I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand

After visiting the Knights of Altairs, it was a day with no special appointments.

After having lunch with Raven, Merria headed straight to her room.

Then Lexie, who went to get cold coffee, came back with a tray full of invitations.

“Miss, I think you’ve got a bunch of invitations, so you need to reply. Would you like to see it now?”

“Um… yes.”

Until last spring, could you have imagined a situation like this?

Not many people consistently invited Merria, who has been refusing over the years.

For that reason, the number of invitations to Merria was decreasing day by day.

Rumors spread that she attended the victory banquet and Countess Fabro’s party one after another.

More invitations were delivered to her than right after her debutant.

Merria pondered for a moment about the invitations, which had piled up on the tray, but there was also a limit to procrastination.

Among them, there must be invitations from the young noble ladies I met at Countess Fabro’s residence.

It was too much to attend all of them, so I decided to write down the replies of refusal even to the invitations of those I knew.

Lexie spread a colorful envelope on her desk.

The sender was as diverse as the color of the envelope.

The neutral faction, who had been close with Rackester from the beginning, the Crown Prince faction that I got to know thanks to Karina and Reukis, and even the aristocrats of the second prince faction.

‘The Second Prince… all of a sudden?’

Without hesitation, Merria first picked up the invitations from the Second Prince’ faction.

While trying to sort the rest of them, a particularly shiny golden envelope caught her eye.

‘Gold?’

When I picked up a luxurious envelope and turned it, I saw the imperial stamp on the envelope.

As Merria held the letter with her puzzled look, Lexie, who was picking up from one side, approached.

“Wasn’t this an invitation to ‘Coming-of-Age Night’?”

“Come to think of it… there was such a thing.”

In the Tristan Empire, a grand coming-of-age ceremony was held for the 20-year-old nobles.

It was customary for a noble lady to participate on Coming-of-Age Night if she became an adult.

On the surface, it meant celebrating the new beginnings of those who would lead the empire, but in reality, it was like a wedding market held every year.

While others come to find a fiance. There were also a lot of people who came to play with fire overnight.

As it was a day for all the adult nobles of the Empire to gather, the banquet was held for two days.

On the first day, it was a relatively light banquet enjoyed by all aristocrats who had just become adults, and on the second day, the nobles freely enjoyed it.

“That’s why Lilith and Karina seemed to be talking. I won’t worry about my dress.”

A few days ago, Karina had invited the two of them to Delphi Mansion to meet Lilith, who had returned to the capital.

‘The castella made by the patissier at Delphi had honey that Lilith gave, so it was very sweet and delicious.’

Merria didn’t really join the conversation because she was busy eating castella.

Now it seems to be for Coming-of-Age Night that Lilith returned to the capital a little earlier.

‘It seemed like the two of them were busy talking to each other.’

Merria, who had become accustomed to being decorated to their liking, shrugged her shoulders and ripped open another letter.

Thanks to her endless slow reply, the peaceful process of organizing the invitation continued until evening. As soon as the next day came, the visitors to Rackesters came one after another.

The first was Lilith.

She stormed into Merria’s room with fluttering light purple hair.

She seemed to have a lot to say about whether she wasn’t satisfied with the last tea time.

“Mei!” (Lilith)

Thanks to her early morning visit, Merria had to greet her in her pajamas.

Another guest came, just as Merria was exhausted from answering her stormy questions.

It was Karina, touching her shoulders, she came to see Merria if she should also get her a dress for the coming of age night.

‘We still have a long way to go before the banquet.’

Merria answered saying ‘it’s too early’, but her words were mercilessly ignored.

After protesting against them, Merria eventually got caught by Lilith and Karina and headed to Miolo.

After barely gulping her three cups of cafe latte, Merria floundered on the sofa to catch her breath.

“Was Derek at the mansion?” Merria put down her already empty glass and she asked Lilith.

Merria thought that he would meet her right away when he returned to the capital.

It’s already her second meeting with Lilith, but she still hasn’t seen Derek’s face.

Lilith fixed her eyes on the catalog and nodded.

“I guess my mother missed Derek a lot while he was at the estate. She said they’d be together for a while.” (Lilith)

“Actually… I didn’t see the Count because they were busy in the first place.”

It was Natalie who used to watch Derek sleeping late at night instead of busy running the business during the day, so it seemed like she wanted Derek to be around for a little while.

