episode_0030

“What are you doing right now, Louis Edmund?”

Perhaps fearing the original protagonist.

The male lead from somewhere in the original work appeared, wrapping his hand around Louis Edmund’s wrist and separating the two individuals.

And with an unexpected entrance.

Louis Edmund, who had raised his hand high to show dominance to the young foal in front of him, unknowingly slightly furrowed his beautiful eyelids at the impending shock.

Eleanor, who stood confidently but involuntarily cringed her lovely eyelids at the approaching impact.

And the people from Hwanghugung, who were looking at a scene from a cheap romance novel behind them, just sat frozen in place.

Simply staring blankly at the silver-haired handsome man who had become nothing more than a cover for the web novel.

#.

Under the silver bangs fluttering in the spring breeze, Eleanor met his crimson eyes.

Rather than feeling relieved that she hadn’t been slapped immediately, her mind was filled only with questions about why that person was standing there.

Along with the dramatic appearance of Yulian, a faint citrus scent emanated from his face.

Her heart, like a sluggish drum, began to beat irregularly.

“What are you doing right now, Louis Edmund,” she asked in a low voice, separating Eleanor and Louis Edmund.

Through the fiery red eyes, refined and condensed, a cold, seething anger crept up Louis Edmund’s body.

“Well, what am I doing? Just educating the reckless young one who was frolicking like a foal.”

Louis Edmund, who bore his anger physically, stumbled through words, bringing out pitiful lines typical of insignificant villains.

However, the recklessly frolicking young one admired his courage.

If I were the target of that anger, I would have wet myself. Seriously!

“Why are you, not even her parents, instructing the young one?”

“W-Why do you care what I do!”

Nevertheless, as a man of pride, Louis approached Yulian, fuming.

In an instant, he attempted to break free from the grip on his wrist… No, he tried to.

Once again, Louis Edmund, a man who had never properly wielded a sword, faced off against Yulian de la Vallatier, a hero who had just returned from clearing pirates off the eastern coast.

So the outcome was obvious without looking.

Trying to release his held wrist, Louis Edmund’s gestures were simply pitiful.

It was Eleanor who was about to receive a slap from him, but his pitiful actions made that man look oddly pitiable.

And Louis’s disgrace continued until the sharp cry of a fox was heard from behind.

“What are you doing right now!”

The clattering cry instantly caught the attention of the noisy courtyard.

Yulian skillfully swallowed the fiery red eyes.

Releasing Louis’s wrist, he belatedly bowed his head towards the late-arriving Empress.

Only then could Louis Edmund cease his pitiful actions.

“A-Aunt.”

A rain-soaked hunting dog returned to its owner.

Yet, the owner’s attention was focused elsewhere, not on the hunting dog he had unleashed, but on Bearen Ga’s youngest daughter.

Empress Anna Rose Galatea’s gaze was fixed on the silver-haired bastard defiling her sacred temple.

“You! What are you doing here! How dare you thrust your filthy face in this place!”

“I am here by the Emperor’s summons. It seems it is none of the Empress’s concern.”

With an emotionless, cold voice, Yulian calmly replied.

Turning her gaze towards Louis Edmund, who was hiding behind the Empress, she spoke, “As a security official, I was also carrying out my first duty to maintain order in the palace. It seems that it’s become a trend at the Empress’s Palace for men to lay hands on ladies.”

Only then did the Empress’s attention shift from the silver-haired handsome man to her hunting dog.

“What? Louis raised his hand against Beart’s youngest daughter?”

The Empress turned her head to look at the pale-faced boy.

Whether it was a temple or a battlefield, it didn’t matter. The temple was something her son, the Crown Prince, would enjoy forever.

Her emerald eyes, filled with a slight tremor, were now questioning Louis if what this bastard was saying was true.

But before his response, a woman once known as the madwoman of the capital emerged.

“What did you just say? Ballaty Count?”

“Your Majesty, I only intervened because that pitiful man behind you tried to strike the precious cheek of Beart’s youngest daughter.”

