Chapter 128
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------
I possessed the body of a villainess locked away in a desolate tower.
Chapter 128
The Court Orchestra began playing a string quartet.
Led by Blaire Grand Duke's hand to the center of the floor, I started moving through the steps I had learned, matching the beautiful melody.
Thanks to rigorous practice, dancing itself was not difficult. However, there was an unexpected challenge...
'This is... so nerve-wracking.'
Perhaps because the distance between him and me appeared quite close? I felt curious gazes piercing through from all directions.
I tried to act as if nothing was amiss, but unfamiliar with such situations, I inevitably stumbled.
Fortunately, Blaire Grand Duke guided me with practiced ease.
"Ah, um...."
Though awkward at first, as my tension gradually melted away, I too found myself dancing naturally.
Yet that didn't mean everything was perfectly fine.
'Why am I trembling like this....'
In truth, after my attendance at the ball was confirmed, I received separate dance lessons with Blaire Grand Duke.
But back then, both he and I wore comfortable clothing, and it felt more like rigorous studying than a date.
So once it ended, all I wanted was to rest rather than worry about performance or anything else. Now, I felt nothing of the sort.
'It's definitely different from then.'
Blaire Grand Duke's appearance today was particularly striking and handsome.
Of course, he was still handsome as always, but perhaps because he had taken extra care with his appearance, he felt completely different somehow.
'Were his shoulders always this broad?'
Every time I leaned into him, I felt his firm chest, and the warm heat enveloping my hand and waist made me tense involuntarily.
It was all so strange. I thought I'd feel nothing since I saw Blaire Grand Duke all the time... or rather, I never even thought there'd be anything different about him. So why was my heart racing like this?
"This way."
Just as I was lost in complicated thoughts, a pleasant baritone settled against my ear.
"Oh."
The music had already ended.
Only then coming to my senses, I walked off the floor with Blaire Grand Duke.
'Get a grip.'
I tried to suppress the strange emotions I had felt while dancing.
But then Blaire Grand Duke whispered softly.
"It seems someone is waiting for you."
"Pardon?"
When I, momentarily confused by his meaning, asked again, Blaire Grand Duke gestured with his chin.
Turning my head in the direction he indicated, I saw Lemeia, whom I thought had left the Banquet Hall, watching me from a distance.
'Right. I need to talk with Lemeia at some point....'
To understand the situation, it was certainly necessary to meet with Lemeia.
Having made my decision, I opened my mouth to Blaire Grand Duke.
"I'll be back."
"I'll wait, April."
...He only called my name once, so why did my heart feel so strange.
For some reason, I found it difficult to meet his gaze directly, so I quickly excused myself from the conversation.
As I wove through the crowd, I caught snippets of discussion about Lemeia among the gathered nobles.
"She's certainly beautiful. It seems the rumors about Crown Prince Lyden's admiration for her weren't mere gossip."
"Indeed. Even if she is a princess from a subjugated enemy nation, one cannot deny her beauty."
As expected, Lemeia's stunning appearance was impossible to overlook—a topic of conversation. Of course, that made her the original heroine.
But naturally, not everyone spoke favorably of Lemeia.
"A princess of a defeated nation, no less. Or rather, she's not even a princess anymore. How does such an unremarkable woman earn the favor of Crown Prince Lyden?"
"I heard she's merely a long-term pawn to stabilize the sentiment of the Salt domain."
"Is that so? Still, even as a pawn, she's quite pleasant to look at. Hehehehe."
I practically pushed through the gossiping crowd and found myself standing before Lemeia.
As I drew near, she met my gaze with an expressionless face.
Perhaps due to her long practice in managing her expressions, Lemeia maintained the perfect appearance of a dignified princess at first glance.
But no matter how perfectly one masks their expression, the trembling in one's eyes cannot be hidden.
"It is an honor to meet you, Princess Lemeia Salt. I am April Pepper."
Standing before her for the first time in ages made me slightly nervous, but I greeted her as naturally as I could.
However.
"Yes."
Lemeia's response to me was a cold, terse reply.
While it might appear rude, Lemeia was nearly flawless in her conduct within high society, if nothing else...
