When Lara came outside, the attendant and soldiers sent by the Marquess of Bailey were already waiting for her.
Father is very fast when it comes to things like this.
Lara told the Marquess’ attendant—who approached her and bowed his head—with a firm face.
“I’m not going back to my father’s house.”
“Milady, you have to follow us.”
“I told you, I don’t want to.”
“You have to.”
“Did he order you to bring me back even by force if I defy you? Of course father would do that. Did he not ask you to cover your face so you would be unseen?”
The attendant and soldiers looked at her with embarrassment.
But they did not back off.
They were ordered to bring Lara back even if they had to kidnap her, so they intended to use force on her if she said no one more time.
“The Marquess ordered you to return quietly and keep a low profile…”
“Just go back if you don’t want to see me scream, insult my father and make a disturbance here.”
The attendant hesitated and had no choice but to gesture to the soldiers.
Then, the soldiers sent by the Marquess grabbed Lara’s arm and dragged her with force.
“Let go of me…”
No matter how hard she exerted herself or declined, it was no use. It was the same when she struggled or held out with her weight. Lara was dragged like a puppet. She bit her lips so hard that it bled.
Do I really need to scream here?
Even if I scream here, is there anyone who would help me?
Her captured arms were in pain as if they were going to be dislodged.
As she put strength all over her body, she felt like her blood was rising upside down.
The Marquess did not give up on her.
When she left home with her mother, he was not able to stop them because he was scared out of his wits with the sudden divorce documents.
Many soldiers were on night duty at the watchmen station, but none of them tried to help Lara. Since she was dragged away by her father’s people, they might think it was best not to interfere in other people’s family affairs.
Lara was determined to bite her tongue. She thought that they would not be able to force her if blood was spilling from her mouth. After that, she put strength on her mouth and bit her tongue.
“Urgh…!”
Lara deliberately let the blood flow outside without swallowing it.
She could sense that the attendant and soldiers were flustered.
Red blood flowed from her mouth and down to her chin, now was the time to scream out loud.
“Oi.”
But then, two ladies appeared and blocked their way.
“Stop there.”
It was Young Lady Dvonn and Young Lady Swavy who had just finished the investigation as witnesses and on their way home. They made their appearance, reeking of strong alcohol. The way they were dressed in disheveled clothing, heavy makeup, standing badly with their arms folded and yawning was far from being modest noblewomen.
“How can I help you?”
Marquess Bailey’s attendant was quick-witted.
He knew well that bad things would happen if he messed with the wrong nobles, and he wanted to take Lara away without causing as much trouble as possible.
“Let go of her hands, you bastard.”
But it seemed that the two young ladies who stood in his way did not have such thoughts.
“How dare…a mere attendant drag a noblewoman away?”
“Pardon?”
“Let go of her hands. She’s the one and only precious daughter of the Marquess… Can’t you see blood coming out of her mouth? Do you all want your hands to be cut off?”
“My apologies, but the Marquess…”
“Don’t tell me the elegant Marquess of Bailey ordered his precious daughter to be dragged like a dog by a mere attendant? Huh?”
Young Lady Dvonn’s voice was loud, way too loud.
Standing at the entrance of the watchmen station, she screamed as if to let the people in the area hear her.
“Marquess of Bailey beat his daughter, imprisoned her…!”
“Lady!”
“And kidnapped her?!”
The attendant looked around anxiously.
It was already late at night, so there were not many passersby, but there were still people around because they were in front of the watchmen station. The people inside the station peeked at them, wondering what’s going on.
The attendant said with a stiff face.
“My apologies, but I’m busy so I will take my leave here.”
“I told you to stop. Are your ears clogged? Can’t you hear me?”
Following Young Lady Dvonn, Young Lady Swavy also raised her voice.
She even walked staggering, threw herself at the soldiers who were dragging Lara, deliberately bumped into them, and screamed.
“Aaarrghhh!”
It was a scream that was loud enough to numb someone’s eardrums.
Then, Young Lady Dvonn became furious, she pointed to Young Lady Swavy who fell down, along with Lara who was captured.
“Oh my God! How dare a mere attendant beat nobles! Watchmen! What are you doing? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“Ouch… My leg, I think it’s broken!”
Young Lady Swavy, who fell down while making a fuss, laid down at the entrance of the watchmen station. It was obvious that she was exaggerating, but no one dared to say anything.
“Let go of her hand.”
Young Lady Dvonn warned the soldiers for the last time.
She reeked of alcohol so strong that it could make someone’s nose numb, but her big and clear eyes did not look drunk at all.
