I expected to spend some time here, but the dinner was also a lot of complicated procedures. Prayer is basic, from the setting to who picks up the fork first. I learned from Madam Marie, but when I encountered it in practice, my head hurt even more.
However, Brandt was kind and considerate of me, so I was able to avoid others finding out about my embarrassment. I was convinced that the letter was a success because of his melting manners.
The main topics of the dinner ranged from the Privy Council meeting to state affairs and private rumors circulating in the aristocracy. Brandt was not a big fan of it, but he expressed his opinion firmly and logically on the topic he was going to discuss. Even during the group presentation, I looked at Brandt with admiration as he played with his words freely.
'I don't think there is much of an age difference between him and Edita, but there was a reason for him to be the chairman of the Privy Council.'
The main reason why he is the chairman of the Privy Council is probably because of the title of Duke of Albrenovic that he inherited from his father, but if he was not up to the task, someone else would have taken his place. However, this young man returned from the battlefield and was doing an excellent job as chairman of the Privy Council.
When the dinner was ripe, the Emperor said to me.
"Edita. Isn't this place uncomfortable?"
The Emperor was sincerely asking me how I felt without any calculations or lies.
"It's so comfortable, Father. It's a pity that I'm finally attending."
"Hahaha. Yes! I should have worked harder to get Edita to attend more often."
The Emperor laughed out loud, as if satisfied with my answer. The Emperor's laughter made the others laugh like machines. I felt like I had to laugh, too, so I forced the corners of my mouth up.
"But Edita, your head is so simple. Is there no material or person in the villa?"
The laughter was about to subside, Prince Fabio said. The atmosphere quickly became awkward.
I could easily guess that she was interested in Prince Fabio when I saw Princess Lena smiling beside him.
"No, it is not. The more I attend this kind of event for the first time, the more I feel like I have to keep the moderation, so I just kept it simple."
"The spirit that dwells there is also beautiful."
The hall became quiet as his voice protruded as if grabbing the tail of my horse. I looked at the main character of the voice in disbelief. Brandt smiled and looked at me.
'Does such a sudden temperature change make sense?'
At a time when everyone. Including me, I couldn't speak up; only one person could break this heavy silence.
"Ugh, ha, ha! Lovers who are starting anew. It's nice to see."
Starting with the Emperor's laughter, laughter began to be heard again and again.
Oh, they all look like parrots.
"Today I learned for the first time that Prince Albrenovic is a person who can say such things."
"We haven't even been officially engaged yet, but we are already like a couple."
"The Duke fell in love with the lady."
Love... Ha ha...
There was an unintentional baptism of fuss that made me even more awkward. As if he didn't feel the far-fetched words at all, Brandt kept a smile on his face. He seemed to like these exaggerated words.
"Now that the words have come out, I'm currently thinking about when the official engagement ceremony between Prince Albrenovic and Edita should be held."
The Emperor said. His words were filled with worry about Edita, who had lost her original fiancé, Orleans. Although he hurriedly promised to be engaged to Prince Albrenovic for fear that she would live alone for the rest of her life, he could not help but worry about Edita's wounds as a father.
I wasn't in a hurry to get engaged to Brandt. I also told Brandt to take our time and try to understand each other
"I want to skip the engagement and get married right away."
My eyes widened as I sat leisurely. The same was true for everyone else in the hall except Brandt. Princess Lena even dropped the fork she was holding.
"I understand what Your Majesty is worried about. But the more I do that, the more I want to protect her by her side. I want to skip the cumbersome engagement ceremony and marry a lady as soon as possible. Please allow me."
Brandt even stood up when he shouted, "Please." The Emperor was moved by his positive words and actions.
"Are you serious?"
"How can I tell a lie before Your Majesty?"
Someone slowly began clapping with emotion. Then, the sound of applause grew louder in the hall as if a wave had risen. I was embarrassed.
'No, I don't. This is not it! This is not it!'
