Episode 6

Adrian, Master of the Tower and scion of the imperial family of the now-defunct Apheloir Empire.

Originally, the Dragon People were the people of the Apheloir Empire, the most powerful nation next to the Garibel Empire.

However, due to excessive territorial expansion and the corruption of their nobles, they lost the war with the Garibel Empire and are now a minority ethnic group that barely survives.

“Wow.

Odette’s gaze involuntarily traveled to his hand.

Perhaps it was because he was a dragon, but Adrian’s hand was ringed with a large jeweled egg.

No, technically, it wasn’t a jewel, but a gemstone.

Gemstones were gems that only wizards could create by concentrating magic, and each one was worth a fortune.

Wearing a ring with a gemstone like that was a sign of the powerful magic that the dragonborn were born with.

‘To actually see Adrian.’

In fact, the original story only mentioned that he was gathering the remaining dragons after losing the war, and it didn’t even specify who the dragons were, including Adrian.

So as a writer, I was quite intrigued to see him in front of me.

But alas, now was not the time for such curiosity.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes. There are traces of it here.”

Adrian and a man who appeared to be his servant cocked their heads in conversation.

They were acting as if they couldn’t even see Odette next to them.

She let out a small cough and reached for the doorknob once more.

But at that moment, her hand brushed against Adrian’s, and their hands met again on the doorknob.

“What the hell, you’re bothering me.”

He turned his attention back to her, his brow furrowed.

“You’re ……?”

“Move over. I’m busy.”

Adrian nudged Odette’s shoulder as if to get inside first.

Her jaw dropped open at his gesture.

She’d set him up as arrogant and uninterested in others, but it was even worse in person.

‘It’s not arrogant, it’s just cheap, isn’t it?

I cringed deep in my chest as my old personality, not Odette’s, tried to come out.

Adrian’s shove to my shoulder shouldn’t have hurt, but it did feel pretty bad.

She was the one who had gotten to this door in the first place.

Not only was she out of order, she’d run over someone.

Normally, she might have let it go, but with all the doubts and stress she’d been experiencing lately, her anger was growing.

She gripped the doorknob tighter and looked him straight in the eye.

“Get out of my way.”

“……what?”

“Because I’m busy.”

“Huh.”

Adrian let out a hollow chuckle at the absurdity of it all.

He kept glancing at his ring as if he were searching for something urgently.

“What are you looking for?

Just as Odette was beginning to wonder, Adrian’s servant exclaimed, his brow furrowed.

“This woman, Do you know who she is!”

“I know.”

She shrugged lightly and continued.

“The Marquis, Adrian.”

“You know I am…… the Marquis, yet you speak so little. Your courage is very fictitious.”

His mouth quivered upward in a sneer.

But strangely, Adrian didn’t feel scared.

He was arrogant, but he knew better.

“You were the first to speak.”

I might have said something like this,

“Respect is something you give to someone who deserves it.”

I meant someone who wouldn’t hurt me.

Odette smiled faintly as she spoke, and her eyes darted around once more.

Adrian didn’t scare me, but the people of the Duchy of Elementz did.

As the Duchess of Elementz, it was easy for rumors to get out of hand that she was having a nasty argument in a back alley like this with a grumpy-looking man.

But fortunately, there was not a speck of dust in the alley.

Slightly relieved, she set aside her five years as a duchess and set her chin high.

“I’m older than you, I’m sure.”

Then she muttered low, almost to herself.

“You little……, where the hell are you going to get off talking back to me, you little shit?”

His voice dropped a little toward the end, but Odette didn’t look away from Adrian’s fierce glare.

I’ve had my share of twists and turns.

This was not the kind of confrontation she was used to.

“What, shameless? Did I just hear you call me shameless?”

I had never experienced anything like this in my life.

The corners of his mouth twitched in disbelief.

Just then, the servant turned to Adrian urgently.

“Mr. Adrian. You’ve lost your energy.”

“Damn it.”

With a slight curse, he glared fiercely at Odette.

“You’re lucky I’m so busy right now.”

With those last words, Adrian vanished in a flash of light.

“Hmph, I was pushing it.”

As soon as he was out of sight, my shoulders relaxed.

The good news was that she would never see him again.

Odette took a deep breath and turned the doorknob once more.

The door swung open, revealing what appeared to be an ordinary bar.

The only thing strange about it was that the lights were dim enough that they couldn’t see each other’s faces.

“What brings you here?”

Odette’s shoulders jerked up in surprise at the sudden gruff voice.

Her head swiveled to follow the voice.

Behind what appeared to be a cocktail-making bar, a bartender was skillfully carving ice.

“I’m here to cancel my reservation.”

“Cancel a reservation?”

For a moment, suspicious eyes turned to Odette.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at Odette’s mask, then spoke as if he’d gotten over his suspicion.

“What you could have done with a letter.”

To his muffled reply, she blurted out the lie with the nonchalance she’d honed in social circles over the past five years.

“I like to be sure of who I’m dealing with.”

There was a moment of silence between them.

Odette’s throat cleared as she reverted back to being a noble lady.

Luckily, the bartender soon put down the ice he was shaving and began flipping through his ledger.

“……In whose name is the reservation?”

“……Peterson.”

No one would book an affair salon under their real name.

So Peterson must have said it was under my name.

Odette glanced at her ledger, feigning leisure.

“He said he had an appointment for one o’clock.”

“Peterson? There’s no such name.”

“Hmm? Am I mistaken, then…….”

Relieved, she gulped dryly, then asked again.

“Do you have any appointments in Felix?”

I rolled my eyes, nervousness creeping into my eyes.

She even checked to see if there were any reservations under her real name, just in case.

But after scanning the books for a while, the bartender couldn’t find the name and shook his head.

“Well, …… said you’ve been acting strange lately, so maybe you’ve created another alias, I’d know it if I saw it.”

“Here’s today’s reservation book.”

He hesitantly showed her the appointment book full of aliases.

He seemed confident that even if he showed her the ledger, she wouldn’t be able to deduce the identity of the philandering aristocrat.

“There’s no …….”

No matter how many times I scanned the list of people who had made reservations for today, there was no name associated with Felix.

“Thank you, I must be mistaken.”

“Yes, yes.”

Odette hurried out of the room.

“No, you weren’t.

She turned down Twelfth Avenue, her steps lighter than ever.

Odette’s face, now unmasked, was a beaming smile.

“Oh, yes. He’s my leading man, there’s no way he’d betray me. He was preparing for our fifth anniversary, just like the ladies said.

The anxiety that had been lurking in the shadows and plaguing her disappeared, and a premonition of happiness swirled through her mind.

Odette hurriedly checked her watch.

It didn’t seem like they had lost much time, but it was already well past two o’clock.

‘Rosamia will be waiting.’

She paced quickly, thinking of her daughter waiting for me.

Soon enough, she arrived at the preschool, breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry I’m late, but where’s Rosamia?”

“Uh, Duchess……?”

The pre-K teacher tilted her head, puzzled.

“Didn’t the Duchess take her earlier?”

It didn’t take long for Odette to realize that something was terribly wrong.