Flower of Steel

“Well, thank you for the compliment.
As a central government official, I didn’t want to be someone who had to rely on someone else to do the talking for me.
You think too highly of me,” I replied sarcastically, as I pointed out that he was here to pick a fight with me on behalf of that girl, which made Sir Hillain blush with anger.

“Shut your mouth!”

You don’t have what it takes to talk over me, and still, you come over to bark because your master was bitten? Tsk tsk, poor dog.

“What are you doing to my Marin?” demanded Chelleno, who followed me secretly and glared at Hillain as he growled at him.

‘This is how a dog should be!’ I thought.
He is a good red dog who is very cute on most days but can be a fierce fighter when I need him.

“Sir Chelleno, you better watch your cousin’s actions.
Her actions are like a courtesan, aren’t they?” said Hillain, who compared me to a high-class prostitute.

Chelleno tried to throw a fist at him in rage, but I stopped him.
However, my effort ended up in vain, as someone else’s fist had struck Hillain down.
It was Rave, Hillain’s older brother, who struck the second son of Duke Harsen.

“Ugh, brother! What are you doing…!”

Rave, who always was smiling, was now coldly looking down at his brother, who he had punched.

“Hillain,” said Rave.

“B-brother.”

“You know, I pretended not to see even when you were behaving foolishly.
I found it cute that you wanted my place and deemed it funny.
I also didn’t bring up the fact that you were hanging around with thugs, using my name to dishonor it,” said Rave.

“It’s a misunderstand-”

As Hillain was trying to say something, Rave kicked him, grabbed his collar with a cold smile, and bellowed, “But I won’t allow you to act like that to a lady.
That lady is my precious assistant.
If you piss me off again, I will make sure that you never try that kind of knight play ever again.”

Hillain became pale, got up slowly, glared at me as he bit his lip, and left.

“Oh, assistant.
I’m so sorry.
He has far more to go.
I came here while I was on my walk because I heard a familiar voice, but I didn’t expect to see something so dumb,” said Rave in his usual casual tone but with awkward laughter.

Chelleno then responded spitefully, “You should educate your younger brother.
I’m letting this slide because of you, Viscount.”

“Well, thank you for that.
So, are you alright, Marina?”

Rave seemed to be worried about me, which I thought was a joke, and replied, “I don’t know.
I think your brother might have pushed me too…”

His face became furious after hearing such words, and I quickly took back what I said, “I’m joking! Are you angry because of me?”

Even if he’s an a*sh*le, Rave still considers him his brother, seeing that his face became so fierce at such words.

“Huh? Why would I be angry at you? If that idiot did such a thing to you, I was going to beat him up good,” said Rave.

“Hahaha.
Of course, you will.
You can’t even fight.” I laughed at Rave’s unfitting serious expression.
Isn’t it funny to hear that when he’d been a scholarly type of man his entire life?

“That’s right! I can’t fight! I almost died thanks to you then,” said Rave.

I think I laughed so hard at Rave’s joking words.
Honestly, there are times when he can be annoying, but I could never hate him.
After laughing for a while, I returned to the party hall with Rave and Chelleno.

“Sister! Where have you been? It’s crazy!”

Lumi was looking for me when I got back to the party hall, and I replied to her with an awkward smile, “Oh, I was out walking.
What happened?”

Lumi looked at Chelleno and Rave, who were next to me, and sighed.
Then, she whispered to me, “Sir Hillain, son of the Duke of Harsen.
He was attacked by an unknown man out in the garden and is now being treated at the temple.”

It was Rave who was surprised as he asked, “Hillain was attacked?”

Seeing Rave’s hardened look, Lumi hesitated before she answered, “Yes, he almost lost his life.
He’s in a very critical state, I heard.”

What the heck is going on? I mean, I don’t pity him since he just said some unthinkable things to me, but it sure felt like things were in a mess with such an unexpected incident.

“Where’s the Chancellor now?” asked Rave as he began to act like the charismatic successor of the duke.
Honestly, I can’t get used to him like that…

“I believe he contacted the temple and is now out searching for the culprit himself,” said Lumi politely.

Rave, who became serious once he heard that, was about to take some steps to move when he turned to me, trying to analyze the situation, smiled casually, and replied, “My assistant, don’t worry about it.
I’ll go see the Chancellor.”

I didn’t worry much, but I couldn’t say I wasn’t, so I just nodded to him and said, “Okay.”

Then I heard some whispers around me that said I was now flirting with Viscount Harsen at the sight of us together.
But I didn’t care.
I was too focused on thinking about the possible culprits.

Was it almost right after he left us? Then there’s a possibility that someone was at the garden, or someone sneaked into the garden without letting the guard know.
Maybe I should go see the guard guarding the garden first.