I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 74

Under Jeremiah’s icy gaze, I saw the huddled masses scatter in a huff.

 

After disposing of them, Jeremiah turned to me and asked,

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Ah… yes.”

 

“They’re just a bunch of lightweight people who like to talk, don’t pay too much attention to them.”

 

“…….”

 

That’s what you do when you’re as big as Jeremiah. I shrugged helplessly, trying to force down a stiff response.

 

Estella, sensing what was wrong, grabbed my hand and grumbled.

 

“Ugh, I hate people like that! They just stand in front of you and ask you to repeat what you just said, and you can’t do anything about it.”

 

“…….”

 

“Brother, can’t you kick people like that?”

 

“Should I?”

 

Jeremiah, who had countered Estella’s comment, grabbed my free hand.

 

I smiled at the warmth that radiated from both of them, their affection thawing my frozen body.

 

‘I must have been thinking too much.’

 

I’m here by invitation, and I don’t need to be intimidated by a few words like that. I’ve got a strong backbone beside me.

 

‘Let’s not cower and get laughed at.’

 

It’s for these people, it’s for Madame Cornelia, it’s for the maids who have helped me so faithfully.

 

If they’re going to be all over me again when they find out, I don’t need to be a part of it.

 

I forced myself to relax again, clearing my head. It wasn’t the time to keep thinking about it.

 

“May I see the invitation?”

 

The knight guarding the door said as we approached the Great Hall, holding out his hand.

 

Jeremiah placed his, Estella’s, and my invitations in his hand. The knight glanced at the invitation, and a servant opened the doors to the hall. The knight bowed his head in a mock bow.

 

“I hope you have a good time, Your Excellency, the Duke, Princess Estella and Lady Vanessa.”

 

Inside the doors, the sounds of music from the orchestra and the merry laughter of the crowd continued.

 

Jeremiah nodded to the knight and stepped through the door, the light from the high-hanging chandeliers shattering in a brilliant display.

 

“Wow…”

 

Estella let out a small gasp as she took in the scene inside the ballroom.

 

Jeremiah looked back at his sister with warmth in his eyes, then began to slowly descend the stairs, the door closing with a thud behind him.

 

The nobles in the ballroom seemed to have already realized Jeremiah’s arrival, even though he hadn’t said anything to announce it.

 

“There, His Highness the Duke of Oppenheim has entered…!”

 

“And the Princess is with him.”

 

“Stay a moment. I need to say hello to His Highness.”

 

“Oh, my God. I’ve heard she’s beautiful, but I’ve never seen her in person…”

 

The excited chattering soon began as they approached Jeremiah and Estella.

 

“Your Excellency the Duke, it’s been a long time!”

 

“Your Highness, I’m…”

 

“A friend of mine tells me that you have started a business in Loasen, and I wonder if you have said hello to the Duke…”

 

“I would like to ask the Duchess for a dance, but…”

 

Soon enough, the onslaught of those surrounding me was pushing me further and further away from the two.

 

Jeremiah was being Jeremiah, and Estella was being Estella, and they both looked distraught, especially Estella, who had never seen anything like this before.

 

‘Don’t interrupt.’

 

I stepped back and looked around the ballroom. Surprisingly, there were some commoners in the ballroom.

 

‘They must be reporters or… people like me who received special invitations.’

 

I quickly recognized them, as they were dressed relatively modestly compared to the nobles.

 

‘Perhaps I’ve been too greedy,’ I thought.

 

Was it really necessary to wear all the jewelry, let alone the dress?

 

‘Well, I thought there would be only nobles here, so I went all out.’

 

As I was pondering my options, a man strode up to me with a huff and extended his hand. I blinked in embarrassment as I realized from his attire that he was a nobleman.

 

“Lady, if you don’t mind, would you like to dance with me?”

 

“Uh…”

 

I kind of expected this, but, well.

 

The longer I hesitated, the redder the young man’s face grew as he asked me to dance, and grew impatient.

 

‘…I should refuse, right?’

 

But what should I say?

 

While I was frowning in confusion, a man who appeared to be a servant approached me and said,

 

“A certain lord has asked me to deliver this to the lady.”

