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EPISODE 186 – FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (3)
Who came to their senses first?
No one knew.
But it was clear that the time that had stopped at some point began to flow again.
Their eyes reflected Jude and Cordelia dancing.
The two didn’t know what they should dance since there was no music, but that didn’t matter in the first place. They were two people who could understand each other’s thoughts by just looking into their eyes.
Light steps.
Rather than sticking to a dance pattern, they just enjoyed this present moment.
Smiles appeared on the faces of those who were watching with rapt attention.
Just like the silence, admiration and joy quickly spread too.
And music began to play again.
People stepped back and made room, and the minstrel tried to capture the scene in front of his eyes instead of singing.
Count Bayer smiled.
Count Chase hurriedly searched his pockets in order to find a mana stone for video recording.
And Jude and Cordelia gazed at each other.
Before they knew it, they forgot the stares around them and only focused on each other.
They did not suppress the smile spreading on their faces.
‘Come to think of it, this is our first time.’
‘First time?’
‘To dance like this.’
‘Because the timing wasn’t good when we were in Langesthei.’
At the social gathering of the children from the northern families.
They had clearly prepared for the ball then, but they didn’t have the time to dance because the place was attacked.
‘During Emma’s birthday party, the atmosphere wasn’t good for dancing.’
‘You’re right.’
Because Cordelia completely destroyed the atmosphere there.
‘In fact, isn’t it the same now?’
Something big would happen to the royal capital in a few hours at the latest.
‘I guess. But it won’t make a difference if we made an impression now, right?’
‘That’s also true.’
Cordelia smiled and leaned a little more on Jude. His arm that held her waist firmly supported her.
‘Lord Jude from the Bayer family.’
‘What is it, Lady Cordelia from the Chase family?’
Giggling at his playful response, Cordelia looked up again at Jude and said.
‘Aren’t you a bit good in dancing?’
‘It’s because of my Cheonmujiche. Didn’t I say that it makes me good at anything I do with my body?’
‘It’s too good.’
Will something bad happen if you don’t brag for a day though?
But I don’t hate it. I can’t hate it.
Cordelia averted her gaze and looked elsewhere.
It wasn’t because she was suddenly embarrassed to face him. It was because she didn’t want him to know her thoughts.
Just a few minutes ago.
When Jude had turned around towards her.
‘Hehe, he was very enchanted earlier.’
He stood there with his mouth agape. I wish I could somehow take a picture of that.
I didn’t expect the composed Jude to make such a stupid looking face.
‘And…’
The reason why he made such a face was because of me.
My face had strangely turned red at that.
But why did my own cheeks flush red when it was him who did something embarrassing?
Cordelia slightly pouted her lips and glanced away before she looked at Jude again. The moment she faced his green eyes, the gaze of her blue eyes shifted to another place as if running away.
“Hehehe.”
Why is he laughing?
Should I know why?
No, I don’t want to know why.
‘It’s hard.’
Jude’s arm.
I mean, Jude’s embrace.
I didn’t think it was like this when we were in the wild lands.
When did he become so reliable?
T/N: 단단하다 can both mean ‘hard’ and ‘reliable.’ So Jude’s arm is hard/firm, while his embrace made Cordelia feel that he was reliable.
‘He’s grown so tall.’
She was able to tell now that she faced him from the front like this.
And his arms had become large enough for Cordelia herself to fit in his embrace.
‘His hands are big too.’
He had long fingers.
She thought that there would be a difference of more than a few centimeters if they touched each other’s palms.
Cordelia’s fingers twitched unconsciously at that moment, and Jude also moved his hand.
Their hands that were holding each other moved in different directions, and their hands soon found their proper places as if they were cogwheels interlocking with each other.
In between each other’s fingers.
It was so natural after that.
As if it had been like this from the beginning, their hands filled each other’s gaps and became one.
Clasped hands.
