I Don't Want To Do a Romantic Comedy With a Villain! - Chapter 17

Episode 17

She didn’t want to waste what looked like handmade shoes, they seemed too precious. 

Moreover, the shining shoes looked like they could outshine even the sun.

“Thank you. I’ll wear them well.”

She couldn’t bring herself to ask about the price. If they were too expensive, she wouldn’t be able to wear them and would likely be left untouched. Moreover, it would be awkward to complain to Vehen about it.

She decided to take them with her when she went home. Excited to the point where her heels were tingling, Min-joo covered the box and hugged it tightly.

Vehen coughed awkwardly.

“Leave them in your room. Bring coffee on your way back.”

“I have so many tasks to do, and now I have to endure because of the shoes.”

“I understand, so go quickly.”

Waving his hand, Vehen lowered his head with the report written by Permette. Min-joo shrugged her shoulders and decided to leave the room.

* * *

The autumn sky was clear and without a single cloud. 

Neriant, standing and facing the warm sun, looked delicate and beautiful, as if she might break into pieces. The skirt flowing under the window resembled a picturesque painting.

Her disheveled curls made her look like a goddess from mythology, and when her long eyelashes fluttered, it even made the hearts of onlookers ache.

Count Velirian approached Neriant, who was sitting and gazing outside hopelessly and tossed a letter at her.

“In four days, the Crown Prince wishes to meet you. Be quiet, just smile, and come.”

Neriant looked at her father, Count Velirian. The imperial emblem was stamped on the letter.

“Do I have to go?”

“Yes. I don’t want to get rid of you in any other way.”

Neriant’s eyes trembled with a chill. She couldn’t fathom how things had come to this. Gripping the letter tightly, she contorted her face.

It seemed like tears could fall from her blue eyes at any moment.

Count Velirian, looking at his saddened daughter, licked his lips and left. The maid, Chete, who had been by her side, hurriedly ran to comfort Neriant.

“Miss, don’t cry. Master was not like this before. I don’t know why he changed so much… He was too harsh on you.”

“…”

“And if it’s a marriage with the Crown Prince, it’s a good thing for you. You’ll become the empress.”

Chete’s comfort didn’t reach Neriant. She looked at the letter in her hand with sad eyes, then closed them tightly.

Blaming the changed count, Chete tried to console the pitiful Neriant. When she reached out to hold her hand, Neriant, who had been bowing her head, suddenly raised it.

“I’m annoyed.”

“Miss?”

“He won’t let me exercise, won’t let me go outside. Is this living?”

“Yes?”

Neriant’s face, which seemed like it would cry at any moment, was now filled with anger and irritation.

Chete, seeing the sudden change in her mistress’ attitude, was momentarily stunned.

Neriant, with force, tore the letter into pieces, turning it into a rag in her hands, and unfolded its contents. It was filled with plausible words about meeting and reading that had no worth.

The torn pieces of the letter fell to the floor from Neriant’s hands.

“Why did you tear it like that?”

“What do I care? Marriage and whatever.”

Neriant’s eyes, gazing outside, were burning with passion.

Chete instinctively felt that Neriant was about to cause trouble. And ominous premonitions are always accurate.

Neriant suddenly stood up, grabbed the hem of her thin dress skirt, and started running.

“Miss!”

It happened in an instant, and Chete couldn’t stop it. 

Neriant, bursting out of the room, raced down the stairs three steps at a time, opened the window right in front, and leaped over it, landing on the grass.

“Oh, I’m losing aerobic exercise.”

Holding her uncomfortable shoes in her hands, Neriant ran barefoot across the garden.

The guards and Chete, realizing the situation too late, shouted and chased after Neriant. However, she had already reached the end of the garden and, holding onto the tall wall, leaped over it.

It was a lost sense of exercise.

Jumping down from the wall in a perfect arc, Neriant collided with an oncoming carriage.

