Chapter 45

Chapter 45

“…no matter what I try to do, I’m running out of HP.”

[T/N: HP – Health Point] 

“Huh?”

Evan looked down at his wife at those wacky words. She mumbled something blankly, lost in her own thoughts.

Juliana was simply lamenting about herself, but Evan thought she was thinking about something very serious.

So, when she didn’t rush to answer him, the silence that had settled between them grew. The mellow performance of the court musicians wrapped them around in silence. 

In the meantime, Juliana was listening to music with a dry throat. 

Perhaps it was because she was recently sick. The body was drained of energy and the limbs were heavy at every attempt. Furthermore, the Empress even sent an invitation just in time to congratulate the Duchess on her recovery.

So, as soon as she got up from her bed, she had to go through a ritual of buying new dresses and jewelry to greet her.

In addition, after matching a mountain of dresses, she even took some time to put a defensive spell on the Emerald Lake to prevent the coming of the heroine. Therefore, it was unavoidable that her body became more exhausted.

Ugh. Like a thief, I’m sneaking out at night with a defensive spell. Even the Duchess can’t do much. No, I’m doing this because I’m an extra who dies in the first half…

Juliana thought pitifully, leaning on her husband’s arm.

Would there be anybody who puts up the defensive spell in case another woman pops out of his lake? I guess I’m the only one who’s so unlucky. In my previous life, I was hit by a car driven by a drunk driver, and I died immediately, and from the moment I opened my eyes wide in this life I was going to give up the Duchess’s position—. 

The depressed woman replied sullenly to her husband.

“It’s nothing. Actually, I’m a little tired. I guess it’s because I haven’t been to a ball in a while. Well, it feels different.”

“Let’s just show our faces and go back. You don’t have to stay in this place when it’s hard.”

“Hmph. You look happy to say that, don’t you?”

“Me?”

Evan grinned.

He looked very well in his robes. Maybe that’s why. Depending on the angle of light, his eyes, which glowed with melancholy blue light and looked like a brilliant blue sea, looked more prominent today.

Because of the height difference, Juliana, who was staring at his square jaw, blushed. Indeed, it was a manly, sly response that shook her heart in two months. 

Juliana answered laboriously.

“To be honest, I think I liked being weak and pampered. I really love being in bed.”

“I’ll tell you the truth. I wish you were in my bed rather than yours.”

“Wait, what…”

Surprised, Juliana soon cleared her throat to look like someone who had heard a casual joke.

Then she spoke in a fresh voice, trying to change the subject. 

“Well, rather than that, let’s see the Empress! She invited me personally.”

“Alright, but we’ll have to wait.”

As he said, all sorts of nobles were gathered beside the little Empress. It looked ridiculous to see the nobles, who laughed at her appearance and said that she was an empress with no power, chasing after her. 

Juliana was able to see the situation clearly by narrowing her eyes thinly.  

“…hmm. It seems certain that the Empress has shown enough of her skills in this competition.”

“After the incident, the relationship between the Empress and the Emperor has grown particularly strong. Good old Lucian Vall Ariakne, who was so vigilant of the outsiders, was also a man in the end.”

“Oh, but why didn’t the Emperor take care of the Empress before?”

Juliana, who was whispering, revealed her thoughts eventually.

No matter how much she thought about it, she was filled with anger. Although she was in a position to drop the original novel, she still liked the unfortunate stuttering Empress of the original story. 

Evan whispered back to this wife, who seemed to be mad.

“I think he saved her with the way he did before.”

“What? You said he saved her. The nobles dared to make fun of the Empress and talked about her in the newspapers. They even talked about the poor Empress’s family. You don’t know, do you?”

Then Evan answered in a plain tone to Juliana’s question, which was filled with doubt.

“The Empress is very wise, but her relatives are different. Her relatives, what should I say? They’re very snobbish and short-minded. If he had defended the Empress from the beginning, he would have urged the Empress’s downfall from her own family’s hand. It may have been the belief in the petty Majesty’s affection that the political situation was established. Sometimes the imperial court thinks of the emperor’s affection in proportion to his power, but in the end, the emperor’s affection is different from his power. And Lucian Vall Ariakne is a man who shares power and affection thoroughly.”

