The Lady's Butler: I Reincarnated To Serve The Villainess-Chapter 26: Who The Hell Are You?

[A/N: Read the prologue, if you haven’t already, as the events will mostly be glossed over here to not waste Chapters..... Happy reading.]

***

Renelle had a calm expression on her face as she went through this scenario again, it was the only part of her regressed life that she was unwilling to change.

Though she looked calm, she couldn’t deny that she was hurt but fortunately, she was prepared for this.... mostly.

The followed the script as she previously had, questioning the protected Saintess before finally accepting the annulment of the engagement.

Renelle the turned around and just as in her previous life, the goody two shoes of a Saintess reached out to grab her hand and as she had done before, Renelle forced her hand out the grip, causing Noelle to stumble.

Turning around with a look a ’surprise’, she followed the script again and the Prince, annoyed, lifted his hand again, hoping to strike her.

In her previous life, she hadn’t expected his actions but this time, she wasn’t going to allow a repeat of the past.

Her eyes seemed to produce a subtle blue glow as a cold aura started leaking from her being.

The moment the prince’s hand would come close to her, she’d freeze it completely, maybe that’d be the perfect engagement annulment gift she could give.

Unseen by all, a small grin formed on her lips as she waited for his hand to approach.

But just before the hand could reach her, the prince froze, and Renelle hadn’t even realized when it happened, but there was now someone between her and the Prince.

Blood?

That’s what the person before her smelled like, and it was not just any blood, it smelled like the blood of beasts.

Normally, one wouldn’t be able to descern this scent, especially given that it was so faint, but as the Ice Queen who had spent half of her previous life killing beasts to make her spirit stronger,

The scent was pretty obvious.

"Forgive my discourtesy," the person spoke up, his voice sounding completely calm.

Renelle couldn’t see his face, but she was sure it matched his voice, completely calm.

The series of events was not one she expected, so there was a look of genuine surprise on her face.

In her past life, the prince had successfully struck her with all the nobles standing around and doing nothing, so what was this?

"But as Lady Ardent’s assigned retainer," he continued in the same tone, "I cannot permit physical discipline without formal adjudication by her family."

’Did he say retainer?’ she thought in surprise, as far as she could remember her only servants at this point in time were her hand maid and the ones at the Ardent House, she remembered nothing about having a retainer.

Renelle looked at the man’s back with narrowed eyes coming to two conclusions, either, like her, he was some sort of regressor.

Or the timeline has been affected by her regression, thereby introducing him as a variable.

Either way, one thing was obvious enough, the man before her was extremely strong, the prince, who was supposed to be a D rank prodigy, subtly trembling in his grip was a testament to this.

"And who," the prince said forcing himself to calm down, "do you believe you are?"

The man released the prince’s wrist and stepped back calmly, bowing a bit deeper.

"I am The Lady’s Butler and as Lady Ardent is still a noble of a Great House," he continued calmly, "any form of physical reprimand must be carried out under the authority of her family, not in a public setting, and certainly not without due process."

His tone remained polite, but the look in his eyes visible to the prince was anything but.

Lucian’s hand trembled slightly at his side, "you—"

"Furthermore," the man added, cutting him off without raising his voice in the slightest, "such an act, carried out before nobles and commoners alike, may lead to... undesirable interpretations."

Every noble immediately understood what he meant by his words, if the prince had struck lady Renelle today, it wouldn’t only be seen as an act of discipline.

Especially by the commoners.

They’d take it as a sign of the Ardent family losing the crown’s favor, thereby causing the family to lose respect in the eyes of nobles and commoners alike.

"As the Crown Prince," he continued, "your actions carry weight far beyond this ballroom."

The man slowly walked close to the prince with a small smile on his face, lowering his voice so that only he, his lady and the prince could hear.

"But I assure you," he said, "that weight could very much disappear in a single night."

The disrespect caused the prince to frown, finally getting a hold of himself, he let a bit of his aura leak as his blue eyes seemed to glow.

"Is that a threat?" Lucian asked, his voice turning completely cold.

The man looked at him and then the ridiculous amounts invisible light mana surrounding him, a testament that he truly was the protagonist.

But instead of being intimidated, he chuckled and stepped back, compared to Sebastian’s and the patriarch’s aura, the Prince’s aura was cute.

"Not at all," he answered with a smile, "just an observation."

He then turned towards Renelle who still had his eyes stuck on his and smiled, "now if you don’t mind, my Lady and I wish to retire from this party."

He took off the glove on his right hand and then extended towards her, waiting for her to take it.

Renelle still had her suspicions, but for now, since he seemed to be on her side, she would save her questions for later.

Without giving it much thought, she rested her hand in his, and for a few seconds, she could’ve sworn she felt some sort of shock through her palm.

Since it didn’t happen again, she just thought of it as nothing but her imagination and then turned towards the prince.

"If your highness doesn’t mind," Renelle said in a polite tone, "I’d like to take my leave, good evening."

With that, they turned towards the door and walked away, leaving behind a group of stunned nobles.

The prince had a dark look on his face as he watched them leave, but it soon disappeared when a pair of hands suddenly wrapped around his clenched fist.

Turning to the side, he noticed Noelle had a worried look on her face so he just sighed and patted her head.....

"I’m fine."

***

Much to Adrian’s disappointment, the moment they exited the royal palace, Renelle released his hand before walking towards the carriage that was already waiting on them.

Still, that much was enough....for now.

The coach held the door open for the two allowing them to step in before he closed it and headed out the palace’s premise.

Adrian glanced at his palm for a short while before he gloved it again and lifted his head, hoping to start a conversation.

"My La—"

Unlike what he expected, the moment he lifted his head, Renelle was already in front of him with a dagger made of ice resting on his neck.

Her blue eyes were glowing in the dark carriage as she looked at him without a bit of expression on her face.

"Who the hell are you?"