'So conversation here is difficult.'
Lemeia was being cautious.
And if there was someone who could make Lemeia this wary... it was likely Crown Prince Lyden.
I had suspected as much already.
Because Lemeia was a master of image management. Therefore, her expression control was also exceptional.
The fact that even she had momentarily lost control of her expression meant she was genuinely afraid, so it wasn't difficult to grasp the general situation.
As I pondered how to continue our conversation, I suddenly recalled something Lemeia had once taught me.
"April, in high society, you speak in metaphors and indirect language. For instance, the roses along the Cler Riverbank bloom fully in the second week of August. Something like that, you understand?"
"I'm afraid I don't..."
"Good heavens! That means to meet at the Cler Riverbank in the second week of August. You're usually so clever—why must you be so oblivious?"
Yes. This was it. The moment had finally come to apply what Lemeia taught me. Though I never dreamed I'd use it like this...
"Your Highness, I've heard that the moon seen from the Eastern Garden before midnight is most beautiful in a season like this."
"Thank you for telling me."
"Yes, then I shall take my leave."
After hearing Lemeia's response, I offered a light bow and quickly slipped out of the Banquet Hall.
Fortunately, with little time remaining before midnight, I wouldn't need to wait long in the cold garden.
'I can wait a little while.'
After calculating the timing in my mind, I hurried to the garden and quietly concealed myself beneath a shadowed tree.
Meeting again after so long—a half-sister and my former cruel employer.
My heart seemed to be racing wildly.
* * *
The wealthiest empire on the Continent, the Cletan Empire, and the Central Palace of the Imperial Capital—grander and more magnificent than any other palace in existence.
Lemeia had long imagined the moment she would appear before everyone, holding Lyden's hand in the Banquet Hall of that Central Palace.
Yet at the last banquet, she had been treated as nothing more than a painting hung upon the wall, and this time, she had not even received the long-awaited dance partner request.
'He must be disappointed in me....'
Ever since her hidden secret had been exposed, Lemeia had been shrinking into herself, her confidence withering away.
So she had tried to avoid attending the banquet altogether, but with Lyden having sent her a dress, she could hardly pretend ignorance.
Fortunately, there was still time before the banquet began, so Lemeia had even attempted to write a love letter to repair her relationship with Lyden.
Or rather, to be more precise, she had 'attempted'.
I do regret deceiving Your Highness.
Yet after wracking her brain for a full two hours, she had managed only a single sentence.
'My head feels like it's about to split....'
Certainly, she had more free time now than when she was in Salt, and there was no need for her to handle duties, so she should have felt more at ease.
But the headaches that came whenever she looked at written words had only grown worse, and her concentration—already difficult before—had become even more elusive.
In the end, given her condition, Lemeia had been unable to close the distance between herself and Lyden before the banquet began.
Perhaps because of this, the Imperial Palace handmaidens who had initially treated her with utmost care began to ignore Lemeia at some point.
"Princess, do not lose heart. If you show yourself more beautiful than anyone else at this banquet, the Crown Prince's heart will surely turn back to you."
Only Amber, the head maid who had followed her from Salt, gave her strength.
But when Lemeia, having taken heart from Amber's words and dressed herself carefully, entered the Banquet Hall, what she saw was...
'April?'
An unexpected person.
And worse, Lyden had even approached April, who had been standing in for her all this time, and engaged her in conversation!
Just as Lemeia, seized by panic, was about to flee the Banquet Hall, Lyden mercifully finished his conversation with April and came to her.
"Shall we dance?"
"Y-yes...."
At the sight of Lyden extending his hand to her, Lemeia's heart began to race wildly once more.
But the moment Lemeia spun gracefully across the floor to the rhythm of the music being played,
"Lemeia. I would have you bring that illegitimate princess to me."
Lyden whispered softly into her ear.
"...Pardon?"
"I trust you will manage it."
Her racing heart seemed to plummet to the floor, though for an entirely different reason now.
Yet Lemeia could only nod in response.
"Yes...."
Though she was confident in her ability to improvise in social gatherings, she could not do so before Lyden.
As if she had fallen under some enchantment.
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------