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Chapter 11
Between the Marble Pillars
“Excuse me.”
At the familiar voice, Onyx immediately recognized who it was.
The woman’s face was flushed red from alcohol. She looked up at him with a bright smile. Her hair was neatly tied up, which only made the front of her dress stand out more. Not knowing where to look, Onyx became certain of something.
It was not any other matter that had ruined his mood these past few days.
It was this young lady standing before him.
The bold girl who had thrown not only herself, but even Onyx, into the newspapers as prey for reporters.
“Have we… met before? I mean…”
If she had received a proposal from the Imperial family, she should have simply accepted it quietly.
The daring woman who had shaken his peaceful life. And now she was going to get drunk and cause trouble?
On what standard had the Imperial family chosen a Crown Princess candidate?
Was it only her family’s wealth? The thought of her poor behavior made his teeth grind.
“Pretty…”
The woman, soaked in strawberry wine, smiled faintly. Then her expression suddenly turned serious. She muttered something about seeing him at a café, about whether they had met before.
It only proved again that she was the same ridiculous lady who had sent him tea at the café.
“Please come with me, my lady.”
To the woman who had caused him not only irritation but humiliation by turning him into the top item on the marriage market, Onyx spoke politely, forcing every ounce of patience he had.
Surely the root of this reckless behavior was the strong backing of her maternal family.
A relationship of buying and selling.
In simple terms, that was what it was.
So did he have to show manners, even if it disgusted him, in order to be sold?
His pride and his position as the highest-priced “item” clashed in his mind.
Was she so drunk she could not understand his words? While he was deep in thought, the woman reached out her hand and touched his face.
Onyx could not understand such behavior at all.
She was not bold.
She was clearly not in her right mind.
Cecilia stood still, staring at the ballroom.
Several waltzes had already ended, yet she had not given away her first dance.
The gentlemen who were waiting for the chance to write their names first on her dance card simply hovered nearby, watching her mood.
The perfect example of a kind and gentle lady.
And yet, strangely difficult to approach.
That was Cecilia Blenched.
The gentlemen could not even begin a conversation to ask for a dance. Even those who gathered courage found themselves unable to bring up the word “waltz,” as Cecilia politely deflected every topic.
But Cecilia’s own heart was not at ease either.
She looked around carefully among the dancers.
The first line of her dance card absolutely had to hold the name Onyx Tourmaline.
Her first dance at the debutante—
With Brother Onyx.
It had been a natural fact in her mind since childhood, when she read stories of princesses and princes in love.
But where in the world was he?
Cecilia pressured Ducus to search for the Crown Prince.
“Cecilia, not giving any gentleman a chance is also against a lady’s manners.”
When the Duchess of Blenched gently scolded her for still not having danced her first dance, Cecilia’s anxiety grew even stronger.
“No, Mother. My partner is coming.”
Growing desperate under her mother’s urging, Cecilia grabbed Aigen’s wrist as he approached. She did not want to give that first place to another gentleman, but since Aigen had been her dance teacher since childhood, he was not a bad choice.
Holding Aigen’s hand, she stepped naturally into his arms and signaled Ducus with her eyes.
Please find His Highness.
Before the second waltz begins.
“That’s enough. Even if you are a lady, I will not tolerate such rudeness.”
Onyx grabbed the woman’s hand away from his face. Even he was surprised at how calmly he spoke, suppressing his anger. Losing reason in front of someone who was clearly not sober would only be more shameful.
“Your Highness! Crown Prince!”
At the sound of Ducus’s voice approaching, the startled woman pushed Onyx further between the marble pillars. Still holding her wrist, he found himself forced back and looked down at her in confusion.
What was she plotting?
She rejected the proposal and humiliated him in the papers. She behaved strangely at the café. And now at the ball she was throwing herself at him.
“What are you?”
How far could noble ladies go with their selfishness? He truly could not understand.
Was she willing to pay the price and turn him into her toy?
