The ballroom became quiet as if someone had poured cold water on it. It was Illeon who broke the quiet silence where not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
“I want to know why you rejected my request to dance.”
“...”
“It would be nice if there was a reason I could understand. I feel a little, no, very disappointed to leave like this.”
Seliya gazed calmly at Illeon, who did not look disappointed at all.
Seliya knew that Illeon was interested in her.
Illeon's feelings for her were something lighter than greed and deeper than the passion of a pure seeker.
“The reason I refused...”
Seliya smiled softly, trailing off her words.
“There is someone else who wants me.”
People clicked their tongues at Seliya’s bold words.
The ladies began to mock Seliya.
“...Isn't she really crazy? Why would you say something like that in front of Your Majesty, saying that you are being escorted by Her Excellency, Duke Calypso?”
“Now that I see it, Brillion’s angel is also really stupid. She is loved every time she breathes, so she forgets her own worth.”
“What are you doing if only her face is beautiful? It’s because women are like that, regardless of location.”
Seliya listened to the people's chatter with one ear.
It doesn't matter how other people see her or not.
Their biased gaze towards her was so familiar that she didn't even feel tickled anymore.
When she was at Viscount Brillion's house, Seliya behaved as well as she could.
She laid her body flat on the floor and tried to remain as quiet as possible as she sharpened her blade for revenge.
But she didn't let people do that to her.
The douchebags tried to somehow twist her spine and squeeze money out of her, while men longed and lusted after her endlessly.
So, to Seliya, it didn't matter whether the person in front of her was an Emperor or a beggar.
“His Majesty the Emperor will punish her, right? There is no way His Majesty, who is fair, would allow such disrespect to be tolerated.”
“Of course he will.”
The ladies seemed to be secretly expecting Seliya to receive the punishment.
However, Illeon clearly betrayed the expectations of those noble ladies.
Instead of being displeased, Illeon burst into laughter after his request to dance was rejected.
“It can’t be helped that there is someone else who wants it.”
Illeon did not impose any punishment on Seliya.
“The night is shorter than you think, so I hope you enjoy happy moments with that person.”
Illeon's gaze shifted to Dietrich.
“Okay then.”
With those last words, Illeon leisurely left the ballroom.
***
Seliya glared at Illeon’s back.
A hand was suddenly thrust in front of Seliya.
Seliya looked up to see the owner of thr hand being pushed towards her.
His tightly pursed lips, his tall forehead, and his kind and gentle gaze towards her.
The person who extended his hand was none other than Dietrich.
“Would you like to dance with me?”
Seliya folded the corners of her eyes and smiled at Dietrich, who addressed her in a respectful manner.
"Gladly."
The band played a soft orchestral sound.
Dietrich's large hands wrapped around Seliya's waist.
Their hands touched each other, and their finger joints became intertwined.
Seliya began dancing with Dietrich in the center of the ballroom.
The two got along very well.
For this moment, the two put aside everything that was distracting them and focused only on each other.
Seliya's voluptuous waist fell into Dietrich's arms.
The two people, who were engrossed in dancing and hugging each other, made eye contact at a distance where their lips were almost touching, and everyone burst into laughter.
People kept glancing at the two beautiful people.
The two people were so intoxicated with each other that they couldn't even see anyone else.
Reina was watching all this from behind a marble column with her red half-mask on.
“...Crazy"
The man next to her trembled at Reina's bloody curse.
Reina glanced at the man from the corner of her eye.
He was a truly unsightly man, with a skinny body that looked like dried anchovies and a neck that was shriveled like a turtle.
His bangs were so long that the navy blue hair completely covered the mask, making one wonder if he could even see through it.
Reina furrowed her eyebrows and followed where the man's head was headed.
The man's head was fixed on Seliya, who was dancing with Dietrich.
“It’s mine... It's mine. As for Seliya. You said only I would see it...”
The man muttered darkly to himself.
A strong desire for Seliya was evident in the man's voice, which seemed to be scraping metal.
Reina, who was looking at the man, remembered her good move.
