Even the dogs passing by knew that Perdes was my partner.
But saying something like that was clearly an act of ignoring Perdes.
And that too in front of the parties involved.
“...”
I was so shocked that I looked at the Crown Prince and noticed that he was glancing at Perdes' reaction.
Could it be that this is an extension of what happened yesterday?
“...”
Then I thought giving him the reaction I expected would be a good idea, so I nudged Perdes.
If Perdes didn't know what I wanted, things would have been complicated, but fortunately, he understood right away and said.
“I am the young lady’s partner.”
It was a slow but powerful speech.
The Crown Prince said, lifting his lips as if mocking Perdes.
“If you care about the lady, it would be better to hand over the position of partner to me, Perdes.”
“What does that mean?”
This time I asked, but the Crown Prince explained kindly while keeping his eyes fixed on Perdes.
“As the Marquis de Lanchot belongs to the aristocratic society, many high-ranking nobles will attend today’s debutante.”
“...”
“I heard that foreign nobles are also coming. If you take Perdes as your partner to a place like that, you will be laughed at by the nobles.”
Only then did the Crown Prince turn to me and lightly hold my hand.
“I don’t want the lady, the only child of Duke Leopold who saved my life, to be criticized by other nobles.”
A wet and dirty feeling touched the back of my hand.
“So take me with you, my lady. That's for the lady, and...”
“I don’t like it.”
I tried to just watch the bullshit, but I couldn't listen to it, so I cut off the waist and took the hand he was holding.
Then the Crown Prince looked at me with puzzled eyes.
It was as if he didn't know I would refuse.
“I don’t think you understand what I’m saying yet..."
"No. I understood everything.”
It was a waste of my time to keep listening to his bullshit.
“I am grateful for the love you give me, but my hair is more important to me than my reputation.”
The Crown Prince used his fair appearance, high position, and enormous wealth to seduce women.
It was a fact known to all citizens of the empire that the Crown Princess suffered from pain every day because of this.
Even a month ago, at a party, she ripped out all the hair of a Countess who became the Crown Prince's lover.
Because of that, the social world was turned upside down, and I heard that many women who received love calls from the Crown Prince were afraid of being like that themselves, so they avoided him.
“...”
When that story was mentioned, the Crown Prince's face hardened.
I twitched my lips and laughed at the Crown Prince, then crossed my arms around Perdes.
“Then shall we go, Perdes?”
Perdes also nodded, naturally putting his hand around my waist.
Shocked by the fact that he wasn't chosen, we left the Spring Palace, leaving the Crown Prince standing there dumbfounded.
There was a carriage ready for us to ride at the front gate.
As soon as I got into the carriage, I took out a handkerchief and rubbed the area where the Crown Prince's lips had touched.
Even though it only touched briefly and then fell, it was very scary.
I felt even worse because I felt like that feeling was still there.
As I continued rubbing, Perdes held my hand.
"Atop. Your skin will injured.”
"Ah."
Only then did I notice the back of my hand turning red and stop.
Perdes also clicked his tongue when he saw that.
“Then why are you rubbing the back of your hand? That doesn’t mean it gets erased.”
“I just want to feel better.”
“It’s foolish.”
Perdes continued clicking his tongue, looking at the back of my hand, and then suddenly lowered his head.
What are you doing...!
“Perdes!”
I was startled and called out to Perdes when his lips touched the back of my hand, which had turned red.
But Perdes paid no heed and pressed his lips to the spot where the Crown Prince's lips had touched and then released them.
And he looked straight into my eyes as I stared at him blankly and grinned.
“Would you feel less bad if I did this?”
I should have said no, told him not to do this again, but strangely, no words came out, as if he had swallowed a stone.
All I had to do was hastily pull the hand away from him. I rubbed the area where his lips touched.
I felt very bad when the Crown Prince's lips touched me, but it wasn't Perdes.
I actually liked it, and I had this strange thought that if it felt like this, it wouldn't be that bad.
I rubbed the back of my hand for a long time without being able to look at Perdes' face.
***
Originally, I had planned to remind Perdes of his work while going to the Rose Garden, where the debutante of the Marquis de Lanchot was being held.
I tried to do that, but I couldn't do anything because Perdes was acting strangely.
Actually, I couldn't say it was strange.
Kissing the back of the hand was common in social circles.
It's a common occurrence, but why does it keep bothering me?
