When A Villain Meets A Villain - Chapter 49

Atalante was unexpectedly nervous and made several mistakes in the steps she had skillfully practised while in the townhouse.

 

But there wasn’t anyone that noticed her mistake. Every time Atalante tripped, Lionel would lift her up without batting an eye.

 

His movements were so gentle that others couldn’t tell that her feet were floating in the air.

 

‘It was as if he had predicted when and where I would make a mistake.’

 

Lionel looked at her reddening face each time with joy. It was like he was, on the contrary, pleased with Atalante’s mistake.

 

Because she hated it, she had tried several times to step on his foot half willingly, but each attempt only ended in failure.

 

Tsk, Lionel looked at her, who was clicking her tongue, and whispered in her ear while in the midst of a turn.

 

“If you keep dancing with me, wouldn’t you have a chance to step on it at least once?”

 

“I shall respectfully decline.”

 

“That’s too bad.”

 

Throughout the dance song, the two received the attention of everyone inadvertently.

 

Was it because they were the only ones wearing dark coloured outfits?

 

Lionel and Atalante looked like the real protagonists of today’s banquet, with numerous white-clad nobles as their background.

 

‘The partners will change from the next song onwards, right?’

 

On the contrary to the thought that they just held hands and spun around in circles, the aristocrats’ dance unexpectedly had much more to consider for each movement.

 

The timing of the change in music, the tempo, the direction to move towards, and so on.

 

Along with the subtle change in rhythm, Atalante was in the midst of finding her next partner.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Lionel stood in her way politely and asked while pressing the hand he captured to his cheek.

 

Atalante replied calmly, trying her best not to blush.

 

“Of course I’m going to meet the next person.”

 

“Next person? Atalante is my fiancee.”

 

It was, indeed, dangerous to have words that could define their relationship.

 

All the more so if it’s a sweet word like ‘fiancée’.

 

“Regardless of that, aren’t there rules? Besides, most of the people gathered here have fiancés.”

 

This was because it was the norm for aristocrats to have engagements according to the family’s interests from an early age.

 

“Aristocrats have a lot more to prioritise than their feelings.”

 

All of a sudden, she recalled Esma’s teary face as she explained how she made the ‘love potion’.

 

Atalante, who was thinking that it wasn’t easy to live as a noble for the first time, tried to pull out the hand that was caught by Lionel.

 

“That’s none of my business. Atalante, please don’t leave behind your one and only fiance.”

 

“Stop acting like a spoiled child.”

 

“You have to step on my foot once.”

 

“Ah, that’s…”

 

It was an offer that was obviously tempting, but she had to bear with it.

 

The thought of how Lionel turned the banquet hall upside down earlier still made her dizzy.

 

The emperor’s blood pressure rose in the aftermath and he simply left his seat, while the atmosphere of the debutante had oddly calmed down.

 

‘Whether it was intentional or not, we did cause some inconvenience to the Imperial citizens.’

 

She felt sorry for the other aristocratic children that were waiting for today. Therefore, Atalante had no intention of ruining the atmosphere of the pleasant banquet.

 

It was already enough for her to remove the label of a wanted criminal and be at such a banquet for the first time.

 

“…Didn’t you tell me to do as I please? I’m going. I don’t want to stand out anymore.”

 

Atalante, who had even shown her trump card, tilted her head like she was asking, “That’s enough, right?”

 

His expression at being caught in a trap of his own making merely lasted for a moment, before he tightened his grip on her silk gloved hand and whispered.

 

“You can do as you please. But today… I’ll also do as I please.”

 

His obstinacy was stronger than Atalante imagined, and as such, she became a nuisance to the young ladies on both of their sides, as they had to run past them in order to meet with a new partner.

 

Lionel didn’t even look at them, let alone be their dance partner.

 

Perhaps because he was being punished, during the dance that lasted for more than an hour, Atalante never stepped on Lionel’s foot.

 

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After the first portion ended successfully, the main characters of the debutante left their parents and relatives at the venue and headed outside.

 

From now onwards was, in fact, the true beginning of the debutante. It was a hidden time to face members of the opposite gender while avoiding their parents’ gazes.

 

As they enjoyed their permitted defiance for the first and last time, the parents would wait for the second part of the debutante to end while evaluating those who came of age at the venue.

 

As a matter of course, the groups were obviously divided into those of the imperial faction and aristocratic faction.

 

There were the imperial faction and the aristocratic faction, and today an exception, a third group, appeared. The grand duke that looked at his partner with a loving face and the villain Atalante, who was declared his fiancee.

 

“…I feel like I’m in a dream.”

 

One of the imperial faction’s young ladies glanced at the two people that seemed to have fallen into their own world, before letting out a deep sigh.

 

Everyone seemed to agree with her words, and both men and women quickly nodded.

 

“That Grand Duke of Blanc is in love, how ridiculous.”

 

One of the young lords that had visited the Blanc estate as a child spoke while in deep contemplation.

 

It was Vanessa, the daughter of Marquis Elphiorim, who caused the subdued atmosphere to become even more brutal.

 

“They do look fitting in various ways. The meeting between the villain of the century and a villain.”

