Chapter 75

Chapter 75

The world that appeared behind the door was truly a space worthy of the name of ‘a different world’.

If splendor was to be embodied in an image, this was the space.

Like the rest of my family, I maintained an upright posture, but it was difficult to keep my eyes focused on looking inside.

“Are you really okay?”

Lucas quietly asked me again as I ended up glancing around here and there.

I stiffened for a moment and looked up at Lucas. Did he ask if I was okay after seeing my busy eyes moving?

Did he think I was sick because my eyes kept turning? If that was the case, I would be pretty embarrassed.

“You don’t like crowded places. Selena.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like that.

I calmly nodded.

“Yes. I’m okay.”

After hearing what Lucas said, when I thought about it, I didn’t like places with a lot of people. That’s right, that was the case.

But today, because the interior was so gorgeous, I didn’t even think of the many people.

Gold here, gold there. Delicately crafted glass flowers, valuable-looking statues and pottery. Pillars studded with jewels here and there, as well as countless fresh flowers as if they had moved the flower garden here.

It was a place where I could feel the blood, sweat and tears of those who decorated this place. How could people be seen among such a glamorous place?

“Tell me if something goes wrong.”

I nodded my head again, as Lucas looked like he was genuinely concerned about me. He looked at me blankly, gave a relaxed smile, then turned his head away.

Moments passed since we entered, and by the time I had properly adapted to the splendid space, our family decided to disperse.

After all, there were people they had to meet with.

My family walked away, asking me to tell them immediately if I was in trouble.

As for Aiden, he decided to stay with me for now, having Brother call him if he were to find someone to introduce him to.

So now Lucas and Aiden were left by my side.

“Let’s go, too.”

Having said that, the place I headed towards was a corner that was hard to see.

It was a spot I had looked for before, so there was no other particular spot.

My goal was to stick myself to that corner without revealing my presence. But there was a huge obstacle to this, which was the men on both my sides.

These two stood out.

Besides, Aiden was a stranger to the nobles in the social world, while Lucas was like a celebrity among them.

They were both very interesting people.

In the end, I had to unwillingly receive people’s attention.

Well, then there was nothing I could do. If possible, I tried not to make eye contact with anyone. Because if I made eye contact, I would have to say hello.

However, life was a series of hardships.

The moment I decided not to make eye contact with anyone, my eyes were perfectly in line with someone else’s!

Even if I wanted to pretend I didn’t know, I couldn’t, as our eyes were clearly pointing at each other.

Well, fortunately, it wasn’t someone I didn’t know at all. No, it wasn’t fortunate.

The other person’s eyes must have been as surprised as mine as they met.

We stood still and looked at each other.

Standing in place with my mouth closed, I only made eye contact. The situation was embarrassing.

It wasn’t a romantic connection like Romeo and Juliet or the fairy and woodcutter…

“Lady Mia.”

In the end, I had to say hello to protect the morality between people. When her name came out of my lips, Mia, whose shoulders shook, awkwardly smiled.

Her lips as red as her trademark red hair were drawn in crooked arcs.

“Lady Selena.”

My name came like a sigh between the twisted lips.

As we called each other by name, there really was no escape anymore. At least a few more words had to be exchanged out of courtesy before we parted ways.

We took a few steps closer to each other until we could reach out and shake hands with each other.

However, we were not close enough to hold and shake hands warmly, so we only exchanged greetings through words of mouth.

“How have you been, Lady Selena?”

“I’ve been well, thank you. What about Lady Mia?”

Mia clamped her lips shut.

She, who briefly lifted her shoulders, seemed to be struggling to keep her expression from collapsing.

‘Great work, Mia!’

The center of her lips curled inward, as though she was biting down on her molars.

“…Thanks to you… I have been… doing very well.”

‘Well, I don’t think so. The veins in her forehead are about to burst.’

I thought I should let her go quickly, for the safety of Mia’s blood pressure. I didn’t know why, but Mia seemed to look enraged as she saw me.

It was the first time we had seen each other since we met at the last salon.

Even when she saw me that day, Mia was uncomfortable and seemed to hate me, but not to this extent.

‘No, what did I do?’

I felt like it was just a little unjustified, but I wasn’t particularly curious about the reason.

If I were to find out why, it would just be something else to pay attention to and a bother.

“That’s a relief. Have a good party today, Lady Mia.”

“…Yes. Have a good time, Lady Selena.”

After really saying goodbye, we hurriedly parted ways and went on our way. I watched Mia’s back as she left, then turned away a moment later.

Goodbye, Mia.

She walked away with the same clicks as when she approached me without even looking back once.

***

Was there anything worse than having to make eye contact with a person you didn’t want to see and forcibly saying hello?

“Lady Mia.”

Mia clenched her fists at her name that was being called in a calm voice. It wasn’t until she felt the tips of her sharpened nails touch her skin that she let go of her hand.

“Lady Selena.”

No matter how tightly she clenched her fists to hold back her emotions, she couldn’t help the tremble in her voice.

Anger and fear. Her voice, mixed with any emotion, was strangely unnatural even to her own ears.

‘Damn it, damn it!’

