Chapter 46
“Thank you, Your Majesty the Queen. It would be my greatest honor if you would invite me.”
As the greeting with the queen ended, the king’s voice resonated.
“Well then, it’s time to dance.”
At the king’s words, the nobles who had been gathered in a circle retreated like the ebbing tide, leaving only me and Hyperion.
In an instant, only Hyperion and I were left in the vast banquet hall. After bowing, Hyperion extended his hand to me.
“Lady Iskas, would you grant me this dance?”
I took his hand. The moment Hyperion wrapped his arm around my back, the music began to play.
It was the waltz I had memorized and practiced over and over since coming to the duke’s residence. I thought I could dance with my eyes closed. However, today, I couldn’t focus on the dance at all.
The reason was that all eyes were fixed on me. The gazes directed at me were almost painful.
The Grand Duchy was my land, my domain, where everything moved at my command. Yet, this place was filled with people eager to find my flaws. I had never danced under such scrutinizing eyes before.
Moreover, the situation from just a moment ago complicated my thoughts even further.
The struggle for the throne was fiercer than I had imagined. The king and queen were not even trying to hide their intentions to draw me into their factions.
My father had told me not to show interest in either side, but could I really do that on my own? The prince’s biological mother had already marked me as a potential daughter-in-law, and the queen was openly saying, “Get along well with my daughter.”
But the more I thought about it, the more absurd it became. Did they not remember how they had driven away my grandfather? Now they wanted me to support them? Truly, they had no conscience…
Oh no!
In that moment, I made a mistake. I was supposed to step into the new moves I had learned, but I instinctively followed the old habits.
“Ah!”
Just as I was about to lose my balance, my body suddenly lifted into the air.
Hyperion had caught my waist and lifted me lightly, as if it was a move we had agreed upon from the very beginning.
Among the audience watching, a small gasp of admiration followed by applause erupted. To them, it must have seemed like we were elegantly adorning the climax of the music.
Hyperion gently set me back down and whispered in my ear.
“From now on, don’t think about anything else and focus only on me.”
I quickly nodded. If it weren’t for Hyperion’s quick thinking, I would have looked foolish in front of all these people.
“…Thank you.”
From that moment on, I began to dance while only looking into Hyperion’s eyes.
“Did you know I would make a mistake?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“Because I was watching you closely.”
“Even so, how could you know in advance?”
“You had this expression as if you were thinking about a really tough problem.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The complicated thoughts from earlier flew away, and I felt lighter.
“Do you think I’m still solving a difficult exam problem?”
“Well? What about you?”
“Honestly, I thought it would be okay to get the problem wrong. Even if I make a mistake, I feel like you’ll handle everything, just like just now.”
At that, Hyperion smiled.
“That’s exactly what it means to fully trust and rely on your partner.”
Dancing with Hyperion that day made me realize for the first time how liberating it is to solve problems where mistakes are acceptable. And that dancing was no longer like solving an exam problem.
Before I knew it, I was laughing as I danced with him. And when the music stopped and the dance ended, I felt a sense of regret for the first time.
However, one cannot dance consecutively with the same partner. That is something only lovers or spouses can do.
As we finished our greeting facing each other, the paired groups stepped into the center. From now on, it was time to change partners with each song.
I extended my arm to Hyperion, intending to take a brief rest. He would then guide me to a place with chairs.
However, before that could happen, another man took my hand. It was none other than Persis.
“The second dance with Lady Iskas is already reserved for me.”
His grip pulled me back to the center. His touch was polite, but his expression was already sour.
The second piece of music began to play. As soon as the dance started, Persis began to provoke me.
“Is it fun to make a fool of people?”
His voice was laced with anger. His golden eyes simmered like grains of sand heated by the sun.
“Make a fool of people? What do you mean?”
“You eavesdropped on my conversation and hid your identity!”
I barely suppressed the urge to shake off his hand. Instead, I smiled sweetly.
“I already told you. I didn’t eavesdrop, and I never hid my identity. You just assumed things on your own.”
“You had plenty of opportunities to reveal your identity.”
“I tried to, but you left first. Should I have clung to your clothes and begged you to listen to who I am?”
As Persis glared at me fiercely, he seemed to recall something and raised his chin arrogantly.
“Back then, you said, ‘I have no interest in the throne.’ You definitely said that to me, right? Then, don’t respond to the queen’s invitation at all.”
“You want me to refuse the queen’s invitation?”
I truly wanted to smack this guy on the head. What a fool. Does he really think that makes sense? How could I refuse an invitation from the queen, of all people?
“Keep your distance from the princess as well. Then I’ll believe what you say.”
“Why should I earn the prince’s trust?”
“What?”
“I’m saying that I have absolutely no reason to try to earn your trust.”
Why should I listen to you when you haven’t done anything for me?
This guy hadn’t changed at all since childhood. He was still rude and arrogant. Who does he think he is to treat me like this?
“And I really didn’t want to say this because it’s childish and petty, but…”
I dropped the forced smile I had been wearing and glared at him coldly.
“Please don’t speak to me informally. You do know that the only person in this country who can address me without my permission is His Majesty, right?”
If I were just a lady of the grand duchy, there would be no issue with the prince’s behavior. However, I was the official heir to the grand duke. Even the queen couldn’t treat the future grand duke carelessly.
“If you want to be respected, start by showing some manners. Then we can talk.”
“Talk? Since when have you preferred talking? Haven’t you always been better with your fists?”
“Of course, I still know how to use my fists well. Is that your preferred method of conversation? I remember it being so in the past, but I’m not sure if you still are.”
In an instant, his face went pale. Seeing him glare at me with a murderous look made it clear that bringing up that childhood incident had really gotten under his skin.
Hmph, what are you going to do about it?
I smirked lightly, but then he suddenly fell silent. I thought it was a good thing.
As I focused on the dance, I realized that he wasn’t just quiet. His eyes were darting around, clearly plotting something.
What is he trying to do? Is he going to use the classic method of stepping on my foot? This guy hasn’t grown up at all…
At that moment, my body lost its balance. This time, it wasn’t because I made a mistake. He had intentionally let go of my hand during the spinning part.
He was trying to make me fall and embarrass me.
This is real!
Instead of falling, I steadied myself with my strong core muscles. Then, I struck his ankle hard with the heel of my shoe, hidden beneath my flowing skirt.
“Ugh!”
With a loud smack, he staggered slightly, but he didn’t fall as I intended. Instead, he glared at me with venomous, icy eyes.
Why? Did you think I couldn’t do what you were planning?
As we stared each other down without backing down at all, he suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
“I can’t believe this…”
Hey, that’s what I should be saying. I barely held onto my sanity and replied.
“Let’s stop here. There are people watching us.”
Since earlier, other couples had been avoiding us. As they got closer while dancing, they slowly backed away after seeing our disgusted expressions.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not the type to care about other people’s opinions.”
“That’s true, but there are basic manners to uphold in front of the public. We shouldn’t ruin other people’s mood because of us.”
“What about the manners you were about to disregard just now?”
“I have a habit of returning what I receive on the spot.”
