Blue skies and colorful roses, the visible ballroom in the background, and a man and woman who would come out to the terrace to show their affection for one another.
For Max, who constantly had to overcome threats in order to survive, such cliche scenes were old-fashioned and annoying.
<Your Highness, just in case things go awry, please stay at the promised rendezvous point.>
Before he had come here, he kept in mind what Freesia had said to him, but it was boring to hide in the trees all day long.
‘Should I just leave?’
If he could, he wanted to drop everything immediately and go back to Salon Blooms, and yet he was displaying an abnormal amount of patience.
<Speaking of Lady Floyen…I wonder if she’ll be okay as she’s well-known for being an outcast in high society and has a lot of enemies.>
‘That’s right, there’s a lot to gain from this party.’
Today’s party didn’t just have his mentor, but also a large number of nobles backing the Empress in attendance.
If there was anyone who approached his mentor, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep track of their identities for now and then nip the buds later in the future.
But what was really occupying Max’s head was the image of Juvellian in a fancy dress and dancing in another man’s arms.
‘She’s probably dancing with another man by now, right?’
Max’s eyes grew increasingly murderous the longer he stared in the direction of the ballroom.
‘If I were to reveal my identity and go in right now…’
As his body shook with a strong impulse, the door of the terrace he had promised to meet up with Freesia opened.
Recognizing the person who had just come out, Max’s eyes widened.
‘Juvellian?’
At first, he thought perhaps he was hallucinating and blinked a few times before confirming that it was indeed Juvellian.
‘Why did she come out here?’
He started having all sorts of thoughts, but strangely, he felt better after she had entered his peripheral vision, to the point where he now saw the originally dull and boring scenery in a new light.
‘She must like roses, seeing as how she’s staring at them so earnestly.’
Unbeknownst to himself, Max was smiling as he observed Juvellian.
But he soon became puzzled by her next action.
‘What, why is she lowering her head all of a sudden?’
Once Juvellian raised her head, Max found his answer.
‘Is she crying right now?’
He had thought maybe he was mistaken, but from her gem-like eyes–which were a mix of purple and blue–a trickle of tears escaped.
At that moment, Freesia’s recent request passed through Max’s head.
<Your Highness, please don’t cause any trouble and quietly stay put at the meeting place.>
But before he had even finished recalling the remark, Max had already jumped down from the tree.
* * *
I frowned slightly as I stared at my father’s apprentice.
‘Why is he saying something so out of the blue?’
Even if I may look like this, I’m still a Duke’s only daughter.
I may have tormented others in the past, but I, myself, have never been the victim of such acts…It seemed my father’s apprentice saw me as a pushover because I’ve been treating him rather kindly.
“Tell me,” he demanded in a harsh voice, as if he was interrogating me.
“Why? If someone did torment me, are you going to punish them for me?”
His answer was immediate.
“Yes, because I promised to help you.”
I let out a sigh. I didn’t think he would take what I had said lightly so seriously.
‘Ah, really. If you try to help me, I’ll end up heading straight for my doom!’
I had been overlooking his arrogance because I didn’t want to come off as imposing, but the other nobles would be different.
There were plenty of nobles who brought down capital punishment on commoners just for using informal speech, with the excuse that they were rebelling against a superior figure. So, if Max, a commoner, tried to use force against a noble, he would immediately lose his head.
‘He could just be bluffing…but then again, if it’s this guy…it’s quite plausible that he’ll really carry it out.’
After observing my father’s apprentice for a few days, perhaps it was because he grew in the backwoods, but I realized it really didn’t seem like he knew anything.
His head seemed blank and empty to the extent where I thought that if I took my eyes off of him, he might accidentally die in a place where I couldn’t see.
I nodded to myself.
‘Yes, well, I’ve grown a little attached to him so I can’t just let him die.’
Though we weren’t by any means close, it was somewhat comfortable to be with this man who treated me without putting up a facade.
I felt like a normal person, not Juvellian, the Duke’s only daughter, whenever I was with him.
“Excuse me.”
“What.”
Seeing him staring back at me when I called him, I continued, “If you want to help me, then talk to me using honorifics in front of others from now on.”
“What did you say?”
“I’m already being looked down upon in society, so if you look down on me too, don’t you think people would ridicule me even more?”
He stared at me silently.
“Depending on how you use it, words can help make enemies or allies. The nobles are especially sensitive to words. Maybe if the status system was abolished, then you wouldn’t have to worry about it, but since that’s not the case, I’m just saying that you should be careful.”
He continued to stare at me in silence with those crimson eyes of his.
‘If you have any complaints, you should just say it. Why are you looking at me so scrutinizingly?’
When I started to feel like his gaze was a little strange, he nodded his head once slowly.
‘What a good boy.’ [1]
The sight of him nodding his head meekly made me feel like I was watching an obedient child. I was so proud that I almost patted his head without realizing it.
I quickly withdrew my hand and spoke, “Oh, by the way, why are you here at the party?”