 

“What? To me?”

 

I asked, wide-eyed, and the servant nodded and handed me a note.

 

I opened it and read the short note, which read.

 

[Vanessa Asell, if you don’t want to be embarrassed in the Great Hall, you’d better get out in the garden.]

 

“……!”

 

Does anyone besides Jeremiah and Estella know me at this banquet?

 

“Who?”

 

I looked around in disbelief. The servant had said it was a young man, so it had to be a young man, but I couldn’t think of anyone easily.

 

I hastily folded the note back up and bent slightly toward Youngsik, who was still in front of me.

 

“I apologize, sir. Something urgent has come up and I have to go.”

 

“Oh… Yes, I see, excuse me, my lady.”

 

The young man stepped back with a look of regret on his face. But if he knew he’d asked a commoner to dance, he’d be glad I refused.

 

I sighed and looked at the message again. “Unless you want to be humiliated.”

 

‘I think I’ll head out to the garden.’

 

The gardens were just off the ballroom’s exit and were set aside for those who were tired from the banquet.

 

I glanced back at Jeremiah and Estella, who were still busy, and quickened my pace, heading for the exit.

 

I walked through the gate and soon found myself in a bushy garden.

 

“Where is he?”

 

I asked, looking around for the sender of the note, when a gravelly voice stopped me in my tracks.

 

“I’m right though I didn’t think so.”

 

“You’re…”

 

“You’ve been running around like a rat for three years, and now you’ve got the nerve to show up in the islands?”

 

My eyes widened as I looked at the man in front of me.

 

His eyes were slitted and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly in a sneer. It was a face I’d seen before, and I recognized him instantly.

 

“Gale Huons…!”

 

The eldest son of the Earl of Huons, who was I was indebted.

 

The reason I remembered his face so clearly was because of what he had done to me three years earlier.

 

Three years ago, when I had just taken over the body of Vanessa and knew nothing of this world or the situation I found myself in.

 

‘You don’t even know this subject. You’re nothing to me, no matter how hard you try!’

 

He slapped me across the cheeks, grabbed me by the hair, and threatened me with a series of Asell Viscount’s gadgets.

 

He was worse than the Earl, if only for what he did to me. Far more violent and despicable than his own father…

 

“What’s with the outfit, eh, for a woman who can’t pay her debts and has run away from home?”

 

“Let me tell you… straight, I’ve settled all my debts with the Earl, and I didn’t run away.”

 

If you hadn’t bullied me in the first place, I wouldn’t have left the system. I glared at him in frustration.

 

“Liquidated? You can’t say that about my father, who took pity on you because you were so weak-minded. Shouldn’t you be paying him back when you can afford it?”

 

Gale swept a haughty glance at my attire. I reflexively took a step back.

 

“And by the way, when did you say something about not having to pay back the debt anymore? Do you have proof?”

 

I bit my lip at his words. Gale was right, there was no proof that Earl Huons had said such a thing. It was only what I had heard.

 

‘I should have documented it then…!’

 

I hadn’t thought of that because I had just possessed Vanessa.

 

I didn’t think he’d change his mind.

 

I should have thought more about the possibility of running into the Earls of Huons when I went to the Islands, instead of dismissing it out of hand. That these people could be even more despicable than I thought.

 

‘I was overconfident after all.’

 

But there’s nothing to be said for hindsight. Gale’s eyes were as greedy as a loan shark’s.

 

He rubbed his chin and opened his mouth.

 

“Are you related to the Duke of Oppenheim?”

 

“…….”

 

“Then I suppose you can ask the duke to pay you back.”

 

“No, that’s…!”

 

Jeremiah’s words from before I came to the Islands flashed through my mind.

 

“Miss Vanessa is technically a member of the ducal family, and no one can do anything to you unless you want them to.”

 

Honestly, I now realized that if Earl Huons were to charge the ducal family money, Jeremiah or Estella would gladly pay it back for me.

 

But that’s why I couldn’t bring myself to open my hand to the duke.

 

I couldn’t make them do it for me, and I didn’t want to feel indebted to the duke, and above all, I knew that Gale Huons would charge them a lot of money.