“Do you dislike wine? I made you a drink because you seemed to enjoy it.”
Etienne, who put the bottle down on the table, smiled. The moment Young-shik opened his mouth, Count Hereace appeared.
“Your Highness, the Prince!”
With the appearance of Count Hereace, people stepped back as if they had planned. Approaching with a stiff face, he frowned at the sight of the young Marquis of Namia.
“What’s going on here?”
“I’m sorry for making such a fuss, Count Hereace.”
Etienne apologized mildly to Count Hereace. Then he beckoned Ben to get ready to return.
“I have to go now.”
“What? So soon?”
“Because of someone, alcohol has lost its taste.”
Etienne winked at the young Marquis of Namia. I was going to go away soon, but I got a good excuse.
“Did Young-shik, Marquess of Namia, does anything wrong to you?”
“I was so drunk that I don’t remember anything. I think I drank too much because the count’s liquor was so delicious.”
Etienne acrimoniously condemned the Marquess of Namia. His words made the Count of Hereace cringe. Roughly, he could understand the situation.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Count. I’m rather sorry for breaking up the fun.”
Etienne put his hand on Count of Hereace’s shoulder and tapped it. The Count returned the courtesy he had earlier committed to him.
“I’ll see you at the Arc de Triomphe tomorrow.”
After a short greeting, Etienne walked out as if he had nothing more to do. No one stood in his way.
“Whoa.”
Etienne came out and took a deep breath. The cold night air came deep into the lungs. He felt like he was washing his body that was dirty with all kinds of pheromones. Ben was following behind Etienne.
“You’ve gone too far.” Ben said in a concerned voice.
Etienne who was closing his eyes and tasting fresh air, slowly opened his eyes.
“What?”
“Pouring down the alcohol.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“You could have forgiven him generously.”
“If you’re going to keep nagging, walk yourself to the palace.”
Etienne got into the carriage as if he didn’t want to hear it any more. Ben sighed quietly as he watched Etienne.
To hide the characteristics of Omega, Etienne was always on edge, so he reacted sensitively to any types of attack on him. He was particularly sensitive to people. He endured everything else well, but could not tolerate someone approaching him recklessly or being rude. It was the same today. Etienne reacted greatly to what could have been passed on as a simple happening, and overreacted. It was a kind of defence mechanism.
“Today’s events will further undermine your reputation.”
“Do I even have a reputation to be cut further here?”
While leaning against a soft chair, Etienne smirked and laughed. His image was already a mess.
“How much would they curse at me? They would say that the jerk did it again.”
Etienne said that indifferently. He didn’t care whether his reputation was good or bad. Rather, he hoped it would be bad. That way, I’ll be able to throw everything.
“You’re not even a real jerk.”
“People don’t care about the truth anyway. It’s social circles where rumours turn out to be true. What matters to them is whether they have fun or not.”
“I’m sure Her Majesty will say something.”
Etienne stiffened when Ben mentioned the Empress. It reminded him of her requests a few days ago.
“Oh, take care of your reputation.”
“Imperial bastard. I don’t want you to hear anything like that.”
“You can’t fight against aristocratic children like you did last time. Stop drinking for a while.”
Etienne, who recalled Leona’s requests to him one by one, raised one corner of his mouth. He realized that he hadn’t kept any of what she said.
But he wasn’t particularly worried. The successor of the Marquis of Namia, Young-shik, ignored Etienne in public. By now, Count of Hereace must have fully grasped the situation, so Leona would soon know.
Leona, who treated Etienne as if he were ignored, might have said that he did a good job. If not, she couldn’t care less about herself now. Grand Duke Eckhardt will be back tomorrow.
“It’s okay.”
“What?”
“Tomorrow, she’ll be too out of her mind to scold me.”
Etienne, who finished speaking, looked out of the window. In the distance, he could see Tempest Square, where there would be a triumphal ceremony. Even in the middle of the night, it was especially bright there. It was because of the crowds gathered to watch the triumphal ceremony.
“… Wake me up when we get to the palace.”
“Yes, sir.”
Etienne, who was looking at the night view of Tempest Square coloured with colourful lights, closed his eyes with a tired face.
“Hyung-nim.”
Three years ago, he remembered the last day he saw Richard. As time went by, it could be blurry, but the memory with him was as clear as yesterday.
“I’ll be back.”
Yeah, that’s what he had said. If we meet again, will he say, “I’m back”?
He smirked. The sound of air escaping from the slightly raised lips came out. How much has changed? Etienne thought with his eyes closed. Three years was longer than he had thought. In addition, Richard had spent time in battle between life and death. In the meantime, he couldn’t imagine how Richard would have changed.
“Hyung-nim…”
Etienne slightly raised his closed eyelids. A nostalgic voice seemed to be heard in the wind blowing through the open window.
“Sigh…”
Etienne sighed deeply and washed his face dry. He was curious about how Richard would have changed, but he had a contradictory feeling that he didn’t want to see him.