This was too sudden. I sent a letter to Brandt to prevent this from happening, but how did this happen?
Didn't you see my letter? But what does it explain about the sudden change in affection?
"I allow it!"
The Emperor, who was looking at the hall filled with applause, shouted loudly. I looked up at Brandt with Indescribable emotion, speechless.
'What are you going to do?'
Brandt looked at me as if he had read my mind. He was smiling. He was clearly smiling. However, it wasn't the gentle smile he had just had. It was the same smile I had seen in Liesel's garden. I froze.
Brandt bowed his head to me.
"It won't go your way."
His whisper seemed to freeze in my ears. Brandt's hot hand landed on my ear and pulled me in. Then his lips lightly stole mine.
I realized the moment my lips were plump, and then they fell off.
Ah... Ah... It was my first kiss!
"Oh my..."
A lady groaned in surprise. No matter how much they promised to get married, this was a world where women knew how to build mountains on their heads. Kissing at a formal dinner party was naturally controversial.
"Congratulations!"
However, the momentary embarrassment was buried by Lady Zita's sonorous voice. She stood up and clapped. Her Immature and cheerful applause would have been glared at at another time, but it was different in this place where something was going wrong. Others began to stand after her.
Finally, when the Emperor stood up, I seemed to understand what Brandt meant.
I felt like my long skirt was going to trip over my shoes. No, I have already fallen several times. However, I was busy chasing Brandt as he disappeared into the maze garden. When she heard that I had something to say to Duke Albenovic, Madame Marie, who had a different Imagination, did not dare to chase after me.
He stepped into the maze garden of the main palace instead of the correct exit route, like a lover who is really secretly meeting. Brandt knew I was following him. Nevertheless, he led me to the depths until I could no longer feel the presence of people.
When I reached a dead end, Brandt was standing waiting for me. This big man, dressed in a black robe with a military uniform, was like an insurmountable wall for me. I didn't intend to surpass him either. I just hoped that it wouldn't get in my way.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Is it enough to hear such words about hastening marriage?"
Brandt replied to my cry bluntly. He was back with a cold expression. If I hadn't known, I wouldn't have cared, but once I experienced his kindness, I felt this coldness as a harshness.
"You saw my letter!"
"I saw it. It was written with great care."
"Why are you doing this when you see it? I'm sure, let's get to know each other slowly."
"How much slower than this!"
Brandt shouted. The birds resting in the maze garden flapped their wings and flew away.
It was the same shout that commanded the battlefield that Brandt told me. My legs were shaking and I couldn't stand properly. Fear, resentment, and barbarism rushed over me all at once, and I felt like I was about to collapse.
It was Brandt who absurdly supported me as I staggered. He wrapped his arms around my waist and grabbed my forearm with his other hand, and hugged me strongly.
As his body came closer, I could feel his pulse beating hard. It was probably my pulse. My pulse and his were beating at a hot speed.
"Hey, let me do this. I can stand on my own."
It was the first time in my life that my heart sounded so heavy.
"I don't like it."
With a firm answer, I could feel Brandt's hard muscles beating vividly behind one of the eyelids of the fabric. It was embarrassingly explicit.
Does he feel my body so uncontrollably? But is it okay?
When I thought about it, I felt very strange. An Invisible rope came out and was pulling me out.
Amid that Intense tension, Brandt's face came as close to me as it was at a dinner party.
"I never thought you would be so blatant about wanting to postpone your engagement, let alone marrying me. I was a fool to get excited for a moment when I received that letter."
"That's not what the letter meant."
"Then why did you write that? I... you foolish me! Even though you know how long I'm waiting for that day!"
Sadness welled up on Brandt's cold face. At that moment, I realized.
Aren't you a purist?
Brandt was desperately hungry for Edita. His fierce longing was holding the two of us together.
However, his twisted innocence was more embarrassing than moving. I was also confused as to why I was reacting like this to the trembling of his fingers that touched me.