The hold of their hands felt much tighter than usual because of their interlocking fingers.
Cordelia bit her lips.
Otherwise, she felt like she was going to laugh like a fool.
Why?
Why is my heart pounding like this?
‘It feels strange.’
It’s so different from our usual holding hands.
It feels like I’m restraining Jude and I’m being restrained by him too.
But I like the feeling of us restraining each other like this.
Far from feeling uneasy, my heart keeps pounding.
‘My face is red.’
I can tell without looking in the mirror.
Because my face feels hot. I can feel my cheeks burning hot.
Cordelia shifted her gaze once more to see Jude, and she bit her lips again. She tried her best to suppress her smile, but she ended up smiling brightly.
Because Jude’s face was red.
It was burning red.
‘How exciting.’
It’s Jude and not anyone else.
It’s the Jude who’s unashamed in writing words of love when we’re separated, the Jude who can casually say out loud that I am precious.
But he has a shy and red face now. Just look at those red earlobes.
‘Ufufu.’
What can I call this feeling?
A feeling of achievement?
A feeling of satisfaction?
It feels like I’ve won?
Like, you’re embarrassed too, right? You now know how I feel when my face turns red, right?
‘Hey, your face is red too, okay?’
‘Why are you being childish. Are you embarrassed that your face is red?’
‘You’re red too though?’
‘Yes, yes, in my case, my face turns red often. But what about you? What about you?’
Cordelia slyly smiled, and Jude eventually gave up.
Because the brightly smiling Cordelia was so lovely.
And they continued their dance.
Jude and Cordelia listened to the music.
Their dance had began spontaneously, but they were able to match to the beat of the music in a short time because the two were skilled in moving their bodies.
And after some time, the two knew.
The fact that the song would soon end.
The time when their dance would be over was now approaching.
Therefore, Cordelia looked at Jude instead of closing her eyes.
Jude also met eyes with Cordelia.
Instead of having a conversation with their eyes, they simply stared at each other.
And the end eventually came.
Both of their feet stopped, and they sighed in relief.
But they didn’t release their clasped hands. Their fingers twitched as if expressing their regret.
If possible, they wanted to keep doing this.
But the two knew that it was impossible.
Because thunderous applause filled the grand banquet hall, filling in the void of the music that had ended.
‘It’s 12 o’clock.’
The grinning Cordelia closed her lips and left Jude’s arms. She slightly lifted the sides of her skirt with her hands, and gave a bow to everyone.
And the sound of applause burst again, followed by music that began playing anew.
Several people began to dance at that moment.
“Haa.”
At a balcony of the grand banquet hall.
Cordelia hid behind the curtains to avoid people’s gaze for a while, and she took several breaths.
“I can live now.”
Because the air was cold.
Her burning red face seemed to cool off for a bit too.
Cordelia panted as if she was exhausted, and glanced at Jude before smiling in satisfaction again.
Just like her, Jude’s face was red, and he was also catching his breath.
“Fufufu. I won.”
“Wait, what did you win from?”
“I won, I won. I won. I won, okay?”
The grinning Cordelia put her arms on the balcony railing and smiled again.
“Haa, I’m tired.”
“Are you okay? Would you like a potion?”
“I’m fine though? What about you?”
“I’ve absorbed the Sphere of Life, so if I just stand still, my HP and stamina will fill up again.”
“I see, that’s great. You’re like Captain America. You can move all day long without getting tired, huh?”
“If it’s just dancing, I can do it for days, okay?”
“Oh my, look at you bragging nonsense.”
As Cordelia clicked her tongue, Jude coughed in his awkwardness.
“Anyway, are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
“Don’t you feel cold? Your clothes look thin. Your entire shoulders are exposed. You might catch a cold.”
When Jude viewed the Fairy Dress and spoke, Cordelia confidently smiled as her fangs glistened.
“It’s fine, I’m really fine. Have you forgotten? The Winter Protection?”
