Chapter 217: Roses Dipped in Venom
"You—!"
The Carmine girl whirled toward the newcomer, her face flushing crimson.
The veiled woman seized the distraction, plucking her key from the counter and gliding past the confrontation without so much as a backward glance.
She really reminds me of someone...
Meanwhile, Carmine girl’s burning gaze followed her retreating figure, but she didn’t chase.
Instead, her fingers clenched into fists at her sides, probably because she was angry at losing the argument.
Funny given the fact that she was the one who started it.
The young nobleman merely watched the veiled woman for a fleeting second before turning back to Carmine girl, his smirk deepening.
"What? Me?" He spread his hands, smiling innocently. "Or was what I said false?"
He paused, then in a deliberately louder voice:
"Everyone throughout the kingdom already knows it, you know."
"..." The girl’s eyes darted across the room.
Everywhere she looked, gazes skittered away.
The merchants suddenly found their table fascinating. The whispering women ducked their heads, though their smirks remained. Even the innkeeper busied himself with wiping down an already-clean mug.
For one breath, the air thickened with her humiliation.
Her shoulders squared.
A slow, deliberate breath in.
"Yes, you were wrong." Her voice came out steady, forcibly composed, even as her knuckles remained white.
"His Highness loves me, and I love him. We’re going to get married too." She lifted her chin as if daring anyone to oppose her. "Prince Bane promised me himself. He swore it on his honor!"
"L-Lady-!" One of her maids twitched, clearly wanting to intervene, but Carmine ignored her, too caught up in her own defiance.
"Is that how it is?" The nobleman chuckled with a dangerous grin.
"Yes, that’s exactly how it is!" Carmine girl snapped, her earlier flush of shame now burning into something hotter.
She jabbed a finger at the man. "Dain, you’re just pissed because I picked him over you, right! Or what? Did you think moping around Derier would make me change my mind?"
Dain guy’s smirk twitched. "You really are funny. Last I heard, the prince was ’just a friend’, until someone caught him with his hands under your—"
"Liar!" Her voice cracked like a whip. The inn’s patrons flinched. "You-! You’re making that up because you’re jealous! You are the real pervert here!"
One of her maids tugged urgently at her sleeve. "My lady, please—"
Carmine shook her off. "Oh, what? Afraid I’ll embarrass myself?" She whirled back to the man, eyes glittering. "News for you, I don’t care what trash you spew. Everyone knows you’ve been bitter ever since I turned you down. Pathetic."
The young man’s laugh was sharp. "Turned me down? You strung me along for months until someone shinier came along."
"Because you were boring!" Carmine spat, her voice rising. "Even that Luthaire freak was better than you!"
"..."
The words hit like a physical blow. My fingers froze around my teacup, the ceramic suddenly cold against my skin.
Luthaire.
A dozen thoughts crashed through my skull at once, none of them pleasant.
Did I know her? Had I—
No. Impossible.
My past self shouldn’t be that stupid.
But the way she said it, like my family name was just another weapon in her petty squabble, sent a slow curl of irritation down my spine.
Across the table, Zephyr’s gaze burned into me. I didn’t need to look to know his eyebrow was halfway to his hairline.
I ignored him.
Dain, meanwhile, had gone eerily still.
"Boring? Me?" He let out a chuckle, running a hand through his hair as if she’d told a particularly amusing joke. "Alright, Carmine. We’ll see who’s really boring soon."
He stepped closer, murmuring something too low for the room to hear.
Carmine jerked back like he’d tried to spit on her. "Ugh! Don’t—"
But he was already leaning in, his voice dropping to a whisper meant only for her ears.
"Don’t come crying to me later," he whispered, "when Prince Pretty tosses you aside like last week’s leftovers."
Yep, I heard it loud and clear, and probably many others too. And...
He did it intentionally.
Anyway, Carmine girl recoiled as if struck, her face twisting in disgust.
She wiped at her ear dramatically, as though his words had physically contaminated her. "As if I’d ever—!"
But the Dain guy was already walking away.
"Haha! Are you running away?"
The guy paused just before reaching the door and turned back with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. "Running? No. Just leaving the trash where it belongs. And... stop mentioning that Luthaire bastard." His gaze flicked meaningfully around the room. "He never even looked at you."
"Wish I’d done the same..."
The door slammed behind him with finality.
For a moment, Carmine stood frozen, her earlier bravado cracking at the edges. The flush on her cheeks darkened, whether from anger or embarrassment, I couldn’t tell.
Her fingers twitched at her sides like she wanted to claw something apart.
One of her maids tentatively touched her elbow. "My lady, perhaps we should retire for—"
"Shut up!" Carmine snapped, shaking off the maid’s hand with enough force to make the girl stumble. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she scanned the room, her gaze lingering on our table just a heartbeat too long.
Probably just stunned by how annoyingly good-looking Zephyr and Aeron were.
With a sound halfway between a growl and a sob, Carmine spun on her heel and stormed up the stairs, her maids scrambling after her like frightened ducklings.
The inn released a collective breath.
This , I thought grimly, is going to be a problem.
Then, a quiet relief settled deep in my gut.
I was certainly glad I wasn’t entangled with her. What a nightmare that would’ve been, pursuing some shrieking noble who saw affection as a prize and people as mere tools.
Beautiful? Sure, but only if you appreciated a beauty laced with malice.
Her features, all sharp angles and soft, deceptive lips, were the kind that inspired ruinous choices.
And her personality?
I took a slow sip of my tea, analyzing the scene, and reached a grim conclusion soon after.
She was, in short, a spoiled heiress who mistook outbursts for genuine emotion, a relentless social climber who would sacrifice anything for a taste of influence.
The type to betray you openly, just to witness your reaction.
Though judging solely by a first impression wasn’t ideal, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my assessment of her was accurate.