What happened between Edita and him? Why is Brandt unable to hide his anguish in front of me, and why is there a dense air between us that seems to burn up?
Amid the suffocating tension, I suddenly felt sorry for that slippery face wet with sadness.
"I'm sorry. I want to get along well with the Duke."
I knew that the person Brandt wanted to get along with was not me, but the original "Edita', but I was sincere. I felt a little bitter taste in my mouth.
"I want to get along... I don't know if what you said is true anymore."
But what is sad is sad, please believe what people say, can't you?
Brandt, with his wounded eyes, let me go. Then he passed by my body and said.
"We'll see. Do you really want to get along? I want to get along well with you."
I was left alone in a corner of the labyrinth garden where only his scent remained.
It was really strange. I couldn't move as if something was tying my body tightly.
The name maze garden was not given for nothing. When I followed Brandt in, the road was long, but when I tried to get out alone, it was a dead end, even if I went this way and a dead end there.
No matter what, did you bring me here and get out by yourself? I was resentful.
In the end, I took off my shoes and walked barefoot. Someone else appeared and said. "Lady, why are you barefoot?" It didn't matter if I argued. First of all, my feet hurt so much!
I'm glad I didn't put my head up heavily. If I had piled up my head like a mountain, it would have been heavy, and I would have collapsed.
As I trudged barefoot, I stopped at my seat when I heard the sound of a secret conversation from beyond the cypress trees that formed the labyrinth wall. The cypress trees were growing so densely that it was difficult to distinguish between them. But I could tell who it was without looking at it. The two people who were talking happened to be voices that I was not very familiar with in this palace.
"Then I'll go first."
"Take a look."
It was Princess Lena and Stefano Russell!
I held my breath and waited until I couldn't hear Princess Lena's footsteps. When she was completely gone, I approached Stefano over the cypress wall.
I felt betrayed by the secret conversation I overheard in the secret labyrinth garden. He didn't lie to me, but he was so honest that I was even angrier. Perhaps I was even more excited to face this before the emotions that had been intense because of Brandt had subsided just now.
...However, the problem was that this was a maze garden. I had never been able to find a way out!
The steps I set out to find Stefano beyond the cypress wall were heading to a place that was far from what I had originally intended. In the meantime, the feeling of betrayal that had been building up has disappeared, and all that remains is the desire to escape from this labyrinth garden.
"I think you need help, Lady."
At the right time, Stefano appeared. As if he had waited for my anger to subside!
Even if this is the case, few people can be angry with a man who appears to someone who desperately needs help, saying, "I think you need help." I was like that too.
"I'm lost."
"So you're barefoot?"
Stefano must be the one who fights about barefoot!
I was embarrassed and put my shoes on the ground to put them on again. However, Stefano snatched the shoe.
"What are you doing?"
"Didn't you say that even those who do not believe will have a time of need?"
Stefano sat down with his back in front of me.
"How are you going to put shoes on with those feet? Please get up."
I hesitated for a moment in front of the blue jacket embroidered with white thread. But it was a maze garden anyway, so I wondered what it would be. Above all, my feet really hurt!
I snuck to his back, and Stefano pulled himself to his feet. Edita's complicated relationship with men was a bit annoying, but her slender body was really lovely. I don't have to make a grunting sound when a man carries me on his back or shake me off several times. Isn't that too embarrassing?
"I didn't expect you to really get up."
However, Stefano was a man who knew how to embarrass even the slender Edita.
"I just responded because I didn't think it was polite to say no."
I replied as if I wasn't ashamed.
Once I felt comfortable, I remembered the secret conversation between Princess Lena and Stefano.
"..."
"Lady..."
Stefano and I called out to each other at the same time.
"Tell me."
"No, I don't. Lady, speak first."
It was not polite to refuse, so I opened my mouth coldly.
"Are you Princess Lena's lover?"
"..."
Look at this, look at this! Can't you answer?
I kicked him without realizing it. My foot brushed against Stefano's thigh, and he let out a weak groan.
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