CH 97

Rian, who was getting closer to Hales, stopped walking when he saw the woman standing and talking to her.

Rian slowly stepped back with a pale face as if he had seen a ghost.

“Dana… Dana, how?”

There was nothing else but Dana’s appearance in his eyes, causing him to murmur as if possessed. Rian was not even aware that she was standing next to Leon or that Count Opel was approaching to greet her.

Instinctive fear gripped him, and Rian turned around and left the banquet hall quickly.

At the end, he almost ran out and gasped while leaning against the outer wall of the corner of the building. His heart was pounding and he felt like all the blood in his body had been drained from him.

“What the hell is this? Why is Dana here?”

There was no possibility that he had seen the wrong person or that she was someone who looked a lot like her by chance. She must have been Dana.

Rian, who had seen Dana closely for years, recognized her at once.

When Rian couldn’t straighten his back while leaning against the wall, a knight passing by found him and came close.

“I… What’s wrong? What’s wrong with you?”

“Don’t mind. Go away!”

When asked, Rian responded sharply and shouted. The knight tried to walk away with an awkward expression.

“Oh, okay. Hey! Come back here.”

“What?”

“Go get me a pen and paper.”

When he ordered him to go, the knight murmured abusive words at Rian, who casually called him back.

“Yes, I see. Please wait a moment.”

However, the well-trained soldier quickly disappeared after politely answering the filthy nobleman.

“Here you are!”

When the soldier soon reappeared, Rian snatched it from him and scribbled something. Then, he folded the paper several times and delivered it to the soldier.

“Go into the banquet hall and deliver this to Mrs. Hamilton Hales.”

“Mrs. Hamilton… Yes, okay.”

Rian Felice was a count, but no one called Hales Count Felice’s wife. It was because Felice entered as a son-in-law. Hales was called Hales, Mrs. Hamilton, or the Young Lady of the Duke of Hamilton.

Hales’ mother, the Duchess of Hamilton, died five years prior.

If Rian was recognized as the successor by the Duke of Hamilton, he would become the Duke of Hamilton, and Hales would be the Duchess.

But sometimes people who liked to talk said that Hales was more likely to receive the title and not Rian.

Hales greeted Dana for a while and moved to another place.

Then, the servant approached her, bowed down, and handed her a note.

Upon receiving the note, Hales looked around and quickly opened the paper.

「Madam, I think it will be delayed more than I thought because I have a lot of work to do. I may not be able to come, so don’t wait and enjoy yourself.」

After reading the content, Hales sighed and crumpled the paper. She didn’t like Rian’s recent strange behavior.

She understood that he was busy as a senior secretary to the Ministry of Finance, but he only stayed at home for one day during vacation and went out somewhere, saying he always had work.

Despite Hales’ request to go to the capital together, he indirectly refused, making excuses that he was busy. Still, he seemed to be good at taking care of official events, and it was amazing to hear that he might not be able to come to today’s banquet.

“Hoo…”

Hales lost interest in the banquet because he said he was not coming. She chatted with her ladies and soon returned home in a carriage early.

As time passed, those who were wary of Dana gradually gathered. The wealth and name value of “Deniz merchants” was too famous to call Dana just a commoner.

In addition, she was going to be Grand Duke Leon Tertius’s Grand Duchess. No matter how arrogant a nobleman was, he could not continue to ignore a person who would become the second highest status after the Imperial family in this country.

“How can you be so beautiful? Look at this hair, it’s so shiny.”

“Oh… Thank you.”

“Dana Deniz, would you like to try this cocktail? It’s really sweet and fragrant.”

“Oh, my wife too. What’s Miss Deniz… Soon she will become the Grand Duchess. Can’t I just tell you to have a vision?”

The ladies who approached first responded positively to whatever Dana said. Therefore, the speaking skills Dana had learned before she came seemed to have no use.

“When will you go back to the estate?”

“Uh, I… know. I don’t know yet either.”

“I hope you’ve been enjoying yourself so far. I’m having a tea party next week, and it’ll be great to have you there.”

“Ah… Who did you say you were?”

“Please call me Countess Shamoud.”

Some wanted to build friendships with Dana somehow, and some wanted to benefit from the Deniz merchants.

“My family is trying to invest this time…”

Dana glanced at Leon with a puzzled expression at the endless questions and hospitality. Leon stood a step behind her and slowly sipped his wine.

“Leon.”

When Dana called him in a small voice, he only sneered at her but did not save her. Instead, he pointed at the central hall with a wink.

Following his gaze, the hall was darker than before.

The women gathered around Dana began to disperse, holding someone’s hand, asking for understanding one by one.

“Oh my, I guess the ball is about to start.”

“Today’s ball is a special masquerade. It sounds fun, right?”

“A masquerade?”

As if to prove the words of Countess Shamoud, the servants were handing out masks in large silver trays one by one.

The lighting in the hall became darker and darker, enough to only barely distinguish people close by.

“My heart is pounding. During the masquerade, I can dance and talk to anyone…”

“…I see.”

Dana nodded, and someone slowly wrapped their arm around her back and pulled her slightly. Dana was a little surprised, but she didn’t scream.