Chapter 43

At the entrance, the salon’s ‘best’ uninvited guest was entering.

Her name? It was Deborah Douglas.

How could a person’s skin be this thick……?

It hadn’t been long since her affair was revealed to the whole world on the day of the high priest’s visit, and she was humiliated in front of everyone.

Everyone couldn’t believe that she would show up at the best salon in the social world. They all remembered that she was grabbed by her hair while she was struggling and dragged out… 

But here, Deborah herself had an innocent expression on her face.

“…Has the Duchess of Douglas finally gone crazy?”

“She looks like she’s forgotten what happened during the previous high priest’s visit.”

“If I had been in that position, I would have left the country… Isn’t it embarrassing?”

Through the strangely noisy and chilly atmosphere, Deborah walked leisurely to the center.

She was particularly flashy today.

It was a dress with a sky blue skirt that was as if butterfly’s wings were connected in layers, and the lines of her upper body were slenderly revealed.

Just by looking at it, the price of the dress alone could allow one to boast.

The accessories she was wearing and the fan she was holding also looked expensive.

Even her head was adorned with rare flowers.

‘It’s written all over her body that she’s not dead yet.’

Deborah looked at the crowd and found me, then smiled softly.

Seeing that smile, Seryl belatedly dropped the spoon and uttered, “Huh,” in an absurd tone. Laura and Maribel looked at the smiling Deborah in confusion.

“Your Majesty the Queen.”

Deborah came to me with a bright smile like the flowers on her head.

And she bowed lightly and said hello.

“It’s great to see you at the salon.”

“!”

At Deborah’s imprudence, the nobles around us looked at her in astonishment.

“……”

I sat in my chair and looked at Deborah calmly.

“How can she be so carefree?” A voice whispered from the surrounding area. But….

‘It’s nothing.’

At least I could see it in her eyes.

How much shame she was enduring now, trying to keep her position.

Inside, she must be strangling herself a hundred times more.

But it was a situation in which all she could do was smile and greet me as usual.

What should I do? Should I be cold and insult Deborah once more?

However, there was not enough justification for that.

She was different from Prime Minister Bernard, who crossed the line by pointing at me on the day of the high priest’s visit.

Officially, she did nothing wrong to me.

Even the membership in Verdi’s Salon was valid for life. The effect was lost only when the person died.

In the end, it meant there was no benefit to insult Deborah here.

“Okay.”

I kindly accepted her greeting.

“Have a good time and go.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Deborah politely bowed and stepped back. But she couldn’t hide the corners of her mouth that were trembling with humiliation.

As she retreated, there were murmurs.

“…Her Majesty the Queen is more generous than I thought.”

“If it was me, I wouldn’t even want to talk to her, it’s terrible.”

“Haha, it seems that a Crown Princess has properly arrived in Aktoum.”

Listening to the random chatter, I quietly picked up my teacup and took a sip.

‘She came back sooner than expected.’

I thought she would be in despair even for just a few days……

Indeed, wasn’t she a woman with a strong desire?

Although Deborah had lost almost everything she had built up, she came and sat upright, not exhausted.

‘But for the time being, she won’t be able to plan openly.’

She was now in hell, if she even stumbled a single step…

However, it didn’t seem like this would last long.

Now that the fire had fallen on her instep, she must be busy putting it out, but she was a woman who would reveal her true face to me as soon as the fire was resolved.

‘She’s a much tougher opponent than I thought.’

I put down the teacup and got up slowly from my seat.

“Let’s just go.”

The three maids stood up immediately as if they had been waiting for me to say that.

The pleasant salon atmosphere was a mess thanks to Deborah’s appearance.

No one would want to stay in this rough, sandpaper-like atmosphere.

I said goodbye to Count Quokka and Madam Verdi, who were next to me, and exited the salon.

“Your Majesty, where shall I take you now?”

Laura asked. There was a place that came to mind.

The problem was that I couldn’t easily go there.

“…….”

I held the trophy with the words ‘Immortal Archer’ written on it in my arms as if boasting about it.

If someone ran into me, the first thing they would see was the trophy.

So that they could see all of my pride even if I didn’t brag.

And I thought quietly about the person I wanted to show the trophy to the most.

‘What is Rixus doing?’

* * *

‘Dog-like people.’

At one time, they were humans who even pretended to die to look good.

They were the nobles who licked and rolled when they were asked to lick and roll, and would wallow at her feet.

But now, all these nobles were pretending not to know Deborah.

Earlier, when she approached and greeted the noble ladies she was close with, they all avoided her.

“Let’s drink at the table over there. It’s uncomfortable here.”

“That would be good, Madam.”

She felt insulted by the way they treated her, as if she was just filth.

But it wasn’t surprising.

Because they just imitated Deborah’s usual attitude and bullying.

She was prepared, but it was much dirtier.

How did it feel like to be a frozen fish alone in the harmonious sea?

‘I should have seen that stupid silver-haired lady…’

Deborah looked around the salon with annoyed eyes. Yuria seemed to have already abandoned this place.

The plan went wrong. Actually, she came to see Yuria today.

To be precise, she wanted to see Yuria’s attitude towards the queen. How much anger and hatred for the queen was loaded in her heart. How she could use it.

She was curious about those things.

Deborah regretted not coming a little earlier, but she had no choice but to come late on purpose.

If she had come in the middle of the event, she would have been wiped out from everyone’s attention in the blink of an eye.

