Chapter 440: THE BALL
“Nonsense! Why should I be uncomfortable just attending a ball? I’m from a noble family. I have attended this kind of ball since I was a child. As for Veronica, she is just a partner. It’s not like I’ve never had a partner before...”
Ovior couldn’t finish his sentence as the words were stuck in his throat.
His gaze was at the front, looking at Veronica.
She was wearing a white ball gown. Above the gown, there was a white sheer layer embroidered with golden thread.
The golden floral design was heavy at the bottom. As it rose to the top, the flowers became fewer.
The sleeves were entirely designed with golden flowers, covering her whole arms.
The round neckline went deep, showing off her cleavage. The neckline was designed with golden sheer lace.
.....
The neckline touched a bit of her shoulders before going down on the back. As a result, her back was completely exposed.
Even though her back was revealed, there was a golden floral design on her back. It didn’t seem to be attached to the dress. It was securely fixed on her back.
As for her red hair, it was tied as a half-updo. The untied stands were loosely hanging around her right shoulder.
She was wearing a golden hair accessory on the top of her head. There was a yellow stone in the middle of the accessory. It was loosely hanging on her forehead.
Aside from that, small golden flower accessories were fixed on her bun.
Aside from hair accessories, she was wearing a pair of earrings and two rings on her left hand’s fingers and one ring on her right hand’s index finger.
Due to the sparkly design around her neck, she didn’t wear any necklace.
With one step at a time, Veronica came down the stairs. She felt uncomfortable as people gazed at her with admiration.
Fidgeting a little, she raised her head and saw Ovior, Felix and Darius were waiting for her.
“Have you been waiting for long?” she asked Ovior.
Ovior cleared his throat as he came back to his senses and replied, “We just got here.”
Truth be told, they had been waiting for two hours.
Felix stole a glance at Ovior. He didn’t expose the lies.
Darius whistled. “Look at you! For the first time, you look like a Mistress of the Magic Tower.”
Ovior and Felix couldn’t help but agree with him in their minds.
For the simple woman who didn’t wear anything fancy most of the time, she looked breathtakingly gorgeous with today’s appearance.
“Is it really all right? I think I’ve overdressed,” Veronica expressed her worry.
Felix said, “What are you saying? This is the best appearance of a Mistress. Did you not wear history?
“Have you seen how other Mistresses dressed up in the ball and at the tower? There should be tons of pictures.”
Veronica replied, “I know. I’ve seen them but glamor doesn’t suit me.”
“I think it suits you very well,” Darius told her. “Don’t you think so, Ovior?”
“Hmm... I guess so. The sun has almost set. Shall we go?” Ovior reached out his hand.
“Yes, we should.” Veronica took his hand.
‘What does he mean by ‘guess so’? He was staring at her like a dumb guy just a minute ago. This guy doesn’t know how to be truthful. No wonder he is still single.’ Darius scoffed.
The carriage was waiting for them at the entrance.
Ovior helped her to go inside the carriage. Then, he entered as well.
Darius and Felix pushed the heavy skirt of the ball gown inside the carriage and then shut the door.
“Enjoy the party!” Darius said loudly.
Felix waved his hand.
“Thank you!” Veronica smiled and waved her hand along with the reply.
The carriage left the tower and went through the forest road.
Veronica looked at Ovior who was looking outside the window.
“Have you seen Arthur?” she inquired.
Although she was upset with him and didn’t talk to him properly for a whole week, she wanted to show her appearance to him before showing it to anyone else.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the room. He wasn’t at his office either.
She was a bit disappointed.
“I heard he went out for an errand. I’m sure by the time you go back to the tower, he will be there,” Ovior answered.
“Did he not tell you where he went?”
Ovior answered, “I didn’t ask him explicitly. If he thought it was important for me to know, he would have told me before leaving.
“But why are you asking me? Don’t tell me you haven’t talked to him yet. Are you two still fighting?”
Veronica frowned. “No one is fighting!”
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Ovior frowned. “Must be something serious for you to stay mad at him for a whole week. I can’t imagine him making you this angry.”
“I’m not mad at him. He just has to apologize. But he won’t. It’s like he enjoys tormenting me. I can’t stand this. If I forgive him easily, he will keep repeating the same thing and I might start hating him for that.”
Veronica didn’t worry about hating Arthur.
But thinking about that night’s incident and then his teasing smile every time their eyes met, infuriated her.
It wasn’t that she hated sucking him. He always gave her pleasure and she also wanted to pleasure him.
‘But why does he keep teasing me for that? it’s like he enjoys teasing me!’ she thought.
Sucking him wasn’t the issue. He forced her to tell him that it tasted sweet and so on.
He made her explain obscene words which she didn’t want to say. Furthermore, he was saying all kinds of indecent words.
She was so embarrassed that she wanted to hide in a hole and never face him again.
“If he can’t say sorry and doesn’t promise not to do that kind of thing again, I don’t think I’ll ever talk to him,” she said.
How could she let the obscene act repeat almost every night?
Unlike him, she didn’t have hard skin. Thus, she couldn’t be as shameless as him.
“Did you tell him that you need an apology and a promise not to do something you don’t like?” Ovior asked.
Veronica clenched her fists. “Why should I have to tell him? He is so intelligent. He says he can read my mind. I’m sure he knows what I want.”
“Although he said that, I think you should tell him yourself,” Ovior suggested. “Or else, you might end up with another misunderstanding. I can’t let you ruin my tower twice.”
Arthur already tried to make this tower a tomb of a thousand people.
Ovior didn’t want history to repeat itself once again due to this stupid couple.
At his words, Veronica’s back stiffened. “Fine, I’ll tell him.”
———–
It took them thirty minutes to arrive at the palace.
Veronica had been in the Royal Library at night. But she never had the time to enjoy the view of the Imperial Palace at night.
Due to the birthday party, the palace was decorated with flowers, glittery strings and magic lights. It looked magnificent.
Veronica stared at the palace in awe.
“This is like an enchanting castle from the fairy tale,” she remarked as she stared at the palace.
Ovior said nonchalantly, “Did you forget which country it is? This is the country of magic. And the palace is a magical place. This is far beyond any fairy tale you’ve ever read.”
Veronica replied, “I must say, I’m impressed. I was imagining it would be glamorous. I didn’t expect it to be this entrancing.”
“You just saw the outside and you are like this. I wonder what you will do when you head inside.” Ovior held out his hand. “We should head inside.”
“Yes, we should.” Veronica excitedly grabbed his arm.
The nobles were inside the ballroom. They were chatting, laughing softly and making rich jokes.
“I’ve heard Her Majesty will declare the name of the future Crown Princess tonight. I’m so excited.”
“They said the Crown Prince will be absent today. I’m not sure if the rumor is correct.”
.....
“No one can tell the Crown Prince’s intention. He won’t be too satisfied with today’s event. After all, the Queen is his sworn enemy.”
“Every time he was attacked, all the clues pointed at the Queen. Who can blame him for being alarmed by today’s event?”
“True, if he doesn’t come to tonight’s ball, I won’t be surprised. But it will be such a shame.”
“I don’t know why His Majesty let Her Majesty do whatever she wants. Maybe he has feelings for Her Majesty despite what the rumors say.”
The nobles were busy gossiping about the Imperial Family. All of a sudden, people quiet down.
Since half of the people became silent, others became quiet as well.
Those who didn’t know what happened, looked around with puzzled expressions, curious to find out why everybody was quiet.
At that time, the palace staff announced, “The Mistress of the Magic Tower and the Assistant Master of the Magic Tower have arrived.”