(Natalie, sister of Merria’s father.)

Lilith still said without taking her eyes off the catalog.

“Derrick misses you a lot, so I’ll take him around when my mother’s satisfied.”

“Tell me ahead of time, so I could empty my schedule.”

Merria, who was thinking of her cute cousin running to her with lavender-colored hair, smiled softly.

Lilith picked up a small piece of blue fabric with pearls to see if she found the fabric she liked.

She asked Miolo.

“Miolo, don’t you think it would look good if you put pearls on this fabric?”

“Oh, just in time, a new blue pearl came in. This way.”

“Lilith. It’s better to embroider gold rather than pearls there…”

Karina and Miolo were walking with their eyes shining at the same time.

Merria gently raised her hand, thinking that she was a wonderful person full of energy as if they had just met.

“I have an appointment soon.” (Merria)

Lilith and Karina turned to her at the same time.

“Appointment?”

“With whom?”

It was a question out of pure curiosity without any sarcasm.

Lilith, who has been with her for a long time, and Karina, whose ears perked up, were really curious.

Who the hell was Merria going to meet? Merria, who’s at the level of drought due to her narrow relationship, was going to meet someone.

Of course, the two had already anticipated the identity of the person who would come out of her lips as an answer.

Merria quickly came up with an answer to the more intense reaction than expected.

“Reukis.”

“Hmm…”

“Then shall we call it a day?”

It was an excuse for a promise that didn’t exist, but the result was successful.

Merria, who finally stepped outside of the dressing room, smiled broadly.

“See you next time.”

“Oh, wait a minute.”

Lilith called out to Merria, who was about to leave in a hurry.

When Merria stopped walking and turned around, Lilith smiled softly.

“There are a lot of things we haven’t decided yet, so let’s meet again tomorrow at the dressing room.”

“Of course.”

Karina, who was standing next to her, also added as if it was natural.

She’s obviously done a ton of work, culling into hundreds of fabrics and dozens of designs into one finger.

‘I feel like I still have a long way to go…’

Before Merria could answer anything, Miolo intervened.

“Then, ladies, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After Miolo’s warm greeting, the three got on their respective carriages.

“Shall I take you to the mansion?” The waiting coachman asked Maria.

Merria thoughtlessly nodded her head, but then shook it horizontally. Merria, who had planned to rest in her room until just now, quickly revised her plans.

‘It was because there was something I really wanted to ask Reukis.’

“To the Frederick mansion.”

She told the coachman her new destination and leaned back at the carriage seat.

✤

‘Did we arrive?’

Merria, who had been reading a book for a long time, raised her head.

As the speed gradually slowed, they seemed to be getting closer to the mansion.

Merria closed her book and straightened her sore back. She was ready to get off the carriage.

“What?”

But even after waiting for the coachman the whole time, the door did not open.

Of course, Merria could also open the door easily because she had hands, but the question was, ‘What was the coachman doing now?’

Wondering, Merria rolled up the curtains and looked out of the window.

In front of her, a blunt-faced knight was talking to the coachman.

“Please identify yourself.”

“Ah. I’m from Duke of Rackester.”

When the coachman answered, the knight asked back.

“Do you have anything to prove?”

“What?”

The coachman with his wide eyes made a loud noise.

Another knight standing next to him approached and continued to speak.

“We couldn’t let you pass if you don’t have any proof.”

Merria understood that the inspection was conducted because there was no usual interaction.

But it’s not like a party with a lot of outsiders.

‘As expected, they may not be used to welcoming outsiders yet.’

Merria answered instead, sticking her head out of her window.

“Unfortunately not.”

She usually went out in a carriage with her family crest, but today she came out in a hurry.

Merria’s who suddenly came to Frederick’s mansion, without a proper appointment blamed herself for her carelessness.

The two knights, the one with a blunt-faced knight turned his head toward the source of the voice.

The sky-blue eyes, which had been slightly displeased, gradually widened.

“Oh…”

“It’s my fault for coming without contact, so if it doesn’t work, I understand.” Merria said with an expression that she couldn’t help it.

“No, it’s not.”

“Come in.”

Before Merria could even finish her words, the knights took a step back.

“If you go all the way down this road, you would find the mansion by the water. The carriage must be driven the slowest.”

“Please don’t speed up.”

Then, with a serious face, he left the same warning twice.