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Chapter 6
At Alice’s introduction, Louis’s gaze slowly swept over her.
His eyes moved leisurely, as though trying to discern what she was truly thinking, and for some reason, even I felt suffocated under that calm scrutiny.
“So, what brings you here? As you can see, Miss Leonia already has a prior engagement with me.”
Though he wore a faint smile, there was an unmistakable chill hidden beneath it.
Alice seemed to notice it as well and got straight to the point.
“I’m sorry, but Father is urgently looking for Leonia.”
“Is it important enough to disregard her prior appointment with me?”
“…Well…”
Alice glanced at me with an awkward expression.
“It’s fine. Just tell him.”
There was no point hiding it. If we didn’t explain the situation, Louis wouldn’t let us leave anyway.
Apparently reaching the same conclusion, Alice continued with a sigh.
“…Father believes Leonia failed to carry out his orders, so he’s extremely angry.”
“Count Bellasi?”
“Yes. If we don’t return immediately, I think Leonia will end up in serious trouble.”
If that was the case, going back now wouldn’t improve the situation.
Judging by the way Louis looked at me, he seemed to think the same.
“I’m sorry, but I think I should go.”
If I stayed any longer, Alice would remain here as well.
I can’t let the two of them stay together.
I had to separate them before Louis noticed something about Alice.
“If that’s what Miss Leonia wants, then it can’t be helped. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll have to wait for another opportunity.”
Fortunately, he accepted it without protest, and after thanking him, I headed toward the carriage.
“Thank you for today. I’ll see you again soon.”
“You don’t need my help?”
I had been about to climb into the carriage after exchanging the usual farewells when Louis suddenly asked the unexpected.
“If you want, I could help you.”
I hesitated for a moment.
It was certainly a tempting offer.
I wouldn’t even need any grand assistance. If I simply told the Count that I was going to marry Louis, his anger would disappear immediately.
But…
“I’ll decline. I don’t want to trouble Your Grace over something like this.”
Depending on Louis and becoming a burden to him this early wasn’t a wise decision.
“Well now, that’s quite a touching reason.”
Louis didn’t ask a second time.
Which probably meant it had only been a casual offer to begin with.
…Maybe I should’ve accepted his help.
Regret briefly crept into my mind, but I shook it off and boarded the carriage after saying goodbye.
Not yet.
The relationship between Louis and me had to be revealed at the moment when it would attract the greatest amount of attention.
As expected, returning a little earlier did nothing to calm the Count’s anger.
Still, perhaps because the Imperial Banquet was approaching, he didn’t slap me again.
Instead, other than checking the dress I would wear to the banquet, I wasn’t allowed to step outside my room even once.
Honestly, that part didn’t matter much.
The real problem was that today was the day of the Imperial Banquet—and during all this time, I hadn’t managed to exchange even a single letter with Louis.
I knew they’d lock me in my room as punishment, but I hadn’t expected the surveillance to be this airtight.
“Leonia.”
Alice had just been summoned by the Emperor. The moment the servant who delivered the order disappeared, she hurried over to me.
“I have somewhere I need to go for a moment. So please, I’m begging you—don’t cause any trouble and stay put. Got it?”
“Stop worrying so much and go.”
Despite my calm answer, Alice still looked anxious to death. She hesitated for a while before finally leaving the banquet hall.
The instant she disappeared from sight, my expression hardened.
If they deliberately took Alice away now, there’s only one reason.
They were giving people time to openly insult me.
Sure enough, voices immediately began to rise.
“Isn’t that Miss Leonia over there?”
“Oh my, it really is. I don’t think we’ve seen her at any official gatherings since Marquis Regen broke off the engagement.”
“Perhaps she was too ashamed to attend banquets.”
Hearing the whispers that weren’t even bothering to stay quiet, I glanced in their direction.
The young ladies who met my eyes flinched and quickly moved elsewhere.
Well, I couldn’t exactly blame them.
Everyone knew today’s banquet had been organized to announce Diego’s engagement to the young lady of House Branto.
Even I had heard the rumors while confined to my room.
