🔊 TTS Settings
~Chapter 92~
Ethan entered the grand ballroom late.
He disliked hearing his name announced, so he hadn’t even spoken to the doorman.
But there was no avoiding the young ladies’ uncanny radar.
The atmosphere of the ballroom changed in an instant.
“Duke Kenwolf is here!”
“Where?”
Excited whispers spread among the young ladies.
At the entrance stood Ethan—perfectly dressed, with the sharp jawline and cool, jet-black eyes just as the rumors said, stealing every gaze in the room.
“He’s looking for someone.”
“Who could it be?”
“It’s a debutante ball. He must be looking for a dance partner!”
The hearts of every young lady making her debut today began to pound.
Whispers and giggles spread from behind fans.
‘Where’s Riden?’
As he looked around, several nobles approached to greet him politely.
The woman he was looking for was nowhere in sight, while nobles he didn’t care to talk to kept starting conversations.
Ethan openly frowned as he slowly scanned the ballroom.
‘Blonde, blonde, blonde…’
Everywhere his gaze landed, it was on unfamiliar young ladies beaming at him—no Riden.
“Your Grace, is this your first ball?”
Now even chaperones and mothers were stepping forward to introduce their daughters to him.
No matter how he looked, Riden was not in the ballroom.
“Yes. My first. I should be going.”
“Wait, Your… Your Grace…!”
He strode away quickly.
He even checked near the Empress, but still, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Please, just one dance with me.”
Ethan was curious to see Riden’s debutante appearance, but more than that, he remembered what she had said that day.
‘So I came…’
In one corner of the ballroom, young men eyed him warily; in another, young ladies tried to draw his attention.
‘Where on earth is she?’
There was only one reason he had come here.
Leaving the suffocating space behind, Ethan headed toward an empty terrace.
.
Marie was wearing the dress Riden had tailored for her in Laria.
“What are you doing here, Riden? I’ve been looking for you. Oh, Glen’s here too?”
Glen switched his expression back to his usual look and said,
“You both look very beautiful tonight. Since I’ve delivered my message to my lady, I’ll return to the count’s estate. Ah, my lady.”
With a face that seemed to say he’d almost forgotten, Glen handed Riden a mysterious note.
Then he leaned in to whisper something only she could hear, before quickly disappearing.
Marie, who had been watching Glen without much interest, came up to Riden and spoke warmly.
“Riden, did you know? Inside the ballroom right now… His Grace the Duke has arrived.”
“…”
When Riden didn’t answer, Marie pressed her.
“You didn’t know?”
“….”
“Riden?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Oh…”
Marie looked as though she had something to say, holding her tongue for a moment before speaking again, as if she couldn’t contain it.
“I’m jealous of you.”
“…”
“You said you didn’t need one, but in the end, Her Majesty the Empress became your chaperone. It was truly impressive. Everyone looked at you with such amazement.”
“…”
“And you seem close with the Kenwolf ducal family too. Um… among the duke’s sons, who are you closer with? The eldest, the count? Or His Grace the Duke himself?”
“…”
“Riden… are you feeling unwell? Do you want to go somewhere and rest? His Grace seemed to be looking for you—should I tell him you’re resting?”
“I’ll go in a bit. Do you want to go back first, Marie?”
Marie gave Riden a slightly puzzled look but soon agreed and headed toward the ballroom.
Only then did Riden open the note Glen had given her.
“Hah…”
She was too stunned to even speak.
In her hand was something all too familiar from her previous life.
“Ma’am?”
Dain, working in a corner of Seongmin’s café, lifted her head at the gentle voice.
Minyoung was calling her.
“What is it, Minyoung?”
With an awkward look, Minyoung got to the point.
“I need to leave now…”
“Oh!”
Normally, part-timer Minyoung would work longer, but she had asked Dain to fill in, saying something urgent had come up.
“Ma’am, thank you so much for understanding. Oh? One moment.”
Answering her phone, Minyoung glanced toward the other side of the shop.
