I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

The force put into that movement was enough to hurt.

"I don’t know why you’re bothering me. But if you try to tease me again, then… An ‘accident' will happen."

Lisa, with a joyful smile, gave him such a formidable warning.

She's scarier than I thought.

While serving as a mercenary, I have seen countless people, but this was the first time in my life that a woman with a bright smile on her lips said that she would kill me.

This woman, she looks like a beautiful poisonous flower that I once saw in the mountains.

Jeremy replied with a small laugh:

"I'll keep it in mind."

As the fake smiles of both sides grew wider, there was a clink of glass.

Lisa turned her head towards the sound.

"Sorry, Lady Croft. I'm sorry."

It looks like some stupid young lady accidentally bumped into Ellie. Because of this, the wet bottom of the dress of the hostess of the evening now appeared before all eyes.

The girl apologized with a panic on her face, as if everything had happened unintentionally.

Whatever the face of that young lady, Lisa looked at this fuss and smiled naturally.

She really liked these stains on Ellie's red dress.

How great it would be if your whole life came to naught like this dress.

Well, that's the way it will be.

Everything will be very soon.

I’ll put my hand on it.

Lisa turned back and looked at Jeremy.

Yes, this look of his…

He grinned all the way, but now he was looking somewhere with a look full of concern.

Lisa turned to follow Jeremy's gaze.

And when she saw the object of his worries, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

…Ellie Croft?

Ellie Croft and Jeremy Drua.

I don't see any connection between them.

However, judging by his eyes, she was not a stranger to him.

What the heck?

Jeremy looked into Lisa's green eyes.

"I think you really like Lady Croft. I see you can't take your eyes off."

"I don't think there'll be a man here tonight who doesn't like Ellie."

Jeremy wasn’t in the least embarrassed and laughed.

Lisa couldn't deny it. In a gorgeous red dress and silver hair like moonlight, Ellie was a delight to the eyes.

And there wasn’t a single man who didn’t glance at Ellie even furtively.

Lisa looked Jeremy in the face again.

However, this time she didn’t find what she could catch on to.

Jeremy no longer looked towards Ellie until the end of their dance.

"It was an honor for me, Lady Sios."

Jeremy bowed.

His polite attitude and friendly amber eyes didn’t reveal his inner nature.

In fact, he didn't like playing this charade.

Like her, who dealt with many people, but for the first time couldn’t overlook the vis-a-vis through and through.

A man who is not afraid of her threats and is unlikely to take her side…

Lisa grabbed the hem of her dress and slightly bent her knees.

"It was also an honor for me. Well then…"

A sweet smile on her face and a warm look, out of kindness she had no equal. But that smile only lasted a moment, and Lisa turned around before Jeremy could even answer.

As if their gentle dance was under the influence of hypnosis, Lisa now coldly turned away and walked away without looking back.

The crowd around was confused by the frosty atmosphere, but Jeremy just laughed as if everything was fine.

Either way, they were both just wearing a mask.

"It's been a long time since I felt so bad."

Although she was a dangerous woman, he dearly hated Lisa for only one reason.

Lisa, who was hiding under the mask of purity, was annoying and similar to himself.

He left the center of the room, not paying attention to the surrounding views.

"That's enough, I think."

After changing my dress and cleaning my hair, I dismissed the maids who were busy around me without stopping.

"The dress was so beautiful. The girl must have been jealous and spilled her glass on purpose," the maid said angrily.

She was a young servant who had only recently joined the ducal house. There were many such immature moments, but this immaturity was even sweet.

The other servant shuddered at the young girl's righteous anger.

I smiled, letting the maids know that everything was okay.

"That young lady really accidentally dropped her glass. Don't blame her like that."

I would understand if it was on purpose.

But in fact, the dress got wet by accident.

And this was the first time I encountered that young lady.

It's all because of Raymond.

He came up to me when Lisa and Jeremy left to dance, and we were left alone.

"Right, heir of Drua family. This is the guy who danced with you at the Sios estate 6 years ago."

He told me in a low voice so that no one beside me would hear.

I was surprised that he remembered Jeremy, accidentally pulled my hand and stabbed the lady who came up.

There was a clink of glass, the hem of the dress got wet, but I was so surprised that I didn't even move.

Who would have known that Raymond would remember that evening and our dance with Jeremy?

It was only a short meeting and six years have passed.

But do you remember?

I felt embarrassed when I remembered the then Raymond, who looked with surprise at our dance with his tenacious eyes.

And here we are again at the party.

You probably want to know more about my relationship with Jeremy.

The Croft and Drua families were not the last houses in the Empire to be written off.

Even if all personal troubles were ruled out, the Emperor would be annoyed by the fact that his right hand was entangled with the disgraced Duke.

On top of that, Jeremy's appearance today might have been nerve-wracking Raymond.

Jeremy, who suddenly appeared at the party, and Raymond, who still remembers him.

The party exceeded all expectations.

But it was still impossible to escape from this situation.

I grabbed the hem and stood up from my seat.

"You all did a good job."

I hurried out of the room, smiling at the maids who were still worried about my incident.

When I left the dressing room and headed to the ballroom, I stopped when I saw a man leaving us.

"Jeremy."

He froze.

It seems that he was afraid that someone would see us.

"Don’t worry. Nobody’s here."

Only then did he look at me with an awkward smile. And rolled his amber eyes. He seemed to regret the hype at the party.

"Well… I don't even know what to say."

I didn’t care about the fuss, divorced by his appearance.

Instead, I was worried about him.

"It was so reckless. If the Emperor wanted to continue…"

Talking alone wouldn’t have ended.

I often saw Jeremy take on dangerous jobs as a mercenary. Sometimes he took on a job that I thought was a little reckless.

Whenever I was worried, he smiled confidently and told me not to worry.

And indeed he returned without a single wound.

So later I trusted him and waited for his return. But today it was a completely different matter.

The recklessness that he showed today was different from the danger he experienced before this time.

Raymond, as dangerous as he was, wasn’t an enemy warrior that Jeremy could simply slay with a sword.

He was the Emperor. And he ascended the throne on a mountain of corpses. Moreover, the life of the Drua family also hung in the balance all this time.

"Well, you also made me worry."