I wasn’t the only one who recognized him.
He was staring at me, too, making a dumbfounded sound like, ‘Huh?’
That didn’t mean we were on friendly enough terms to greet each other warmly. I intended to walk right past him.
I really did.
“……What are you doing?”
I glared at him irritably as he blocked my path and snapped at him.
As it happened, the man seemed to have no intention of letting me pass. He stood firmly in my way, looking down at me.
Had getting punched in the lower jaw made him want me to hit his upper jaw, too?
“Apologize.”
Huh?
“Apologize for what?”
“You broke my jaw and knocked me off the balcony! And you even pressed your knee against my solar plexus!”
“Ahhh.”
“Apologize to me.”
The man shot me a stern look, as though he had absolutely no intention of backing down until he heard the answer he wanted.
But what was wrong with this guy? All of that had happened because of you!
“You’re the one who should apologize first. Did I attack you out of nowhere? You were the one who jumped onto a balcony where a delicate lady was standing!”
I only let it slide because I was bold enough to handle it. Anyone else would have been so shocked they’d have collapsed, you idiot.
“And weren’t you the one who suddenly ran off, saying we were even?”
Not to mention, he hadn’t even tossed me my shoes.
“Of course, I did do something wrong, but—”
“You didn’t apologize to me, either.”
At my sharp retort, the man flinched. He’d been so focused on his own grievances that it hadn’t even occurred to him that he hadn’t apologized to me.
“Th-Then…… I’m sorry.”
“Fine.”
I accepted his apology without hesitation. But just as I tried to walk past him, the man grabbed me.
“W-Wait a moment.”
“What is it?”
“I apologized.”
“Yes. And I said fine, didn’t I?”
“That’s not what I mean. You should apologize, too.”
Good grief. What a ridiculous man.
“Why should I? It was self-defense.”
“But my jaw—”
“I’m sure it only hurt for a little while. Looking at you now, there’s not even a bruise.”
I glanced around discreetly. It was about time I got rid of this clingy man.
There wasn’t anyone in sight nearby, but if I shouted, someone would surely come.
I could hear voices from beyond the garden, so there was definitely someone nearby.
I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the steady rhythm of their syllables and the tone of their voices sounded like someone desperately searching for someone else.
“Then forget about the apology and give me a ride in your carriage.”
For some reason, the man who had been making such unreasonable demands suddenly started asking me for something strange.
“I’ll give you ten gold coins!”
Apparently anticipating my refusal, he hurriedly tried to strike a deal.
“My goodness, I can’t believe this……”
What did he take me for?
“Give me twenty gold coins.”
“Twenty? You’re nothing but a robber!”
“You’d better hand it over willingly before I raise the price to thirty.”
He squeezed his eyes shut with an expression that said he’d picked the wrong person to mess with, then reluctantly nodded.
“Don’t mind me. I’ll get into your carriage myself.”
With that, the man disappeared back into the garden.
I shrugged and headed toward my carriage.
Just as the coachman escorted me inside and closed the door, the door on the opposite side opened, and the man slipped in without making a sound. He then quickly crouched down on the floor.
My eyes narrowed at his suspicious behavior.
“I’m not a suspicious person. I’m just going out to have some fun without His Majesty knowing.”
He offered an explanation after noticing my gaze.
His excuse was so absurd that I lost the will to even be suspicious.
‘As expected, every single noble around here is out of their mind.’
Only after the carriage had completely passed through the imperial palace’s main gate did he straighten his back, sit properly, and adjust his clothes.
“Even if you paid me, how could you casually let a man you barely know into your carriage? You have no idea what he might do.”
After begging me for a ride and even paying for it, he apparently had enough leisure to lecture me now that we’d left the imperial palace.
“Do you think I’m defenseless just because I’m alone in an enclosed space with an unfamiliar man?”
When I pulled the revolver from the holster strapped to my ankle and casually waved it around, the man’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Could you possibly be Lady Ulpina, the one who shot Marquis Fenley……?”
“That’s me.”
I informed him proudly.
“O-Oh! O-Oh, so that’s…… Um……”
Seeing him so startled that he’d temporarily lost the ability to speak made me feel rather pleased.
Even if he’d had some strange ideas in mind, he wouldn’t dare entertain them with a gun pointed at him.
“What’s your name?”
“My name?”
“I let you into my carriage, and now you’ve even found out who I am. It’s unfair if I’m the only one who doesn’t know who you are.”
“Tatio.”
The man answered.
“Tatio Nomen.”
“Where are you going, Mr. Tatio? Surely you aren’t planning to come all the way to my house.”
“Please don’t worry. I’m not going to Lady Ulpina’s house. Once we pass a few intersections up ahead, I’ll disappear as though I was never here.”
Tatio replied with a playful glint in his eyes.
The rich evening glow streamed through the carriage window.
Bathed in the languid scattering of light, where even the dust seemed to drift like gold dust, he had a peculiar charm about him.
‘Is it because of his hair?’
His red hair, tinged by the sunset, looked like wine left out beneath the sun or a flame burning passionately.
As I stared at him absentmindedly, Tatio suddenly asked,
“When did you learn martial arts? Judging by the techniques you used on me, you don’t seem like a beginner.”
“It’s been a while.”
“Don’t ladies usually learn fencing?”
“I’m talented in many things.”
“Even so, isn’t that a bit excessive for the daughter of Viscount Nezer?”
He seemed to be asking why I’d learned such dangerous techniques when, having grown up in a wealthy family, I could simply have had bodyguards assigned to protect me whenever I was in danger.
‘Why else? Because I needed to.’
How could a commoner without money afford expensive bodyguards?
But instead of explaining all that, I simply flashed a smug smile at him as he looked at me in confusion.
“Ladies have all sorts of circumstances that men know nothing about.”
***
The place Tatio had mentioned, just before the intersection, was Togglow.
“I’ll get off here, then…… Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What kind of look am I giving you?”
“It’s almost as if you’re looking down on me……”
“No. This is just how my eyes naturally look, so don’t mind it.”
“I don’t think that’s true. Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong? I’m the one who made a mistake.”
The stupid mistake of letting someone like you into my carriage without a second thought. That’s what it was.
“Are you going to a club?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“I thought so.”
There was an unmistakable hint of contempt in my voice as I said that.
There was no way Tatio hadn’t noticed it when even I could hear it.
“……Does the fact that I’m going to a club offend Lady Ulpina?”
“Not particularly. Why would I be offended just because someone I met for the first time today is going to a club?”
While the ladies of high society hosted tea parties and salons for their entertainment, men often gathered at social clubs to spend their leisure time.
These clubs were generally membership-based establishments that offered alcohol and fine cigars. Gentlemen gathered there to converse, play games, gamble, and strengthen their social connections.
Young noblewomen made their official debuts in high society through debutante events, while young noblemen announced their arrival in high society by joining social clubs.
Looking at it that way, there didn’t seem to be any particular problem. The problem, however, was that the club this man was heading to was in Togglow.
On the surface, the clubs in Togglow were all flashy and luxurious, seemingly no different from any other social club. But there was one glaring difference.
They provided women.
The clubs strictly instructed their members to keep their mouths shut, and the members never carelessly revealed their pleasures to others.
As a result, the women of high society had no idea that the clubs in Togglow were seedy establishments, while the men secretly laughed at their ignorance.
In other words, I’d just driven a man who was the very embodiment of a certain vulgar word for male anatomy to one of these places in my carriage.
Damn it!
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