Chapter Ten

A man formally introducing himself to the family of the woman he loved, especially if the family was opposed to the relationship, should be on his hands and knees explaining himself and begging for their approval, but Rodrigo shamelessly sat there, doing nothing.

He’s making Estella do all the talking!

Shameless bastard.

The fork in Ada’s hand bent out of shape. Putting the now-useless fork down, Ada picked up a knife instead. It was a simple utensil, but in the hands of a Kartina, it was a lethal weapon.

“Don’t torment this man ever again,” Estella said quickly. Ada’s grip on the knife loosened.

“We didn’t blow up the manor,” Kalen quickly added, fearing that Estella would hold a grudge.

“Of course you didn’t.” You’re not an explosives expert.

They blew up a manor on the Erhart estate, basically a declaration of war. If the Erharts had arrived with their full military force, the Kartinas wouldn’t be able to complain.

They were clearly in the wrong. Even if they hated the Erharts, it was wrong to start a war. It would be a different matter if it had been two average families fighting, but this was the Erharts and the Kartinas from the founding myth of the empire. In this case, the culprit would have to have been Stefan or Hela—someone who would be able to handle a full-on war.

“Oh, Estella. I found this at my house. It seems like it belongs to the Kartinas, so I took good care of it and brought it here.” Rodrigo held his hand out to Gunther. The luxurious box shimmered, polished and covered in shiny jewels.

Rodrigo held the box out to Estella, and her face froze.

***

The box contained shuriken with many pointy edges, and there was no doubt that they belonged to Kalen. A regular shuriken has four tips. But Kalen’s shuriken were made of sixteen sharp, pointed tips. Difficult to throw, but they were swift and lethal.

I was unable to hold back a sigh. It was obvious how much Rodrigo had suffered during the past week and why he came here today. He wanted me to hold up my end of the bargain. A deal’s a deal.

I didn’t want to resort to this, but I had no other choice. I didn’t think my family would be so uncooperative. I lowered my head and bit my lip. My eyes filled with tears as I bit down hard enough to draw blood. When I looked up, I looked like a tragic heroine. “Please don’t torment Rodrigo. If you do… it would break my heart.”

Threatening to kill myself if they tormented Rodrigo would be most effective, but it might also backfire. There was a time for threats and a time for tears. I forced out a sob and buried my face in Rodrigo’s chest. His body was trembling subtly. He’s definitely trying not to laugh. I hoped that he knew I was doing my best to protect him.

Playing along, Rodrigo made a shushing noise and kissed the top of my head with a loud smack of his lips. I could practically hear the Kartinas scowl.

***

“What now? Estella was crying. Our darling Estella was shedding actual tears!”

The effect of Estella’s single teardrop was impressive. The tea party had ended early, and Hela and Stefan had retreated to their bedroom without a word. Soon after, Odelle, the Kartina family doctor, dropped by.

Kalen, Ada, and Ayla had gathered separately.

“Pearly tears were flowing from my dear Estella’s eyes!” Kalen clenched his fists tightly, unable to calm down.

In actuality, Estella hadn’t shed any tears. She wasn’t good enough at acting to cry on command. The most she could do was get her eyes to well up, but that wasn’t what it had looked like to her siblings. In their memory, Estella sobbed and cried endless tears, her heart broken.

“It’s all that bastard’s fault! We have to get him away from her somehow! Our Estella is in distress because of that bastard Rodrigo.”

Ayla tried to stand up with her sword in hand, but Ada stopped her. “Let’s not do anything to make Estella sad again. She clearly told us not to torment that shameless bastard.”

They had long since stopped referring to Rodrigo by name.

“What are we going to do, then?”

The three siblings fell silent, their expressions serious. The air tensed around them, their expressions and stances murderous.

“I’ve thought about this a lot. There’s a reason that Estella fell head over heels for that useless asshole.”

“What is it?”

Kalen said solemnly, “It’s because Estella has no tolerance against men.”

Kalen had expected to be told that he was spewing nonsense, but when Ada and Ayla continued to listen to him in all seriousness, he felt a bit awkward. Still, he was convinced his hypothesis made sense.

Estella was treasured by the Kartinas. Unlike her two older sisters, who had been sent out to flirt with all kinds of men to practice the art of seduction, Estella had been confined to the Kartina manor. No one besides her family and her personal servants was allowed to talk to Estella, and none of her servants were male (to ensure her beauty didn’t put her in any danger).

As a result, before the ball Estella had never really met any men outside of her family members, their elderly butler, and the Kartina soldiers, who could not even look her in the eye.

“That’s true. Estella is really innocent.”

