When A Villain Meets A Villain - Chapter 46

The long-awaited festivities caused an excited atmosphere to be prevalent throughout the empire for quite some time, but the level of enthusiasm was different today, the day the country was founded.

The commoners prepared for the festival as they bustled to and fro the streets, while the servants of nobles hurriedly got around as they ran various errands.

The nobles were also busy. They were busy preparing for the banquet in their respective mansions.

The same goes true for the grand duke’s townhouse.

“I’m hungry!”

Although it was slightly different from the other families.

“Endure it!”

As Gianna responded loudly to Atalante’s whining, she looked at her with her hands on her waist.

“In order to create the prettiest line. What’s so difficult about not eating two meals only! Apparently, the young ladies from other families would start to starve the day before, or even two days before the event.

“Are they crazy? Are they trying to kill someone?”

“You’ll feel like you’re going to die, but you won’t.”

After drawing a clear line, Gianna began to nag Atalante about something as she shook Atalante’s hair.

While she was originally the type that would say whatever she wanted, Gianna didn’t tremble in front of Atalante at all, perhaps she became completely immune to her.

“Miss Atalante.”

“Y–Your Highness!”

Of course, she was still the same in front of the grand duke. Even if she pretended to be composed, her unconscious trembling was inevitable due to his unique bloodthirstiness.

Lionel only glanced indifferently at Gianna, who was bowing, for a moment, before approaching Atalante with a profound gaze, like he had switched personalities.

“I was worried as you have yet to come down, even though it was well past mealtime.”

“I’d really like to have a meal, too, but apparently I’m not allowed to eat on the day of the debutante.”

“Who said that?”

Atalante, who was about to answer with, “Gianna over there,” closed her mouth tactfully.

She seemed to have unwillingly mastered this tact on the day she released Tross.

“By the way, are you truly not angry? I did it as I pleased, without getting the Grand Duke’s permission.” 

If her subordinate handled things without reporting to her, Atalante would reprimand her subordinate without the slightest hesitation. If she exaggerated it a little, it was an act that undermined her.

However, the Grand Duke answered with a nonchalant face, like nothing was wrong, to that question.

“I’ve told you before. You can do whatever you want. I’m not foolish enough to go back on the words that I’ve uttered.”

“No, I don’t understand…. Is the Grand Duke not angered at all?”

“Well, it appears that I seldom get angry.”

“When?”

As Atalante asked urgently, her eyes twinkled with anticipation for his answer. His answer, along with a faint smile, caused the originally shining eyes to turn cold immediately.

“What would you do when you find a human being that rubs you the wrong way?”

At that, Atalante knew from weeks of experience that Lionel wouldn’t just be angered when he faced such a situation.

“No one said it, but it’s customary. In order to show my prettiest side?”

After glossing over the origin, Atalante shrugged her shoulders. While Gianna looked at her like she had met her life saviour, Atalante didn’t pay it any heed.

Rather than being considerate to her, Atalante was just afraid of what that madman would do.

Hmm, Lionel hummed lightly and said puzzledly

“That’s odd. I’ve never heard anyone making me skip a meal when I debuted.”

“Isn’t it because the Grand Duke is a man? The standards for men and women are strictly divided in the Empire, so the customs would also be different.”

She had only spoken the obvious, but joy lingered in Lionel’s sky blue eyes.

“Do you see me as a man?”

“…You obviously aren’t a woman.”

Atalante, who replied as if she had enough of the radiant look on the grand duke’s face, continued while twirling her damp hair.

“I mean, it’s probably because women have to wear dresses. I think they starve in order to look pretty and slender.”

“I’m sure the same goes for men that want to look better than when they debuted. Why should only women have to starve? I’m telling you, it’s a piece of… No, it’s a custom I don’t understand.”

Fine, listen to this well. It’s a piece of sh*t.

It was meaningless for him to correct what he had already said.

However, it seemed that Atalante agreed to a certain extent that the ‘custom’ was quite disagreeable, seeing as to how she didn’t add any other remark.

Lionel glanced at briefly, before asking with a slightly nervous face.

“How would you feel if I had to skip a meal in order to participate in the debutante?”

“It doesn’t really matter…”

As she began to speak, his face crumpled pitifully. Just like a puppy that’s rained on.

She was embarrassed that she had been finding that large man cute recently, so Atalante turned her gaze away secretly.

