IDIBC Chapter 72

A Passionate Man Without Sincerity

Julian raised his glass and spun around, leaning against the waist-high wall. She could feel his heated gaze on the nape of her neck, making her swallow reflexively.

“That’s right. Most ladies dislike it as a hobby, but I’m quite fond of horse racing. Especially that moment when a horse everyone predicted would lose ends up winning.”

Dermeier’s racetrack wasn’t much different from Resotia’s. The scale was slightly larger, but it was just as full of crude curses and jeers.

However, there was one difference—unlike Resotia where commoners and nobles mingled together to watch, Dermeier had a separate space exclusively for nobles.

While there were occasionally women in the area where commoners gathered, seeing a woman in the nobles’ section was no easy feat.

When the horses ran, nobles became just as crazed as commoners—the hypocrisy of keeping the spaces separate was somewhat repulsive. It must be because she hadn’t lived as a noble for very long.

Sabrina, aware of her own hypocrisy, laughed self-deprecatingly.

“To know the joy of such moments—Lady Sabrina truly is different from other women.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Yes, because he found her so different, he probably wanted to hold her at least once. Being “different” always struck a chord with men. That’s why Sabrina believed it was impossible to receive one person’s love for a long time.

Though of course, there are people like our Young Duke Rochester.

Sabrina found this entire situation somewhat tedious. Whether it was because of the heat, or because Lienne’s philosophy had rubbed off on her, she kept having moments where she wondered what the point of it all was.

She was shaking her head to clear away these useless thoughts and turning her gaze aside when—

She spotted a hunched old woman wandering around right below the area where she was resting. The basket in her hand was full of flowers.

She seemed to have taken a wrong turn while trying to reach the commoners’ section.

The flustered old woman was struggling to walk, trying to get to the entrance as quickly as possible, when a passing man deliberately knocked against her shoulder.

From the crumpled betting slips clutched in his hand, it was clear he’d just lost a large sum in the previous race.

“Piece of sh*t.”

Even knowing she shouldn’t, a curse escaped Sabrina’s lips. Honey-colored eyes widened in surprise and turned toward her, but she had no intention of correcting herself.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

Of course, up until that point, Sabrina had planned to just curse and look away.

If she hadn’t seen him push the staggering old woman again as she tried to regain her balance. And with that cowardly smirk, no less.

With a splash, the old woman plunged headfirst into a muddy puddle. As the muddy water splattered on his pant leg, the man who’d pushed her began cursing.

“That son of a b*tch.”

Sabrina slammed down her glass and immediately started running. Even if Julian became disgusted with her over this, she couldn’t just stand by and watch.

Truth be told, Sabrina had been growing weary of the battle with him.

As she ran down to the lower level, she felt somehow relieved.

Was it because Resotia was practically a vassal state of Dermeier?

She’d prided herself on being quite the rake back home, but it seemed a principality was no match for an empire. She’d had a bad feeling for quite some time that she would lose in this battle with him.

Julian seemed like a man without sincerity. A man who was passionate despite lacking sincerity was dangerous.

So let the chips fall where they may. When had she ever lived with such thorough planning anyway?

The moment her feet hit the ground, she rushed at the man who was still cursing at the old woman. With a thud, their bodies collided and the man, caught off guard, fell to the ground.

Heaven wasn’t unkind—he too ended up bottom-first in a puddle.

For a moment, she realized what she’d done, but no matter what anyone said, Fennel was still Rochester’s in-law family. Straightening her shoulders that kept wanting to hunch, Sabrina lifted her head.

“Oh my.”

She dramatically opened her fan to cover her mouth and looked down at the man with just her eyes. The man who’d been sitting on the ground bewildered finally seemed to grasp the situation and shot to his feet.

“You crazy…”

He sprang up and approached Sabrina with blazing eyes without a second thought. He looked ready to grab her by the collar.

Fine, let me get hit here, fall disgracefully, and end things with Julian too. With this thought, Sabrina planted her feet firmly. Even if she got hit and fell, she didn’t want to step back.