Every time I looked at his face, the feeling on the back of my hand became clearer, so I kept looking out the window.
“Get off.”
However, it cannot be avoided forever.
When the moment came to hold his hand, I swallowed dry saliva, carefully placed my hand on his outstretched hand, and got out of the carriage.
As soon as I got off the carriage, I was immediately hit by the strong scent of roses.
A man who appeared to be an employee approached me smiling sweetly.
“I’ll show you to your seat.”
I looked back at Lord Aldor before following the staff.
“Lord Aldor, please give me that champagne.”
Since the escort knight was not allowed inside, he was handed champagne.
“Give it to me.”
The champagne was returned to Perdes's arms.
He asked, looking down at the champagne.
"Gift?"
"Yes."
“I thought you prepared another gift.”
“That is a gift I prepared, and this is a gift prepared by someone else.”
It was never revealed that that person was Chernosser.
Instead, I looked at him and Perdes grinned.
“Now you see me.”
“...It’s because Perdes did something strange.”
“Is kissing the back of your hand weird? The man said it’s common in social circles.”
That... Yes.
When I turned my head at a loss for words, Perdes chuckled, smiled, and crossed his arms.
I placed my hand lightly on it and followed the staff into the Rose Garden.
After walking for about 5 minutes, I saw nobles gathered around a large statue of a goddess covered with climbing roses.
On one side, an orchestra played beautiful melodies, and on the other side, there was a table set so luxuriously that it made your legs bend.
Staff wearing the same uniform as the staff who guided us walked around busily handing out welcome champagne to the guests.
When I tried to give welcome champagne to Perdes, of course, he waved his hand away.
Because Perdes was not yet an adult.
It may be non-alcoholic champagne, but welcome champagne mostly contains alcohol, so he shouldn't drink it.
“This is for drinks.”
"All right."
After a while, a staff member brought Perdes a drink.
Perdes, who had the same drink as the much younger customer, grumbled in displeasure.
“I can have champagne too.”
"It's not possible."
“If it’s alcohol, I’ve already tried it.”
“But not in front of me.”
When I spoke firmly, Perdes pouted but did not complain any further.
“Look over there. It’s Lady Leopold!”
People who discovered us late were surprised and started to make a fuss.
“Is the man next to Lady Leopold the 4th Prince?”
“That’s right, that’s right. His eyes are golden.”
"Oh my God. His Royal Highness has grown up like that? I can’t believe it.”
The nobles were amazed to see Perdes, who had grown up so well that they could not be considered an idiot Prince from a miserable and unsightly boy. Exclamations of exclamation erupted from everywhere.
Even though I didn't raise him, I felt proud as if I had.
I looked at Perdes, who was smiling happily and drinking his drink.
Thanks to hia slightly tanned skin from practicing swordsmanship so hard, he completely lost the image of being sickly or incompetent.
His incredible height and bulk also played a role.
Meanwhile, his facial lines were fine and his eyelashes were longer than most women's, giving him a delicate and elegant look, so women could hardly take their eyes off him.
For some reason, I felt a little offended by his gaze, so I gently pulled Perdes' arm.
Then Perdes looked at me in confusion.
"Why?"
I couldn't say that I just pulled because I was in a bad mood, so I thought about it for a moment and came up with a good excuse.
“I’m going to say hello to the Lady of the Marquis de Lanchot.”
"Yes."
Fortunately, Perdes nodded without any doubt.
As I looked around to find the daughter of the Marquis de Lanchot, I quickly found her surrounded by nobles.
She was decked out in gorgeous jewelry from head to toe as if to show off that she was the main character, but it was even weirder not to be able to spot it.
I had to deliver the champagne in question to her before the party got underway, so I approached her with Perdes.
People's eyes were glued to my back like leeches.
The people who were blocking our path moved to both sides to clear the way.
The same was true for the nobles around the Lady.
Only then did the Lady's eyes widen slightly when she discovered us.
Next to the Lady, there was a middle-aged woman who still hadn't left, and she was the Marchioness of Lanchot.
As we approached, the Marchioness smiled kindly and greeted Perdes.
“Thank you very much, Your Royal Highness, for coming to congratulate my daughter on her debutante.”
Perdes smiled, gently lifting his lips.
Not the stupid smile he usually showed to people, but a smile so charming that it shook the hearts of many women.
“I just came to the place where I had to come.”
He spoke without stuttering at all and perfectly observed etiquette.
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