Luckily, she wasn’t trampled by the hooves, and her collision with the carriage roof left her lying on the ground, seemingly unharmed.

“What? Did a shooting star fall from the sky?”

Surprised by the sound of the carriage roof caving in and the ground cracking, the carriage owner, Ceteran, opened the window to check outside.

The sky was as clear as before and on the ground…

“A person?”

Neriant lay sprawled on the ground after colliding with the carriage. 

In an instant, numerous thoughts flashed through Ceteran’s mind. He had hit someone, but he didn’t know where the person had come from, whether they were dead or alive. How should he handle this?

Ceteran stepped out of the carriage and demanded an explanation from the coachman. The coachman, however, seemed just as clueless about what had happened.

“She fell from above.” 

One of the guards standing behind the carriage, pointing to the high wall, said. The wall undoubtedly belonged to Count Velirian, Neriant’s father.

“Neriant Seguez Velirian?”

Ceteran had contacted Count Velirian to arrange a meeting the day after meeting Vehen. He needed to gain Count Velirian’s trust and support, but now he had hit his daughter.

“This is bad.”

It was very, very bad.

Count Velirian was known for being extremely fond of Neriant, even though she was of marriageable age. He was a man constantly busy boasting about his beautiful daughter and proudly displaying handkerchiefs embroidered by her.

And now, he had hit that man’s daughter. With his carriage. To be precise, the daughter had flown in and collided. Not even an angry bull would do such a thing.

“Darn it… she’s not dead, right?”

Even without checking the face buried in curly blonde hair, it was evident that it was Neriant.

But was Neriant someone with enough vitality to overcome a wall? That wasn’t the important part.

To examine the sprawled Neriant, Ceteran stooped down.

“Hey, I almost died there. Hey! Can’t you drive properly?”

Neriant, who had suddenly risen, generously shared obscenities never heard before in the entire world. Despite a sizable bruise on her forehead, she didn’t seem significantly injured.

Wait, she was hit by a carriage, and yet she’s not more injured than this? What’s going on? Ceteran was now in a state of confusion and fear.

As the coachman, wounded by the profanity-filled scolding, teared up, Neriant, spitting out a mix of blood and saliva, turned to look at Ceteran.

In this world, unbelievable and mysterious miracles can happen. Ceteran’s situation was no exception.

Despite the bruises on her face and the expression that could be likened to a scowling storm, Neriant captured Ceteran’s heart at first sight. Ceteran, with a weak disposition, idealized strong women, and before him stood a beautiful lady who, after being hit by a carriage, eloquently expressed herself in profanity, living, and breathing.

Falling in love was the natural sequence of events. It made no sense, but that’s how it was. Ceteran had fallen in love, and there was nothing to be done about it.

Having confirmed the dazed Ceteran, Neriant shook out her skirt and stood up. When she turned her neck, there was a wooden creak, a sound that made bones twist, and to Ceteran, it sounded as sweet as the harp of an angel.

“Excuse me, if you hit someone, you should apologize. Don’t you agree to a settlement?”

“Ah, um… I’m sorry. Are you okay? Is there anywhere you’re hurt?”

“Yes, my body’s fine. Just drive properly. Keep your eyes open when you’re driving.”

The coachman, who had been listening, finally burst into tears. A guard patted his shoulder, trying to console him.

Having received his share of insults, Ceteran cautiously extended his hand to Neriant.

Looking at his hand with an expression that said, ‘What do you want me to do?’, Neriant eventually accepted it.

“I’ll escort you inside.”

“It’s fine. Go on your way.”

Neriant swatted away Ceteran’s hand, picked up her shoes from the ground, and stood up. Every moment seemed to pass slowly, and every movement of Neriant’s remained etched in Ceteran’s mind.

Not a single detail of the scene wanted to be missed.

“Miss! Where are you going?”

“Why are you so persistent?”

Opening the front door and scampering around like a meerkat, Chete spotted Neriant and shouted her lungs out.