“Work,” he replied curtly.
Hm, well, mercenaries were often hired for parties and banquets for security reasons, so I thought he must have the qualifications to be a temporary guard as well.
But if I had to point out a problem, it would be that, for a commoner, his appearance stood out too much.
“When nobles talk to you here, you have to address them using honorifics. Understand?”
Feeling anxious, I checked with him again and he let out a sigh.
“All right.”
But I knew how arrogant and ignorant of the world he was, so I stretched out my pinky finger and added, “Here, promise me.”
He furrowed his brows but soon let out another sigh before obediently yielding his pinky.
As soon as we stamped our thumbs, he pulled his hand out and spoke in an irritated tone.
“But, what in the world is your partner doing that you’re out here all alone?”
‘Well, I guess it could have looked like that.’
The terrace, in a positive sense, was a place to relax, but it could also be taken as a place where the ones who couldn’t adapt to the party would flee to.
And as long as my father was my partner, I was not in a situation where I could freely enjoy the party.
“My father is inside…”
Max stared at me in shock.
“What? Didn’t you say you were going to partner with your cousin?”
“Ah, yes, but somehow it just turned out like this.”
He stared at me, frowning.
“What about the dance?”
I answered his question with a sigh, “If I had received a dance request, would I be out here looking distressed in front of you?”
As soon as the words left my lips, the smile that appeared on his face was so swift, to the degree where it was a little scary.
‘Well, I suppose my situation must look amusing.’
In the past, because I had the title of a duke’s daughter, there were still people who requested to dance with me. But, for some strange reason, I didn’t receive a single request from anyone today.
‘I guess it’s karma for my past behavior.’
When I thought so, I suddenly saw a hand held out in front of me.
Before I knew it, Max, peering at me with a serious expression, extended his hand.
“Why is your hand out?”
“Can’t you tell? I’m asking for a dance,” he said with a slight frown.
“You know how to dance? Wow.”
I asked him in surprise, to which he nodded haughtily and then stated in a smug voice, “You should feel honored, I don’t dance with just anyone.”
I was worried that I might get stepped on, but I couldn’t refuse someone who looked like he really wanted to dance, so I decided to be generous.
“Yes, it’s an honor to dance with you,” I said as I took his outstretched hand.
At that moment, I doubted my own eyes for a second. Unlike all the other times, the confident smile he wore right now looked like it belonged to an arrogant prince.
‘He’s really handsome.’
As he lifted our clasped hands, I stared at him as if possessed.
“Then let’s begin.”
We heard the orchestra playing inside the hall waft out on the terrace.
‘I’ll probably have to lead, right?’
Holding the assumption that he was a beginner, I tried to step slowly, but then, at that exact moment, he began to lead me.
‘Huh?’
A step that was too fluid to be called a beginner’s, and even the leading itself was perfect–not a single movement was wasted. It felt like he had plenty of experience.
‘How?’
I stared at him dumbfounded.
“Ack!”
Was it because I was wearing uncomfortable, high-heeled shoes and had been absentminded? I had suddenly lost my footing and almost fell.
But…
“Why are you so distracted?” he scolded, holding my waist tightly and staring at me with his crimson eyes.
I panicked for a moment but then immediately tried to escape from his arms.
“Is your ankle okay?”
His words came out bluntly, yet it held concern for me. It made me feel somewhat strange.
“Oh, it’s okay. So if you could…”
I tried to put some distance between our bodies, but I wasn’t able to as he suddenly lifted me up and held me in a princess carry.
‘Wha, what is he doing?!’
I became flustered by his unexpected behavior.
He set me down on a bench and began applying something on my ankle. At the cool feeling, it almost felt like he had put on a pain-relief patch.
Feeling amazed, I shifted my gaze to stare at him but he lowered his head and grumbled, “You’re lucky that I was carrying the medicine around…what would you have done if I wasn’t?”
‘Carrying standard medicine around with him…is it because he’s a mercenary?’
I stared at him in slight awe.
“Thank you.”
He lowered his head even further while voicing his irritation.
“I don’t need a thank-you, just don’t get hurt.”
Glancing at the top of his head, I noticed a leaf stuck in his hair.
‘I should take it off for him.’
“There, that should…” he had begun to say but trailed off as he raised his head slightly.
I had stretched my hand out to remove the leaf, but due to his movement, the position of my hand now looked as if I was about to pat his head, causing me to feel a little embarrassed.
Then, he took my hand.
“You, just now…”
‘Ah, is he angry?’
I noticed how his face turned a little red. It seemed he must be angry by what it looked like I had been about to do. I was about to apologize but was interrupted by a sudden voice.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
We both turned our heads in unison.
“F-Father.”
My father stood by the entrance, glaring at us with a murderous look in his eyes.
T/N: [1] 착하네 – how good/nice
Yup. I saw the opportunity and I took it. Also can’t think of any other way to get the same tone across other than ‘good boy’. Heh