"Uh?"
Duke Hyde stared behind her, bewildered at how things had happened so naturally.
"Huh?"
Julia was about to turn her head away, not even knowing what was going on.
As if she was doing a turn while dancing, her body naturally spun around halfway and was sucked into the balcony behind the curtain. All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
"Who, who are you?!"
Julia looked up in confusion. Who on earth could be so rude!
"Julia."
Surprisingly, the scoundrel who kidnapped the Queen was the King.
Endymion stretched his arm backward and swung the thick curtain, separating the ballroom from the balcony. As it was a space for relaxation, the two of them were left alone in an instant, and the sound of the music faded into the distance.
"Mion? Me again!"
Julia raised her voice in relief.
"Why did you suddenly appear? I was surprised. Get out of the way for a moment, and go back out and tell Duke Hyde..."
"Why."
It was the moment when she was about to pass by, scolding him. Endymion blocked Julia's path without even flinching.
"What?"
What a sudden action. Julia looked up in puzzlement and saw that the blue eyes were shining dimly in the moonlight.
"Why are you so close with that guy?"
"... That guy?"
It was a harsh expression for a King in noble attire to make. Julia cried out in astonishment.
"How could you say such a mean thing to Duke Hyde...!"
"It's been a while since you last met, but you seem pretty close."
What? Julia frowned and crossed her arms.
What on earth is he talking about? It's been a long time since I've seen the Duke... Huh?
Julia's expression changed and her arms loosened.
Endymion's expression became strange as he looked down at it. At the same time, Julia instinctively hesitated and stepped back as he approached with large strides.
"No. It's not like that. It's not close."
"It's annoying."
"What?"
Julia, her back against the balcony railing, asked as if she couldn't believe her ears.
Just now you just told me you were annoyed with me?
Julia opened her eyes wide and looked up, shocked by what she had heard for the first time.
Endymion ripped off the cravat wrapped around his neck and came close to her stomach, his expression full of discontent.
"You smile so beautifully."
A muffled murmur escaped him. At the same time, a firm hand cautiously touched her round cheek.
"...It's annoying when other people see you like that."
A dizzying gaze looked down at her. She felt like a herbivore being eaten alive.
Her peripheral nerves were tingling and her heart was pounding, telling her to run away, but Julia was already unable to move.
As she stood there, not knowing what to do. Endymion's expression, caressing her smooth skin, relaxed and became languid.
"Are you doing this on purpose to make me look at you?"
Endymion asked, naturally rubbing the back of her neck. Her body trembled at the slight, ticklish stimulation.
Julia belatedly came to her senses with a sense of danger.
"No, that's not it."
It was strange. Endymion was embarrassed by this, but the words 'pretty' particularly stuck in her ears and made her heart flutter.
'It's nothing special, but why...'
She felt good. She felt like she was feeling guilty about the situation.
Thankfully, there was no laughter, but she could clearly feel her body temperature rising.
"Hey, hey, let's have this first."
Julia carefully took Endymion's arm and pulled it out of her neck. Endymion's brows, which had been relaxed, narrowed again.
"... I guess I'll have to kick all the men out of the ballroom. I just can't feel safe."
"What? What kind of nonsense is that?"
Julia, who had been pretending to be indifferent and coughing, laughed out loud without realizing it. It was cute to see a grown man act like a childish child.
"You're not jealous, are you?"
But before Julia's laughter could stop. Endymion answered as if he had been waiting for it.
"It's true that I'm jealous."
"What?"
Who is doing what?
Julia covered her laughter with her hand at the confident voice. Endymion narrowed his eyes as he watched her.
Hap.
Julia quickly bit her lips and began to gently soothe him.
"Mion, why are you jealous? And It's suddenly like this when you've never done it before. Brother, no, Lord Oberon is just a friend from my childhood. I was just happy to see him after 12 years."
Julia laughed in disbelief and tried hard to coax Endymion. But it didn't seem very convincing.
"Friend. How can you say that without knowing what happened to your friend of 12 years, my Queen?"
Endymion held her in place, his chin and arms on either side.
Julia, her back leaning precariously against the railing, pursed her lips. Her face eventually turned red as she remembered what kind of relationship she had with that 'friend'.
"That, that's it! We were originally married!"
"And he's an older friend than me."
"What? How did you know that?"
It was obvious that he had no idea, what was going on until this morning when we first met!
Meanwhile, Julia was puzzled as to how and when he had found out about it. Then, Endymion twitched the corners of his mouth.
"I know your underwear size, don't you think I don't know that?"
"Whoa!"
Julia let out a single scream at Endymion's voice, which spoke in a clear voice as if he was trying to get someone to listen. At the same time, she covered his mouth with her palm, turning on her heel.
As Julia jumped into Endymion's arms. He smiled with satisfaction. Then as if he had been waiting, he hugged her waist tightly.
"You really..."
Julia, startled by the sudden touch, quickly pulled her palm away and asked with a bright red face.
"Can you stop talking about those underwear?!"
"So what, I'm your husband anyway."
Wow, look at that shameless thing!
