Chapter 2: I was locked in a room at the ball

At the Diner Dukedom’s mansion in the capital.

In a corner of the glamorous ball, Fine, the daughter of Marquis Shot, was in distress.

The door to the rest room wouldn’t open.

“It won’t budge. Why is that?”

“I could break the door down.”

“That seems a bit extreme.”

Fine shook her head.

It was wooden, so forcing it open might be possible, but it would shatter into pieces.

Destroying a door in someone else’s mansion felt wrong.

“Then we’re stuck.”

A sigh came from Hawk Rosaider, the Count of Rosaider, trapped in the room with Fine.

Tall, with black hair and a chiseled physique, he was a strikingly handsome man.

“Pardon me, but why are you here? Are you unwell?”

“While attending the ball, I was told my dress was coming apart at the back.

I heard I could use this room to fix it, so I came in and found you here.”

“I see. That explains it.”

Hawk nodded.

“And you? Why are you here?”

Fine asked in return.

Hawk didn’t seem ill, nor was he with a woman.

“Business meeting.”

“A business meeting? During a ball?”

It sounded strange.

A ball was for mingling and enjoyment, not for meetings.

“With whom, exactly?”

“Banaji Diner.”

“…I see.”

‘As expected.’

Banaji Diner, the heir of the Diner Dukedom hosting tonight’s ball, was also Fine’s fiancé.

Just before coming here, Fine had seen him carousing with old academy friends, drinking and making a scene.

He didn’t look like someone preparing for a meeting.

‘So, he chose this man to set me up.’

Indeed, Fine had long suspected Banaji planned to frame her as the villain to break their engagement.

‘From how this is unfolding, he intends to accuse me of infidelity.’

An unmarried man and woman alone in a rest room—nothing needed to happen for it to be deemed scandalous.

Fine glanced at Hawk’s profile as he stared at the doorknob.

‘The Count of Rosaider, same age as Banaji, twenty-five, if I recall.

I’ve heard rumors of him being called the Grim Reaper General.’

With short black hair, resolute brown eyes, and a tall, dignified frame, he was a guardian of Vittore’s borders.

His merciless strikes against enemies and beasts, blood-soaked in battle, earned him the fearsome title of “Grim Reaper.”

Yet, strangely, Fine felt no fear seeing him in his military uniform—only a sense of rugged strength.

‘Why choose him?’

It was unexpected.

She thought Banaji would coerce a viscount’s son or a baron’s heir, someone under his influence.

Instead, he picked Hawk, a completely unrelated count.

“Pardon me, but do you have any connection with Banaji?”

“We were classmates at the Royal Academy. Not particularly close, though.”

“I see.”

Fine nodded.

‘Classmates but not close—likely Banaji harbored one-sided resentment toward Hawk.’

She didn’t know the reason, but it was probably something like losing a sword sparring match or being scolded for his attitude toward peers.

She could picture it vividly.

“Shall we sit and wait?”

“Hm?”

“That sofa over there looks good.”

Hawk gestured with his chin toward a set of sofas in the back of the room.

Two long sofas faced each other across a low table.

Hawk sat down, so Fine took the opposite side.

“By the way, did you fix your dress?”

“My dress?”

“You came here because it was coming apart, right?”

Fine shook her head.

“No, not yet. I’m not sure what’s wrong with it.

Is something undone?”

Fine turned, showing her back to Hawk.

“…No, it doesn’t look undone to me.”

“Right.”

Her dress had a laced-up back.

From what she could see in a mirror, nothing was amiss, and Hawk confirmed it.

It was clearly just an excuse to lure her into this room.

“My apologies for the late introduction.

I’m Fine, of the Shot Marquis family.

Sorry for not greeting you sooner.”

Realizing she hadn’t introduced herself, Fine spoke up.

She knew of Hawk, the young count, but he likely didn’t know her.

“I’m Hawk Rosaider, head of the Rosaider Countship.”

“Your reputation reaches even the capital, Lord Rosaider. I’m well aware of your deeds.”

Fine bowed deeply, paused, then spoke again.

“Likely, something absurd is about to happen in this room.

Please, Lord Rosaider, insist you were merely dragged into this and have no involvement.”

Hawk looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

“And you?”

“Whatever I say, it won’t matter. But you, a count, are different.”

Hawk furrowed his brow, as if confused by her words.

If Fine’s prediction was correct, this was a staged farce to frame her.

She didn’t want to trouble Hawk, who was likely targeted by Banaji out of envy for his excellence.

Just then, multiple footsteps echoed from beyond the door, along with a shout: “Here!”

‘They’re here.’

Fine gripped her skirt tightly.

“Sounds like someone’s coming.”

Hawk noticed the voices too and stood up.

The door, which wouldn’t budge no matter how they tried, was easily flung open from the outside.

“To think you’d sneak off with a man to do something indecent in a place like this!

I misjudged you, Fine! I never thought you’d be such a shameless woman!”