“Marquess of Bailey’s soldiers will be rumored to have kidnapped, beaten, and abused vulnerable ladies. Even if the Marquess were a noble of high status, he would not take care of each and every one of your lives.”
The grips of the soldiers who grasped Lara’s forearm loosened.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
The sounds of horse hooves rang in the quiet night streets. The streets were empty, but an unexceptional leisure carriage moved along the riverside. Lara was sitting in it, facing Young Lady Dvonn and Young Lady Swavy. She wiped the blood off her chin with a handkerchief from the two.
“I thought you were a big deal with the way you acted, but you could not even rebel properly against your father?”
“Pardon?”
“How can you just be dragged away by the attendant obediently? If you act like that, one day, your father can force you to marry a man that you don’t even know well.”
“Young Lady Dvonn.”
“My name is Eunice. She’s Ximena.”
“I’m Lara.”
“I know. Anyone in Hautean who does not know Laviore Ria Bailey is a spy.”
Eunice Dvonn and Ximena Swavy, as usual, came to the Night Ball intending to drink and enjoy themselves all night. But they did not expect Laviore Ria Bailey to come to the banquet hall and bring ‘that slave’ as her partner.
At first, they were obviously annoyed.
Being the model student who always got compliments, not only did she invade their territory, she even managed to get an attractive slave at once, so their eyes were blazing with fury to somehow find her weakness every time they saw her.
But it was weird.
The more they observed Laviore Ria Bailey, the more they realized she was someone full of contradictions. Despite owning the most famous slave in the arena, she was not interested in the match. Despite kissing with her slave in such a public place, she did not even get along with him very often. She wore the red dress that others scorned as being tacky, but it looked really good on her. Let alone tacky, she just looked sophisticated in it.
The more they looked at her, the more curious they became of her.
They were curious whether Young Lady Bailey was just as the rumors had said. So, as they approached and picked a fight with her, her contradictions were all the more apparent. Her gaze was arrogant, but her tone was polite, her outfit was fancy, but her voice was calm.
They thought she came to the Night Ball to enjoy it, but she was rather disappointed.
There was a reason why Demian went on a rampage. Eunice and Ximena realized that the people he beat were the ‘problems’ in the banquet hall.
“If you want to be the villain, you have to do something bad. Steal someone else’s things, beat someone, destroy something. Why are you acting so cool alone in a place filled with villains?”
When Eunice brought that up, Ximena asked Lara.
“Young Lady Bailey, are you perhaps doing this on purpose? Is the Marquess forcing you into an arranged marriage for his convenience?”
“How did you know?”
“It’s something that everyone dreams of. Even though not many people dare to put it into action…”
Ximena continued with a face that said she had already expected that.
“That was not enough if you want to get away from your family’s pressure. I’m not bragging, but let me tell you about my story. When I found out that my father who was addicted to gambling had begun to touch my share of inheritance left by my grandfather, I poured oil into his bedroom and set it on fire.”
This time, Eunice continued after Ximena.
“I did more than that. When I found out that my mean mother was actually my stepmother who seduced my father and kicked my biological mother out, I bought prostitutes with her money and threw parties every night. To be fair, I held them in my father’s bedroom too.”
Oh my God.
Eunice laughed out loud as Lara looked at them at a loss for words.
Then, after she choked and coughed a few times, she talked to Lara with a serious look.
“Young Lady Bailey, we have been fighting for years. Now our parents have moved on with their lives as if we were never their children, but back then, they used to break our limbs and even tried to rehabilitate us by confining us in the temple prayer room.”
“They made a fuss, saying that we were possessed by demons and that we needed to be exorcised.”
Ximena let out a sigh.
Then she took a look at Lara and said.
“We have already heard that Marquess of Bailey beat, starved, and confined you. We go to the Night Ball every night, so we hear all sorts of things. There was actually no point in trying to keep your employees quiet.”
“Just call me Lara.”
“Lara, you may think this is a bit ridiculous for a piece of advice, but…”
“I won’t think so.”
“If you’re not ready to throw everything you have away and fall into the gutter, then as a noble-born daughter, it’s going to be really hard to leave your family.”
“Yes.”
“Moreover, you’re the one and only daughter of the Marquess.”
Ximena told Lara a realistic story.
She said after being ostracized by her family, no place treated her as a noble. She was just a rich, reckless lady who knew how to enjoy herself. The men were not polite when approaching her. The ladies, who she thought were her friends the day before, looked down on her and pretended not to know her.
It was also common for her to be kicked out of the entrance to the banquet hall or threatened not to hang out with the other nobles’ daughters.
They were pathogens and heresies in the Hautean aristocracy.
“We’re just the daughters of a Baron and Viscount, but we were already treated that badly… What will happen to you, then?”
