OIAR - Chapter 12

'It's something I've always dreamed of, but it's really strange.'

The thought of actually standing in front of someone made her stomach turn.

She keeps making mistakes in front of her brother and father, so what if she makes mistakes in front of guests?

Also, since she had never properly dressed up, she wasn't confident about her appearance.

"Why would you go to a ball looking like that!"

Every morning, Eli would click his tongue as he looked at her face. The constant criticism sapped away any remaining confidence she had.

Besides, the biggest problem was that no matter what she did, her dancing didn't improve.

She had only practiced it a few times with Mrs. Hooper, and it seemed like her skills were actually declining when she practiced it alone in her room.

She was so at a loss that she tried to ask Eli, but she couldn't bring herself to open her mouth, so she gave up.

"There are some minor issues."

Shioana mustered up the courage to speak, but Etienne didn't respond. She muttered, trampling the grass with her foot, hiding her irritation.

"Actually, my dancing is a mess."

After spewing out her melancholy words, she threw a stone in a fit of anger. It splashed into the lake, seemingly foretelling her bleak future.

"If anyone is going to embarrass themselves at the debutantes, it's going to be me."

Shioana's eyes snapped forward as she watched the waves spread out in a circular pattern.

As the daughter of a Count's family, she felt embarrassed to make such a confession.

As she was sweeping down her cheek, the rope of the swing suddenly snapped right before her eyes and sank down.

Pungdeng.

Siona looked back and forth between the swing and Etienne as the bubbles rose in the lake.

"...Uh."

Maybe he had expected it to turn out like that, and that was clearly why he jumped in with that look on his face.

"It would have been better if you had explained it that way."

Not knowing that, she mistakenly assumed he was crazy. As Shioana fussed, he stood up, picked up a stone, and slowly tossed it toward the lake's surface. Unlike Shioana's, it bounced several times before sinking.

"Do you know how to do it?"

Shioana, who had suddenly clung to him, picked up a rough stone and looked up at Etienne.

Etienne knelt down, picked up a few flat stones, and put them in his pocket.

"Ah. This kind of stone is not allowed?"

Shioana, who had a keen eye for detail, dropped what she was holding and picked up the stone again.

As he watched her, a familiar scene played in Etienne's mind.

'Etienne! Look at that! I made it too!'

After he finished the water skiing, his younger brother's face, smiling brightly, flashed before his eyes.

Why does the image of my most precious younger sibling keep appearing in my mind?

"Etienne, tell me properly."

Shioana grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged, and Etienne, frozen in place, looked down at her.

His younger brother was the first and last person he taught how to skip water.

He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he could share the precious memories he had with my younger sibling with Shioana.

"What, hurry, hurry..."

At Shioana's urging, he pretended to be defeated and waved his hand. The stone left Etienne's hand and glided smoothly across the water. Sioana tried hard to follow his lead, but couldn't do it right away.

To teach her properly, he has to stand behind her and hold her hand.

He did it like he did to his younger sibling before, but he hesitated for various reasons.

"What? It looks easy..."

A brilliant light fell on Shioana's head as she grumbled and fiddled with the stone. Etienne gazed blankly at her brown hair blowing in the wind.

'She's not Edwin.'

His brother is dead and buried in his chest, but Shioana is here.

With all the energy of Regbel vividly contained within.

The cool breeze blowing from the mountain, the light breaking on the lake, and the scent of roses in full bloom in the garden could all be felt from her.

"What's that? That suspicious face?"

Shioana tilted her head as she saw Etienne's cheeks flush.

As he gazed at her, an impulse suddenly occurred to Etienne.

“...Why is this happening?”

He grabbed Shioana's wrist and led her to a flat place where he stopped.

"If Eli sees us doing this..."

As she stared down at Etienne's thick-knuckled hands, she couldn't forget what he had said.

She was trying to pull her hand away, but he did it first.

"...?"

And immediately Etienne bowed with his hand on his chest.