“I see. But you still look cold, so let’s put something on.”
As he said that, Jude took off his coat and put it over Cordelia’s shoulders, and Cordelia’s lips squirmed.
‘What’s wrong with me?’
Originally, I was going to say ‘Wow~’ and tease him.
But I can’t do it.
Somehow, my lips are tightly sealed.
‘Jude’s smell.’
Of course, it seems to be a sweaty smell because he’s sweating, but anyway, it’s the smell of Jude.
As Cordelia sniffed a bit, Jude was visibly embarrassed, pulling the sleeves of his hanging coat in order to sniff it.
“This… Does it smell?”
“Yes, it does. A lot. Hmm~ it smells a lot.”
At the words of Cordelia known for her animal-like senses, Jude tried to retrieve his coat again, but he couldn’t.
Cordelia held the coat with both her hands and snorted.
“Why are you trying to take what you gave me?”
“You said it smells.”
“That’s that and this is this.”
“What is that and this?”
“I wonder?”
Perhaps her red face had clouded her judgment, but Cordelia did not stop smiling.
“Anyway, I’m really happy.”
“I feel happy too. Everyone in the world knows now. The beauty of Cordelia.”
“My goodness, seriously. Hey, this is my beauty. It’s not yours, okay?”
“Hey, why are you saying that? I’m someone who knows everything about you.”
“What do you know? You don’t know everything about Cordelia.”
If someone had seen the two, they would have taken out their bamboo spears in their annoyance and want to stab the two, but the two were the only ones here, and both of them were satisfied with their childish banter, so there was no problem.
“But Jude. If you think about it, isn’t this a problem?”
“What part?”
“I mean, like… we seriously stood out on Emma’s birthday party, right?”
“We did.”
“But if you think about it, today is the birthday of our Sälen Kingdom, right?”
“So?”
“Then, umm… aren’t the royalty the main characters today?”
At the development of her quite good reasoning, Jude nodded his head.
“They were. You might not know since you were changing your clothes… but until you came out, Princess Daphne had led the opening ceremony and was actually the main character.”
“Oh, it was like that. I see… Wait, what? Princess Daphne was the main character?”
“Yes, Her Royal Majesty, the First Queen, still has a jaw-dropping beauty, but it’s natural for Princess Daphne to be the main character of the ball since she’s single and of marriageable age. She’s also the royalty acknowledged as the next monarch.”
It was a sound argument.
But that was also the reason why Cordelia turned pale.
“Hey, you crazy b*stard! You knew that would happen, right?”
What am I going to do!
What if Princess Daphne gets angry!
As Cordelia hit Jude in the shoulder and chest with her fist, Jude responded, pretending that it wasn’t painful.
“It’s okay since it’s a little different from a birthday party. This isn’t a wedding too. Besides, we’re from the Sälen Kingdom and not from another country, right? So it’s not a problem.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s true.”
“Will you take responsibility?”
“Of course, Princess. I will take full responsibility.”
“Hmph. Okay, I’ll forgive you.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Jude replied in a theatrical manner, and Cordelia laughed while criticizing him for being weird.
‘Come to think of it…’
Clasped hands.
Cordelia’s fingers twitched as she gently smiled.
‘Let’s try again later.’
Not today but later.
I actually want to do it now, but I should do it later.
‘No. Should I just do it now?’
There’s nothing wrong with it.
It’s not that of a big deal.
Cordelia pretended that it was fine, and she glanced at Jude. She slowly stretched out her hand towards Jude.
And when the black-hearted Jude smiled a bit slyly at her actions.
Cordelia suddenly raised her head.
She roughly reached out and grabbed Jude by the collar, shouting as she pulled him towards her.
“<Shield!>”
A transparent shelter.
And at that moment, Jude also realized it.
No, he had no choice but to realize it.
The light.
And the explosion.
The ceiling of the grand banquet hall collapsed with a tremendous roar.