“Juwon, don’t come inside—just stay there, okay? No, don’t come in. Just stay put.”
Dain had heard that name before.
Juwon was Minyoung’s boyfriend—she had seen him at the café a few times.
“If it’s your boyfriend, I can make him a coffee to go. Take it to him, Minyoung.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Minyoung glanced toward the counter with a slightly uneasy expression.
‘That’s a little odd.’
But Dain didn’t think much of it.
Before, Minyoung had happily taken two coffees to go, but maybe she was just in a rush today.
“All right then. Go on, Minyoung.”
“Yes, see you tomorrow!”
Dain tied on her apron and stepped behind the counter.
Manager Yoonji was busy making drinks.
It had been three months since Yoonji took over after the long-time manager left.
At first she had been clumsy, but now her movements were steady and confident.
Watching her work, Dain smiled, reminded of her own college days when she had struggled to live independently.
‘Time to start covering the shift.’
Orders seemed backed up; the order slips were packed. Dain rolled up her sleeves.
She took her place at the espresso machine and began pulling shots in succession.
“Yoonji, I’ll start with two iced americanos and one iced vanilla latte, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
After moving nonstop for a while, all the orders went out and the café quieted down.
While Dain was wiping the counter, Yoonji’s phone vibrated.
Yoonji quickly answered, turning slightly away.
“Hello? Oh, oppa… tonight?”
Dain didn’t pay much attention, tidying cups.
A little later, the phone vibrated again.
“Hello… no, I’m at work now. Yes.”
‘It’s not busy—she could go outside to take her call.’
That was what Dain thought, but after hanging up, Yoonji came over with a prim expression.
Tapping her toes lightly against the floor, she studied Dain’s face before speaking out of the blue.
“I’m jealous of you, ma’am.”
“…Huh?”
The sudden comment made Dain’s eyes widen.
“You married the boss.”
“…Huh??”
‘Wait, Hwang Seongmin is worth being jealous over? I can’t believe it!’
Sure, he had decent features and looked neat enough, but still…
As Dain just stared in disbelief, Yoonji hurried to add,
“Oh, of course the boss is even more fortunate to have married you! You’re so beautiful, and you have such a great presence.”
“What’s with you, Yoonji?”
Dain, unused to such conversations, was taken aback.
Was this a lead-in to saying she was quitting?
“Even if you tell me I’m pretty a hundred times, you can’t tell me tomorrow you’re not coming in!”
Worried that might really be it, Dain glanced at her, but Yoonji smiled.
“It’s not that.”
“Then why are you saying scary things?”
“It’s just… seeing you two living so happily married makes me envious.”
Dain’s eyes drifted to the couple ring on Yoonji’s finger.
‘Is she having trouble with her boyfriend lately?’
But there was no point in prying, so she stayed quiet.
As Dain idly checked her phone screen, Yoonji asked again,
“You two met in college, right?”
“Yes.”
“Wow… I’ve heard of couples breaking up and getting back together during long relationships, but you two never broke up and went straight to marriage, right?”
Right. Which is why now I kind of want to break up.
Dain was getting annoyed, thinking of how Seongmin always sided with his mother.
“How does the boss act when he’s in love?”
Yikes.
What a creepy question. Dain instinctively turned her head away.
Yoonji’s eyes were sparkling.
“I’m curious about your love story.”
Why Yoonji was curious about their romance—specifically, how Seongmin acted when in love—was something Dain couldn’t imagine.
The idea of wondering how another woman’s husband might act if he dated you, or how thrilling it would be to get the gaze of a man who only looked at his wife—that kind of curiosity didn’t exist in Dain’s world.
“Oh? We have an order. I’ll take it.”
“Okay.”
While Yoonji prepared the drinks, Dain tidied up the notes scattered under the card reader.
Among them was one like this:
[Boss, thank you for helping me. I’ll work even harder! ♡]
The most striking thing was the heart at the end—drawn with a long, trailing tail and enclosed in a circle.
A heart so distinctive, it was hard to forget once you’d seen it.
