Chapter 69: Special Treatment (2)

“Have you arrived, Your Grace’s daughter?”

I bowed my head in greeting as she approached from afar.

At that, all the nobles gathered around Gehenna and me scattered to either side.

They must have been intimidated by Echina’s cold and haughty image.

“Well then, have you been enjoying the performance?”

The atmosphere became solemn with the arrival of the Grand Duke’s daughter.

It was as if her father, the Grand Duke himself, had appeared.

“Yes, I can’t take my eyes off these high-quality performances.”

But since I was used to spending time with her, I replied in a very familiar tone.

I even sent Gehenna, who seemed slightly tense beside me, a look to reassure her.

“That…”

Echina raised a single finger with sharp eyes, as if she had something to say.

And she pointed precisely at my bouquet.

“What is that? In what sense did you prepare it?”

Unlike the times when she would carry out operations without hesitation, the Grand Duke’s daughter slightly furrowed her delicate brows.

Her finger hovered in circles as if trying to break through a frustrating fortress.

“This… you mean this?”

Unlike her, my face was nothing but perfectly calm.

With a harmless expression, I smiled lightly with the fully-bloomed red roses in hand.

At that, the Grand Duke’s daughter shut her eyes tightly as though she had encountered an animal of another species she couldn’t communicate with.

Like a lioness meeting a fox.

“…”

The atmosphere grew even more awkward.

Sensing this quickly, Gehenna narrowed her eyes halfway in a subtle manner.

Then, like a black swan approaching a beast, she whispered.

“I was just holding it for a moment while signing autographs for some fans, Your Grace’s daughter.”

Only then did Echina’s expression momentarily brighten.

However, as if to maintain her dignity, she soon covered her lips with her fist and composed her voice.

“We were going to prepare a bouquet from our side too, but I thought you had beaten us to it.”

“I truly appreciate it, but my hands are already too full. I’ll just accept the thought.”

Gehenna gave a modest smile, expressing her gratitude to Echina.

Then, as if to tactfully excuse herself, she whispered to me.

“You know there will be a ball time in the central hall soon, right?”

I replied to her question with the professional gaze I used to have as chief secretary.

“Yes, it will go on for two hours in total, and since Lady Echina does not yet have a fiancé, there’s a high chance she will be the main focus.”

Gehenna slightly furrowed her brows at my serious tone when talking about the schedule, as if to say, ‘Isn’t there something more important than that?’

“Ah, I forgot. We also need to weed out in advance those who might ask Lady Echina for a dance, get rejected, and then show their displeasure.”

I said it in a tone of self-reproach, as if blaming myself for not focusing enough on my secretary duties lately.

But Gehenna only looked up at me with an even more sullen expression.

“Well, you used to be so perfect that it was scary… but now you finally seem a little more like someone my age.”

The Black Swan lifted her chin gracefully.

Then, with her eyes gently closed, she stepped aside.

“I’ll be heading in now, the performance has worn me out.”

“Go ahead, you’ve worked hard today.”

Gehenna cast a glance at Echina, whose gaze was noble and sharp.

Then she clenched her fist and raised it with bright, determined eyes, as if cheering for something.

“…”

After the blooming dancer departed, the distinguished guests also retreated before the might of the Grand Duke’s house, leaving only the two of us in the special seats.

Echina Luton, dressed in a pure white silk gown, was keeping one hand, which had been clasped behind her back, lowered at her side—unlike her usual posture.

She gazed at the young gentlemen and ladies heading toward the ballroom now that the performance had ended.

“Then, Your Grace’s daughter, shall we move to the ballroom?”

Her expression was heavy.

As expected, she had never liked these occasions in the past.

She had always been more at home with swordsmanship than dancing.

“Let’s go.”

I gestured gracefully in my suit.

Following my lead, Echina descended the stairs toward the ballroom on the lower floor.

“Have you already chosen a partner? If not, I can help you find one.”

I asked as we walked side by side.

“Do you think I would have one prepared?”

The Grand Duke’s daughter stopped in her tracks and glanced up at me.

Looking into her brilliant golden eyes, I answered honestly.

“No.”

“And why do you think that?”

On our way down, I looked at the mural painted on the stairwell’s outer wall—depicting a former head of the Grand Duke’s family standing firm beneath the radiant Nord mountain range, leading his army.

“Because I know you’re not interested in dancing.”

“Do I look like someone who, despite mastering swordsmanship, wouldn’t be able to dance?”

That, I couldn’t say for sure.

Come to think of it, though I had escorted Echina to ballrooms before… I had never actually seen her dance.

“Rather than that, I thought it’s because you have matters of higher priority than dancing.”

I spoke with both honesty and consideration in my tone.

“Historically, women who had much to take responsibility for focused on studies and swordsmanship rather than dance.”

“Much to take responsibility for, huh…”

Echina slowly closed her deep eyes.

Her long lashes caught the glow of the lights.

“Yes, quite a lot. I just came from bearing some, in fact.”

When the Grand Duke’s daughter opened her eyes again, we were already at the entrance to the ballroom.

It was filled with young people who had just reached adulthood, brimming with curiosity about the opposite sex.

Each approached the one they fancied, politely asking for a dance.

I thought this would be a disadvantage for Echina.

With her cold image and cynical eyes that suggested disinterest in romance, there were few brave enough to approach her.

However—

Echina was not the kind of woman to simply wait for such brave souls.

“…”

Men glanced at her nervously, then skirted away.

Like roses with thorns, her noble beauty made others hesitate to approach.

Echina didn’t spare those men a single glance.

Instead, she quietly looked up at the one man standing closest to her.

“Do I look so naive that I wouldn’t have even chosen a partner?”

And that man was—

“The crowd here doesn’t even have the courage to offer me their hand.”