“…It doesn’t really matter, but it doesn’t seem that good as it seems like you’re putting on an act. “

Gianna’s jaw dropped upon hearing that. How could she speak like that to the grand duke!

However, His Highness the Grand Duke, Lionel, had the ability to change all the words of his beloved Atalante into honeyed words.

“In conclusion, you don’t want me to starve because I’m about to debut, right?”

“Well, you could say that.”

“I feel the same way too. My beloved Atalante.”

She was wondering why it wasn’t appearing. That guy’s ‘My beloved Atalante’.

Atalante kept feeling abashed, and the corners of her mouth hardened for no reason, before she looked at him sharply.

However, Lionel responded to her angry gaze with a faint smile, and continued with a gentle tone.

“Forget about those strange customs, and do as you please.”

“Hmm.”

Truthfully, like others, she also wanted to appear at her first banquet with her prettiest appearance.

But skipping meals was a little… it was unavoidable that she found that it was too much.

That’s because having meals was directly correlated with health.

Lionel seemed to find her distress extremely lovely, and whispered with a voice that contained laughter.

“I heard that Rubell had prepared a special meal for you, who’s about to make your debut.”

Due to his conclusive words, it didn’t take long for Atalante to make a decision.

“Wait a moment! You have to start dressing up right away!”

“I’ll do that right after the special meal. Also, isn’t the debutante in the evening? It’s currently morning.”

“Hah, but there wouldn’t be enough time even if you had the entire day to prepare…!”

“That’s right, it’ll definitely be hard for you to help me prepare, so you should also come and eat. It will taste really delicious.”

Gianna could only look at Atalante, who waved a hand and left first. She had even hummed as she walked out, perhaps because she had high expectations for the special meal.

Following her silhouette was Lionel’s affectionate gaze, like it was natural.

“What are you doing standing there? Didn’t Atalante say to go with her?”

As Lionel glanced briefly at Gianna, who was standing there dazedly, he spoke with a cold voice. His voice and gaze was flipped 180 degrees from the ones he had when he was in front of Atalante just now.

“Answer.”

“Y–yes!”

Before she had the time to be surprised by his rapid change in personality, which made others wonder if he had a dual personality, Gianna nodded her head like it had been inputted in her head.

The grand duke moved first, like there wasn’t any reason for him to wait for her, before looking back with an overbearing gaze.

“Madame, a warning.”

“What?”

“Please refrain from speaking nonsense to Atalante. If you make her uncomfortable with another strange remark…”

The Empire’s best designer would probably be changing.

At his added words, it felt as though a blade was brushing against her neck.

Gianna barely managed to stop her knees from giving out, and could only stare at the grand duke’s feet with a pale face.

“Excuse me, Your Highness, the Grand Duke… likes Miss Atalante, right?”

How could he address a person that wasn’t even an aristocrat with ‘Miss’?

Though it was an unbelievable situation, what was even more ridiculous was that she might lose her life at the hands of Lionel due to such a small mistake.

Gianna, who was born with high curiosity, was able to ask a question she had been curious about after squeezing out a year’s worth of courage.

“Do I like her?”

The grand duke frowned like he had heard something strange.

Gianna was petrified at his expression, but she couldn’t take back her question anymore.

At first, she had assumed that there might be some sort of reason behind Lionel’s behaviour.

He had hired her for a wanted criminal’s debutante, who was a head of an underworld organisation, and he was endlessly affectionate towards her.

She thought that Atalante might have caught a fatal weakness of his. But she changed her mind over the process of observing them.

The grand duke’s whipped actions, which were unbecoming of him, were clearly actions made by someone infatuated with another. That’s quite awful.

“You’re wrong.”

“What? B–but no matter how I look at it, the Grand Duke…”

“I don’t like her. I love her.”

Gianna thought for a moment that her ears weren’t functioning properly.

“Ah, I forgot to prepare my sword in advance to bring it along.”

Lionel left the room with a baffling mumble, leaving a stiffened Gianna behind.

‘T–That’s preposterous. Is that really the Grand Duke, Lionel Blanc?’

While it wasn’t a confession towards her, her face burned for some reason.

His expression, his gaze and his voice just now… From his side profile, it seemed to be a fine example of a person that’s deeply lovesick.

The head of the underground organisation, Argo, and the Grand Duchy’s tyrant.

It was nothing less than the scandal of the century.

‘I’m really looking forward to today’s debutante.’

Gianna swallowed unconsciously, and looked in the direction that the two had disappeared towards with her gleaming eyes.

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