to take us home within five minutes. For every minute you’re late, I’ll deduct a day’s wages!”
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“Please, no!”
Maybe it was the lingering effect of the opera, but our lines felt strangely theatrical.
Honestly, it was kind of fun.
But before we could leave the bar entirely, the man grabbed my maid’s wrist again and called out to me.
“Hey there, noble lady. You’re just going to walk away?”
“Is there a problem?”
“This woman said she wanted to have a drink with me, so I went ahead and ordered drinks at my favorite bar. Seems like you owe me for the drinks now, doesn’t it?”
“I didn’t say I would drink! I didn’t even—ah, ow!”
The man tightened his grip on her wrist and raised it to eye level. The maid, her face flushed red, seemed on the verge of nodding before she turned to me with teary eyes and shook her head. His grip only grew stronger in response.
Oh, you bastard.
“I’ll pay. How much is it?”
“Now that’s more like it! Let’s see... two dark beers, a bowl of peanuts, and roast chicken. That’ll be 2 gold, 12 silver.”
As a noble (and a former Korean who saw everything in practical terms), I didn’t immediately grasp the price. While I tried to mentally convert it, the maid’s face turned pale.
“What a rip-off...! That’s more than my monthly food expenses!”
“Then go hungry and save up. I pity the noble lady who has to suffer because of a stupid maid like you.”
He sneered at me. I only had one response to that.
“Clearly, I’m not the one being troubled here—my maid isn’t the problem. It’s you. Perhaps you should knock on your own head before calling someone else a fool.”
“...What?”
“It’s easy to blame the weak for their mistakes while ignoring the real cause of the issue. But let me make this clear: I’ll never side with someone who can tell others to ‘just starve’ so easily.”
I hate people who exploit others, and I hate people like you even more!
His face turned red with fury.
“I was trying to be polite because you’re a lady, but there’s a limit to how ignorant you can be...!”
He raised his fists, cracking his knuckles in a typical thug’s attempt at intimidation.
But the first punch didn’t come from him.
Smack!
A sharp sound echoed as his jaw tilted at an awkward angle before his large frame crumpled to the ground with a loud thud.
“Ahh!”
The bar owner, who had been watching the scene, gasped and quickly locked the door. They were probably in on it with him.
Rick kicked the unconscious man’s face lightly. After a direct hit to the jaw, the thug didn’t even make a sound.
Rick then turned his attention to me, snapping his head around with an angry glare.
“Doris—no, Lady! What were you thinking just now? Are you so bored with life that you want to ruin your pretty face with scars?”
“I didn’t think there was a high chance I’d get hit.”
“Oh? And what made you think that?”
“This man isn’t some reckless thug; he’s a professional scammer. Even the price he quoted was something a noble could afford without feeling burdened—just enough to make me want to pay him off to leave.”
I finally finished my mental calculations. Two gold coins were equivalent to the cost of a meal at an upscale restaurant for nobles. About 100,000 won in modern terms.
“But attacking a noble would blow everything out of proportion. And since this bar is his base of operations, he knows a mistake here could take down his entire setup, including his partners.”
“...”
“That’s my reasoning. Of course, there’s no guarantee everything will go as planned, so I admit I should’ve kept quiet.”
I turned to Rick and my maid, who was still trembling.
“You must have been scared. I’m sorry, I got a bit carried away.”
“M-Miss... I’m so sorry. Truly...”
“There’s no need to apologize. The ones at fault are those who exploit others’ expectations.”
Rick let out an incredulous scoff, clicking his tongue.
“The more I get to know you, the less I understand. One moment, you’re spouting naive nonsense; the next, you’re calculating everything in your head.”
“Naive nonsense?”
“You’ve been saying it all day. That you hope people who are honest about their feelings don’t end up unhappy, or that the real culprits are the ones who deserve punishment... Do you think people don’t already know that?”
Rick’s tirade was unusually long. Normally, when we met face-to-face, he at least kept some semblance of decorum.
Then I realized why his tongue had loosened.
Maria, the usual enforcer of his manners, was gone!
“Wait a second! Where’s Maria?”
Maria, who had been following us, was nowhere to be seen. Rick’s mouth dropped open, and his green eyes wavered in panic.
“M-Maria? Maria!”
“Rick! Did you seriously not notice she was gone?”
“How could I? You were right next to me the entire time!”
Because your specialty is staring at Maria! What were you distracted by?
Thankfully, a familiar voice called out from beyond the alley.
“Doris! Rick! Are you okay?”
“Everyone! Don’t worry, I, the officer of justice, have handled the criminal!”
Maria and a guard were running toward us.
I’d thought the situation would turn against us. After all, the thug was unconscious with a broken jaw, the bar had closed, and the story might be reduced to, “The maid was foolish to follow a stranger.”
But thanks to Maria’s kindness, beauty, and Rick’s constant mentions of “Lady Redfield of the Earl’s family,” we managed to secure a promise for the thug’s punishment and left without further trouble.
The tea we drank afterward tasted divine. To celebrate saving the two gold coins the thug had tried to extort, I paid for our tea house expenses.
The maid apologized endlessly.
“I’m sorry! I’ll repay this debt even if I have to starve—”
“If you really want to repay me, tell me about the opera we watched earlier.”
“...Pardon?”
“Tell me what parts you enjoyed and what you didn’t. And if you could compare them while reading this, it’d be even better.”
I handed her a notebook containing the script for the charity concert, complete with context added to the lyrics we’d received. Maria’s eyes sparkled as she joined in.
“I always thought operas were too difficult, but I loved how relatable the story was.”
“Some of the lyrics were too hard to follow! There was even some foreign language mixed in, wasn’t there? I only caught the mood because the music was so lively.”
Rick sipped his tea quietly. Once I’d nailed down the concert’s framework and sighed in relief, he asked a question.
“About this charity concert... Do you have to handle it all by yourself?”
“It’s a sense of duty as both the elder and the Crown Prince’s fiancée. It’s something I can do, so I’m doing it.”
“From what I’ve seen, you haven’t gained much as the prince’s fiancée—whether it’s money or power.”
Rick sneered.
“Why would you take on obligations without reaping any benefits...?”
His words trailed off as Maria, probably under the table, gave him a warning nudge.
Still, if he’d started the argument, I had to finish it.
With an elegant smile, I replied, “It’s already been decided. I’m simply fulfilling my role so that neither my future husband nor my future self will have regrets.”
Maria nodded earnestly beside me.
“Exactly! His Highness Tristan is also trying hard to become a fiancé Doris can be proud of. During the hunting competition, he caught a beast just for her, and he’s been waiting eagerly for her gifts...”
Ah, right.
Tristan had indeed worked to improve his image during the hunting competition.
And... Maria doesn’t know.
She doesn’t know the nonsense Tristan spews when it’s just the two of us.
“...Yes, he’s a good person.”
I tried my best to smile and respond graciously.
Maria, ever trusting, seemed to take my words at face value. The maid nodded mechanically, but her attention was clearly focused on the cake’s cream.
Only Rick Ray—
“....”
—looked at me as if he could see straight through me, shaking his head slightly.
Hmph. What does it matter?
If my engagement turns out miserable, you’d be thrilled, wouldn’t you?