The Imperial Ball (1)
The days passed, and before I knew it, the promised weekend had arrived. In the time since our conversation, I had barely crossed paths with Aria during the weekdays. The day after we discussed the ball, she had returned to her family’s main residence—the Grace mansion—due to some matters concerning her house.
Aria only returned to the Stewart mansion early on Saturday morning. Since I was, at least formally, her fiancé, I went out to the front entrance to greet her as she stepped down from the carriage.
Soon enough, the carriage drawn by two white horses pulled up in front of our mansion. The coachman opened the door, and Aria emerged from within.
She was dazzlingly beautiful today as well. Her hair, the color of pure white snowflakes, shimmered softly under the morning sunlight, and her flawless, porcelain-like skin was as radiant as ever. Since there was still quite some time before the ball, she didn’t seem to be wearing her formal attire yet, but even the light, flowing dress she wore for everyday use suited her perfectly.
“Welcome back, Lady Aria,” I greeted her with proper courtesy.
Her face lit up the moment she spotted me. But only for a moment. She quickly composed herself and returned the greeting with a polite smile.
“Yes, hello, Lord Leo.”
In truth, this formal exchange was only for the sake of the watching eyes around us. If we had been alone, she probably would have greeted me in a much more curt and icy manner.
After Aria stepped down from the carriage, the first place we headed was my father’s study. We were there to report our schedule for the imperial ball we would be departing for today. Originally, I was supposed to go alone, but since Aria had been added to the party, Father had instructed us to at least show our faces together.
I had been prepared to receive a scolding for suddenly deciding to bring Aria along when she hadn’t even received an invitation. However, Father didn’t seem particularly bothered by it. Moreover, it appeared the arrangements had already been made for us to share a single room.
Not that I had any intention of acting like a couple with this wicked woman.
…
Throughout our walk down the corridor, I could feel Aria stealing timid glances at me from the side, but I deliberately ignored her. It wasn’t as if this was the first or second time she had behaved this way. It was probably for some trivial reason.
When we finally reached the door to Father’s study, I cleared my throat lightly and knocked twice with polite respect.
“Father. I have brought Lady Grace with me.”
Enter.
After confirming the voice from inside, I carefully opened the door. To my surprise, Mother was sitting beside Father in the study. Given how often she traveled alone, it had been nearly a month since I last saw her. A bad feeling settled over me.
After exchanging formal morning greetings, Aria and I sat down side by side across from my parents at the table.
“So. The two of you will be attending the ball together,” Father said in his usual dry tone.
I gave a slight bow of my head. “Yes, Father.”
“Very well. Be careful on your journey. And don’t drink too much. You wouldn’t want to make a fool of yourself in front of others.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
That was when Mother interjected.
“What are you worrying about, dear? Our Aria will be right beside Leo, taking good care of him.”
“…Ahem. Well, that’s true.”
I had nothing to say. In my parents’ eyes, Aria already seemed to be the very model of the perfect daughter-in-law. Had this woman already grown close to Mother without my knowledge?
And true to their expectations, Aria put on a perfectly artificial smile and began flattering my parents.
“Please don’t worry, Father, Mother. I will make sure to support Lord Leo properly by his side.”
Who the hell are you to say that? The words rose in my throat, but I forced them down.
Meanwhile, Aria continued the conversation with my parents as naturally as could be.
“Oh my, just listen to her! How does she always know exactly the right things to say? Hohoho!”
“Ahem. Our future daughter-in-law has a very sound mind. It shows she received an excellent upbringing.”
“Thank you. But as his future spouse, it’s only natural that I do this much.”
“My goodness! Darling, did you hear what Aria just said? Doesn’t it feel like we’ve found the perfect daughter-in-law?”
“Indeed. I feel the same.”
…
I wanted to jump into the conversation right then and there. It’s all an act. That woman is actually a black-hearted villainess. I want to expose everything. But seeing my parents genuinely happy like this—something I hadn’t witnessed in a long time—I couldn’t bring myself to ruin the mood.
By the way, Father, since when did you start calling Aria “our future daughter-in-law”?
---
The carriage bound for the capital. The only sound breaking the silence was the rhythmic clatter of horses’ hooves.
