YL 11

Chapter 11

“Excellent skill, Lady.”

Ah.

That bastard.

He was definitely saying that because he remembered the excuse I had used earlier.

Damn it.

But that was not what mattered.

If I escaped from here, I would win.

So I smiled at him, then immediately turned around and ran without looking back.

The shoes were new, so my feet hurt, but that pain was irrelevant.

Even if my arms were scraped raw, I had to escape from that creature—

Whether it was a snake or a wolf, I could not tell.

After leaving the banquet hall, I headed toward the lounge area and searched for an empty room.

Normally, each noble family would be assigned their own private lounge.

However, since this was such a large banquet where nobles from all over the Empire gathered, separate lounges were not assigned to everyone.

Of course, the highest-ranking families were given rooms.

But if those rooms were not currently being used, anyone could enter.

“Ah. Do none of these people ever rest?!”

Finding an empty place was surprisingly difficult.

After making an entire round, I finally found the lounge right beside the banquet hall—the very first one near where everything had begun.

Without hesitation, I entered.

The imperial family had their own separate lounge, so I did not have much to worry about.

Inside, it seemed like a fairly prestigious family had been assigned this place.

I would only stay for a moment anyway.

There was no problem.

Since that was the rule, I threw myself onto the sofa without concern.

“Ah. I thought my feet were going to die.”

The moment I said it out loud, the pain in my feet became even more obvious.

Seriously.

I had no idea what kind of madness had possessed me to run around like that.

With an annoyed expression, I removed my shoes.

My feet, rubbed red from the shoes, came into view.

Seeing them immediately made my irritation rise.

“This is all because of that bastard—! Ah, damn it! What kind of grudge does that bastard have against me that he has to do this to me—!”

A shout escaped naturally.

I had sworn I would never even make eye contact with him.

And considering what kind of man he was, I thought that would not be difficult.

But what was this situation?

It felt like reality was a million light-years away.

Or perhaps—

Unlike the rumors and the story Shin Ji-ah had written, Enoch Chester had simply gone insane today.

I poured out every ridiculous thought I could think of while tearing apart Enoch Chester in my mind.

Because I could not actually bite him.

But even that only lasted so long.

“Ah. I got blisters. It hurts like hell. Ah! This is so annoying.”

The pain was more immediate than my anger.

Painful.

Annoying.

My original goal had disappeared.

And now disaster had arrived.

I had expected trouble, but today was truly the worst day possible.

It felt like I had suffered an entire year’s worth of bad luck in a single day.

Overcome by despair, I collapsed onto the sofa like a corpse and stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Ah. I don’t want to go back. Damn Enoch Chester. Look what happened because of that bastard. Go drown yourself in a dish of water and die. How dare you give me such a huge headache? Ah. How am I supposed to pay him back for this?”

That piercing gaze he gave me before I left was still vivid.

The moment I returned, I would probably be torn apart by a pack of wolves.

Faced with that bleak reality, Rose screamed.

“What is so great about that bastard anyway? If he wants to get married, he should understand his place. Or just charge in like a man—ah. He already did that. Ah! This is so annoying! It’s not me! It’s not! You people go ahead and struggle among yourselves—!”

Of course, no one heard her desperate cries.

Just as I was despairing over this hopeless reality—

Things got even worse.

Because Liana Stacy appeared like a comet.

“Rose Stacy!”

“Ah. Fuck.”

Why is my life like this?

Meanwhile, Enoch quietly watched the pink rabbit that had escaped from him at full speed on the dance floor.

Then he was dragged away by the Crown Prince, Herace, and entered the lounge assigned to him on the balcony to the immediate left of the banquet hall.

On the way there, he had maintained his dignified expression out of appearances.

But the moment the balcony door closed, he abandoned all pretense of seriousness.

“What is this? Did you finally go insane? Enoch Chester! You were never exactly normal, but what kind of situation is this? Huh?”

At Herace’s ridiculous behavior, Enoch let out a sigh.

Yes.

That was exactly what Herace Lunatil Genoa was like.

A noisy idiot who could never ignore something he was curious about.

The problem was—

That idiot was not actually an idiot.

Herace was a genius at using his own playful personality to guide people exactly where he wanted them and find their weaknesses.

That was why, among all the princes, he had survived and become Crown Prince.

Therefore, Enoch had no intention of being dragged around by Herace’s schemes.

“What would you do if you knew?”

“Wow. Is that all our friendship means?”

“Did we have something like that?”

Even though it was clearly an act, Herace’s beautiful face became pitiful as he even squeezed out fake tears.

Enoch did not even blink.

Seeing that unwavering attitude, Herace clicked his tongue and gave up.