“…hmm. You sound like a fervent admirer of His Majesty. You seem to know all his thoughts.”

At Juliana’s sulking words, Evan said with a smile.

“Don’t you know? Lucian Vall Ariakne was my academy classmate.”

“…?”

Juliana tilted her head.

And unable to contain her curiosity, she whispered into Evan’s ear a little more. Because the story about the Emperor was certainly not to be told openly.

“But the Imperial family doesn’t go to the academy, does it?”

“Lucian Vall Ariakne is not from an Imperial family.”

“…what?”

As he gazed at Juliana’s large, bronze-colored eyes, Evan smiled with delight.

“The story about him isn’t that funny, but I think it’s funny talking to you.”

“No, wait a minute!”

“Why?”

Juliana held out her fan to stop Evan, who was about to approach with innocent eyes, and blocked him.

“Don’t come too close to me.”

“But if I want to tell you a secret story, I have no choice but to whisper. I didn’t mean anything else.”

Lies!

Juliana spread the fan open. She, deftly covering her face, sniffed.

“Just spit it out and lie.”

“My heart aches when my only wife doesn’t believe me.”

“Evan. I’m going to whisper, so you keep the right distance.”

“Why?”

“…why, because…”

Because I’m so nervous…?

It was true, but it was so true that her pride was hurt.

Juliana tried to close the conversation quickly, whether Evan was puzzled or not.

“My, it’s not bad for me to say a few words. Don’t you think?”

“But you do it often.” 

Evan reached out his hand as if to promise.

Juliana held out his hand in a daze. Then in a flash, he led her to the center of the ballroom.

“By any chance, do you still have the stamina to dance?”

Evan smiled and asked for a dance. Juliana was both thrilled and frustrated by her husband’s actions as her heart trembled.

A faint heat mingled with Juliana’s strikingly sparkling bronze eyes. 

“It’s twice as strong as yours. I’m afraid you’ll fall off!”

Juliana held hands with him.

So they began to dance for the second time in their lives in the midst of the young lovers.

A blue rose presented by Evan Hilchen was on the dancing Juliana’s bosom.

In the meantime, the nobles, who secretly watched the two people dancing, whispered and talked to each other about them.

“Look at that. Is it true that Duchess Juliana Auburn came to her senses?”

“But she’s ‘that’ Duchess.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it might change if a person falls off a horse.”

Someone complained. However, after the grumble, there was nothing more to say, and sarcasm did not pour out.

Before the awkward silence took place among the aristocrats, a sensible man brought up another subject first. 

“By the way, the competition was really great. I knew the Duchess was a famous wizard, but I never thought she’d enter the contest in such an entertaining way.”

“It was a great scene, even though it was horseback riding and she lost. By the way, the blue rose that the Duchess put on was…?”

“Oh, the Empress won the contest, you know? It is said that she gave the blue rose to the Duke of Hilchen instead of giving it to His Majesty.”

“That was great, too! The Empress was so majestic.”

“But she stuttered, didn’t she?”

A young man dressed in a black bird’s banquet clothes added words, pushing a cake into his mouth.

As the flow of conversation broke, a young lady said, looking at the piece of cake on the young man’s stomach as if she was about to cut it.

“That doesn’t matter anymore. The important thing is that it was a very nice scene. Young lord and I have a cake to eat on that table. Would you like to go over there?”

“Oh, great!”

The aristocrats whispered openly behind a young man’s back, who put down the piece of cake he was eating on the table and went to explore the dessert.

“That young lord behaves as usual. I’m sure Baron Burnt must be really worried.”

“I know. It’s because he didn’t notice. I mean…”

“Oh, have you heard the news? The young lady from the Ainbury family left her fiancée and had an affair!”

“Oh, the young lady who said she was in a hurry to get married, that’s amazing.”

The conversation again went on to someone else. Rumors struck everyone from one person to another, and before long the lips of everyone who arrived at the ballroom were raised and lowered. However, as with all rumors, they were rather vague and meaningless.

* * * 

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