“You have to admit that vile beast has a nice face.”

Ada and Ayla had to agree with Kalen. That’s right, our darling Estella is just too innocent. That’s why. “So what’s your idea, Kalen?”

“Estella has to meet more people. Someone who has only met one trash person wouldn’t be able to tell that they are trash.”

“You want to introduce more men to Estella?” Ayla’s voice cracked as she asked this. Would that really be the lesser evil? I only want good things for Estella…

“No, we should show her what a trash person is like. Then she’ll be able to recognize trash when she sees it. All men except me and dad are trash when it comes to Estella, anyway,” Kalen muttered.

“You have someone in mind, don’t you? You have a plan?” Ayla asked.

Truth be told, he didn’t. The Kartinas believed that the best laid plans were no plans at all. Even if something went wrong, they had the ability to take care of the consequences themselves, so they had no need to go through the bother of making plans.

As Kalen hesitated, Ada, who had been listening quietly, got up from her seat. “There can’t be any negative consequences.”

“Hm?”

“So it has to be someone higher up than an archduke.”

Kalen stroked his chin as he considered this. Someone more powerful than an archduke… Then, “You don’t mean that son of a bitch crown prince, do you?”

Calling the crown prince a son of a bitch was something only a Kartina would do.

“That fool Detheus?” Ayla also shook her head.

Detheus, Royal Phalemon. The crown prince of the Phalemon Empire was known to the people as the Crown Prince of Light and was next in line to become emperor, but those like Kalen, who saw behind the facade, knew him as a fool and the worst delinquent of the century.

“You know how terrible he is!”

“I do. I also know how easily he falls in love. And how quickly he loses interest. He’s exactly the kind of trash person you were talking about.” Ada’s plan was as follows: Introduce Estella to Detheus, Detheus would no doubt fall in love with Estella—she was incredibly beautiful and charming, after all. Actually, is there anyone in the empire who wouldn’t fall in love with her at first sight? Having fallen in love at first sight, Detheus would then do everything in his power to win over Estella. Estella would then realize that there were men who would revere her and fulfill her every wish, unlike that bastard Rodrigo.

But what if Estella fell for Detheus? All they had to do then was tell her about his many exploits with women. Detheus’s history with women was enough to make any saint run away crying.

“Rodrigo… is pretty clean on that front.”

“What a pity…” Ada mumbled to herself before asking the others what they thought of her plan.

They weren’t happy about it, but Kalen and Ayla agreed to it. It wasn’t like they had any other options. By their standards, it was a carefully weighed decision. And, befitting the Kartinas, this plan was put into action lightning fast.

***

“Did you say Kartina?” Detheus had been stroking the naked side of a woman asleep on her stomach in the bed next to him when he paused and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, Your Highness. Sir Kalen of the Kartinas has requested to see you.”

“What does he want, so suddenly?”

Unable to answer the question, the servant averted his eyes.

“He avoided me whenever I asked him to visit. So why does he suddenly want to come to the palace?” Detheus’s question wasn’t directed at him, but the servant began to sweat nervously. “When does he want to see me?”

The servant was glad to finally be able to provide an answer. He said, “This afternoon, Your Highness.”

As soon as he heard this, Detheus got up from the bed. His movement was enough to wake the sleeping woman, who tossed and turned. Detheus looked over at the small frame of the woman, who mumbled sleepily, and scowled. He raised his large hand and slapped the woman’s naked back. Slap. The servant flinched at the sharp sound.

“Kyaa!”

The woman let out a yelp at the sudden pain and sat up.

“Get out, now.”

Confusion marred her face, but she didn’t have time to hesitate. Detheus was raising his hand again. He said, “An important guest is coming. See to the preparations.”

At Detheus’s words, the servants began to make themselves busy.

Starknaked, Detheus leisurely crossed the room toward the windows. “A Kartina wants to see me, eh?” He stroked his chin, and his lips spread into a pleasant smile. At the same time, he clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly. I want the Kartinas in my grasp.

The desire hidden deep within his heart reared its head. The Kartinas only took orders from the emperor. They never listened to anyone else. Even the crown prince. This was because there was no guarantee he would actually be able to ascend the throne. But on the other hand, whoever the Kartinas supported had a much higher chance of becoming emperor.

Detheus had two younger siblings. One sister and one brother. The crown princess had no right to the throne and was therefore no threat, but he needed to be wary of his brother. It was why he had made every effort to try and get the Kartinas on his side, but to no avail. Stefan was hard to meet in the first place, and Kalen, who was his age, kept his distance. But now Kalen wanted to see him, unprompted.

Detheus would give the Kartinas whatever they wanted.