Chapter 19: What Should I do, Adele

 I gently lift the hem of my dress, go down the stairs of the front of the mansion, slip in between the parked carriages, and enter the mansion's front yard.
The beautiful garden is full of flowers from the four seasons and has a fountain.
Now it seems that everything is quietly hiding in the moonlight.

I look around ...
A figure behind the fountain became visible.

"Hahahahaha ...!"
A girl in a violet dress … Leni, is grabbed by several tall people in the shadows.
The moment I recognize the person holding her … I stood between her and Dirk and slapped his hand away.

"What are you doing?!"
I scream.
"Tia!!"
Leni clung to my back with teary eyes.

"Well … if it isn’t the Countess?"
Dirk continues looking down at me with a grin, accompanied by his two underlings.
"I'm a little sad to think, this is the last time I'm going to be interrupted by you when I’m trying to make friends with Principality students."
"Where did you come in from? The gate isn't open."
When I answer calmly, Dirk makes an annoying laugh.

"Ah, the main gate? Well, it wasn't open and I knew that Julius and Adele were coming, so I went ahead and entered by the back gate."
"That's how …”
Did he want us to let him into the night party so badly he entered through the back gate?

"And then these guys were looking lonely, so I called out to them."
"No, I heard the imperialists were at the gate, so I thought I'd check on them … I'm sorry, Tia."
Leni's pair is Elmer. I think she was worried.
I nod to her in understanding.

"Okay, Leni. Let's go back to the mansion."
I didn’t have the time to deal with Dirk.
If I act on my emotions and get injured, in that situation … Cornelia would be inconvenienced.
I called myself and looked at Dirk.
"If you want to attend the evening party, ask Julius. He’s at the main gate, so go there."
"Don't leave so soon."
Dirk grabs hold of my right hand.
I try to shake it off instantly, but he uses incredible strength to pull me towards him.

"Today, you … you're doing an awfully good job of keeping clean. Not bad. Let me see it."
A licking gaze descends from my face to my neck and chest.

"Don't be dumb, let go!"
I look back.

"Did you finally awake as a woman after being embraced by Adele every day? Isn't he hugging you and calling you Cornelia, though?"

I swing my opposite hand back enough out of his reach.
There is no par for this guy.
"You've been fighting all your life, but when it comes time to get together, you're all over the place, aren’t you country bumpkin! "
I clenched my fist tightly and was about to bring it down on Dirk's cheek, but I realized that would be a waste.

This guy …
Dirk pulls me closer to him.

"What?"
At that moment, Dirk was smirking.
I bend my knee and kick it up between his legs.

Ugh, ooh wah.
Dirk kneels on the spot, leaking a frog-like voice.

"I will not tolerate remarks that degrade the Principality of Arita … Let's go, Leni."
I urge Leni to turn her back.
Dirk shouts.
"Humph ……. Don't be ridiculous！！！！ What the hell is wrong with you people? ！！！！ The aristocracy of a defunct country will have no choice but to cater to …… us, and yet, in the end, they will ……. end up ………! ！！！！ ”

"Poor guy. If you wanted me to be one of you, you should have acted like it."
I respond coldly without stopping.
"Is it okay?!!"
A loud, pathetic voice.
"Can you say that to me!!!"
Dirk is acting strange …?
I stop cautiously and look back, urging Leni ahead.

The moonlight illuminates Dirk, sitting on the ground, looking at me and laughing with a large grin.
"Listen well … Tiana. Tiana Klein!!"
He screams hysterically.
"Your original pair was actually … Julius Khan, Tiana !! --- Adel Berger's partner was Cornelia Arita !!!!! I changed it, tweaked my dad's paperwork!!! "
The back of my ears turn numb. His voice echoes in my head, even though my brain doesn't understand it.

"Your real partner isn't Adele Berger, sorry Tiana!!!"
Dirk's mocking becomes crazy echoes in the garden.

"Tiana!!!"
The voice of a loved one runs up behind me.
Reaches for me.


What should I do, Adele? What should I do ……?

I fell into Adele's arms … and lost consciousness.

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