For the sake of making the two stars of the evening appear perfectly matched, the broken engagement had to become entirely my fault.
The Emperor had probably arranged for Alice to be removed precisely to create this situation.
Unfortunately for them, marrying the Branto heiress wasn’t going to make Diego the next Emperor.
I knew that, which was exactly why I had guided the Emperor into choosing the Branto young lady.
Things did go according to plan… but I still don’t like it.
We had both gone through the same broken engagement, yet I was the only one being treated like this.
It was rather unfair.
Maybe it’s time to stir things up.
Originally, I had intended to wait for better timing.
But after being provoked like this over and over, sitting quietly wasn’t exactly appealing.
Besides, if I wanted to cancel the marriage the Emperor had arranged for me, it was about time to reveal my relationship with Louis.
The only problem was that today’s banquet had already been designated to celebrate another couple.
If I caused a disturbance, the backlash would be considerable.
I need a way to avoid taking all the blame.
Once again, I regretted not discussing things with Louis beforehand.
That was when I noticed two children walking across the banquet hall side by side, each carrying a flower basket.
A thought suddenly came to mind.
As I replayed the idea in my head, I lifted the champagne from the table to my lips.
The Etrian Empire’s banquets had a rather unusual tradition.
It was called the public courtship ceremony.
Unmarried young men and women danced together in the center of the ballroom, and when a certain part of the music began, everyone stopped dancing and waited for five minutes.
During that time, anyone with feelings for someone could present the flower they had brought and confess.
Usually, the sons and daughters of already-betrothed noble families exchanged flowers as a formality, but every now and then, an unexpected confession would occur.
If I give the flower to Louis then, it’ll naturally attract everyone’s attention.
Since it was part of the banquet’s long-standing tradition, no one could accuse me of deliberately seeking attention.
“We welcome Lady Alia Branto of House Branto and Lord Diego Regen of House Regen!”
Just then, the announcement of the evening’s protagonists echoed through the hall.
Without sparing them so much as a glance, I turned my back.
What mattered wasn’t those two.
It was finding where Louis was.
Ideally, I wanted to give him a hint beforehand about what I was planning before handing him the flower.
Unfortunately, I never got the chance.
Far too many people were trying to speak with Louis Arban.
Even more were watching him.
Rather than trying to push through that crowd, it’d be better to do everything in one move later.
In the end, clutching the single rose I had purchased earlier, I quietly moved closer to where Louis stood.
If my timing was off, the whole scene would look awkward.
Only then did I notice Diego was nearby as well.
Surrounded by familiar young ladies, he was accepting flowers one after another.
Honestly… he’s exactly the same as ever.
Although the public courtship ceremony was intended for confessions of love, people also exchanged flowers simply to strengthen friendships.
When that happened, the recipient would dance one song with the giver, and it often served as an opportunity to extend lighthearted invitations.
As for Diego, he cared less about political benefits and more about satisfying his own desires.
That shameless playboy accepted flowers from nearly every noble lady at every Imperial Banquet.
People really never change.
Reminding myself of that lesson, I lingered around Louis.
He, too, was surrounded by just as many people as Diego—if not more.
I stole a glance at Louis as he politely turned everyone down with a smile.
Then my eyes met Diego’s.
“So you acted like you’d never see me again, but I guess you still have lingering feelings.”
For a moment, I froze.
Was he talking to me?
It seemed too random to make sense, so I ignored him and continued absentmindedly stroking the rose.
I just need to hand it over without making a mistake.
“I wouldn’t ignore me like that if I were you. What will you do if I refuse to accept it?”
Ah.
Only then did I realize what Diego had misunderstood.
Before I could correct him, however, the music changed.
…I didn’t plan this part, but…
On a day when Diego was supposed to be the center of attention, hurting his pride so publicly was unexpectedly satisfying.
“Duke Louis Arban.”
Standing directly in front of Louis, I held out the single rose in my hand toward him.
“Please marry me.”
The confession fell like a bomb.
In an instant, the surrounding area was swallowed by silence.
Everyone stared at us in complete shock.
But the most spectacular sight of all was Diego, trembling with betrayal as he glared at me.
