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Chapter 13
“It’s an honor to have my first dance with Lady Inohater.”
Yuan straightened his back after kissing the back of her hand. The curl at the edge of his lips suggested that he was mocking her.
“The honor is mine, Your Grace, Duke Frektuster.”
Serret clenched her teeth at Yuan’s sarcasm.
Satisfied with her annoyed expression, Yuan smiled smugly.
Serret’s insides boiled at that smile. She wanted nothing more than to leave another scar on that handsome face.
But she forced herself to swallow her anger. She couldn’t very well swing her fan at her fiancé in the middle of the Imperial ball.
I’m here representing the Inohater family.
She drew a quiet breath, trying to calm herself.
She could not afford to act out of emotion and tarnish her family’s honor.
As she tried to steady her heart, Lydia and Regan stepped onto the dance floor.
Dressed in a green gown, Lydia shimmered under the lights.
Worried that she might shrink back like she had in her previous life, Serret straightened her posture.
Standing tall and proud, she watched Lydia and Regan begin their dance.
Despite claiming her feet hurt, Lydia danced with elegance, fluttering like a butterfly. Serret found herself staring, momentarily entranced.
Then a thought struck her—what kind of expression was Yuan wearing as he watched Lydia? What face did he make as he looked upon such beauty?
Unable to resist her curiosity, Serret glanced up at Yuan beside her.
His face was blank as he watched Lydia and Regan dance.
What emotions could he possibly be hiding behind that mask? Serret suddenly wanted to know what lay in his heart.
“Too handsome, is he? So much so you can’t look away?”
Yuan spoke without taking his eyes off the dance floor.
Startled, Serret quickly turned her gaze away. She must have been staring too openly.
She had only been curious about his feelings for Lydia, but now she had made it look like something else entirely. Serret frowned slightly.
“I hope you won’t misunderstand.”
She lifted her chin and spoke in a lofty tone.
“I won’t. Not in the least.”
But his words didn’t match his expression.
That smirk at the corner of his lips—it was the look of a man convinced a woman was infatuated with him.
Already assuming, aren’t you? Serret’s brow furrowed.
The thought that he might see her words and actions as nothing more than childish sulking irritated her. Her feelings were far from something so trivial.
She turned her gaze back to Lydia, fluttering like a butterfly.
Perhaps she should have just gone along with Lydia’s scheme—let her dance with Yuan and earn the Crown Prince’s disfavor.
After all, once she broke off the engagement, she’d never have to see the Crown Prince again.
While she fumed, voices rose from behind.
“Lady Elliot really is different, isn’t she?”
“Now that she’s had the first dance, she’s practically being acknowledged as royalty.”
“I’m not so sure. Can we really say she opened the ball when her partner was His Highness, the Grand Duke of Popwell?”
“True enough. Even at the last ball, His Highness the Grand Duke opened the evening with the first dance.”
“Still, the fact that Lady Elliot is the one dancing now cannot simply be ignored.”
The ladies’ chatter snapped Serret back to herself.
Opinions differed, but one thing was clear—once again, Lydia had captured everyone’s attention.
No doubt society would shower her with more praise. The “Rose of the Social World” would not wither this year either.
Soon, Lydia and Regan’s dance ended. With graceful composure, Lydia took Regan’s escort and left the floor.
With the royal family having formally opened the ball, the floor was now free for anyone to dance.
“Lady Inohater?”
Yuan extended his hand to her.
Serret stared at it. She couldn’t imagine anything she wanted less than to take that hand.
“And if I refuse?”
“Then rumors will spread.”
Yuan answered smoothly, his face unchanged.
“What kind of rumors?”
“Of discord between the Duke of Frektuster and his fiancée.”
“Just what I want.”
Serret gave in, brushing her fingers against his hand. Yuan’s lips curled as he clasped her hand firmly.
“Then how unfortunate for you, Lady Inohater, that you won’t get your wish tonight.”