That was when it happened. Julian appeared before her, his red hair flying.

Thud—the man who took his punch rolled on the ground again.

“How dare you lay a hand.”

Sabrina’s heart sank. Soon, eyes that were warm to the point of burning looked at her with concern.

“Are you alright, Sabrina?”

Ha, she’d been growing weary of him?

Sabrina, it’s time to be honest.

She wasn’t growing weary—she was going mad. Over this unprecedented playboy and so-called lover of all, this opportunist.

“She’s not someone the likes of you can touch.”

Sabrina stared at Julian’s back and squeezed her eyes shut. Even knowing his behavior was equally kind to all women, she kept finding her heart sinking because of him more and more. This was a very bad sign.

Perhaps that was her state of mind. The reason she’d bet big money on a horse with no chance of winning, hoping for a miracle.

She’d planned to lose big today and come to her senses properly, but this man was once again making her heart race like this.

“Get lost.”

With just a few words, Julian subdued the man who’d been flailing in the puddle. It was only natural—he was the heir to one of the Empire’s three great ducal families.

What she’d learned from traveling with him was that there wasn’t a single noble in this empire who didn’t know Julian’s face.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

He smiled brightly again, like a bee looking at honey-laden flowers. She used to like that his smile was equally fair to everyone, but now she wasn’t so sure.

“I’m fine, Julian.”

“You seem quite shaken…”

“Yes, I suppose I am. I should probably go home and rest today.”

Sabrina tried to smile as usual and took a couple of steps away from him. Having anticipated defeat, Sabrina caught the fleeting smile of victory on his face.

‘Ah, while I was sensing defeat, he was anticipating victory.’

Sabrina moved a bit further away again from the man gently approaching her, continuing her words. The best way for the loser of a war to minimize damage is to flee—that’s what she thought.

“And I don’t think I can go to the fighting arena we’d planned for tomorrow either.”

Julian pulled up one corner of his mouth and tilted his head.

“My, the lady seems truly shaken.”

“Yes, that’s right. So I’ll need to recuperate for a while. This is the first time in my life I’ve experienced something so rough…”

“How long?”

“Probably about a…”

“Three days should be enough, right?”

Looking at the man who was smiling suggestively while raising his eyebrows into a mountain shape, Sabrina gathered her last bit of strength. Pride wouldn’t allow her to retreat any further. Sabrina planted her feet firmly on the ground, which had been stepping back. She then turned her head at an angle and flashed her most confident smile.

“Of course. Three days should be plenty.”

“That’s fortunate indeed. There’s a big card game scheduled at Lethon in three days. Of course, only a limited number of people can enter. I’d like Sabrina to be my goddess of victory this time… Will you come with me?”

Lethon was a renowned private casino even in the capital. She’d heard about it from Julian several times but had never been there.

Going to a new place when the tide had turned…

Sabrina realized he was trying to plant his final flag. Even so, she couldn’t back down.

“Of course. Then I hope you have a comfortable time until we meet again, Young Duke.”

When she called him “Young Duke” with the intention of creating distance again, Julian’s brow furrowed slightly. But he skillfully composed his expression and smiled charmingly.

“I should escort you home.”

“No!”

Sabrina waved both arms vigorously to dissuade him.

“The races haven’t ended yet, so there should be plenty of hired carriages left to take me home. And my maid is waiting for me outside the racetrack.”

“Is that so?”

“And you should watch until the end to see if the horse I bet on wins. If it does, I’d be grateful if you’d collect the winnings for me. I want to buy a dress from Jeronia’s new collection coming out the last week of this month.”

As Sabrina regained her composure and smiled, Julian tilted his head.

“Please be my lucky god today, Young Duke.”

“Then I suppose I should trust my luck today.”

Sabrina lifted her skirt to curtsy and tried not to show any sign of hurrying. The moment she turned around, she scrunched up her face and muttered a quiet curse.

“Sabrina.”

But because her name was called again so affectionately, she had to stop in her tracks. When she turned her head slightly, she saw him approaching the old woman who’d been standing there uncertainly.