Seeing the desperate Chete rushing towards her, Neriant licked her lips and looked around for a place to escape.

“Please ride. We’ll hide you.”

“What’s with the grand entrance…”

“If you get caught, won’t it be a difficult situation? Get in.”

If caught by Chete, it would probably be impossible to explore the outside world again until the day she met Tedric.

Neriant muttered profanities and grabbed Ceteran’s hand. The clasp of their hands felt scorching, like catching fire.

Ceteran quickly pulled Neriant into the carriage.

Bang! The door closed, and Neriant and Ceteran lay on the sofa, holding their breath.

With a mix of cries and shouts approaching, Chete checked Ceteran’s carriage and hurriedly returned to the mansion.

“Did they go?”

“I’m not sure.”

“First, let’s hide. It’s heavy.”

Ceteran, who had been lying on top of Neriant, jolted up in surprise. From his face to his neck, no part wasn’t red.

Neriant, who had always been straightforward, squinted her eyes and looked at Ceteran.

It was a strangely penetrating gaze.

If it hadn’t been for her charming gaze, Ceteran would have found it uncomfortable. Instead, he awkwardly smiled, running his hand over his body as if to smooth out the situation.

“Why… are you doing this?”

“Guess my age.”

“What?”

“How old do you think I am?”

“What?”

Unable to communicate, Neriant muttered curses with a cold face. Ceteran found her appearance so adorable that his heart almost leaped out of his mouth.

Is this… love?

In the midst of shyly savoring this new emotion called love, Neriant suddenly grabbed Ceteran’s forearm. In the slow, meandering touch, Ceteran felt like his heart was about to leap out of his mouth for real.

“What kind of exercise do you do?”

“What?”

“Are you deaf? I asked, what exercise do you do?”

Her sharp and acerbic tone was exquisite. Ceteran worried that his heartbeats might become audible as he gazed at Neriant’s delicate and gentle face.

“I do horseback riding, practice swordsmanship, and shoot arrows…”

“Oh, is it because of archery?”

Was she suggesting they exercise together? Was it an invitation to share a common hobby for a date? Ceteran didn’t even consider offering her a rice cake, but he found himself hoping for it.

The carriage began to move. Neriant brushed her bangs aside with a ‘hoo’ in the breeze and slipped out of Ceteran’s embrace.

A rough movement caused the cloth that wrapped around her shoulders to slip down. Contrary to her delicate appearance, her shoulder muscles stood out prominently.

Ceteran instinctively realized that she was a strong woman in various ways. His heart throbbed, and somewhere, it felt like he could hear the harmonies of angels.

“Thank you for hiding me. Where are you headed? Please drop me off along the way.”

“As for where we’re going…”

The man trailed off, smiling mysteriously.

Puzzled, Neriant, who had tilted her head in confusion, returned to the corner of the house she had barely escaped, shouting all sorts of curses.

Ceteran, who had managed to calm her down and prevent her from jumping out of the window during the escape attempt, solemnly pledged his marriage to her formidable strength.

Upon seeing his runaway daughter getting off the Third Prince’s carriage, Count Velirian quietly seized her by the nape of the neck.

According to the explanation of the incident on the busy street, she had charged like a wild boar and collided with the carriage. Soon after, she jumped up abruptly.

Was his child a human being? If the parents were human, she must be a human being.

“You have something to say.”

“Yes.”

Seated across from each other in the reception room, the three exchanged polite greetings with tea and dessert between them.

Viscount Velirian tried to deduce the reason for Ceteran’s visit but couldn’t figure it out.

Perhaps he came out of concern for the strained relationship with the Crown Prince, or was it simply because of their slightly improved relationship?

After elegantly sipping his tea, Ceteran set the teacup down and brought up the main topic.

“I’ve come to propose.”

Ceteran’s mind quickly spun. Cancel the engagement with Tedric, obtain approval for the marriage with Neriant, or rather, request support and approval for the marriage…