Chapter 33

 

“Oh, Dame Iona, you don’t even need to introduce him. This handsome partner must be Lord Leroy, right? Looking at him like this, he looks exactly like his deceased father.”

 

“Were you acquainted with my father?”

 

“When I was young, I met him a few times among acquaintances. He was very popular with the ladies at the time, and it seems that the son of that man will be also popular in a similar way.”

 

The gentle-faced Count Ritzter and his wife exchanged a few words with them and then left.

 

There were a lot of invited guests, so it was impossible to stay with one guest for a long time.

 

Count Ritzer's daughter coordinated the time to dance with Leroy and followed her parents, but Erich stayed by their side.

 

Erich approached Iona and asked.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“I came by invitation.”

 

"This is not what I am asking?"

 

He must have been completely bewildered earlier, but his attitude now was more brusque than usual.

 

Was it surprising that the superior who had been sober suddenly appeared with a man?

 

Seeing that he wasn't even paying attention to the duke next to her, he seemed a little crazy.

 

As if covering up her subordinate's flaws, Iona naturally induced an introduction.

 

“Duke, this is Sir Erich, who belongs to the same knight division as me.”

 

Only then did Erich reach out his hand to Leroy with a reluctant face.

 

“… …nice to meet you. This is Erich Ritzter.”

 

“Nice to meet you. Are you from the same division as Dame Iona?”

 

"You're right. I am rolling very hard.”

 

Erich, who glanced over Iona, said putting strength to the hand that was holding Leroy's hand.

 

“… …You are a very handsome man. It doesn’t suit Dame Iona.”

 

"Is that so? I thought Dame Iona was a rare beauty.”

 

Leroy responded with a calm voice and withdrew his hand.

 

Erich's body was slightly pulled toward Leroy by an unexpected response.

 

Erich bit his lip and immediately regained his balance.

 

“No, she doesn’t suit you very well.”

 

“Stop it, Sir Erich. Swearing at your boss is like spitting on your own face.”

 

Iona pointed out quietly. At that, Leroy smiled as if he was having fun.

 

Only then did Erich look back at Iona with a sorry face.

 

Although he had to leave before he could say anything else as the Count and Countess of Ritzter called him from afar.

 

“I will come back in a little while.”

 

After staring at Iona with sharp eyes, he turned to Count and Countess.

 

Since he was from the host's family, it seemed like he was constantly being called to various places.

 

Heck, since Erich was the second son, he was in a hurry to get married, even if not as much as his sister.

 

“Unfortunately no woman would be deceived by that proud face… …”

 

Iona muttered as if lamenting.

 

It was true that Erich was handsome, but he had flaws that could not be ignored.

 

It was just the character.

 

Unlike her, who was servile, Erich had no talent for courting his superiors, so getting ahead was a story from a faraway world.

 

It was probably all because of that personality that he couldn't get married later on.

 

“Isn’t it you?”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“A woman who suffered from being deceived by that proud face.”

 

In the meantime, Leroy, who was holding a wine glass, extended his middle finger and pointed at Erich.

 

Iona asked back as if it was absurd.

 

“Didn’t duke see what he was doing to me just now?”

 

“Did he usually do that?”

 

“It's worse.”

 

“He is too young.”

 

Leroy murmured and spread his right hand that had been held by Erich.

 

There were red marks all over the place Erich had held.

 

Leroy showed it to Iona and said as if admonishing.

 

“He’s a violent man who can’t even properly control his strength. It would be better if you never met.”

 

“That is true, but… … He is a work colleague."

 

“Above all, his eyesight is bad. I wonder how he deals with enemies with eyes like that.”

 

“He is the first place in the jockey.”

 

Iona diligently corrected the facts at the accusations.

 

It was because she thought that she should do this to Erich, who complained about not giving priority to his subordinates so that she could stand up as a superior.

 

However, Leroy, who was refuted by Iona whenever he spoke out, seemed not to like her attitude.

 

Leroy frowned and asked.

 

“Are you siding with another man in front of me?”

 

"Other man… … Isn't that a bit embarrassing to say? He’s a kid I’ve seen all the way to sleepless and dripping with soup.”

 

Iona answered in a slightly embarrassed voice.

 

The knights of the imperial family were dispatched to distant regions, and there were frequent cases where they could not properly prepare meals or sleep.

 

Whenever that happened, she and the members became a group of beasts and were forced to watch each other's sights.

 

Of course, even in the midst of that, Erich's scion-like face was shining alone.

 

“Anyway, I’m sorry if I offended you because I seemed to be taking sides. Miu and Gou are people who work under me... …. I will apologize for my subordinate's mistake.”

 

Iona bowed her head to him and apologized.

 

Feigning jealousy, he pretended to be joking, but he must have wanted to point out that her attitude was inappropriate.

 

Words of understanding came back quickly as if his heart was relieved by her quick acceptance.

 

“Don’t do that, raise your head. It wasn't particularly unpleasant.”

 

“Are you forgiving me?”

 

"well… … It's just, you're trying to be pitiful.”

 

Leroy looked at Erich's back and clicked his tongue in pity.

 

It was an incomprehensible reaction, but there was no time to stumble over it.

 

Others began to rush to the spot where Count Ritzter and his wife had left.

 

“Duke! do you remember me? I saw you last time with Baron Lemper.”

 

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you after that opera performance, and greetings Dame Iona. Did you attend with the Duke today?”

 

“Duke, I heard that the maternal grandfather of my in-law's cousin's friend's wife's cousin was close with your grandfather, but can't we see them as strangers too? That's what I'm saying... … .”

 

'It is a strange guy.'

 

Thinking so, Iona looked at the man sweating in front of them with cloudy eyes.

 

She couldn't even count how many guests she had already met.

 

At this point, she was confused as to whether or not actually they were the organizers of the prom.

 

Those who were even a little familiar with them, as well as those who had no contact at all, were standing in line to mingle words even once.

 

There was one reason Iona was accepting them one by one.

 

'That way, even those who couldn't dare to approach me will gather courage.'

 

“Oh, hello. Dame Iona.”

 

Sure enough, Iona's prediction soon became a reality.

 

A group of pretentiously dressed young men crouched toward them.

 

Iona put her hand on Leroy's shoulder as she had warned him beforehand. This meant that the target was approaching.

 

Leroy glanced at Iona's face and accepted the conversation.

 

“You must be an acquaintance of Dame Iona, please introduce yourself.”

 

"ah… … ! I am Joseph, the second son of Viscount Alushi.”

 

“I am Bette Peter. My father runs the Peter Merchant.”

 

"I am… …”

 

One after another, similar-looking blonde idiots finished introducing themself to Leroy.

 

Iona studied their faces carefully.

 

'It's a chaff gathering.'

 

It was to the point of wondering how they had gathered so many nonexistent people.

 

Of course, it was true that all of them had decent backgrounds, but if one looked closely, they were the second sons who had a hard time holding real power, or the children of wealthy families whose status was inferior.

 

'Well, I wonder if there is no other combination like this to bet on?'

 

These were the friends Nils had been hanging out with since childhood.

 

She didn't know the details because she was not interested, but she was aware of the fact that they had been together for a long time and looked after each other.

 

Living in the same house as Nils, she had many encounters with them as well.

 

“Dame Iona, come to think of it, was the last time I saw you at the count’s house? You became more beautiful while I didn't see you.”

 

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