“Hey! What did you just say?!”
The woman turned around and shouted hysterically at Reliel’s back.
It seemed that if her voice was loud enough, it could cover up the awkwardness in her heart.
But… although everyone around was looking at her, that strange attendant was the only one who carried the tray as if nothing had happened, moving forward.
He’s doing it on purpose… isn’t he?
This guy is definitely trying to embarrass me on purpose?!
Even though she was deliberately picking a fight, this guy’s attitude… he was completely ignoring her…
Lady Melche, who had just lost her position as President, looked as dull and lifeless as the gray evening dress she wore today.
With a support rate of 0%, her mood instantly hit rock bottom.
At first, she thought Jenny would use the power of the Marquis’s Castle and the Gold Vein Chamber of Commerce to force these nobles to vote for her.
And she believed she would still have some supporters—at worst, she could claim to have lost to the other’s despicable tactics.
That way, she could still rightfully form a small clique within the Ruby Society.
But…
0% meant that not a single member supported her, the old President, for re-election.
This was simply unbelievable!
Aside from the other party using underhanded means to force everyone not to vote for her…
Melche refused to consider any other reason.
In fact…
If she’d just investigated a little, she would have known about the Blue Crow Mercenary Group.
But… at this moment, Melche, battered by repeated defeats, was already in a daze, like a gambler who had thrown all her assets onto the table, only to lose everything in an instant.
No matter how others tried to persuade her, she stubbornly believed she could win it all back in the next round!
Her mentality had already shattered; she couldn’t think calmly at all… At this moment, she could only see what she wanted to see.
It’s just like how you can never wake someone who’s pretending to be asleep.
Right now, Melche… wanted to do everything she could to bring down… no, even just disgust Jenny a little would be enough!
Those cross-dressing hooligans at the entrance were her idea, meant to disrupt the succession ball.
But she hadn’t expected the other party to hire mercenaries as security for the event.
And just as she was brooding, Lady Melche suddenly saw what had just happened.
Jenny seemed quite concerned about this attendant. Was there some connection between them?
It was as if she had grasped something important…
If she couldn’t make things difficult for Jenny herself, then she’d just target the person Jenny cared about!
Although she was no longer the President of the Ruby Society, wasn’t a mere attendant still someone she could easily manipulate?
Yet… both times she tried to pick a fight, this little attendant simply ignored her.
This made the already uneasy Melche utterly furious!
All her usual elegance was thrown out the window… all her anger focused on the attendant she’d chosen as her “punching bag”!
Tap tap tap!
She strode forward quickly, raised her hand, and was about to slap the attendant!
“Melche? What do you think you’re—”
Whoosh!!
Just as Jenny noticed and cried out in alarm, at the very instant Melche’s slap came down…
Smack!
Her wrist was suddenly grabbed by the attendant’s left hand—the one not holding the tray!
Reliel turned, looking at the woman behind her, whose face was twisted in rage as if she had tried to ambush her.
A huge question mark flashed through Reliel’s eyes.
Who… is this?
“Ugh. You bitch! Bastard! Let go of me!!” Melche screamed like a madwoman, struggling, lifting her other hand to try to strike at the girl in front of her.
Bang!
Reliel was never someone who’d let herself be bullied. Her brows knitted slightly, and she flung the wrist she held aside with force!
Melche was instantly thrown off balance by the strength and fell over to the side.
Her gaze went blank for a moment, then she glared and jabbed her finger at Reliel, full of venom.
“You… you dare lay a hand on me? You’re finished, your entire mercenary company is finished!
Do you know who I am?”
Admittedly… those words made Reliel’s brows knit even tighter.
After the last incident, the Hunter Blade Mercenary Group had already suffered heavy losses. If the nobles caused trouble now…
They might really have to leave the Crystal Capital.
And, as if she had sensed the flicker in Reliel’s otherwise calm gaze, Melche was like a jackal smelling blood, her eyes flickering over Jenny, who was hurrying over, and the other noblewomen nearby.
Heh… hehehe…
At last, you sluts are finally all looking at me!
She felt secretly delighted at being able to cause chaos at this ball and thus spoil Jenny’s event.
“Let me tell you something…” Melche sneered, her chin lifting arrogantly, looking down at Reliel like a hen regarding an insect.
“I am the wife of Viscount Gree! Now kneel and apologize! Slap yourself twice! Or… I’ll make sure your entire mercenary company never leaves the Crystal Capital!!”
Reliel remained silent, listening to the woman’s endless tirade.
But… her clenched fists gave her true feelings away…
She was in a terrible mood. The days of pent-up depression seemed to explode in an instant.
Other than gloom, there was something else in the heart of this girl, targeted for no reason…
A sour feeling she couldn’t name… Was it… grievance?
But she had no one she could run to, no one to cry to, no one to confide in.
The other was a Viscount’s wife… That level of noble—so long as the Hunter Blade Mercenary Group remained in the Crystal Capital, they simply could not afford to offend her.
She herself didn’t care, but what about everyone else…
If things fell apart, and the other party called in the city guards for arrest, should everyone end up in the dungeon for months just because of her?
For some reason, a certain voice suddenly rang in her ears…
[Did you see that~? This is the difference between the strong and the weak… Do you want to become… a strong one, just like me?]
If she… was a strong person, like that one…
Ugh! What am I thinking?
Damn it, why am I having such thoughts… I absolutely do not want to become someone like that!
Thinking this, Reliel subconsciously shook her head.
“I’ll say it again… you bitch…”
At this moment, Melche had already gotten up, her outstretched finger nearly touching Reliel’s nose.
“Kneel now…”
Clap clap clap~
Just then, a round of… applause sounded from the side?
“Hmm… Viscount’s wife… what an impressive display of noble airs～”
Then, a lazy-sounding voice drifted into everyone’s ears.
Hoo…
Everyone turned toward the sound.
They saw the main star of today’s banquet, President Jenny, standing obediently behind a white-haired girl in a dark red evening dress, like a well-behaved attendant.
Just seeing this arrangement, everyone present could already guess… who had arrived.
She… actually came?
Wasn’t this person never one to attend such banquets?
Something’s happened… This time… Melche is truly done for…
Swoosh…
Although some felt a touch of schadenfreude, everyone quickly made way for her.
“You’re so noble~ Should I pay you my respects as well?”
Ileya walked forward, tilting her head ever so slightly, her crimson eyes fixed on the person ahead—Melche—whose eyes were wide, her expression flustered.
“Lady… Lady.”
As Ileya drew near, the once-arrogant “Viscount’s wife” now looked like a wilted eggplant, her face ashen, subconsciously backing away…
Thud! In her panic, she even fell down on her backside…
Why is she here?
Reliel, who had been agonizing over what to do, was also stunned. The moment she came back to herself, she saw Ileya in her evening gown.
That dark red gown looked ever so imposing.
Glancing down at her own attendant’s uniform…
All at once… for some reason.
She subconsciously took a step back, lowered her eyes… and couldn’t quite bring herself to look directly at the person in front of her…