81. It's Different From What I Imagined (1)
81. It's Different From What I Imagined (1)
[Episode 81] - It's Not What I Imagined (1)
The first emotion Titania felt upon arriving at the ballroom wearing her mask was...
A regret that made her sigh involuntarily.
The reason Titania had pestered Vivian until she was allowed to attend the masquerade ball was simple. Because the masquerade balls in the romance novels she had been reading with Viola looked so incredibly charming.
For Titania, the act of 'hiding one's identity' was a truly difficult task. Usually, she barely ever left the Royal Castle where everyone knew her face, and even when she did manage to get outside, hiding her status as a princess was no easy feat.
Perhaps it was because those little frustrations had piled up and up? Titania had longed, just a little, for the deviations from the norm that appeared in novels. Like the protagonists in novels who hide their identities to sneak out and enjoy commoner village festivals, or hoping for a romantic encounter at a masquerade ball while keeping their identity hidden.
Like a typical adolescent girl, Titania had dreamed of the free-spirited deviations found in books. That was why she couldn't hide her excitement when she received the invitation to the 'Masquerade Ball' that Viola had sent her. Because the opportunity to actually experience the deviation she had only ever seen in books had arrived.
'That's why I was a bit stubborn even when Mother opposed it...'
Regretting that she had been stubborn with her mother, Titania frowned deeply in the middle of the ballroom. Perhaps judging that her frown wouldn't be discovered thanks to her mask, Titania looked at the ballroom with an even more uncomfortable expression than usual.
Before entering the ballroom, she had definitely thought a wonderful masquerade ball like the ones in the books would be unfolding. She thought everyone would be hiding their identities behind masks and enjoying a free-spirited deviation, but...
As soon as she entered the ballroom, Titania couldn't hide her bewilderment because of the young nobles who swarmed around her.
"Greetings, Princess Titania-nim. By any chance, is your partner for this ball..."
...Does this kid not even know the rules of a masquerade ball?
"P-Princess-nim! By any chance, would you like to dance with me at this ball...!"
...This is just a child who just entered high society, isn't it?
"Princess Titania-nim, do you remember me? We met at the last ball, and for this partner..."
If you're wearing a mask, how am I supposed to know who you are?!
Crinkle.
Titania's expression crinkled as much as it possibly could. The iron rule of a masquerade ball was that you must not utter the other person's identity out loud. To begin with, if you were going to do that, there was no reason to wear a mask and a costume.
This was the absolute basic of basics for a masquerade ball, yet the young nobles gathered around Titania seemed not to know even that. She just wanted to enjoy a masquerade ball like in the novels. Was she asking for too much?
Titania felt irritation rising to the top of her head because of the young nobles babbling around her, asking to be her partner. To begin with, the fact that she was dressing up as 'Little Red Riding Hood' was a secret of secrets that she hadn't even told Viola. How on earth did they know...
'Either someone bribed the maids, or someone saw me at Countess Serina's mansion. It must be one of the two...'
...It wasn't the time to search for the culprit, but Titania just hated the culprit who had revealed her costume to others. She didn't know who it was, but because of that person, the masquerade ball she had been looking forward to was completely ruined. Titania shouted in her heart that this wasn't a masquerade ball.
She felt like she finally understood why Mother had told her to bring two masks or to cover her face completely with a cloak. Mother had already known and given her advice from the start. That even if it was a masquerade ball, one couldn't completely hide their identity.
Titania let out a deep sigh of irritation and snapped open the fan she had borrowed from her mother to cover her mouth. First of all, masquerade ball or whatever, leaving this spot was the priority.
"Won't you move aside now?"
"But the dance partner... Father and Mother told me to go dance with the Princess-nim..."
"Haa..."
As Titania tried to pass, a young noble shorter than her shrank back and mumbled that. The moment she heard that, Titania's insides boiled with familiar irritation.
Even in the usual children's high society, there were many young nobles who tried to dance with her at least once. And most of them were young nobles who were forced by their parents to ask her to dance.
The ugly thoughts of adults trying to create connections with the royal family through her, no matter what.
Titania hated such things, so there was no denying that she had longed for the masquerade ball where she could hide her identity even more. If she hid her status as a princess, she wouldn't have to feel a subtle sense of guilt when refusing a dance.
Whoosh, Titania turned her head and looked at the young nobles making bitter expressions around her. Everyone was making a tearful face, saying they would get scolded by their parents if they went back like this. It wouldn't have mattered at all if she just ignored them, but...
"Haa... Viola. Could we change this ball's song to a Mazurka?"
"Uh... A Mazurka? Changing the song is fine. But... a Mazurka is a song where you change partners in the middle. Tita... Princess-nim, will you be okay?"
