Chapter 79

***

The entire walk to Victor’s room, Amarion looked down at the floor. For some reason, she felt like everyone was looking at her.

Even the servants she saw every day were staring.

‘Do I look weird?’

She didn’t care if her clothes were tattered during subjugation, but when a social gathering approached, she was quite anxious about her appearance. She still wasn’t confident about her social etiquette. Wearing clothes that broke fashion standards was quite scary for a newbie like her.

She wanted to believe the words of her maids that she looked beautiful, but…

Concerned, she stood at her husband’s door. Just as she was about to knock, the door swung open.

“…I’ll take care of that tomorrow, I’m picking Marion up now…”

She opened her eyes wide and looked up at Victor.

She definitely would never get used to his looks. Dressed in a black uniform, he was truly picturesque. Heat rose to her cheeks even though almost none of his skin was showing.

‘Is it because I haven’t seen him much these days?’

Amarion stared at Victor as if possessed, and slowly realized that Victor was speechless, too.

“Victor?”

He blinked slowly, like he was waking up from a dream.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I’m…”

His eyes studied her quietly. Then he smiled gently.

“You are dazzling every time I see you… To marry a woman like you, is there any other man luckier than me?”

He kissed the back of her gloved hand politely, but the eyes that looked at her were hot, as if they could eat her alive. In an instant, the tip of her nose reddened. Amarion quickly covered her face with a fan and looked up at him.

Behind the fan, Victor smiled enchantingly.

“Are we going down now? You must show off your beauty to all the North.”

Amarion nodded. All of her worries were suddenly forgotten.

‘If Victor thinks I am beautiful, I don’t care what other people think.’

‘The only person I want to look beautiful for is Victor.’

She grabbed Victor’s hand.

The noise of the banquet hall gradually drew closer.

＊ ＊ ＊

“His and her highness, Victor Morte and Amarion Morte, are entering!”

They slowly stepped into the banquet hall.

The hall on the first floor, which she thought was too big when she first saw it, was now full of people.

There were far more people than she greeted on the first day. Gorgeous dresses, jewels, and cuffs dazzled her eyes.

Before, she would have been completely frozen, but she kept looking straight ahead and descended the stairs with Victor.

She could hear whispers.

“…The rumors were right. She is a wonderful person, and that dignity that stands out even beside his highness the Grand Duke…”

“Is she really a great knight? I heard that she is the best swordsman in the kingdom…”

“That dress… It’s beautiful. Where did she order it from?”

“I heard that clothes like that are popular here, do you think we can order them from a Morte tailor?”

Amarion bit her lip desperately. She was too embarrassed to accept their compliments.

She heard a small laugh above her head.

“See? I told you. You look beautiful.”

Amarion looked up at Victor with a red face.

She wished he hadn’t heard them. This infamous knight had ears as sensitive as hers.

“…You look like you’re having fun.”

“Of course. How can I not be happy when I have you on my arm?”

He smiled and pulled her into a hug.

As soon as they entered, the music started. Her new dress was also comfortable for dancing. The way it was sewn, the lower part of the skirt opened slightly every time she moved. She spun round and round, entrusting herself to Victor, while enjoying his beautiful face to the fullest.

The first song was soon over. But he didn’t let go of her hand. Amarion asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Are we going to dance more?”

“No. We are the organizers of the banquet, so we should take a break after the first dance.”

“But why…?”

Victor replied with a smirk.

“To keep other men from asking you to dance.”

Amarion blushed.

Even though they decided to be honest with each other, wasn’t this too honest?

Anyway, it was against etiquette to dance with only one partner all night long…

“…Are you going to keep dancing with me?”

“If you wish. Is there a particular song you want to dance to?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Victor glanced around the banquet hall with a smile on his face. Most of the guests were dancing in pairs, but those who weren’t dancing didn’t dare glance his way.

‘You’re not going to kick people out tonight, are you? No, what if it’s like this all three days of the ball?’

She liked dancing with him, but wasn’t this really embarrassing?!

The familiar sound of footsteps approached.