The sight was so natural that Shioana looked at him as if she was entranced. Then he reached out and asked her to dance.

"Hey, do you want to dance?"

It was obvious, but it was hard to believe, so she stuttered. Assuming she was being deceived, Shioana reached out her hand, and he gently took her hand.

"You really know how to dance?"

The two of them held hands and began to walk across the grass. He was a patient and skilled teacher. No matter how many times she stepped on him, he never once frowned.

'What kind of person are you?'

Although he had the mark of a slave tattooed on his arm, he could read and seemed to know swordsmanship.

If not, he would have been helplessly wounded by Eli's sword swing earlier. Furthermore, he was much more skilled at dancing than she was.

"As if you've been to a lot of balls."

But Etienne will not answer any of these questions.

Although it's close to not being able to do it.

Shioana, who had been following his lead, played hard through the night, letting every thought that came to mind. Soon, their faces flushed with heat, and their breathing became ragged.

Shioana stared at the lake beyond Etienne's broad shoulders, and slowly came to see his face.

"Oh..."

Her heart thumped violently at the strange aura on Etienne's aforementioned face.

His wet black bangs fell over his forehead, his red eyes blazed beneath his thick eyebrows, his nose was high, and his lips were in harmony.

Dressed in a sweaty pure white shirt, his shirt tightened on his chest, and his arm muscles wriggled every time he moved.

"Miss, don't look into his red eyes. He's going to take away your soul!"

Now she felt a little bit of what Martha's warning meant.

Shioana stared at Etienne's face for a long time, and before she knew it, he stopped moving.

Apparently, she had caught him peeking at Etienne's face.

"Why? Do you think I would have fallen in love with you because you were handsome?"

"...?"

Etienne's eyes narrowed at her excited words. He seemed to be mocking her. She was a noblewoman, his master.

Angry, Shioana put her hands on her waist and shook her head.

"Is this a reward for saving you last time? You know there's no way to do this, right? I saved your life twice."

Shioana, who felt embarrassed for no reason, suddenly got angry.

But Etienne just stood there, staring at her with a blank expression. It would have been better if he had laughed or gotten angry, but that kind of face only made her even angrier.

Shioana patted her dress, hiding the blazing fire. She straightened her back as if she had no recollection of having just been lying on the grass.

"It's getting late. I should probably go now. Thank you for everything today."

Thinking back, it was so embarrassing that she couldn't stand to be in front of Etienne even for a moment.

Didn't you have fun on the swing that was about to break? Did you lie on the grass in front of him and learn the ballroom dance from him?

'The worst thing was telling him he was handsome.'

Shioana began to walk hurriedly, almost as if she were saying goodbye. Eventually, she almost ran again and moved away from the lakeside.

Etienne, who had been standing still until Shioana's figure became a tiny dot, suddenly collapsed. It was the exact spot where she had been lying earlier. Hot breath poured out of his mouth in a ragged manner.

"Ha..."

Shioana had a knack for stealing his soul. From the moment she stepped onto the swing with the broken rope, she set his heart racing.

'Why do you look so pretty today?'

Even though she was wearing a light white dress with her hair down, it sparkled all over, as if she had turned the light of the lake inside out.

The faces of those who got annoyed while trying to do water sledding, or those who stepped on him and stuck out their tongues while dancing with him, were all vivid.

Etienne roughly ran his dirt-covered hands over his face.

'Why did you do this?'

He knew he couldn't force his feelings for her. But at least he shouldn't have done something so foolish as dancing on the grass.

'I just feel bad for her because she's worried about the ball.'

He reached out his hand without even having time to think.

Because that was something he could help with.

A faint memory of his dazzling appearance at the ballroom came to mind. With his shining blond hair and crimson eyes, the symbol of his family, everyone held their breath when he appeared.

And he felt similar today.

It was a completely different situation. He wasn't a nobleman here, and this wasn't a ballroom.

'She acted like she was going to swallow me alive.'

Shioana's passionate blue eyes were fixed only on him.

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