A Mazurka was a song where people gathered in a circle on the dance floor and changed partners at every timing.
A song where everyone stomps their feet to the same beat, once to the right, once to the left, then turns half a circle, and the men move to the left while the women move to the right, changing partners at every timing.
In other words, the dance was simple, but it was a song where the timing of changing partners was important. Viola, knowing that Titania was clumsy and had no sense of rhythm, asked worriedly. Because Titania was someone who never danced at balls, except for the first dance that she absolutely had to dance.
Titania let out a deep sigh and glanced around again at the young nobles surrounding her.
Young nobles who were fidgeting and poking their fingers caught Titania's eye. Children who weren't looking forward to dancing at the ball, but were afraid of getting scolded by their parents if they went back without having danced with her.
Since a Mazurka is a song that quickly switches partners in a short time, she thought she could dance with all the young nobles surrounding her if she danced a few times. She didn't really have to go this far, but...
"Ha... Anyway, the song is a Mazurka. I'll decide the partners myself, so don't cling to me until we dance. Got it?!"
""Y-yes! Princess Titania-nim!""
Watching the young nobles scatter as if running away, Titania clicked her tongue softly, tsk. This was no different from the usual high society. Where on earth did the masquerade ball she had dreamed of go? Titania hung her head low, feeling like she was about to cry.
'I wanted to experience a fated encounter where I meet someone while hiding my identity, just like the protagonists in novels...'
*
Eventually, the time for the first dance of the ball arrived. Numerous young nobles and young ladies gathered on the wide dance floor, took their places, and waited for the song to start.
Titania's first partner was...
"It is an honor to be Princess Titania-nim's partner. I am from the western region-"
Just Young Noble 1 dressed as a pirate whom she had grabbed while passing by. She would just call him 'Pirate' from now on.
To begin with, since dance at the ball couldn't be between women and had to be between a man and a woman, it was a truly unavoidable choice. If she could, Titania just wanted to dance with Viola.
The music to start the dance rang out on the dance floor, and Titania held out her hand to the pirate with a sulky expression. Whether the pirate knew about Titania's sulky expression or not, his mouth stretched from ear to ear, and he smiled as if he were truly happy.
'Really, masks are convenient at times like this. Aside from my mouth, I don't need to hide my expression.'
Thinking that, Titania listened to the pirate's ceaseless chatter with one ear and let it out the other. Because most of it was stories about his family or him muttering to himself about what kind of person he was.
Titania didn't feel the need to take any particular interest in the pirate. The pirate, who had been chattering ceaselessly while dancing, gasped for breath and tried to continue talking until the end, but-
"Huck, huff..! So, our huff...! family's mine is...!"
"Yeah, sure. Good work. Bye~"
As it became time for the partners to change- Titania spun half a circle in place, let go of the pirate's hand without hesitation, and left to find the next partner.
The next partner was a young noble dressed like a hunter.
The hunter was no different from the pirate. 'Our family is~', 'Since I was young~', Titania was on the verge of yawning at the sight of him chattering ceaselessly about boring stories.
Like that, the next partner, and the next partner after that, everyone was the same when they stood in front of Titania. If there was a partner who stood out, it was a young boy dressed as a fairy.
A young boy who seemed to have just entered high society, who couldn't even speak properly to Titania and left when time ran out. Other than that, there were no partners who particularly stood out.
Just as the song was nearing its end, Titania encountered the next partner. A young noble with a height taller than her, wearing a wolf mask that covered his entire face. His attire was all gray, as if to represent a wolf, covered with a gray fur cloak.
Titania pondered deeply, wondering if there was such a young noble in the children's high society, but since his face was completely covered by the mask, she couldn't tell who the partner was. Furthermore, unlike the other partners, he wasn't saying anything, so there was no way to know who he was.
Well, thinking it was comfortable since he didn't talk, as she just continued to dance-
"Your dancing is still terrible. When will that lack of rhythm ever be fixed? How can you still be creaking through even this simple dance?"
"Huh?"
At the all-too-familiar voice that came from behind the mask, Titania lifted her head and looked at the wolf mask.
Titania, who stared intently at the eye holes, had no choice but to gape her lips upon seeing the familiar green light shining from the small holes. After all-
"Huh? M-Mother...?"
Because she never imagined that Mother would attend the masquerade ball dressed in men's clothing.
Although her face was covered by the wolf mask, Titania could tell. That Mother was smiling broadly right now. The proof was the tone of her voice, which had gone up just like when she teased her.
"So? How is the masquerade ball? It's not as fun as you thought, is it? You want to go home right now, don't you?"
"Mother..."