Having to end up greeting her with an ugly voice, Mia cursed inside and tried hard to keep her smile on the outside.

“How have you been, Lady Selena?”

Mia wanted to appear as normal as she could. So, she first handed over her greetings.

“I’ve been well, thank you. What about Lady Mia?”

But no matter how much she wanted to appear innocent, it somehow came through that her insides were turned upside down. And now Mia’s insides were completely upside down.

In the end, she couldn’t help but raise an awkward voice despite wanting to display composure.

“…Thanks to you…I have been… doing very well.”

What thanks to you? Mia thought she had never been as pretentious as she is today. Selena glanced over at me with that gloomy, unsure expression.

Gulp. Inside, saliva trickled down Mia’s dry throat.

“That’s a relief. Have a good party today, Lady Mia.”

“…Yes. Have a good time, Lady Selena.”

Mia quickly turned back, trying to lift her lips. She thought that if she faced that unlucky face for a little longer, her expression would be distorted.

Anyway, there was no part of Selena that she liked. Before she lost her memory, even if her personality was a bit dirty, she was stupid enough to be useful… Now that sly and sullen look scared and annoyed her.

Besides, in reality, Selena was terribly interfering with her father’s important business.

Whether it was intentional or accidental, there was no doubt that she was doggedly becoming her obstacle.

Well, in fact, it wasn’t just Selena who was getting in her father’s way.

To be precise, that would be everyone in the house, including her.

Click, click.

The sound of Mia’s shoes, loaded with power, echoed much louder than usual.

“Let’s see… Eventually, everything will be in our hands. When that time comes, it will be the end of you, too…”

The anger that was welling up inside her spilled out without her knowledge.

A short woman passed by Mia, whose eyes were reddened by anger, but she didn’t notice that she was moving forward like a fire truck with the lights on.

“Mia Lachapelle…? What she just said…’

Watching her back as she turned, Vivian soon turned her eyes away. She thought she heard something very unpleasant… She stood with an idea in mind.

***

After exchanging greetings with Mia, I was able to arrive at the corner spot as I had intended to.

Fortunately, I didn’t run into anyone except for Mia. No, actually, I was afraid of running into anyone, so I separated with Mia and walked while staring at the floor.

Anyway, the result was good.

There were about 10 minutes left before the full-scale ball started. I watched people huddle in a bright place away from the dark corner spot.

“Selena, will you be here all day?”

Hearing Lucas’s question, I looked at him blankly.

In my mind, I wanted to answer, ‘Yes, I want to go home after hiding here,’.

“…No. I will be in the center for about 10 minutes.”

It was a huge declaration for me, but Lucas shook his head in lament.

I didn’t know why he was asking these questions and giving himself a headache when he knew me well in the first place.

“Still, since it’s a large-scale event, let’s talk with others.”

“I’m afraid I’ll say something stupid then.”

Lucas’s lamentation had not returned.

Instead, he lowered his hand from his head and looked at me for a moment.

Then he slowly turned his head to look at the central hall.

To remain silent at this timing, didn’t it seem like he was implicitly agreeing?

Well, it was nice that I didn’t have to listen to his nagging anymore, but… No matter how much I thought about it, it was clear that there was something terribly wrong with my image.

I sipped the orange juice that Aiden had given me and started people-watching.

All of them were ecstatic, excited about something, with eyes glowing with longing.

Greed and longing for something… These were concepts far from me.

I took another sip of the orange juice.

At the same time, more and more magnificent music began to play along with the sound of the trumpet earlier. When the performance started, the people went quiet and turned their bodies to one place in unison.

The place where people turned their bodies to was the stairs located in the hall, and at the top of the stairs, a red carpet flowed down like a wave.

And soon, a man appeared.

He was a middle-aged man with a straight back and a crown almost the size of his head. His eyes were round and drooping, but the bridge of his nose in the center and his tightly closed lips gave off a strong sense of dignity.

Princess Ariel and the Crown Prince, who had come down and had a conversation with Brother and my parents before the man appeared, slowly walked up the stairs.

Instead of his usual happy appearance, he looked like a dignified imperial family member of the empire.

‘Wow.’

The two of them took their place in the middle of the stairs and respectfully bowed their heads towards the man.

“I greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”

When the two people greeted him in a reverent voice, everyone else bowed down in unison.

I also bowed my back so as not to be late. However, I didn’t know when to get up, so I was rolling my eyes while bending my back.

“Raise your heads!”

A booming voice reverberated through the hall. It wasn’t even a cave, but the voice seemed to echo.

I was really grateful for the order, as I was not sure of the right moment to look up, so I only looked around.

The emperor looked at the nobles at the ball, but slowly looked away. From the end over there to the end over here.

Then, raising his lips, he shouted in a more benevolent voice than before.

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all who attended today’s National Founding Ball. Please enjoy today remembering all the ancestors who worked hard for the empire.”

Whoaa

Cheers erupted from someone’s mouth, and the nobles clapped vigorously. The emperor nodded his head in satisfaction and came down the stairs with the princess and the Crown Prince.

It was the beginning of the full-fledged ball.

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