I Want a Happy Ending Even as a Villainess

Chapter 21

“Marquis Brock!”

I deliberately shouted loudly. At my outcry, Tain glanced over at me, then made the most displeased expression in the world and slipped into the banquet hall.

“Ha, unbelievable.”

When I let out a dry laugh, the knight beside me flinched as if surprised. I left the knight, who was sweating nervously, and entered the hall.

I quickly scanned the people in the main hall. As expected, there were only a few familiar faces, but it wasn’t as if there were none at all like last time. Tain seemed to have gone to a corner to avoid me as I entered.

“Lady Espand, it’s an honor to be invited to such a precious event.”

“Oh, Lady Crescent, thank you for coming.”

Lady Espand smiled elegantly. After some meaningless compliments were exchanged, about how the atmosphere of the banquet was lovely, how well-prepared everything was, and how this was the most splendid banquet I’d ever seen, Lady Espand brought her daughter, Siri, forward.

“My daughter was so delighted to hear that you would be attending.”

“Oh, really?”

The lady smiled warmly and stepped aside.

“L-Lady Crescent.”

“Lady Espand, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

Siri’s expression was stiff, but I could easily tell it wasn’t out of wariness but shyness. She seemed like she wanted to say something but couldn’t quite manage it.

“You look truly beautiful today, Lady Espand. You look like the star of the banquet.”

“Thank you…”

Siri lowered her head bashfully. Though I could understand her embarrassment, my compliment was not an empty one.

Her deep navy hair, elegantly braided and adorned with white pearls, resembled stars in the night sky. The dress, which perfectly matched her pink eyes, was enough to make one gasp in admiration at first glance.

“At the tea party, I could only see you from afar… I ended up pestering my mother. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I like you too, Lady Espand.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes, of course.”

When I smiled softly, Siri’s face turned bright red as if it was about to burst.

Oh, how cute. I hadn’t even done much, but to get this reaction—how adorable.

I didn’t know how I had become such an object of admiration, but I couldn’t deny it felt good.

We went to greet Siri’s close friends. As expected of her friends, they were all gentle and polite.

As I was chatting lightly with girls my age, a bothersome presence appeared in the distance.

Once again, Tain was persistently bothering a young lady, making her uncomfortable. The lady’s troubled expression made it clear she didn’t know how to shake him off.

It seems one hit wasn’t enough. Well, if he were the type to change his behavior from being hit, he wouldn’t have lived that way in the first place.

No one was stepping in to stop him. Though the Brock family was in decline, they were still not to be underestimated, so no one dared to interfere.

But no matter how influential the Brock family was, they couldn’t compare to our duchy.

I could confidently say that the person everyone in this banquet hall would find most troublesome was me. So, I had to step in.

‘What should I do?’

I couldn’t resort to violence like before. It would be hard to cause a scene in a place filled with so many nobles.

I told Siri I’d be back shortly and walked toward Tain. If no one here was going to stop him, then I would be the shield for every lady in this room.

“Marquis Brock, it’s been a while.”

“L-Lady Crescent.”

I smiled brightly as I spoke. Tain looked at me and panicked.

“Why did you ignore my greeting in the garden?”

I deliberately spoke in a sulky tone. Tain slowly backed away, then suddenly turned and bolted.

“Marquis, where are you going?”

I followed behind the fleeing Tain persistently.

There were too many people here for either of us to start a fight, so I planned to follow him wherever he went and put a stop to his advances at every turn.

“Why do you care where I go, Lady Crescent?”

“I’m worried you might lay a hand on another noble lady.”

“Ahem, that’s a bit harsh.”

After trailing him for quite some time, Tain finally stopped his hurried steps. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned to look at me.

“This might sound strange, but… could it be that you’re jealous?”

Wow… Hearing the words I expected out loud made me ten times more irritated than I had anticipated.

He was half confident, half hopeful that this might actually be the case. The look in his eyes, filled with both expectation and certainty, made me feel the height of disgust.

‘I can’t do this. I’m going to kill him.’

I could almost hear the sound of the mask I had been wearing cracking.

“Oh, I guess I was mistaken.”

Seeing the murderous look in my eyes, Tain immediately stopped talking.

