The Prince’s Taste - Chapter 7.19

‘You make the mess, you clean it up.’

She had to untie the knot she’d made. Judy Esther laced her fingers together and rolled her shoulders. Crack. The crisp sound of joints snapping rang out around her.

“It’s Baron Gizzola’s problem.”

“I know. But it’s still frustrating.”

“Marriage arrangements are the prerogative of the head of a household. And in the absence of the head, that right falls to the acting guardian. You might not understand, coming from a good family like the Emers, but that’s reality.”

Richard’s voice sank low. He wasn’t pleased by the situation either, but there was no justification for him to step in.

“If we interfere without proper cause, Judy, they’ll say you were the one who used force to oppress them.”

“I know. I do.”

The House of Gizzola was weak. The Emers family could easily crush them with their influence. But the higher nobility could seize upon that as a pretext. They’d circle her like hyenas, claiming she lacked the virtues of a proper crown princess.

“Still, I can’t just stand by and watch Ella be married off to Count T. If anyone wants to blame me, let them. I’ll ask them this: if Ella were *your* daughter, would you just stand by and watch?”

And who was Judy Esther, after all? No matter how reformed she was, the original position of this body was as the villainess. If she flashed that signature sneer on her beautiful face, it might work well enough. Besides, those two stepsisters had essentially been Judy Esther’s handmaidens in the original story, characters inherently weak against her.

“I’m just worried you’ll get tangled up in something filthy.”

“I know that too.”

She knew what Richard was worried about, what he feared. But she couldn’t help feeling pity for the heroine of this world. She simply wanted to help, even if just a little.

“Judy Esther, my beloved, I’m always on your side.”

Richard’s golden eyes shimmered deeply. He stared down at her for a long moment, then gently brushed her cheek.

“Judy, do whatever you want. I’ll handle the aftermath.”

“I’m allowed to cause a scene?”

Judy Esther lifted the corners of her mouth in a mischievous smile.

“With me backing you up, go ahead and do as you please.”

“You’re not allowed to complain later, got it?”

She tilted her chin up. Then, with the elegance of someone simply out for a stroll, she walked toward them. As though she’d merely happened upon the scene. Since he was watching, she might as well give him a show.

“Ella, there you are.”

Judy Esther ignored everyone else and spoke only to Ella.

“Who…?”

The stepmother’s face betrayed her panic at Judy Esther’s sudden appearance. The thick white powder on her face made her already pale complexion look even more ghostly. No wonder she was startled—she’d just seen Judy Esther being proposed to by Richard in the ballroom, and now she was here.

“What brings Lady Emers here?”

Count T, who had been ogling Ella, shifted his gaze toward Judy Esther. A stench of strong liquor wafted from him. Up close, his eyes were glazed with drunkenness, and each time he opened his mouth, an awful reek followed.

“You’re even prettier up close.”

“Only just noticing?”

She responded with all the pompous arrogance of a villainess, drawing out the line in a deliberately insufferable tone. The atmosphere instantly sharpened—her biting reply to what was meant to be a polite compliment had struck a nerve.

“Feisty girls like you are the tastiest. You’re the unlucky one.”

Had he not been drunk, he would never have uttered such a vulgar remark to the daughter of a marquis. Seeing the middle-aged Count T licking his lips at her made her stomach turn.

“How rude.”

“You little wench, how dare you glare at me?”

Judy Esther felt like a thousand caterpillars were crawling all over her body.

Goosebumps rose, and her brow furrowed involuntarily. But in this damned society ruled by titles, it was true that a marquis’s daughter ranked beneath a count like T. Even so, that didn’t mean he could speak so crudely to a noblewoman. As the maternal uncle of the third prince, he was truly arrogant. People didn’t avoid him out of fear, but because they found him repulsive.

“Watch your mouth. You’ll soon be expected to show deference.”

“Oh, the future crown princess? Until you walk hand in hand down the aisle, nothing is certain as yet. And even after marriage, a little breakup and it’s all over, isn’t it? Hahaha.”

His laugh was vile to the extreme. Words that could only come from a man who swapped wives like clothes. Did he really think everyone lived like him?

Suddenly, T bent over with exaggerated flair and offered a mock bow.

“Your Highness, forgive my rudeness! Heh heh heh!”

He cackled for a good while. Judy Esther, standing stiffly, surveyed them with a look of sheer disbelief. She was thoroughly annoyed now. These side characters, extras she couldn’t reason with, tested her patience.

“Ella, how long are you going to stay there?”