“A shame, but unavoidable. For the Duke’s dignity, I’ll suffer through one dance.”
Her tone was stiff, her expression hard.
Even if they broke the engagement later, she couldn’t afford to give the other nobles cause to gossip. That meant, like it or not, she had to share at least one dance with Yuan.
“I’m honored.”
Yuan chuckled softly.
Serret bristled at his reaction. She was only doing this for her family’s honor, and yet, once again, he was twisting it into something else.
If he dared think this was mere pouting, he was gravely mistaken.
“If you think I’m doing this to win your attention, you’re wrong. Completely wrong, Duke Frektuster.”
Her voice was sharp as they stepped onto the floor together.
“Then how should I see it, Lady Inohater? However you wish me to, I’ll oblige.”
He set a hand at her waist and drew her close. She stiffened but forced herself to look at him as if unaffected.
“Though I was invited as your fiancée, I am here representing House Inohater.”
“Of course. I respect your intentions.”
“Your face doesn’t seem very respectful.”
She glanced up. His smile was still there, the same condescending look one might give a yapping puppy.
“You twisted my words, and now my expression? Not a very good habit, I think.”
The music began.
Yuan guided her effortlessly, and she followed, their steps smooth in time with the melody.
“A pity I didn’t bring a small mirror. If I held it up, you’d see your own face and never say such things.”
“Serret Inohater.”
He murmured her full name.
Was that supposed to be a warning? She narrowed her eyes at him, bristling.
“…Is it?”
His lips curved, playful.
In that teasing expression, Serret realized he was mocking her. Her face twisted in anger.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You don’t seem like the person I once knew.”
His low voice brushed her ear.
Of course not. The naïve Serret Inohater is dead. You killed her.
Her eyes chilled as she answered.
“And you’re not the man I once knew either, Your Grace.”
Before she drank the poisoned tea, she had thought him simply a distant husband unable to forget his first love.
Afterward, she had thought him the worst husband alive. When she uncovered his schemes, she came to think of him as nothing but a bastard.
“I wonder—what do you think of me now?”
With the rhythm, Yuan spun her gently.
Meeting his gaze again, Serret said clearly,
“The most loathsome being in the world. A person I cannot bear to be near, not even for a moment.”
Her words were sharp, her eyes unwavering as they pierced his gray ones.
His smile vanished. His face hardened as he stared at her in silence.
“That’s how much I despise you, Duke.”
Serret held his gaze, her words crisp and deliberate.
He needed to understand, beyond any doubt, the depth of her hatred.
His eyes narrowed, sharp as blades, but she did not flinch.
In her past life, she had scrambled desperately for his affection. But not now. Just holding his hand to dance made her sick.
The man who had used her like livestock. The man who had killed her without hesitation.
To Serret, Yuan Frektuster was the most wretched being alive.
“What a pity, for a woman to find her future husband so detestable.”
His voice was cold, so sharp it seemed to cut the air.
Surely, no one had ever spoken to Yuan Frektuster this way before. Who would dare?
“Indeed.”
She gave a bitter smile.
Why had his gaze ever fallen on her? If only it hadn’t, she would never have known such torment.
The music ended, and their movements stilled.
For a moment, she looked up at him. Their gazes clashed in the air.
His expression was still rigid; hers carried a quiet sorrow.
The weight of the moment broke her, and she tore her hand from his, fleeing toward the second-floor balcony.
The balcony overlooked the rose garden. Still early in the ball, it was quiet and empty.
In a few hours, couples would steal away here for secret trysts, but for now, it was the perfect place to be alone.
Serret stepped near the railing, breathing deeply. The night air was fragrant with flowers, full of spring.
But she was too drained, too exhausted to enjoy it.
Then a gentle voice reached her.
“Not the best place to be alone, don’t you think?”
It was the voice of Grand Duke Regan Popwell.
(To be continued…)