Could I really not take care of him somehow? Or should I actually bury him? As I seriously pondered how to deal with Tain…

“His Highness, First Prince Calix Lovelant, enters!”

At the gatekeeper’s announcement, everyone, including myself, turned their heads toward the entrance of the hall.

Two knights entered first, standing on either side of the door. The figure walking confidently between them was unmistakably him.

Jet-black hair beneath menacing, glowing red eyes. His black uniform, adorned with golden threads, gleamed darkly.

‘Why is he here?’

The two imperial princes of the empire rarely attended banquets. Leschel was always too busy, and Calix simply didn’t have the temperament for such events.

Even at the Grandel banquet, where he had to attend due to family obligations, hadn’t Calix holed up in the lounge the entire time?

It seemed Lady Espand hadn’t expected this either, as she looked rather flustered. Calix exchanged a few words of greeting with her before quickly moving on to converse with other attendees.

As I watched him absentmindedly…

‘Could he always smile like that?’

I began to doubt it.

‘Is he really talking to people normally?’

That doubt soon turned into a shiver down my spine.

‘What’s going on?’

Of course, since Calix is a supporting male lead in the original story, it’s only natural that he could hold a proper conversation. But this was so different from the behavior I had experienced from him until now that it felt unsettling.

At first, he chatted with the nobles who flocked to him, but soon he reduced the interaction to simple greetings and handshakes. As he gradually moved… he seemed to be heading straight toward…

‘No way.’

I turned my gaze away and refocused on Tain. The guy in front of me was a problem, but not nearly as much as the one walking toward me.

Then, Calix strode over and inserted himself between Tain and me. He stood with his back to Tain e, not even sparing him a glance.

What is he doing? I stared at him in shock.

“Ah, does this mean the young lady isn’t happy to see me?” 

Calix flashed a charming smile at me as I stood there, dumbfounded. In that instant, I felt a cold shiver crawl up my arms.

“I greet His Highness the Prince…”

I wanted nothing more than to rub my arms furiously, but I couldn’t, not with everyone watching. So, I bowed in respect.

“You look well. I was worried when I didn’t hear from you for the past months.”

Calix smiled smugly and held out his hand to me.

‘Has he completely lost his mind?’

I couldn’t say what I was thinking out loud, so I shot him a sharp look, just for him. Calix raised an eyebrow and motioned for me to take his hand.

Pretending to be close in private and doing so in public are entirely different matters.

Let me remind you, I was publicly known to have a close relationship with Leschel.

And here Calix was, acting like we weren’t rivals! But if I didn’t take his hand, everyone would gossip about how I had insulted a member of the royal family. No matter how much I glared at him, refusing his hand was impossible due to our social ranks. My head started to throb.

“I’m honored that Your Highness is so personally concerned about me,” I said, forcing a light smile as I placed my hand in his.

“I-I greet His Highness the Prince.”

A timid voice spoke from behind Calix. It was Tain, nervously greeting him.

Calix turned and looked directly at Tain, still holding my hand.

“Ah, Marquis Brock, I didn’t see you there. It’s been a while.”

His expression was shameless, as if he hadn’t known Tain was standing there all along.

“I’ve heard the rumors about the Brock family haven’t been so good lately. Are you in good health?”

“As you can see, I am quite well.”

Tain almost cowered, practically groveling before him.

“Hahaha! That’s quite unfortunate, then.”

Calix responded to Tain words with a boisterous laugh. To say someone’s good health was “unfortunate”—Tain, sweating profusely, hesitated before joining in on the laughter, likely thinking it was a joke.

But it wasn’t a joke. I was probably the only one who saw the vicious glint in Calix’s crimson eyes.

“That being said, I would appreciate it if you didn’t loiter around Lady Crescent anymore.”

Well, now everyone knows.

“I don’t understand why someone who was humiliated would still cling so pathetically.”

Calix’s red eyes were full of hostility, exuding an overwhelming aura.

Technically, I had been the one following Tain, but there was no room to argue in this situation.

“But, Your Highness, I—”

“Shall we go?”

Calix cut Tain off and took my arm, leading me away. It wasn’t toward the main hall. Wherever we were heading, it seemed I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise to Siri to return soon.