YL 10

Chapter 10

But of all people, it could not possibly be Enoch Chester.

Enoch Chester was famous for refusing to dance.

Countless young ladies had attempted to invite him, but there had never been a single instance where he accepted.

For such a man to ask me to dance?

I was getting ahead of myself.

My self-delusion had gone too far……

“Would you grant me the honor of dancing with you, Lady?”

……

Wait.

What?

This was insane.

Had he eaten something strange?

Or perhaps I had simply misheard him.

I stared at him carefully.

But he only raised his hand once more, as if proving that I had heard correctly.

At that moment, I could no longer deny reality.

That man—

Right now—

Was asking me to dance.

That Enoch Chester!

What was this?

A trap?

A new kind of scam?

Either way, a quest appeared.

[Quest! Politely refuse Enoch Chester’s dance invitation! Has been created.]

Whoever the irresponsible NPC was that gave me this quest, I wanted to find them and tear them apart.

If another woman had received this quest, she would have thought:

“Oh my! What a wonderful quest……”

and wiped away the drool at the corner of her mouth.

Unfortunately, that was not my reaction at all.

The young ladies around me had started realizing what was happening, and their gazes were unbearably sharp.

I wanted to beg them.

You take him! Please—!

But that was probably exactly why this quest had been given to me.

Damn it.

Either way, for my own survival, I had to complete this quest.

I needed to refuse him as politely as possible.

“I apologize, Your Grace, but it has been a long time since I have participated in high society, and my dancing skills are quite lacking. Therefore, I fear I may cause you inconvenience. Please, kindly withdraw your request.”

Good!

That was a good refusal!

It was a typical rejection phrase, but there was a reason such phrases became typical.

If a lady lowered her eyes with tears and explained her shortcomings while asking a man to withdraw his request, most men would find it difficult to insist.

Especially with so many people watching.

Since the lady herself had admitted her lack of skill and declined, respecting her wishes was also considered proper etiquette.

In any case, this would make him back down about 90% of the time.

Of course—

“I will be the one to accept that inconvenience, so there is no need for you to worry, Lady.”

Damn this exception.

A man who had not even a speck of consideration for a lady spoke so confidently.

“But, Your Grace, how could I possibly trouble you like that? There are many ladies here who are excellent dancers. I will introduce you to someone suitable……”

“The person I asked to dance was you, Lady.”

What an immovable wall of a man.

“Your Grace lacks the manners expected of a gentleman. Even though a lady has revealed her own shortcomings and politely asked for understanding, how could you……”

I could not help it even if I had to be criticized.

Preparing myself to receive some complaints, I squeezed out tears and attempted to criticize the duke for refusing to understand.

But he spoke in an unbearably cold voice, as if he had no intention of listening.

“Rose Stacy.”

“……!”

At the sound of my name, I completely forgot my act and froze.

How did he know my name?

Even though Rose Stacy had once become a topic of discussion in high society, she was still only the third daughter of an insignificant count family.

She was not known for any particular talent either.

Furthermore, she had withdrawn from society, so there were not many people here who even knew that I was Rose Stacy.

Of course, after Father introduced me, some people probably learned my name.

But no one would have had the time to whisper it into this man’s ear.

Everyone was too busy talking about themselves.

So how?

Thinking back, everything had been strange from the beginning.

Even when our eyes first met, he had looked at me as if he already knew me.

Despite the fact that should have been impossible.

I slowly looked up at him.

He looked rather annoyed by my performance and my attempt to refuse.

His expression seemed to say that provoking him any further would be dangerous.

Seeing that face, I decided to stop acting.

I abandoned the mask and spoke honestly.

“Can’t we just say I was wrong and end this……”

I truly did not want to walk into the hell of dancing with him.

I disliked being connected to him.

I disliked dancing with him.

And I especially disliked the sharp gazes of the ladies that would follow after seeing me dance with him.

Not to mention the people who would approach me afterward.

But he showed no mercy.

“I will forgive everything with one dance.”

So he was saying he intended to dance with me no matter what.

Perhaps because I had finally been honest, he even had a faint smile on his face.

It seemed his mood had improved.

That was fortunate because there was no benefit in angering this man.

But still—

Why was he acting like this?

This was not the man I knew.

The same man who looked at other women as if they were less interesting than stones on the road.

Even toward the heroine, he had never been particularly warm.

Yet now he was smiling and persistently asking me to dance?

Why was he suddenly clinging to something he hated?

Had he really gone insane?

But regardless, unfortunately, I could no longer refuse.

My instincts told me that if I refused again, I would truly receive no mercy.

In the end, the quest failed.

“It is an honor, Your Grace.”

