Chapter Six

He took a step toward me. In contrast to when we were dancing together, his eyes had turned as cold as ice. My heart stung. Could it be because I was in love with him in the story?

“I hate the Kartinas.”

I knew as much, and it was only natural, but it wasn’t nice to hear. Trying my best to hide my emotions, I nodded. “That’s all right,” I smiled kindly and put my hand on his arm. “Because I don’t hate the Erharts.”

He flinched and backed away.

But I did not let him get any further away from me. “Let’s talk for a moment.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” he said. “I believe I have fulfilled my obligations to your debut with that first dance.”

No wonder he had agreed to dance with me so quickly. He was just being a gentleman. I once again realized that Rodrigo had been a good man before he went berserk. The Kartinas had turned this man into a devil. Estella in the story, to be exact.

“It’s not enough.” I smiled so that my eyes crinkled, a signature move often used by the Kartinas. But unfortunately, it seemed to only work on other Kartinas.

Rodrigo’s face crumpled into a strange frown, and I frowned inwardly along with him. They said you couldn’t spit at a smiling face, but I guess they were wrong.

Left with no other options, I grabbed Rodrigo’s arm. Rodrigo, who seemed annoyed, raised an eyebrow, but didn’t shake me off. What a gentleman.

“The balcony would be best, don’t you think?” A rhetorical question. I didn’t expect Rodrigo to just go along with whatever I said, so I had to use force. I retrieved the dagger from my sleeve.

Realizing something was wrong, he tried to quickly turn away from me, but I stepped even closer to him. And then I pressed the tip of my dagger against his side.

“There are too many people watching, and this is a banquet hosted by your dear friend, Duke Gloria. If you don’t want to make a scene, it would be best to follow me.” I whispered hastily, twisting my body so that Ayla, who had been circling us, could see my dagger.

Ayla understood I was in control, so she backed off and watched us from afar.

“Do you really want this to end in bloodshed?” It was a threat. Though I wasn’t sure it would work on Rodrigo.

His frigid eyes glared at me.

A chill went up my spine at the look he gave me, and I almost confessed that this was all just for show right then and there. I might have done so anyway, if he hadn’t suddenly burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Lady Estella, you’re really…” He was laughing like a madman with a dagger pointed at his side.

My pride was a little bruised. Do you know how many things I could do with this dagger? I can do all sorts of things.

“You’re very entertaining. Did you think you could threaten me with such a small dagger?” Rodrigo grabbed my waist and pulled me closer. His large hand covered mine against the dagger.

I waited.

Rodrigo twisted my hand so that the dagger pointed at me. The tip of it pressed against my side now. Is he going to kill me? My heart skipped a beat.

He whispered, “If I push just a little bit” —I could feel the blade easing closer as he spoke— “I can easily tear your dress.” Rodrigo’s hand brushed down my back. “And stab you through it.” Chills prickled my skin. He finished, “How much force do you think I need to exert to rend the flesh of a woman who isn’t wearing any armor?”

He wasn’t simply caressing me. He was making sure I wasn’t wearing some sort of thin mithril chainmail under my dress. As soon as I had pulled out my dagger, Rodrigo’s courteous guise had dropped. He must have figured that he didn’t owe me any courtesy when I was threatening him.

“Enough force to crush an apple, maybe?” I replied without batting an eye.

Rodrigo narrowed his eyes.

I smiled gently and grabbed his wrist. I didn’t turn the dagger toward him. Instead, I pulled his wrist closer to my side.

Rodrigo’s face froze. He clenched his hand harder around mine to keep the dagger from stabbing me. He really is a gentleman.

There was a short struggle. To anyone else, we were a bit too close and friendly for a man and a woman who had just met. A small sigh escaped his lips.

He must not have expected me to react this way. His expression tensed and then drooped with exhaustion.

“We should talk,” I said. Keeping hold of his wrist even as he tried to pull away, I glanced over at the balcony.

“All right, fine,” he conceded. “Let’s hear what you have to say.”

***

We hurried to the balcony. Rodrigo leaned against the railing, his arms crossed. I closed the doors and drew the curtains to make sure no one could overhear us, but as I did, I locked eyes with Ayla for a moment. Her gaze wavered, worried, and my eyes welled a little.

Ayla clenched her fists and turned toward the banquet hall doors as I finished closing the curtains. I lost sight of her.

Then I heard quiet footsteps on the roof.

I could easily tell that it was the sound of Kalen and Ada moving to the roof from the second floor. But where did Ayla go? I started to get impatient. Dealing with all three of my siblings while protecting Rodrigo was nearly impossible. I went straight to the point.