 

Those gathered could only smile awkwardly as they didn’t know whether it was spoken jokingly or seriously.

 

“Let’s enjoy the banquet for now. Isn’t today a happy day where everyone will become an adult?”

 

Pietro said while raising his glass, like he was trying to lift the atmosphere.

 

Everyone raised their glasses upon his words, but Vanessa, who was the sole one with a displeased expression, had merely spoken with biting sarcasm.

 

“Hasn’t it been a while since Young Lord Sera made his debut? You’re only here today as Young Lady Evita’s partner, so please be self-aware.”

 

“…Young Lady Elphiorim, do you have to speak like that? All the Young Lords will run away at such sharp words.”

 

“I’ll take care of my own marriage, so please don’t worry about me. So please don’t think about coveting Young Lady Evita, just because Young Lord Sera was lucky enough to become partners.”

 

“What do you mean covet! I’m here because Father asked me to, and also…!”

 

“Also, what?”

 

Unexpectedly, Pietro’s words trailed off and avoided eye contact with a blushing face.

 

“Why do the two of you fight whenever you meet? Let’s get along, shall we?”

 

Vanessa and Pietro only stopped glaring at each other when Esma intervened between the two.

 

Soon, the youths gathered in groups and clinked their glasses together with jubilant faces, like they had forgotten about their earlier memories, and Esma naturally melded amongst them.

 

Of course, even as she was swallowing the alcohol’s unfamiliar taste, her gaze reached Atalante, who was standing gracefully.

 

‘How in the world did Atalante come here? And with His Highness the Grand Duke at that.’

 

Though she kept from ominous speculations, there weren’t many situations where she could predict.

 

‘Could the person that drank the love potion perhaps be…’

 

If that was the truth, her small mistake had caused a ridiculous disaster.

 

It’s because it made the tyrannical lion that everyone was busy avoiding obsessed with a target.

 

At that moment, Atalante’s and Esma’s gazes met in the air.

 

Atalante seemed to have been waiting for that, and whispered something to the Grand Duke, before giving Esma a meaningful glance. Just like she was asking her to follow along.

 

“I–I don’t feel too well, so I’m going to get some fresh air!”

 

Though she was already being exposed to the wind, Esma couldn’t afford to pay it any mind and left behind suspicious words while chasing after Atalante.

 

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Atalante only stopped walking when she reached the end of the imperial garden.

 

As there wasn’t any single light, it was somewhat dreary, but Esma wasn’t frightened, and called her with all her might instead.

 

“M–Miss Atalante!”

 

“Shh, quieten down and come over.”

 

Esma closed her mouth tightly because of Atalatne’s words and slowly approached Atalante.

 

“H–how did you manage to enter here? What do you mean you’re engaged to the Grand Duke?”

 

“That just happened unknowingly.”

 

The scary sigh that she let out as soon as she finished her words was an obvious trace of the hardships she had gone through thus far.

 

“Let me take a guess. The one that drank that love potion, it was the Grand Duke…?”

 

A gleam of certainty was present within Esma’s green eyes. Atalante stared at that pair of eyes for a moment before nodding slowly.

 

“If you speak of this to others, I won’t let you go.”

 

“I–I wouldn’t speak of it even if you didn’t threaten me! Even if I said that… there isn’t anyone that will believe me.”

 

Those words were appropriate. A drug that causes someone to fall in love upon consumption, its existence itself was an absurdity.

 

“The efficacy was extremely good, the drug that’s made by the Young Lady.”

 

“That… seems to be the case.”

 

Esma closed her eyes and turned pale when she remembered the grand duke’s good-for-nothing appearance that she had just witnessed.

 

Can it be explained by the words ‘good-for-nothing’? Lionel’s gaze towards Atalante was practically that of blindness in itself.

 

Honestly, she couldn’t believe that she had personally made such a drug with such a powerful effect.

 

“From the way you followed after receiving my signal, the request I tasked your brother with seemed to have been completed well.”

 

A fool for his sister, as well as a crybaby.

 

Atalante thought that she should keep him alive the next time she sees him as a token of gratitude, and ended her words with a thoroughly amused voice.

 

“Hey, what in the world happened at the Grand Duke’s townhouse on that day? My brother hadn’t left the room for almost two days.”

 

“……Who knows.”

 

While Atalante could guess most of the things that happened, she didn’t feel the need to explain,

 

“I had called upon the Young Lady today in order to stop playing this annoying game of love and regain my daily life.”

 

“What do you mean…”

 

“Make an antidote to this drug.”

 

“What?”

 

The emperor had said earlier, to go to a place that’s befitting of her.

 

While she didn’t want to admit it, those words were the truth. She was currently being loved by His Highness, who she wasn’t suitable for.

 

“My beloved Atalante.”

 

Though she knew that all the feelings were made up, the voice that tickled my heart kept lingering in her ears.

 

It would be troubling if she got used to the clothes from Lionel Blanc, which didn’t actually suit her.

 

“You can do it, right?”

 

“That’s, that’s….”

 

She specialised in blackmailing others to get what she wanted.

 

That was definitely the case.

 

“Even if you can’t, do it.”

 

Atalante made the villainous face that she hadn’t made in a while, but her smile was somewhat awkward.