Chapter 19

“……So, at this Spring Party, I want you to attend as my partner.”

Well, it’s actually Ian who’s supposed to be my partner, but what should I say, it’s a bit not to my liking.

This was what I requested from the man who had finished eating and dressed with the help of Yona.

“Of course, it’s alright for you to reject me. I won’t force you. There’s nothing that I lose as I only helped someone I should have as an aristocrat. However, I will definitely reward you if you help me with this situation.”

The man listened to me blankly. Did he understand everything?

I was a little nervous, but I pretended to be calm and smiled.

“You don’t have to say anything and just stay by my side. It’s alright for you to not know any etiquette or anything.”

After a moment, the man nodded his head.

Oh, is he accepting?

I looked at the man with a stunned expression on his face.

He was smiling slightly. The corners of his mouth had risen softly and his expression hit my heart fatally.

“……Right. Just smile like that.”

The man stopped smiling abruptly and flusteredly as if he didn’t realize he had been smiling.

I laughed out loud.

“Ehem, anyhow, I don’t know your name. Or your identity. We’ll be in a contractual relationship so can you tell me?”

As I asked an obvious question, the man became flustered.

“Hmm. You have to tell me this. No matter how recklessly I had brought you here, don’t I need to know your name?”

As I waited for his answer, I ended up hurrying him as he didn’t even open his mouth. The man seemed rather flustered and moved his lips before opening his mouth.

That moment, I realized my naivete.

How could he speak? This man couldn’t speak. Because he didn’t have a tongue.

“……Sorry, I made a mistake.”

As I bit my lips and apologized, the man shook his head as if there was no reason for me to apologize.

Yona, who was very perceptive, brought paper and pen and gave it to the man. It appeared he could write, as he scrawled something on the paper.

[It’s alright. My name is Nine.]

“Ha…… I’ll be more careful from now on, Nine.”

I placed a hand on my forehead and lifted my head to look at the man, no Nine. He was writing.

[I was thrown out on the streets and had nowhere to go. Thank you for giving me this chance.]

I smiled with a complicated heart. I felt as though I was making such a kind child do something wicked.

However, the water had already been spilled. I resolved with a firmer determination.

***

Then, it became the day of the Spring Party.

“Milady, his Highness, the Crown Prince, has come to escort you.”

“The welcome I’ve never received my entire life, I finally obtained after saying that I want to break our engagement.”

I wasn’t being sarcastic, but it was a sincere remark made from a despondent state.

I looked at the mirror. In the end, thanks to Yona’s suggestion, the dress I wore was a bustier dress of a simple design in dark blue, and it looked rather natural.

‘Even so, I’m still Lady Melissa Podebrat’

Though it wasn’t a flashy outfit that stood out from the crowd, there was someone else next to me who had to shine more brightly than anyone else.

“Nine.”

I smiled at the man who stood next to the door and naturally extended a hand to help me out.

His appearance with his curly hair was tied into a ponytail and the gilded swallow-tailed coat that fit like a glove was one that anyone could fall in love with.

The corners of Nine’s eyes bent into rounded moons and extended a hand towards me. I straightened my back and took his hand.

Now, let’s go crash this party.

I took in a deep breath.

I appeared to be very leisurely, but my actions were both childish and risky such that if Martha ever caught wind of what I was about to, she would faint backward while holding her head.

If I wasn’t careful, I could easily tread into the territory of defamation of the Royal Family. In other words, I was starting to grow a little scared now that I’ve gone and actually done it.