Chapter 38

With Lord Nazel leading me by the hand, I continued to make the rounds, greeting the party guests.

Nobles who lived for scandals practically lined up to speak with him.

How spiteful…! It was glaringly obvious they were trying to fish for new gossip.

But Lord Nazel, who deflected their probes with a calm, effortless smile, had an air of refined authority that was truly wonderful to behold.

Still, for some reason, the men had been showering me with excessive praise for a while now.

I suspected it was just flattery directed at Lord Nazel because of his unexpected closeness with the Second Prince, but I didn’t appreciate being used as a conversational tool.

While I was feeling fed up with the repetitive noble pleasantries, a familiar figure approached us silently, almost gliding.

It was a boy with the same hair and eye color as mine. He was short, and beneath a stiff, heavy overcoat, he wore a pair of pure white, skin-tight leggings.

He moved by using magic to hover slightly off the ground, sliding right up in front of me before fixing me with a sharp, piercing glare. I instinctively tensed up.

“I wondered why a shameless woman was drawing so much attention; I should have known it was you, Sister.”

“…Paul, I see you’re attending as well.”

The one addressing me with such sarcasm was my much younger brother, Paul Eventail.

He was the heir to the House of Eventail and was currently twelve years old—an age where one might start looking for a fiancée.

Steeped in our family’s rigid ideologies, Paul looked down on me as a failure of a sister because I constantly rebelled against our household’s policies. Consequently, he always had nothing but caustic words for me.

Incidentally, since my brother knew what my natural face looked like, he had recognized me even in my current state.

“Not content with bringing shame upon us at Her Highness the Princess’s party and getting yourself disowned, you now flaunt yourself outside in this flighty, immodest attire. What is with that frivolous, messy makeup and that cheap-looking dress?! After Mother warned you so many times!”

Personally, I thought wearing white leggings that clung to every inch of skin while floating in mid-air was far more embarrassing.

Because my brother was shouting so loudly, we had once again become the center of attention for everyone nearby.

“You are a far cry from a lady! You are a disgrace to this family!!”

Paul wore a look of utter triumph. The satisfaction of having “told me off” was written all over his face.

The surrounding nobles, however, were all visibly recoiling in secondhand embarrassment.

“Paul. I’ve been disowned, so I no longer have any connection to the Marquessate of Eventail.”

I stated the simple fact to my brother.

Whether they thought it was a disgrace or not, I had no intention of returning to the “Potato Lady” I used to be.

Then, from behind my brother, my father and mother appeared. The entire Eventail family had assembled.

Because they were so conspicuous, the surrounding nobles continued to stare at us.

Due to my father’s opinion that “women are better off being ignorant,” I had been raised without any political knowledge… but since I began living with Lord Nazel, I’d had many opportunities to hear various pieces of information. I had a vague understanding of the House of Eventail’s current standing.

Our house belonged to the Second Prince’s faction, which was why they had previously tried to push an engagement with Prince Leonard on me.

Well, that’s all irrelevant now.

My brother took a hovering step back, and my parents, clad in their oppressive clothing, stepped forward.

Mother wore a dress that belonged to my great-grandmother, and Father—just like my brother—wore white leggings that hugged his skin tightly.

“Agnes, you girl! Must you continue to expose your shame in a place like this?!”

My father pointed a finger at me, his face flushed red with rage. I suppose I should be grateful he didn’t immediately try to hit me.

Next, my mother shrieked in a high-pitched voice.

“Oh, Agnes! What a vulgar dress! And to wear makeup that actually shows your real face—have you no shame?! Attracting the gaze of so many gentlemen… how unsightly!”

I’m pretty sure the “attention” was mostly because of Lord Nazel, and I think makeup that hides your face is the real problem here… but saying that wouldn’t convince them. My parents and brother were completely submerged in the ideologies of the Eventail clan.

They refused to change their rules to match the times, simply following tradition out of sheer inertia while their minds remained stagnant.

As a result, they were treated as eccentric weirdos by everyone around them, looking completely out of place and out of touch.

—The House of Eventail really is strange.

Because I had stepped out into the world like this, I had discovered a world I never knew existed.

Back when I was called the “Potato Lady,” I definitely hadn’t been in a normal state of mind either.

In the past, I had been unable to disobey my parents’ orders; even while grumbling and rebelling, I would ultimately head out dressed exactly as I was told.

…There might have been other ways to handle things back then.

“I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

I am my own person, not a convenient tool for the House of Eventail. That’s especially true now that I’ve been cast out.

“Marquis Eventail, Marchioness. As I have been disowned, I no longer have any relation to your clan. Please, just leave me be.”

However, my parents and brother were not the types to back down.

Even though they were the ones who disowned me, being defied by a former family member—and a daughter at that—seemed to infuriate them even further.

“Don’t you dare speak to us with such arrogance! You should keep your mouth shut and do as we say!”

“Exactly. It’s because of that attitude that you couldn’t even manage to find yourself a proper fiancé, Sister.”

No, no… It was precisely because I followed the House of Eventail’s rules that I spent my days watching potential suitors run away even faster than they normally would have, you know?

Besides, isn’t it a bit too convenient for you to disown me and then demand that I “obey”?

“Father, Mother. I am grateful to you for raising me until this age. However, please do not involve yourselves with me anymore. Being seen with me will only lower your own dignity, won’t it?”

I threw the words back at them, hoping they would just scurry off somewhere…

But it only resulted in Father’s face turning an even deeper shade of crimson.

“You…! For a mere woman, you’ve certainly learned to spout clever nonsense. You’ve picked up far too much useless wit out there!”

Goodness, I can’t hold a conversation with my former family at all.

I mean, you were the ones who kicked me out in the first place!

“What an impudent daughter. I’ll discipline you so you never speak like that again!”

Blood must have rushed to his head once more.

Heedless of the fact that they were surrounded by a crowd of people, Father swung his arm back broadly.

—He’s going to hit me!!

Recalling the violence I had lived with, I curled my body and squeezed my eyes shut.

However, no matter how long I waited, the impact never came.

“…Huh? What?”

I gingerly opened my eyes to check and found an unexpected sight.

I saw a slender back right in front of me. Could it be…?

“…?! Lord Nazel?!”

Standing there as if to shield me, Lord Nazel had caught Father’s fist with a single hand.

To block that slap so effortlessly… just how strong is he?

Since he had been pushed around at the Princess’s engagement party, I had assumed he wasn’t very good at physical confrontations.