In the social world, it was far better to be at the center of controversy than to be faced with indifference.

As desired, Deborah was now the personification of the word ‘controversial’.

She committed an affair. She ate that young marquis!

How dare she come all the way here and sit here!

Deborah heard such gossip, but she didn’t even budge.

Only Deborah’s maid, who was sitting next to her, was restless.

Then the gatekeeper came up to her and whispered.

“Madam Deborah, a letter has arrived for you.”

“…A letter to the salon?”

Deborah frowned slightly.

Why did someone send her a letter here?

Was it something that needed to be delivered right away?

If it wasn’t urgent, it would usually be sent to the ducal residence.

‘…Could it be a letter from Duke Douglas?’

Deborah’s heart pounded with hope.

He might be regretting it.

About filing for a divorce over a trivial matter such as an affair.

“Bring it to me!”

Tak– Deborah took the letter with hasty hands.

Then, when she saw the signature written on the envelope, she completely crumpled her face.

It was a letter from Marquis Kalen.

Deborah held back the irritation that surged like lava in the moment, and opened the letter.

There were as many as 14 letters. The main content was regret and pleas for affection.

The tears that seeped into the paper were in tune with his desperation to even send the letters to the salon.

And that desperation made Deborah utterly tired.

It was annoying that she was caught for having an affair during the high priest’s visit due to his thoughtlessness…

But now, he was sending letters to a salon where there are a lot of eyes?

Shiik, shiik, shiiiik!

Deborah mercilessly tore the letters and returned it to the gatekeeper.

“Deliver this to the one who sent these letters.”

“…….”

“Tell him never to send such garbage again. And I’ll never see him again!”

The gatekeeper was a little embarrassed, but took the torn letters and went outside.

It was when Deborah was drinking tea, having managed to calm her irritation.

“…Where would she go?”

A muffled, gossiping voice from afar caught Deborah’s ears.

The next words came out more clearly.

“That’s what I mean. She’s from a barony, right?”

“……”

For a moment, Deborah stopped breathing.

“You say she’s from a poor family? If the barony doesn’t have money, what’s the difference between a beggar or a commoner? It’s unacceptable to pretend to be a Duchess with such low blood.”

“……”

“I can’t believe she’s finally getting a divorce, ahahahaha!”

Countess Mimosa, who had been smiling coolly, suddenly lowered the corners of her lips.

This was because a dark shadow was suddenly casted in front of her.

It was Deborah’s.

“……”

Deborah did not get angry, she just looked down at Countess Mimosa with a calm gaze.

Countess Mimosa was a little embarrassed.

Actually, it was meant to be heard.

Because Deborah was sitting at the table without making a sound even though she talked about the affair, Mimosa thought that she was so discouraged that she would just listen to it again… So her sudden appearance made her uncomfortable.

Deborah said something very unexpected to the nervous countess.

“Countess Mimosa is right.”

“!”

“When I get a divorce, I’m just a divorced woman from a fallen baron family.”

Everyone around her was surprised by the unexpectedly cool acknowledgment.

Of course, so was Countess Mimosa.

“…No, Madam Deborah. I didn’t mean-”

Deborah continued speaking without blinking an eye.

“By the way, am I divorced?”

“……Yes?”

“I asked if I am divorced right now.”

“It’s not that…”

“It hasn’t happened yet. Then I’m still ‘Duchess’ Deborah, ‘Countess’ Mimosa.”

“…That, that!”

The message was this: ‘You are insulting a high-ranking nobleman.’ Countess Mimosa’s face turned white when she understood exactly what she said.

Deborah laughed slowly. Like a poisonous snake with its jaws open and its teeth exposed.

“How should we deal with the crime of insulting a high-ranking nobleman?”

“Aaaaah!”

The countess’s hair was pulled and tilted back. With a strong grip, Deborah was holding her hair.

Then she looked down at the struggling countess with devilish eyes.

Until now, this kind of evil act could not be done.

It was because she had to have dignity to keep the position of the ‘butterfly of the social world’.

However, since the affair was exposed in front of everyone, and she was even grabbed by the hair and dragged out……

Did she need to keep being dignified?

“Listen well.”

“Ah, hah…”

“I have no intentions of becoming a divorced woman from a fallen baron family”

Deborah threw her away.

“Arghhh!”

Countess Mimosa cried out, clutching her disarrayed hair.

“So, Countess Mimosa… you will regret insulting me today.”

Deborah exclaimed sharply and leisurely left the salon.

However, her inside was as bustling as if it had been hit by a bomb.

She realized it.

Divorcing the Duke of Douglas would make these things common.

A shuddering alarm, along with an even greater rage, boiled over.

‘It’s all because of that Spinel bitch……!’

If it wasn’t for that bitch, this wouldn’t have happened.

Her life, which had been carefully built up through her efforts, collapsed and became a pile of ashes. She harshly gritted her teeth. 

The realization that she had been mistaken came to her.

‘It’s not okay to just take the Queen out of her seat.’

Didn’t she ruin her life?

It should be ‘an eye for an eye’.

‘It’s fair to ruin her life in the same way!’

But now, she was in a situation where she couldn’t come forward at all.

Hence, it was the right time to need her ‘puppet’.

And to that puppet……

“Go and tell Lady Mavis.”

For the sake of her own plan, she must be prepared to give up her life.

“That Deborah wants to see her right now.”

“Yes, Madam Deborah.”

The handmaiden who received the order disappeared like the wind.