Being so close to her only made his mind more confused. Her eyes, looking at him, were not calm either.
“Do you… know me?”
Onyx paused, then carefully said her name.
“Minuet LeVine.”
She looked as if she could not believe her name had come from his mouth.
Her innocent expression was so convincing that he almost believed it.
Even if it had been in childhood, the central nobles had often visited his estate when he was Grand Duke. There was no way Minuet did not know his face. Her family, especially because of her mother who had been Princess Troizen, had frequent contact with the Imperial family.
A small sigh escaped him.
Was this simply the rebellion of a girl who had just risen from her sickbed, as Aigen had said?
Just moments ago, he had punched Griff. Now that punch felt pointless.
“Your Highness! Crown Prince!”
Ducus’s voice grew clearer.
This time, Onyx stepped back behind the marble pillar.
If it became known that he and Minuet had been alone together on the terrace, every newspaper in Ivelia would rise up and spread new rumors.
Onyx pulled the drunken woman by the waist and dragged her closer. She was already in the headlines for rejecting the Imperial proposal. He did not need rumors that she had played with the Crown Prince while drunk.
She was lighter than he expected.
They fell backward together with a loud thud.
Even as he fell, his habits made him protect her from injury. As a result, Minuet ended up sitting lightly on top of his waist.
“Ah! The newspaper! You saw me in the newspaper, didn’t you?”
Looking down at him through her wide skirt, she seemed completely unconcerned about the embarrassing position. Instead, she looked as if she had just discovered something amazing.
“Please get down now.”
Her breath was warm, but she ignored him and kept talking. That the newspaper articles were not true. That she was wronged.
And then she said—
“If there were rumors that I was dating another man… then that marriage article would disappear, wouldn’t it?”
Unbelievable.
In front of the very man who had proposed to her, she was boldly talking about dating someone else.
The temper he had in his days as Grand Duke threatened to break free again. He took a breath and repeated to himself:
Yes. She is a woman holding money and honor in both hands.
Money that could buy me—and save Visk.
I can endure this.
He endured the strange and disgraceful position.
He endured her hair slipping down over his neck.
He endured her flushed face, as if she desired something.
He endured her shining lips, moist and full—the small mole beside them—
As his gaze drifted in directions he had not intended, he stopped chanting to himself and let out a shallow sigh.
He had not expected Minuet—the very subject of the loudest headlines in Ivelia—to appear at the debutante ball at all.
If he had known, he would have arrived late, even if it meant giving up meeting the future pillars of Visk.
Carelessly assuming she would not come, Onyx blamed his own arrogance.
She was not a predictable lady.
He looked up at her.
“I… really… with His Highness…”
Unlike Onyx, who was trying to rise, Minuet looked as if she were facing the most important moment of her life. Her wide eyes were not surprised—they were determined.
Her warm hands cupped his face.
“My lady?”
While he called out to her to regain her senses, her eyes only deepened.
“I really don’t want to marry the Crown Prince.”
As she leaned closer to his face, fear flickered in Onyx’s chest.
This was no longer something he could observe as a mad act of a woman.
He was being dragged into it too.
“Not the Crown Prince… I want to date… you…”
As if she had made up her mind, her fingers tightened and pulled him closer.
The white neck Griff had mentioned.
The mole above her lips.
His gaze drifted again, and he swallowed.
How could she plan such a scenario? He could not understand. Every detail—the mole, the trembling lips—seemed designed to provoke him.
She was barely half his size.
Yet beneath her small body, Onyx could not resist.
Though his eyes looked at her with contempt, every one of his senses was focused on her lips.
When his large frame sank helplessly into the folds of her dress, his vision darkened. Then her soft lips covered his.
The scent of strawberry wine swirled between them, trapping their breaths.
After only a few glasses of whiskey, his body would not obey him.
Pinned beneath the small, delicate woman, Onyx let out a hollow thought.
The state of this country is truly in excellent condition.