With a sigh-like voice, I placed my hand on his.

He smiled like a victor.

It was incredibly annoying.

Holding his hand, I walked toward the dance floor.

Fortunately, a new song had just begun.

Really……

No.

It was better to just dance quickly and finish quickly.

This was much better than staying here longer.

I consoled myself.

Using the excuse that I was bad at dancing, I would step on his foot repeatedly with these sharp stilettos—

That wonderful dream was, of course, impossible.

This man was someone who could probably kill me with only a glance.

I did not have the courage to repeatedly stab his foot with stilettos.

“Lady Stacy.”

At his call, I snapped out of my thoughts and quickly took the proper position.

When he placed his arm around my waist, I could not help but be surprised.

Of course, I knew it was only a dance position.

I had danced with men before.

But whether it was because I disliked this man so much, or because it was specifically this man—

It felt as if his hand completely surrounded me.

That was how strong its presence was.

Firm, yet incredibly gentle.

Especially the way he guided me.

It was not exactly without force.

But his movements were so smooth that I barely noticed the control behind them.

Because of that, I could not help feeling confused.

I had expected a dance where I would simply be dragged around, with not even the slightest consideration for his partner.

But this was unexpected.

This man being so considerate toward another person was too surprising.

“……You dance very well.”

The words escaped before I realized it.

I had not intended to say anything.

At my words, he let out a small laugh as if amused.

“Enough to prevent someone from stepping on my feet.”

Ah.

Even when I tried to think well of him, he made it impossible.

I had just started trying to see him positively.

“Ah. Yes. Of course you would.”

My dry reply seemed to amuse him, because he laughed again.

That irritated me even more.

“……How did you know my name? If I remember correctly, I do not recall ever telling you.”

He answered.

“Is your memory accurate?”

Wow.

This man really—

“Of course it is. Today is the first time I have met Your Grace, and until you asked me to dance, I had never even been close to you.”

If he suggested there was something wrong with my memory, I would immediately pull away and leave.

Who cared about being rude?

This man’s mouth was the rudest thing here.

Perhaps he sensed my determination because he changed the subject.

“You also know my name.”

“That is because the attendant loudly announced it when you entered. Besides, what noble in the Empire does not know Your Grace? Except perhaps a child incapable of understanding reality.”

So stop arguing.

Perhaps he understood the meaning behind my words, because he replied annoyingly:

“That is true.”

Wow.

He was truly irritating.

I quickly gave up.

Arguing about how annoying this man was would never end.

“Then will you answer me now? How did you learn my name?”

“Simple. I have heard rumors before. I merely remembered after seeing your cherry-blossom-colored hair.”

“Oh my. Your memory must be quite impressive if you can remember rumors from several years ago.”

“It is.”

This bastard.

Of course, his words were not entirely false.

But there was definitely something more.

My instincts told me so.

However, this man would never tell me.

No matter what tricks I used.

So I gave up on him.

I decided to simply finish the dance and leave quickly.

Then he asked:

“The armor of House Stacy’s knights.”

“……?”

“Was that your creation?”

“……!”

I had to work incredibly hard not to show my surprise.

Because I immediately understood what he was talking about.

And my heart sank.

How did this man know?

The Stacy territory was located in the south.

Although the land was fertile, there were many forests and monsters.

Because of that, it had never developed greatly.

The knight order especially needed improvement.

But Father was not good at those things.

He was uninterested.

Developing a knight order required money.

And knights who were not properly equipped naturally died quickly.

For a long time, the knight order had become something embarrassing to even call a knight order.

So I could no longer stand watching.

I reorganized it.

Of course, I did not know much myself.

The only thing I could help with was armor.

But proper armor alone could save lives countless times.

So we cut spending elsewhere and invested in properly making armor and equipment for the knights.

And as proof, the number of surviving knights began increasing noticeably.

Afterward, with proper training and organization, we were able to create a small but remarkably skilled knight order.

Of course, this had been my own project after pestering Father.

Although since it was for the knights, Father had accepted without much complaint.

But there was absolutely no benefit in telling this man.

My instincts screamed that.

So I smiled politely and pretended not to know.

“Was there something wrong with the armor? I have never really looked at it carefully…… Isn’t it just ordinary armor?”

“You have never seen it?”

“I am not interested in knights. My father handles all those matters.”

Of course, that was true.

Therefore, I was not lying.

Unlike you.

As I smiled brightly, he seemed to understand the meaning behind my smile and laughed as if amused.

That irritating smile almost cracked my own.

But I barely maintained it.

And fortunately, the dance ended at the perfect moment.

As soon as it ended, I quickly stepped away from him and bowed.

“It was a pleasant time, Your Grace.”