—me.

“In that case, I’d rather borrow the hand of someone I’m familiar with. You don’t mind, do you?”

I looked at the back of her hand that she extended toward me—covered in scars.

Had she lived the life of an ordinary young noblewoman, it would have been exquisitely fair and smooth.

But instead, there were several sharp sword marks etched into it, like slashes across a torn canvas.

Most men, when inviting her to dance, would flinch at the sight of that hand.

She had lived a life vastly different from that of ordinary nobles.

‘That must be why, even ten years later, she had no one she considered family.’

Still, Echina didn’t look pitiful or unstable in the slightest.

Just like now, when she reached her hand out to me, she had always been someone who took the lead and could stand tall on her own.

“Understood. Then, allow me to accompany you for a song.”

It would be soon now.

The time to part ways with her.

I carefully took Echina’s hand.

Then, bending one knee in courtesy,

I led her into the ballroom, like parting the sea.

The smooth wooden floor of the newly built hall gleamed under the lights.

Our crisp footsteps echoed across it.

In one corner, the orchestra’s conductor noticed the Grand Duke’s daughter.

Upon seeing the young lady of the North’s most prestigious house arrive, he signaled his players.

To begin again with a noble piece befitting the dignity of the Grand Duke’s family.

「――――――.」

The sharp cry of a violin rose, like a woman’s voice.

Following its melody, the piano, cello, and various instruments blended into one.

In the midst of it, we stood facing each other.

“…”

Echina said nothing for a moment, then brushed her bangs back behind her ear in a slightly awkward gesture.

Then, returning to her usual haughty gaze as the Grand Duke’s daughter…

She gave an awkward ballroom greeting.

The same woman who carried out flag ceremonies so fiercely could be so girlish when it came to ballroom etiquette.

I took both her hands, and together we began to waltz slowly in time with the music.

Fortunately, her footwork—tempered by countless fencing duels—was remarkably steady.

Even in pointed heels, she let her body follow the music with skill.

‘As expected, she’s capable. Even a dance she’s barely tried before, she follows easily.’

However—

Perhaps because every action in her life had been learned through strict, formal training,

once the textbook opening movements passed, her timing began to slip bit by bit.

And without acknowledging her partner, she tried to dance entirely on her own…

“…!”

Her shoes began to twist slightly, making her ankles waver.

Any other young lady would have immediately complained of pain and leaned into the gentleman’s arms.

But Echina didn’t so much as blink and corrected her posture on her own.

“Your Grace’s daughter.”

I whispered politely to her, in a movement that naturally followed as she leaned into my arms.

“You don’t have to dance exactly as you’ve been taught.”

Dancing was one of humanity’s oldest forms of expressing emotion.

So perhaps, rather than moving strictly as taught, it might be more beautiful to move honestly, in tune with one’s instincts.

“Make me your pillar. And move freely, according to your feelings.”

“According to my feelings…?”

It was probably unfamiliar advice for Echina.

She had lived her entire life hiding her emotions, within the fierce atmosphere of her family.

Still, she learned quickly.

Following my suggestion to use me as her pillar, the stiffness in her legs gradually eased.

Then, leaning gently on me, she showed a graceful curve.

The moment I felt that sensation—

Suddenly, I remembered being in her arms ten years later, collapsing within them.

That moment when, after drinking poison, I had slowly fallen asleep in her embrace.

But now that I had returned to the past, it was different.

This time, she was only twenty-one, wearing a beautiful dress, resting against me.

‘Was Echina always this light…?’

Contrary to her strong mana and image, there was a softness to her.

The sweet scent of her skin rose from her neck and tickled my nose.

I had always thought of her as nothing but a cold female knight.

But the natural charm she inherited from the Grand Duke—

It was no wonder she had once been chosen as the most beautiful young woman in the Academy.

Perhaps because I lingered on that thought for a moment, my hand, which had been lightly resting on her waist, slipped slightly.

I didn’t particularly worry.

Given Echina’s exceptional athletic skills as a knight, this wasn’t enough to make her fall.

However—

“Ah…!”

For some reason, the Grand Duke’s daughter didn’t smoothly regain her stance.

Instead, she gently toppled over, resting her body against my arm.

“Are you all right…?”

I opened my eyes wide and supported her.

Echina then lifted her head slightly and looked up at me with those long, deep eyes.

“You told me to lean on you like a pillar… What a weak pillar you are.”

“My apologies, I was momentarily thinking of something else…”

The Grand Duke’s daughter’s long hair spilled onto the ballroom floor.

A faint sweetness rose from between the strands of her hair.

“Something else?”

While still resting in my arm, Echina elegantly raised a finger.

Then, gently brushing along my jaw, she said,

“You had the time to think of something else with me right in front of you?”

For someone called a knight, she was exceedingly seductive.

From the deep curve of her collarbone to the necklace draped over a figure far more generous than one would expect from a trained body.

Echina looked at my dazed expression as if she found it endearing, a faint smile playing at her lips.

Then, sliding her touch from my jaw to my cheek, she spoke.

“Good news will be coming to you soon.”

Good news.

Supporting Echina, I wondered what on earth she meant by that.

I didn’t even realize that, thanks to her deeply cut dress, my bare hand was pressed against her soft back.

“May I ask what kind of news it is?”

“Well…”

Her back was so warm.

Contrary to her cold image, she was a person with a living body heat.

“I can’t tell you just yet, but what I can say is…”

The Grand Duke’s daughter let out a deep breath.

The smooth blades of her shoulders shifted slightly.

“A collar perfectly suited to the one who made me like this.”

Echina lightly caught hold of my tie.

Then, like stroking a pet fox, she teasingly rubbed it between her fingers,

as though savoring the smooth texture with her fingertips.

“So, you can look forward to it.”

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