CH 3

Wisteria had been looking forward to that evening party for a long time.

Even though she tried her best not to show her excitement, she couldn’t help but gaze intently at her figure in her full-length mirror.

Her loosely wavy hair was tied up and held in place with a silver and pearl hair ornament. Her deep purple dress was also studded with silver embroidery and milk-white gemstones that glittered as she moved. Her exposed neck was as white as snow, and a diamond necklace borrowed from Countess Lafferty adorned her unprotected neck.

(…I wonder if this suits me?)

While looking at herself in the mirror, Wisteria felt nervous. She felt somewhat anxiously as she carefully put on her makeup. Was her lipstick too red? Did her blush look too unnatural on her cheeks?

——How would I look in his eyes?

She suppressed her pounding heart with her hand, which was clad in a silk glove with pearls sewn on it.

A few moments later, a voice announced the arrival of the person who was being waited for.

“Master Bright of House Reuning has arrived.”

Wisteria looked up with a start. Her heart skipped a beat and she rushed to her feet. She almost tripped over the hem of her dress, and the maid laughed at her.

Gently cautioned to be careful, Wisteria left the room, holding a fan.

She headed for the entrance hall, suppressing her anxiety. When she reached the stairs leading down to the first floor, pristine silver hair burst into her field of vision. Wisteria’s heart was screaming this time.

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“…Bright.”

When she called to him, her voice trembling slightly, the silver-haired young man looked up.

His golden eyes, framed with long eyelashes that seemed to be brushed with the light itself, widened.

——It overlapped with the innocent boy’s face he had the day she first met him.

His eyes were unclouded and pure in their admiration, and his shapely lips smiled softly.

“Ah, it seems that a moon goddess has descended upon me.”

His well-projected and pleasant voice spoke in a theatrical, refined tone.

This time, Wisteria’s eyes widened and heat irresistibly rose to her face. Her heart immediately began to pound wildly. Even the maid, who had taken a step back, was blushing.

Her hands gripped her fan tightly.

“How wonderful, Wis. I’m sure your admirers will be lining up at today’s evening party.”

Bright lightheartedly continued. Wisteria clutched her fan tighter and tighter, but there was no force in her hands, as she felt like she was about to float off the ground.

She was happier about the words from the young man with golden eyes in front of her than praise from anyone else.

“…Y-You look, um…very lovely as well.”

Wisteria stuttered. Heat was rising all the way up to her head, and she felt embarrassed that she couldn’t say anything clever.

——A cliched word like lovely doesn’t even begin to express Bright’s beauty.

The Bright in Wisteria’s field of vision–Bright Luxe Reuning–was someone who suited the nickname of “living jewel” of the Reuning house perfectly.

His silver hair, which even at night still glowed faintly, was kept short, and his contrasting golden eyes sparkled. His dignified eyebrows that were drawn to the side, as well as his long upturned eyelashes, were silver, giving him an otherworldly look.

His nose was high and straight, and even the shape of his pale pink lips was beautiful. He looked dainty, but the lines of his cheekbones and jaw added a masculine virility. 

His tall and lean figure, dressed in deep night-colored evening clothes with gold embroidery, looked like a god of beauty from a myth.

Even Wisteria, who had seen Bright many times, was dazzled by him dressed like this.

Wisteria, who felt as if she was walking on clouds, was brought back to reality when Bright uttered a playful “Oh my.”

“Rosalie, I’m glad to see you doing well.”

“…What’s with that obvious difference in attitude between me and Big Sister?”

A short distance away from Wisteria, Rosalie stood looking down at Bright.

Bright laughed rather cheerfully at her obviously stinging stare.

“Wis is all dressed up, and right now you aren’t, right? Of course, if you show me how you look all dressed up, I’ll tell you what I really think.”

“What, I refuse!! I’m not as pretty as Big Sister anyways!”

“I never said a word about that. You and Wis are different people. Wis has her good qualities, and you have yours, right? Oh, are you perhaps jealous? You’re adorable, Rosalie.”

“Ugh! Ugh, how frivolous! You’re the worst!”

Rosalie, with red cheeks, backed up as though there was something insolent in front of her, and Bright’s voice as he looked up at her became more teasing.

Wisteria could do nothing but helplessly watch over the two’s frivolous exchange that would have caused someone watching from the side to faint. The maid looked stunned.

The Reuning house was a noble family of the highest rank that couldn’t be compared to the Vatue house. The reason why their family name was directly linked to their title was because the successive kings had treated the family with that much special respect.

And Bright, the heir of the Reunings, was not someone that a daughter of the Count of Vatue could talk to so easily.

However, since the current head of the Reunings–Bright’s father–and the current Count of Vatue happened to have an easygoing relationship since they were young, their children would naturally begin to interact with each other more and more, and before long, Wisteria and Rosalie also began to interact with Bright, who was close to their age.

Wisteria believed that it was thanks to the good nature and selflessness of the Count and Countess of Vatue, who were even regarded as the Good Count and Countess, that the Reuning head took a liking to them.

Here, too, she benefited from the couple’s compassion and goodness.

——Thanks to them, I have the good fortune of being able to interact with this brilliant jewel I would not have even been able to touch.

“You don’t need to be so reserved, Rosalie. Of course I will be happy to accompany you when you join the evening party.”

“W-Who asked you to do that? I would never ask you to do that in the least!”

The exchange continued with no breaks in between, and Wisteria briefly snapped out of her reverie and back to reality.

——Then, suddenly, she felt a prick in her chest like a thorn.

Bright’s eyes on Rosalie. The cat-like twinkle.

He was polite and friendly to everyone, but it was only with Rosalie that he seemed to become less formal and even more friendly.

(…I mustn’t think foolish thoughts.)

Refusing to think too deeply, Wisteria surreptitiously shook her head.