“The Kartinas are after you.”

Rodrigo seemed unimpressed with this serious news. “That’s nothing new. Are those people up there Kartinas as well?”

Rodrigo asked this as he leaned back against the railing, looking up at the roof. His face was exposed to them.

I paled. “Rodrigo!”

Kalen wouldn’t miss a chance like this. As I expected, I heard movement. I threw myself at Rodrigo, wrapped my arms around his neck and clung to him. At the same time, I kicked the railing with both feet.

With the force of the recoil and my body weight, Rodrigo’s strong body tipped toward me. And then, thunk. The sound of a heavy weapon embedding itself into the ground.

“Do you have a death wish?” I chided him, trying to keep my voice down.

For a moment, confusion crossed Rodrigo’s face. “Of course not.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “How long are you going to cling to me?” He looked down.

My thighs were around his waist. I hadn’t moved since I dragged him away from the railing, and I was holding onto him like a koala.

“We may have danced together, but this seems a bit too forward for people who just met.” His casual tone made heat rise to my cheeks. I frowned and lightly stepped back onto the ground.

Rodrigo’s hands, which had been hovering behind my back, fell to his side in an exaggerated motion. “This makes it evident that the Kartinas are after me.”

That’s what I’ve been saying! I can’t believe it took an obvious assassination attempt for him to believe me.

Rodrigo’s eyes darkened. The corners of his lips rose.

I could sense danger emanating from him as he stepped closer to me. It was a completely different attitude from before. My shoulders felt heavier under his gaze, which seemed to make the air itself denser.

“What do you want?” His deep voice seemed to reverberate all the way down to the soles of my feet.

“What are you trying to do to me?”

A regular person would have been frightened at this point. He was intimidating enough to make most people tremble in fear, unable to reply. But I…

“I told you; I am Estella of the Kartina family.” I smiled brightly as I answered. “And I’m the person who will save your life.”

I grasped his cravat with both hands and pulled him down toward me. He hadn’t seen this coming, so Rodrigo let himself be pulled down, and the distance between us was nearly gone. We were close enough for our breaths to intermingle, his oddly sweet.

“What are you—” Before he could finish his sentence, an arrow whistled past where his head had just been. Rodrigo looked at the vibrating arrow stuck in the balcony curtains and at me, still holding onto his cravat.

“I saved you again, just now,” I said. Seeing his eyes widen and his gaze quiver made me feel a little better.

“Hah?” He let out a huff of disbelief.

Of course, it would be hard to believe that a Kartina would help him. He was probably thinking that this couldn’t be true and that it was a trap. Maybe he thought I was trying to lull him into a false sense of security by pretending to help him, before throwing him into an even deeper pit of despair.

“I understand if you don’t trust me,” I admitted. “You might think I’m planning something much worse by pretending to help you.” It might have been because he was so close, but I could very clearly sense Rodrigo’s agitation.

“But think about it,” I continued. “I’m a Kartina. We set the whole forest on fire rather than setting a trap to catch a single deer. There’s no need to doubt me. I wouldn’t waste my time laying out a trap for you.”

I knew my words weren’t very convincing, but Rodrigo had to believe me if he considered the way the Kartina family had always operated.

“That’s right. You’re a Kartina.” He seemed to believe me. “Why are you trying to save me?”

His suspicion was only natural.

“Who said I was doing this for free? You owe me a favor.” If my plan succeeded, my intention was to deliver Rodrigo to his beloved and retreat to a small island somewhere with my family. Then I would pray that the world wouldn’t end until I died of old age.

But for that to come true, Rodrigo had to find happiness. He needed to stop hating the Kartinas. He needed to abandon the ill-fated relationships of his past. I was ready to give my all for Rodrigo’s happiness. I hoped that, in return, Rodrigo would show me some mercy so that I could find my own happiness.

I had also attempted to rehabilitate the Kartinas. Making it look like a coincidence, I had made my family members meet priests, surreptitiously strewn books on social justice on the floor for them to come across, and even made them attend a charity event… But none of worked.

They had seduced the once-sober priests into drinking alcohol, paid off the authors of those books to corrupt them, and stole everything from the charity event.

There was no way to rehabilitate the Kartinas.

So, Rodrigo was my last hope. Getting on his good side or protecting him from the Kartinas was the only way.

“You may not believe me, but I really do not want you to die.” I took a deep breath and placed my hand on his cheek.

His gaze met my blue eyes. Even the most talented actor couldn’t lie with their eyes. Please believe me. “I just want you to be happy.”

He froze.

Did my sincerity get through to him?