Shock painted the Empress’s expression.

The madwoman’s face was ablaze with anger.

“Madam… Is that true?”

It was said that when anger reaches its peak, people become eerily calm. Etiéne, confirming the truth with Yulian, found herself in such a situation.

To Lady’s question, Yulian shot a glance with red eyes over her shoulder.

“Aren’t there witnesses here? If it’s appropriate to ask someone from the palace, feel free to inquire with the lady behind me. I have no affiliation with the palace; I am from the Ministry of the Interior.”

Yulian’s sky-blue eyes, filled with restrained anger, glanced past Etiéne at the lady behind him.

The unknown official from the Ministry of the Interior, hoping for a quick end to this mess, ended up catching the bullet squarely.

“You, is what Ballaty Count said true?”

“Well, I vaguely saw it too, Madam Ballange.”

“Did I ask if it was vague or not?”

The voices grew louder.

Etiéne swiftly approached Eleanor, grasping her shoulders firmly with his black conquering hands.

The lady’s expression quickly turned to one of distress.

Despite her appearance, she was from the Ministry of the Interior.

She knew about Beart’s subtle position in the succession structure.

So, with a distressed expression, she alternated between looking at Madame Ballange and the Empress behind her, both with puzzled expressions.

And the superior who handed her the bomb, without even glancing at her, approached Eleanor with a bewildered expression.

After a deep sigh, she confessed the truth she had witnessed to Madame Ballange.

In the end, regardless of how things unfolded, it wasn’t about the Empress or Madame Ballange; it was about that silver-haired man.

“It’s true. Security official Yulian intervened to prevent Louis Edmund from harming Eleanor.”

#.

Yulian, leaving the bomb he had thrown behind, approached Eleanor gently.

“Eleanor, are you alright?”

Eleanor, who had been staring blankly at the farce unfolding before her, snapped back to reality at the soft voice.

Now, before her, were crimson eyes staring right at her.

Eleanor quickly swallowed her dry saliva.

“If you’re okay, may I check if you’re injured?”

Even though it wasn’t fitting, did there need to be a confirmation?

The voice that reached her ears felt like the sweet whisper of a demon leading her to hell.

And those crimson eyes seemed akin to Mephistopheles, guiding her to ruin.

Slowly approaching her cheek.

With fingers so long and beautiful that they seemed unbelievable.

“D-Don’t touch me.”

Eunae, who had been confident just a moment ago, disappeared somewhere, and Eleonore turned into a frightened girl, quickly turning her head.

Urien’s approaching hand stopped.

Her platinum blonde hair brushed past the tip of his long fingers.

Eleonore, who had abruptly turned her head, seemed to be closing her eyes tightly as if someone might devour her.

She had been the Eunae who had faced Louis Edmond confidently just moments ago. With a demeanor ready to even offer her cheek willingly, she glared at the man before her.

But now, seeing her in this state, she looked just like a girl of that age group. In fact, even if she had made her debutante entrance, she was still closer to being a girl than a woman in age.

Seeing Eleonore’s rather cute appearance, Urien found himself involuntarily smiling.

“You seem quite surprised, Eunae.”

Urien’s voice softened considerably.

Of course, who wouldn’t soften in front of a trembling woman, or rather, a girl?

Within Urien’s gentleness, there was a sweetness akin to a Bonbon au Chocolat melting in one’s mouth.

Her trembling head stopped at his voice, and Eleonore gazed softly at Urien.

After all, he was the one who had helped her in the end.

“Uh… Th-thank you.”

Her sky-blue eyes, as clear and transparent as the sunny spring sky, met Urien’s.

Despite stumbling over her words, she managed to continue what she wanted to say.

With just those words, Eleonore swiftly ran towards her enraged mother.

Meanwhile, Urien stood alone in that spot for a while.

He gazed at the finger that had touched her soft cashmere-like hair until an unknown officer from the Ministry, barely escaping the wrathful interrogation of his wife, came to find him.