Julia cried out in anger at the sight of Endymion smiling innocently.
"No! Everyone else can do it, but you absolutely can't!"
"...Are you going to come out like that?"
A meaningful question came back.
Julia, who was about to insist that if he was going to embarrass herself with her underwear size, she should also know his, swallowed her words as Endymion gently tightened his arm and pulled her closer.
When their eyes met unexpectedly, an atmosphere they had experienced several times suddenly surrounded them.
So, there's a thrilling and strange tension.
Gulp.
Julia thought the dry swallowing sound in her throat was particularly loud. At the same time, another self was babbling in her head.
Danger! This is a balcony covered only with a curtain!
"Someone else, who?"
"What?"
"Is there anyone who knows you better than I do?"
"No, it's just... because you keep teasing me."
Julia answered weakly in a hoarse voice that had completely subsided. However, the thick walls seemed unable to hear her voice.
"That's a bit disappointing."
Endymion buried his face on Julia's shoulder like a wild beast yearning for its master's love.
Julia rolled her eyes in bewilderment at the sudden dead voice. Then, as Endymion hugged her waist tighter, she became tense and even breathed softly.
"Hey, Lord Oberon and I were friends for a while when we were young. It's been a while since we last met and we talked about our hometowns, so we seemed close."
"Then, why did you call him brother so affectionately as soon as you met him?"
"That's, that's what he was called when I was young..."
Julia was afraid that at any moment someone would pull back the curtain and discover this strange sight.
Julia didn't notice Endymion pretending to be pitiful and asking sneaky questions. She was too busy fidgeting and glancing sideways at the curtains to notice anything.
Of course, It didn't open because there was a sign saying there was someone inside, but the atmosphere was so exciting that there was no way to avoid making a mistake.
Julia was startled when she saw the curtain shaking faintly as if someone had touched it while passing by.
"Wait a minute, this..."
Julia tried to pull away from her body, which was wrapped tightly as if she was about to commit an act.
But Endymion tightened his arms and pulled her closer to his waist. He showed no sign of letting go.
"Can't I hold you?"
"Ah. No, it's not that it's not possible..."
She couldn't push him away harshly because his voice sounded pitiful. Julia hesitated and became sullen.
Then the curtain shook once more.
OMG.
I felt like I was going to get caught any moment!
Finally, Julia whispered urgently, not knowing what she was saying in her blank mind.
"Mi, Mion. I want to sit on the chair."
"Just a little more..."
"My feet hurt because of those shoes!"
Then, surprisingly, Endymion suddenly stopped talking and immediately relaxed his arms. Then, he quickly lifted her up by her waist and sat her down on the table next to him.
"Uh?"
The legs hanging over the end of the table were shaking.
As Julia blinked at the sudden change in circumstances, Endymion knelt down in front of her without hesitation.
"Look here."
His hands dug beneath the billowing hem of her skirt.
Just as Julia was about to reflexively push Endymion's shoulder away, the hand that wrapped around her lower calf took off her shoe in one motion.
"...It's swollen."
In an instant, both shoes were taken off, revealing two feet wrapped in white stockings.
“Ah.”
Julia, who had cried out in pain but had not expected an immediate response, let out an exclamation of relief at the unexpected feeling.
Endymion placed Julia's foot on his thigh and began to examine it seriously.
"I think it must have hurt when you danced."
Beautiful, pointed shoes were not suitable for walking in. Dress shoes, which were much higher than what she usually wore, were even more uncomfortable.
But since dancing at balls like today only lasts a few minutes, all noble and royal women had to learn how to wear shoes from a young age.
The reason Julia hated dancing as a child, even though she was not physically disabled, was also because of that pain.
Of course, now that 12 years have passed, it has become so natural that dancing in high heels is as easy as breathing. She has become indifferent to the swelling of her feet that were overworked by the shoes.
"Huh? It's okay. I'm used to it now..."
Well, I was just wrapping something around it to avoid it falling down.
Julia looked at the curtain that had become quiet again, relieved and slightly embarrassed.
It was nice that her body fell as intended, but it was unexpected that Endymion looked at her feet as if something serious had happened.
"That's how it is when you wear shoes and dance. It'll be okay tomorrow..."
"You held it in again."
Huh? Julia blinked at the unexpected words.
Before she knew it, Endymion had completely forgotten about the topic from earlier and was carefully holding and kneading her feet wrapped in stockings.
Julia, however, was so used to it that her swollen, numb feet were being gently massaged by firm hands, pressing and releasing them.
"Stay still."
Julia was dumbfounded by this unprecedented situation. But for a moment, she let out a sigh of satisfaction as she felt a pleasant pressure on her tired feet.
"Yeah. Hey, Mion?"
Julia called out to Endymion, placing a careful hand on his shoulder for balance. She looked down to see a long, straight, martial arts-trained hand gripping her foot.
"I wish you hadn't put up with it..."
As Endymion muttered with his head bowed his beautiful black hair, like the night sky, poured out.
Julia asked cautiously, running her hands through his short hair as if possessed.
"...What are you talking about?"
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