“What do you want?”
When Reina suddenly spoke to the man, he stopped talking to himself.
“I am a very high person. If you want that woman, I might be able to give her to you right away.”
At Reina’s words, the man’s head turned towards Seliya strangely tilted.
“Give it to me? Seliya?”
Reina's displeasure rose at the man's informal language, but she did not take offense at the man's tone, with the sole intention of putting Seliya in the predicament.
“She was originally mine, Seliya. She was mine. She was mine from the moment she smiled at me in the mansion.”
Reina believed that the man's paranoia was more serious than she thought.
Rather, Reina, who thought it was a good thing, continued to encourage the man.
"Yes? If she was yours originally, you should take it back.”
“Take her away?”
“You got what you wanted taken away, but are you just watching? Of course, you have to take it away.”
"That's right. Why did I just watch?”
The muttering man clenched his fists and then lowered his head weakly.
“But I’m weak.”
Reina clicked her tongue inside and looked around her.
Fortunately, there were no people around, perhaps because it was behind the pillar.
Reina handed a potion filled with red liquid into the man's hand.
“It’s a weak drug.”
“...Weak?"
"Yes. If you drink it, the effect will appear within 1 minute. It gets people so excited that they lose their minds. If you feed this to that woman, she will want you all.”
“Can you give me something precious like this?”
Reina shrugged her shoulders and responded.
“It’s really precious, so don’t tell anyone else that I gave it to you.”
Reina was determined to say that even if the man in front of her had an accident, she had nothing to do with it.
There is nothing easier than getting your own hands dirty and dealing with others through their own hands.
This was also something she learned from her older brother, Illeon.
Reina hurried out of the ballroom, thinking that there was no way the man in front of her would recognize her because she was half-masked and it was dark anyway.
Seliya and Dietrich.
Today will be the last day those two dance happily together.
Reina gritted her teeth.
- It would be better to find someone else to warm the bed. I guess I have tuberculosis.
He was a man who could speak so coldly to her, yet smile so kindly to that woman.
Out of resentment, she asked her brother Illeon for help, and the answer she received was:
- Poor Reina. You completely lost your battle with Lady Seliya. You won't have Dietrich forever.
Reina couldn't admit those words.
Shelly, isn't that girl a girl who has nothing but her appearance?
She was a street orphan and had no power of any kind.
Such a nothing girl, Dietrich's lover.
Reina couldn't believe that Dietrich would choose such an unsightly woman over herself, who had power and a background beyond compare.
Moreover, even though her brother knew that she had been treated like that by Dietrich, he asked that woman for her first dance.
Reina bit her lower lip until it bled.
She wanted Seliya to be broken.
She felt like seeing Seliya struggling in the abyss of despair would ease her frustration a little.
The aphrodisiac given to the gloomy, unaware man was very effective.
Reina changed her original plan to feed Dietrich.
She wanted to see Seliya ruined by that weak medicine.
It was Reina who spread the rumor that Seliya was a witch who ate men.
However, that didn't really hurt Seliya.
A bigger, bigger shot was needed.
***
As soon as Seliya and Dietrich finished dancing, people started talking as if they had been waiting.
“Your Excellency Duke Calypso.”
Despite the change of Emperor, Dietrich's power was still solid.
He still maintained the rank of Duke and was the head of the Imperial Order of Knights.
People said all sorts of fancy things to impress Dietrich.
“I thought it was just a rumor. I had no idea that His Excellency the Duke was in a relationship with the Angel of Brillion.”
The men said this and glanced at Seliya with subtle eyes.
Dietrich hid Seliya with his large frame as if blocking their gaze.
“I wish you would stop watching.”
The men, who were caught by Dietrich's words, smiled humbly.
"Sorry. She's so beautiful.”
“Let’s just excuse ourselves.”
Dietrich left the ballroom with Seliya, holding her hand.
Seliya smiled softly as she looked at Dietrich's dependable back.
But as Seliya left the ballroom, her expression quickly cooled as she noticed someone waving his hand at her.
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