“Oh, you’re not going to dance, My Lady?”

She turned towards the voice and smiled broadly.

“Catalina!”

“I greet you two.”

Catalina smiled and curtsied to show her respect.

Dressed as glamorous as she had been in the Capital, she was dazzling despite her immense workload.

She looked so perfect even when she was tired. She was a bit like Victor in that way.

‘So, are they on good terms?’

As if to combat her thoughts, Victor and Cataline smiled strangely at each other and exchanged greetings.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Catalina. I heard you are very busy.”

“Nevertheless, this is the first banquet my friend is holding, so of course I would attend. But your highness is sticking to her like a cicada on an elm tree, so I’m reassured.”

“Even if I’m a cicada, wouldn’t you be a woodpecker that flew into a tree and claimed it as its own?”

“Oh? At least a woodpecker leaves when the tree sheds its bark.”

Amarion was impressed by the conversation she couldn’t understand.

‘The cuckoo… what?’

Someone muttered from behind her as she stood there blankly.

“You don’t have to understand, Madame.”

She was startled and quickly turned around. Fiery red hair caught her eye. The man clicked his tongue.

“That is the highest level of speech art in the social world. How could someone like you get involved in such an evil conversation?”

“Sir Carlz!”

Amarion greeted the knight with a bright smile. They didn’t subjugate together, and he went on vacation as soon as she returned, so it had been a long time since they had seen each other. In the past, they used to go to every banquet together.

Amarion asked her first escort knight, who was well versed in social etiquette.

“Is that really an evil conversation?”

“Absolutely. It’s so loud that even a dragon would stick its tongue out.”

Carlz asserted.

Amarion still couldn’t understand, but she put aside her doubts and first asked about his well being.

“When did you return to the castle? Isn’t this cutting into your vacation time?”

“Just arrived today.”

“Have you been to your hometown?”

“No. Why would I go there?”

He groaned.

“I was stuck in Morte for a while because of work. This has been going on since the subjugation army left…”

Carlz’s blue eyes turned to Victor and Catalina, who were still smiling and talking. Seeing that he didn’t even drink the champagne he was holding, there was likely more going on than met the eye.

Carlz took a deep breath and sighed.

“Well, that’s enough. If she didn’t tell you, there’s a reason.”

“…?”

“Would you like to dance? Let’s ditch them.”

Carlz playfully extended his hand to Amarion.

She shook off her doubts and took his hand.

＊ ＊ ＊

They blended in between the waves of people. She belatedly noticed that Carlz was dressed in a suit, not a knight’s uniform.

Was this the first time she had seen him in something like this?

After exchanging greetings like a proper pair, Carlz and Amarion began to spin around in the crowd.

Carlz, who was leading the dance, politely asked.

“Your dress is unique. Whose work is it?”

“I don’t know much about seamstress, but the design was recommended by Catalina.”

“I thought so.”

Carlz clicked his tongue.

“Since childhood, she’s disliked stuffy dresses. If you wear a corset and petticoat, you will surely choke to death. At this point, it seems like she is thinking of changing fashion altogether.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

She didn’t have a clue about these kinds of things. She thought they were really close as he talked intimately about Catalina. So why did they keep pretending to be on bad terms?

Amarion shook her head and followed the steps to the song. After one lap, she took Carlz’s hand and took a step backwards, then a step closer.

Carlz chuckled.

“In the Capital, Madame was always in a bad mood.”

Amarion smiled bitterly.

“Because I didn’t fit in well there.”

“How could that be your fault?”

Carlz took her hand and took a deep breath as she spun around.

“The problem is with those who say rude things. I didn’t notice any abnormalities until the duel… you don’t know how much I was scolded by his highness.”

“When I think back to that time, I still feel sorry for you.”

“No, I should have looked into it further. Or I should have fought the duel.”

“Why? Because I am a weak lady?”

Carlz let out a deep sigh at her joke.

“I’m tired of denying duel requests on your behalf from knights across the continent.”

***

New Kofi shop updated till chapter 88.