/
In the midst of the noise, Ethan quietly looked at Dorothea.
People have sent congratulations and compliments to her all the time, but she never spoke up.
She was watching the nobles quietly like an observer.
The nobles picked up a glass and filled it with wine, and Nereus handed the glass of wine to Dorothea.
Dorothea looked at Nereus quietly, and Nereus laughed.
“Everyone is congratulating the princess.”
In the end, Dorothea graciously accepted the glass.
Ethan picked up the glass given by the servant next to him and examined Dorothea’s expression.
Obviously, she doesn’t like this situation. This situation is in which they change their attitude in an instant and then try to sort things out on their own.
This situation in which she hastily erased the bad memories she had suffered and tried to cover them up with laughter as if those memories were nothing.
“Princess, you are the main character of this toast, so please say something.”
Nereus smiled and invited her to give a speech, and the people nodded, waiting for her to speak.
Dorothea looked at the pretentious glass of wine in her hand and smiled.
“Everyone, thank you so much for celebrating my work as if it were your own.”
She quietly took her glass and looked around the people.
“It’s such a happy day, so drink as much as you’ve ignored me so far.”
Having said that, Dorothea drank slowly.
The red wine slowly burned inside her mouth, and every last drop disappeared.
And when she put down her empty glass, people were staring at her, frozen.
Drink as much as you ignore Dorothea.
If so, most of the mouth would be able to empty at least one glass, but strangely, none of the glasses were emptied.
Dorothea smiled as she looked at the nobles, who were in despair.
“Just kidding, I didn’t think you’d all be so serious.”
At that moment, laughter was heard next to Dorothea. It was Ethan who was worried about her all along.
“I will correct it. Drink as much as you want to congratulate me.”
At Dorothea’s words, the hardened atmosphere was finally relieved.
People all congratulated her and drank alcohol.
Ethan looked at her and quietly held out a plate of cake.
It was a cake that Po made.
White whipped cream cherry, blueberry, strawberry and peach were colorfully mixed.
“When did you get it?”
“As soon as the cake comes out, I make sure to get as many different toppings as possible.”
He also had tea in one hand.
‘I understand  the cake, but why the tea?’
Dorothea looked at his tea and pointed at his glass of wine, which he had not yet filled.
“The congratulatory speech is so uncomfortable.”
“Ah, that…”
“Just kidding. I hate having alcohol with my cake. Would you like a cup of tea, too?”
Ethan burst out laughing at Dorothea, who was bewildered.
Dorothea nodded her head in relief.
But very coincidentally, Ethan didn’t touch his glass until the end of the debutante.
* * *
Even though the debutante was not over yet, the news that Dorothea had awakened the power of the spirits spread quickly.
The nobles who attended the debutante had their servants deliver the urgent news to their families.
And, of course, Dorothea’s news spread to the Imperial Palace as fast as light.
“Princess Dorothea?”
The knight looked at Stefan as soon as they heard the rumor.
There was no need for an escort for the Debutante which had separate guards, so he waited in the Imperial Palace until Dorothea’s ball was over.
“They are moving her palace to a bigger palace. His Majesty the Emperor himself ordered it.”
“Wow. You hit the jackpot, Sir Stefan.”
The knights said to Stefan with envy.
As Dorothea’s status rises, it is obvious that Stefan’s status will also rise.
“As expected, life is one shot. I can’t believe you got promoted after going to the countryside.”
The voices of the knights grumbled in Stefan’s ears.
They had laughed at him for being Dorothea’s escort when no one else had applied for the job, and they had laughed at him for holding a hopelessly lowly position, but now his position was convenient.
Stefan didn’t want to respond to them, so he kept his mouth shut and just quietly took his sword.
Others envy him, but it didn’t change for him. As usual, his job was to stand by Dorothea.
But there was something that made him a little happy.
‘The princess has the power of a spirit…’
That the person he serves will go to a better place and be recognized by people.
Stefan wondered if a warm light would shine on her now. He always wanted Dorothea to have a comfortable position.
“Sir Stefan, but what does that mean? The princess has the power of a spirit?”
On the other hand, Joy did not understand the situation yet and asked.
It sounded like a good thing, but she didn’t really feel it.
Just because she gains the power of a spirit, it doesn’t mean that Dorothea’s personality suddenly changes or she becomes a completely different person.
Besides, if something good has happened to Dorothea, why are all these unrelated knights making a scene?
“….”
Stefan looked at Joy quietly because it was difficult to explain the complex relationship accurately.
“Okay, I’ll ask the maid Clara.”
With just Stefan’s eyes, Joy knew what he was saying.
