Chapter 103
Chapter 103. Welcome Banquet for the Envoys
Adrian, who had withdrawn his smile, held out a hand to Henelone, his face hardening with a serious expression. Henelone hesitated at his polite gesture, as if he was asking her to dance.
“Adrian…”
“I’m going to become a savage and vicious Viking and kidnap you.”
“Ahaha! What is that?”
“Oh, I meant it.”
Henelone laughed for a while at the sight of him furrowing his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner, and then she took his outstretched hand.
“You said you were a mean man earlier, but you were actually a vicious Viking who wanted to be a polite gentleman!”
“That’s one of my many secrets.”
“Do you have any other secrets?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Ahaha!”
The laughter she had barely managed to suppress burst out at his joke. Henelone, out of breath from the feeling of her upper abdomen sinking, wiped away the tears that had gathered and smiled faintly.
“I understand. Thank you, Adrian.”
“Don’t be so kind.”
Even the cloudy night sky without a moon and the chilly wind no longer made her feel lonely. Because there was someone by her side who supported her escape. Running away might be a little embarrassing, but it could be another path. However, it was only a temporary measure. Henelone, caressing her cheek chilled by the night wind, smiled bitterly.
“The wind is cold. Should we go back now?”
“Ah…”
Henelone didn’t want to go back to the banquet hall yet. She hesitated and then shook her head.
“Adrian, you go back first. I’m a little tired… I’ll take a short rest in the break room and then go back.”
“Okay.”
Adrian nodded coolly without saying anything, even though he noticed that she was running away from her problems. She was grateful for that. Henelone, who couldn’t bear to refuse Adrian’s escort as he led her with a firm grip on her hand, smiled faintly and walked forward.
***
“Is it true that the Duke of Woodward proposed to the Princess of Honfleur?”
Clatter. Henelone let out a small noise, agitated by the young lady’s voice. She was sitting in the powder room looking for a quiet place to rest, but soon several young ladies entered the room. Henelone bit her lips at the unpleasant topic of conversation and straightened her crooked teacup. The attention that had been focused on Henelone subsided with the brief noise.
“Since they entered the banquet together, I guess that must be the case?”
“But there’s no ring on the princess’s hand.”
“Maybe it’s before the proposal! I heard that everything from the gem cutting is custom-made. Wouldn’t it take at least a month?”
The conversation was more interesting to the young ladies than the woman sitting alone in the powder room while the banquet was in full swing. The young ladies, who had been speculating about the Duke and Princess’s engagement rumors, soon sighed with faces filled with sweet fantasy.
“Haa, a blue diamond? I wonder what it’s like. I heard it’s shaped like a water drop.”
“It’s not just any diamond, it’s from the Küsshausen mountain! The jewels that decorate the surrounding area are all transparent diamonds. Isn’t it enchanting just hearing it?”
“The one that matches the princess’s eye color is also so romantic!”
Laughter poured into the powder room. Henelone got up without a sound and grabbed the doorknob, slowly walking out. A few of the young ladies glanced at her back, but that was all. Beyond the window, the dark night sky was stained with dark clouds, and only stars that had lost their light were left. Henelone let out a breath she had been holding in that damp darkness.
‘It’s really worthless.’
The young ladies’ laughter leaked out from inside the powder room, but it bounced off the solid wall and did not reach the hallway. Standing alone in that quiet hallway with that deafening noise behind her, she felt like a worthless supporting actor who had been kicked off the stage after the curtain fell.
Her stomach churned uncomfortably as she recalled Marie-Jose and Heinz, who had sparkled like the main characters of a romance novel on the splendid stage. She knew in her head that it was her own sense of inferiority, but she couldn’t help but feel the sadness that suddenly rose up.
Not everyone in the banquet hall admired Marie-Jose and Heinz. Some people were slandering the princess with unkind eyes. At that moment, Henelone felt the urge to go to them and slander the princess together. And she was disappointed in herself for having such a low thought, and fell into an unbearable depression.
‘Why is my love so petty?’
The love she had vaguely imagined was not as beautiful as she had thought. Henelone became even more depressed, thinking that the reason was her problem.
Why can’t she act with dignity and love like a beautiful female protagonist in a romance novel? Unlike the characters in printed texts who face any hardship with dignity, she was always anxious about every little thing.
“Phew…”
Henelone, clutching her chest that was throbbing with suffocating pain, let out a deep sigh and paced the hallway. Even though she knew she had to go back, she couldn’t bring herself to move.
She hesitated, thinking she might as well go out to the garden again. But the laughter of the young ladies from beyond the powder room door was getting closer.
Henelone, who saw the antique golden handle slowly turning, jumped up and ran.
“Oh? I think someone was here…”
“There’s no one?”
“That’s right. I must have seen it wrong.”
Henelone covered her mouth and made no sound as she hid herself in the corner of the hallway. She didn’t want to show the young ladies that she had been defeated twice. However, the sound of heels came closer and closer.
In order to return from the powder room to the banquet hall, they had to pass through the hallway where Henelone was hiding. Henelone, who had become lost in thought, looked around urgently. She needed a place to hide.
There were several tightly closed doors in the long hallway. Henelone quietly walked to the nearest door and prayed with her eyes tightly shut.
‘Please… Please open…!’
Fortunately, God did not ignore her. Henelone hurriedly threw herself into the door that opened without a sound and quietly closed it while holding her breath.
“But… I’m talking about the young lady who was alone earlier. Isn’t that the daughter of a Baron?”
“Which other lady would be alone while the banquet is in full swing?”
“The Baron and his wife must be very worried.”
The clanking heels and the murmur of voices gradually died down. Henelone, leaning back against the door and sliding down to the floor, buried her sweaty face between her knees.
“What the hell is this…”
She thought running away could be another way, but in the end, she was just running away again. Henelone, who was sitting in an empty room, let out a pitiful laugh at the sight of herself curled up and got up.
The room, lit by candles, had a game table, alcohol, and an ashtray, so it seemed like a room prepared for men. Henelone, whose heart was cold, grabbed the doorknob in a hurry, thinking that she might end up in another unfortunate situation if she stayed there.
However, the doorknob she had just placed her hand on started turning on its own. There was no doubt that someone was opening the door from outside.
‘Oh, what should I do? Oh, what if I find the wrong room…!’
Henelone bit her lips tightly and pulled the doorknob with all her might. It seemed that at least showing signs of going out would be a plausible excuse. However, the man’s body, standing rigidly in front of the suddenly opened door, did not show any sign of moving away and instead strode toward her.
“I-I’ve come to the wrong room…!”
“Henelone.”
“…Heinz?”
Henelone, who blankly raised her gaze at the familiar voice calling her, muttered the man’s name. The one who blocked her path with a stiff face was none other than Heinz.
Henelone hesitated and stepped back, his red eyes burning darkly as if something was bothering him.
“What were you doing here?”
“Huh? Nothing… I just came into the wrong room.”
However, Heinz’s eyes were quite persistent as he looked around the cigar room. Henelone, who was also looking around the room, tilted her head with a bewildered expression.
The cigar room was clean and tidy, as if no one had ever visited before. What on earth was he doing? As she stared at him with eyes filled with doubt, Heinz raised his eyebrows and asked her.
“Where’s the blond guy?”
“The blond guy… Do you mean Adrian?”
“Yes. You went out together.”