The carriage that had departed just before noon was now racing along the highway toward the capital. This time, two escort carriages flanked ours—one in front and one behind. After the bandit attack last time, it was only prudent. Besides, one could never know what might happen on such a long journey.
Since the ball was scheduled to begin at seven in the evening, we had left with some time to spare shortly before noon.
Thanks to Hanna’s help, I had already prepared my ball attire in advance. My entire body was now adorned with an elegant ivory noble dress and an abundance of cumbersome jewelry. My hair had been carefully curled and pinned up, and my makeup was applied a little heavier than usual. When I looked in the mirror, I appeared noticeably more feminine than I normally did.
As for any compliments from Leo… there were none, as expected.
As always, an ordinary silence filled the carriage. If it were up to me, I would have stared at him openly or even sat right beside him, but today Leo was awake and gazing indifferently out the window, making that impossible. Instead, I stole secret glances at him.
His black tailcoat was made of a slightly stiffer material than usual, and his red hair was neatly parted. The refined, polished attire for the ball suited him incredibly well. With his excellent physique, clothes always looked good on him. And that devastatingly handsome face was just the bonus.
I had to fight back the urge to lunge at him and kiss that face several times.
After sitting quietly like that for about an hour, I eventually turned to look out the opposite window and fell into thought. I needed to remind myself once again of the purpose of this visit to the imperial palace.
Princess Edeline was one thing, but the real reason I had avoided visiting the palace until now was someone else.
Crown Prince Reinhardt.
In my previous life, he had been the one who sparked the war and led the rebellion. I had done everything possible to avoid encountering him. Just as Princess Edeline had been persistently bothering Leo, Crown Prince Reinhardt had constantly pestered me.
Of course, with Leo by my side, I had never given him any attention. Still, if we happened to meet this time, there was no telling what nonsense he might try again.
There was no doubt that Crown Prince Reinhardt was a dangerous element that needed to be eliminated for the sake of the future. However, the time was not yet right. First, I needed to secure a meeting with trustworthy members of the imperial family.
That was why I had been avoiding visits to the palace as much as possible. But if Leo was attending the imperial ball, the situation changed. Moreover, since he had been personally invited by Princess Edeline herself, I absolutely could not let him go alone.
To be honest, at this point, encountering Crown Prince Reinhardt seemed less dangerous than letting Leo meet with Princess Edeline. If Leo ended up falling for that woman, everything would be ruined.
My husband—I have to protect him myself.
“We will stop for a short rest!”
At that moment, the lead coachman’s shout came from outside. All three carriages came to a halt at once. We had been riding without pause for over two hours, so the horses needed a chance to catch their breath. At the same time, it was also time for our simple lunch.
Good. Now was the perfect moment to show off my skills as a future wife.
I took out the lunch bundle I had prepared that morning from the Grace mansion. The moment I pulled it out, Leo turned to look at me—almost simultaneously.
With a bright smile at his slightly puzzled expression, I spoke as cheerfully as I could.
“Would you like to eat together, Lord Leo?”
“…Yes.”
As expected, his response was curt. But that was fine. The fact that he hadn’t refused was already half a success.
The carriage door opened, and Leo stepped down first. Just as I was about to follow him out, something unexpected happened. Leo silently extended one hand toward me.
…
For a moment, I froze in shock, unable to react. Then Leo averted his gaze slightly and muttered in a low voice, as if making an excuse.
“Take my hand. The Stewart family carriages have high frames, so you might stumble while getting down. It doesn’t mean anything else. I simply don’t want to be scolded by Father if you get hurt, my lady.”
His manly demeanor was so attractive that I instinctively grabbed his hand without thinking.
“!”
I saw Leo flinch in surprise. How cute.
Hiding a small smile so he wouldn’t see it, I stepped onto the carriage footrest. Then, holding his hand, I lightly hopped down to the ground and gave him a polite reply.
“Thank you, my lord. How kind of you.”
“…It was nothing.”
Leo quickly withdrew his hand and turned his head away sharply. I could see that the tips of his ears had turned slightly red. Whenever Leo felt embarrassed, his ears were always the first to give him away. But if I teased him any further, he would probably get sulky, so I decided to pretend I hadn’t noticed.