Then Stefan, who had been keeping his mouth shut for a while, spoke up.
“It would be a good thing for you, too…”
“Oh, of course! Our princess is doing well! Anyway, I was thinking of telling Po to make an apple pie. We should have a celebration party.!”
Joy gave a thumbs up.
‘That’s not it….’
Joy thought of this as just a happy thing to celebrate because something good happened to Dorothea.
She didn’t even know that maybe she had a chance to be promoted to an official knight, even though she was still a servant.
Stefan closed his mouth as he tried to explain further.
‘If she doesn’t know, she doesn’t have to expect anything.’
Besides, she already seems happy, so she should be happy enough today.
* * *
After the debut, Dorothea got into the carriage with Ethan.
The noise of the glamorous and bustling debutante faded away, and soon only the sound of squeaking horses’ hooves and the rattling of wheels could be heard.
As things that had been disturbed by the noisy party calmed down one by one, thoughts and emotions slowly moved to one place.
Dorothea to Ethan, Ethan to Dorothea.
However, the two didn’t speak for a long time.
Ethan looked at Dorothea sitting across from him.
Dorothea was looking at him with her red lips closed, as if she was holding the words she wanted to say. She still has a lot to say about the spirits and the past. But she hesitated.
Ethan knew why.
So he couldn’t talk to Dorothea, and they were silent in a space just for the two of them.
But in the end, they have to face it.
“Speak comfortably, Princess.”
Ethan opened his mouth first.
Then Dorothea’s lips opened heavily.
“Actually, I resent you, Ethan.”
In the silence, Ethan recalled his confession, each emotion becoming clearer. He listened to her resentment in silence as if he knew it was coming.
“If you hadn’t hidden Theon’s secret, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Even when she killed Raymond, Ethan knew Theon’s secret.
The darkness she encountered when he occasionally visited Theon’s room, and the way he was getting thinner every day, Ethan says is due to his physical disease.
The fact that he had deceived her all her life, and everything that had happened because of it, confused her.
If he didn’t hide Theon’s secret, there would have been no tragedy in their past lives.
“Why did you come here and tell me the truth now?”
Dorothea wondered at the same time as she resented him.
He could have kept it a secret forever. He could have lied that he found out about Theon’s secret after Raymond’s death.
No, Ethan obviously should have done that. Because he was a person who always made up his words to his advantage and made people on his side. He never comes clean about things that don’t go his way.
It was the kind of overly frankness that confused Dorothea, the kind that could barely be dismissed as a mistake.
Ethan looked at Dorothea, who had a question as big as resentment and opened his mouth.
“Because I saw the princess crumble under the weight of that sin.” Ethan said.
He didn’t want to see her like that again, who was suffering day by day.
He couldn’t bear to see her again, who chose death over life, suffering and crying because of Ethan’s death every night.
“I wanted you to know that it wasn’t your fault, that it was all my fault that I killed Prince Raymond, and I killed Theon Fried.”
He hoped that his sins would alleviate Dorothea’s sins.
‘So I want you to forgive yourself and live a life, not death.’
He looked into Dorothea’s trembling eyes and smiled bitterly.
She didn’t really say it, but he knew vaguely.
‘Maybe today will be the last chance to be with Dorothea.’
After the debutante ended and he got on the carriage, this suffocating silence might be foretelling the end.
“You’re not the only one who’s changed from the old days.”
Just as Dorothea failed in the life of an emperor, so did Ethan fail in the life of being loved by Dorothea.
Just as Dorothea killed Raymond and lost Theon, so he killed Theon and lost Dorothea.
Therefore, just as Dorothea gave up her life as emperor, he could also give up the place next to Dorothea.
For Dorothea,
“If I want to save the princess, I have to save Theon Fried first.”
He knew that.
As he confesses his sins, Dorothea will have a chance to capture Theon.
Dorothea could now impart the power of light to Theon, who was being engulfed by the power of darkness.
“With the power I give you, you will be able to keep Theon Fried by your side.”
Now Theon would need Dorothea, and he would not die hating her.
And Dorothea will live happily.
Theon Fried could give a smile that Ethan Bronte couldn’t.
Destiny loves Dorothea by giving up Dorothea.
So, today’s debutante was nothing but the last time given to him.
“It’s my motto to give my partner the most memorable ball.”
He greeted her with the most beautiful appearance he could be.
‘Not only because of the power of the spirit, I wish you even a little bit of happiness on the last day you hold my hand.’
‘May she remember the times she danced with me, the times she talked with me, the times she wasn’t ignored by the nobles.’