Chapter 89
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------
Chapter 89
Vivian swallowed unconsciously, her throat bobbing softly as she gave a small nod.
At that, Lahedis's arm wrapped around Vivian's lower back—though he kept his fist clenched to avoid actually touching her skin.
Yet despite his careful restraint, Vivian's entire attention was fixed on that very spot.
Soon, the autumn breeze became their music, and the dance began.
Lahedis, moving through the steps with practiced ease, suddenly glanced down at Vivian and stifled an escaping laugh.
Her honey-colored eyes were visibly tense, and her lips pressed together in fierce concentration—it was endearing.
'For someone this nervous, she's actually dancing quite well....'
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Vivian's foot came down hard on his, as if to contradict him entirely.
"...."
"Oh! I'm sorry."
Lahedis instinctively smoothed his furrowed brow and tried to comfort Vivian.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it—just brazenly move past the mistake like nothing happened."
A gentleman's manner was to overlook a lady's missteps and smoothly cover for them.
So he tried to regain the rhythm....
But Vivian, now even more frozen with embarrassment, began stepping on his feet with every movement.
'...She's actually quite skilled at stepping on my feet.'
The more she stepped on them, the more mistakes seemed to cascade.
"...Is it possible you dislike me so much you're trying to grind my feet to dust?"
At Lahedis's question, Vivian pouted her lips in response.
"If that were my intention, I would have done it long ago."
Lahedis tried to avoid her feet so she wouldn't feel tense, but his consideration was meaningless to Vivian, who was acutely aware of her own mistakes.
In the end, the dance finished in complete disaster.
Vivian, having barely managed to finish while dripping with cold sweat, became dejected and crouched down below the railing.
"Ugh. Father is an unparalleled knight, so why am I so clumsy? Was I really picked up from the gutter?"
"Well, looking at your face, I doubt that's the case."
"I guess I inherited only his facial features, and my athletic talent just evaporated...."
"What's a genetic trait?"
"...Anyway, it's something like that."
Her small frame, hunched beneath the railing with a dejected expression, was both endearing and pitiful.
Lahedis sat down beside her and tried to console her.
"Like I said before, you don't need to be so nervous. Even if you make mistakes, just move forward confidently."
"But what will people think when they see?"
"Who would dare criticize you for dancing poorly? You have the Rosewood Marquis House behind you."
"That's exactly why I want to do well."
Rosewood.
The moment I mentioned that name—now my pride and my responsibility—the image of Dain and Igraine heading to work this morning flashed through my mind.
My father, revered as a war hero, and my aunt, who rose to the position of Prime Minister despite being a woman.
Standing between these two, I felt utterly insignificant.
"Is it because Dain Lowswood and the Prime Minister wish it?"
At Lahedis's question, Vivian shook her head.
"I just... want to do well. To live up to that name without shame."
No one had demanded anything of me, yet I couldn't bear to live comfortably in the shadow of their reputations.
So I had tried to fulfill my role as successor with dedication.
"But even simple things aren't easy."
Perhaps it was because I had confided in him before. Or perhaps it was because we were in that very place where I had opened my heart.
The complaint spilled out without thought.
In that moment, a warm weight settled atop my head as I exhaled a soft sigh.
It was the same hand that had held me during our dance moments before.
"You'll manage soon enough."
"...."
"The you I know is a bit slow, but once you set your mind to something, you always see it through."
Vivian gazed blankly at the hand stroking her head as it withdrew, and at the blue eyes that followed its path, looking down at her.
The moment I saw those eyes, a memory of something Rachel had said in childhood suddenly surfaced.
[You're certainly strange. But that's not because you're odd. It's because you're special.]
Only then did I suddenly understand.
'I really did care for Rachel so much.'
Perhaps even more than as a friend.
That precious feeling from childhood had shaped who I am now.
And....
'I've come to care for this person who resembles Rachel.'
Far more than I expected.
Overwhelmingly so, filling this very moment.
Just then, the night breeze swept past, tousling my hair.
Feeling the turbulent emotion stirred by that wind, Vivian rose from her seat.
Then she removed the shoes she was wearing. Small feet clad in socks emerged from beneath her dress.
Lahedis looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"What are you suddenly―"
"I'm fully rested now."
Before Lahedis could even ask why she was removing her shoes, Vivian answered.
"Walking in shoes hurts. And then I'd be distracted."
"...."
"Now I'm really going to do this properly."
With those words, Vivian extended her hand to him.
Her large eyes gazing at him shone as though they held all the glittering things in the world.
In that color he loved.
Watching Vivian thus, Lahedis smiled softly and placed his hand upon the small one she offered.
"Then let's start with a proper greeting."
Vivian, who had stepped back three paces, offered a courteous bow before approaching once more.
Softly, gently, on those adorable sock-clad feet.
Soon our hands met, and the shadows of the two of us, pressed close together, began to spin in lazy circles.
Lahedis gazed down quietly at Vivian, who looked up at him.
A noblewoman dancing with her shoes cast aside.
The sight struck me as so perfectly her that I couldn't help but let soft laughter escape.
Until our moonlit waltz finally drew to a close.
* * *
Beneath the brilliant glow of the ornate chandelier.
I danced with movements as fluid and natural as flowing water.
My partner for my first dance, Dain Lowswood, marveled at my skill.
"Your dancing is quite remarkable, Lady."
Heh, of course it is.
How many days and nights had I spent practicing for this very moment, drenched in sweat and tears?
"Surely this is merely the basic accomplishment expected of a Lady?"
As I answered with practiced nonchalance and a slight shrug, Father's low chuckle rumbled through the air.
As the music drew to a close, my first dance in High Society came to an end.
Ordinarily, a debutante ball is held in spring when the flowers bloom, gathering all noble daughters who have turned nineteen that year in the Imperial Capital.
But I had inevitably missed that spring at nineteen, so I had no choice but to make this evening my debutante ball.
A Marquis's daughter holding her ball alone in winter.
Add to that the epithet of "daughter of a war hero," and it was no exaggeration to say that every eye in the ballroom was fixed upon me.
'For all that pressure, I think I did quite well.'
As I basked in pride at the fruits of my labor, I caught sight of the Duke and my Aunt watching from afar with satisfied smiles.
Just as I was about to make my way toward them through the crowd of strangers.
"Lady."
At the unfamiliar voice, I turned to find a group of noble sons surrounding me.
Of course, including Father, who had been at my side.
One of them—I couldn't recall his name, though I remembered he was from a fairly prominent noble house—shyly extended his hand.
"If you would permit me, might I have the honor of dancing with you, Lady?"
Ugh.
Sickly sweet words, a sickly sweet expression, and most importantly....
'I heard everything you said about me at the Hunting Festival, how a commoner like you was muddying the waters.'
That was precisely why I remembered this bastard's face.
'But if I refuse him here, it will damage our house's reputation...?'
As I glanced around searching for an escape from this situation, I suddenly felt a chill and turned to look beside me.
Father's hand was moving toward the sword hilt at his waist.
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------