“So seriously, what happened? What got into you? You hate dancing so much that you are famous as the master of refusing invitations. You even refused to dance with my sister. Do you know how much you shocked the entire banquet hall?”

Herace could bet his entire fortune that the young lady who had become the victim of Enoch Chester’s sudden change of heart would suffer greatly from now on, whether she wanted to or not.

Even if she hid herself at home, countless people would probably bother her.

Asking what her relationship with Enoch Chester was.

Herace sincerely pitied her.

Even Herace reacted this way.

Yet the person responsible for the entire incident looked completely unaware of what he had done.

If that young lady realized the situation, she would probably want to grab Enoch’s hair and pull it out.

Well.

Although Herace thought that, he did not truly mean it.

After all, dancing once with Enoch Chester was the dream and honor of every young lady in imperial society.

Even more than dancing with the Crown Prince himself.

Tch.

“Why aren’t you answering? Don’t you feel sorry for the lady who will suffer because of your uncharacteristic behavior?”

“I did nothing wrong.”

At those words, Herace briefly wondered:

Is he actually being serious?

But Enoch Chester’s face showed not even the slightest trace of a lie.

It was the expression of someone who did not even understand why lying would be necessary.

Seeing that, Herace clicked his tongue in disbelief.

This man truly seemed unaware of what kind of existence he was within the Empire.

Though perhaps “uninterested” was more accurate.

“Do you know how many young ladies in this Empire have been desperately waiting for a chance to dance with you? And that lady was the one who danced the first dance with you. Do you have any idea how much trouble she will face in society now? It will not only be young ladies. Other nobles will swarm her and question what kind of relationship she has with you. She will suffer terribly. Do you still not understand what you have done?”

When Herace added that if he still did not understand, he was not even human, Enoch finally seemed to grasp the situation.

His expression twisted.

“I only followed Rosen’s suggestion.”

Meeting her at the banquet was fine.

But meeting privately without anyone noticing was impossible.

And rumors about the two of them meeting alone would be troublesome.

He had no desire for that.

So Rosen had suggested:

Then why not dance?

They had to dance at least once anyway.

And if they talked during the dance, no one would overhear.

It was a reasonable suggestion.

So despite his dislike of the hassle, Enoch had requested a dance.

Although, honestly, he had not actually intended to dance.

He hated troublesome things, which was why he had avoided dancing itself until now.

He also disliked women clinging to him.

He had made the request expecting that she would refuse.

It was an absurd level of arrogance.

And Rose Stacy’s expression when she received that request had been unforgettable.

The moment he asked, she looked at him as if thinking:

Has this man gone insane?

Even Enoch himself had been surprised.

She had ears.

She must have known the rumors surrounding him.

Although he did not care, he knew what kind of rumors his actions created.

Especially regarding dancing.

He had hated it so much that even though he had to dance once, he had refused every single time.

So her reaction was completely understandable.

And she had hidden it surprisingly well.

She had been doing her best to remain polite.

The problem was—

Enoch had immediately noticed her true feelings.

And he had never expected her to genuinely think that way.

That was why, unlike himself, he became flustered.

And for some unknown reason, a competitive spirit appeared.

Until that moment, he had not felt particularly competitive.

But then—

When she realized he truly intended to dance with her, she looked at his hand as if she had been handed a ticket directly into hell.

Then she put on the smiling mask required in high society and desperately tried to refuse his request politely.

That was when his competitive spirit truly ignited.

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

The result of the competition was obvious.

Enoch won.

It had been a game completely in his favor.

Besides, he had never lost a war before.

This small battle was no different.

And when Rose Stacy grabbed his hand with the determination of someone walking toward the gates of hell, he had almost laughed.

He had expected it after seeing her knights.

But this lady herself was clearly different from the women he had encountered before.

“……You dance very well.”

Her reactions to every single thing he did were so entertaining that, despite never enjoying teasing women, he found himself teasing her.

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

Ah.

She was sulking.

Interesting.

But that did not last long.

It was entertaining, but continuing would not be proper.

Not something a gentleman should do.

(Not that he was one, nor that he cared.)

Besides, if he pushed further, she seemed like the type who would abandon etiquette entirely, pull her hand away, and run.

So he stopped teasing her and returned to the original reason he had asked her to dance.

“The armor of House Stacy’s knights.”

“……?”

“Was that your creation?”

And for once, Enoch could not help but feel admiration.

She was definitely eighteen years old this year.

A strange, yet ordinary provincial noble lady who had withdrawn from society.

In person, she looked even younger because of her delicate figure.

Yet there was not even the slightest sign of panic on her face.

Even though he could instinctively tell that she was surprised.

Aside from that instinct, there was nowhere else to find evidence of her reaction.

Her mask was that perfect.

And for that, Enoch—unlike himself—felt genuine admiration.