Chapter 65

Chapter 65

“Huh? I didn’t catch that, Your Grace.”

I took a step closer to him. Then I tilted my head back to meet his eyes. The Duke’s gaze locked onto mine.

“……I heard from Benat. That you had some trouble yesterday.”

“Ah……”

“Are you all right?”

“It was nothing really. More like a nuisance—the kind of annoyance a noisy woodpecker brings.”

At that, the Duke let out a short laugh. Then he extended one hand toward me. Over his shoulder, I could see couples swaying to the music. I let my gaze linger on them a moment, then looked back at the Duke. I thought I understood what his gesture meant.

“You want to dance?”

“Yes. You’re my partner, after all.”

The Duke answered.

“……Ah. So I am, aren’t I?”

“Once everyone here sees you as my partner, no one will dare treat you carelessly. You won’t have to deal with minor or major provocations anymore.”

“…….”

His voice had dropped low. I hesitated. The offer was deeply tempting, but I lacked the courage to step any closer to him.

“Laura.”

As the silence stretched on, his blue eyes looked down at me. In that translucent gaze, I thought I glimpsed unease as deep as my own.

He withdrew his outstretched hand and briefly rubbed his face. Then, with a dry cough and a single sigh, he spoke again.

“……No. That was just an excuse. The truth is, I simply want to dance with you.”

Then slowly, he reached out his hand to me once more. His movements were composed, precise, utterly proper. But they were more than enough to stir my heart.

“I’d…… like that too.”

I placed my hand over his. The Duke took hold of it and led me toward the hall. Inside, the Imperial Orchestra was playing a slow, drifting melody. We began to step carefully in time with the music.

“But I’m not very good at dancing…… I’m worried I’ll step on your toes, Your Grace.”

I felt a flush of awkwardness. So I threw out a vague comment to cover it.

“Stepping on them as much as you like. I doubt it would even hurt.”

“Not ‘as much as I like’—I’m going to try not to step on them at all.”

“All right. Don’t push yourself.”

But wasn’t there a saying that words become seeds? No sooner had I thought it than I went and stepped on the duke’s foot—with my pointed heel, no less. All my effort, wasted just like that.

“Ah! I’m so sorry.”

I flinched and yanked my foot away, then quickly shot a glance at the duke. Thankfully, his face showed no real change in expression.

“……”

……But he didn’t say a word either.

“……”

“……”

“It… hurts, doesn’t it?”

“……No.”

“That can’t be right… I just stepped on you with my heel… I’m sorry. I’m just not used to this yet…”

Frustrated, I dropped my gaze and saw his black dress shoes crossing paths between my feet. One of them must have been the one I’d stomped on. Determined not to make the same mistake again, I widened my eyes and tracked the duke’s every movement with my gaze.

“Laura. Look at me.”

But then, without warning, the duke pulled me in by the waist and spoke. Pressed against his chest, I looked up at him with only my eyes.

“Don’t worry about it. What I hate more is you not meeting my eyes because you’re too focused on that.”

“……”

“So just keep looking at me. I’ll lead the dance.”

His calm voice sounded incredibly close. That pleasant tone gradually soothed me. Thanks to it, my tense movements began to flow as fluidly as ripples. After that, we kept dancing, and I didn’t step on his foot even once more.

And so, the duke and I managed to dance through an entire set without a hitch. The moment the imperial orchestra’s piece ended, we slipped out of the hall together. But some people came rushing after us in a crowd.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen His Grace the Duke dance.”

“And the young lady with him is…”

They immediately surrounded the duke and showered him with words. It seemed we’d drawn far too much attention. I was finding it a bit awkward when someone suddenly tapped my arm. I turned my head to find Hereis staring at me with wide eyes.

“Um… Laura.”

She called me cautiously, as if checking my mood. I signaled to the duke that I’d step back, then slipped out from among the people and went to stand beside her.

“Ah, Hereis. You were surprised when I left without a word yesterday, weren’t you? I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. But Laura…”

She trailed off hesitantly. It felt like the next question would be about my relationship with the duke.

“Did you come with your brother again today?”

I hastily changed the subject. I had no idea what the right answer would be to the question I expected was coming.

“Yes. That’s right. Actually, I received the banquet invitation through my younger brother.”

She nodded in reply. I said, “I see,” and strode forward. Hereis fell into step behind me. We soon slipped free of the bustling crowd and made our way back to the bench where we’d first met, settling onto it.

Then my eye caught the Three Musketeers from yesterday, loitering in front of me. They were decked out in their finest dresses, faces pinched as they glared my way. But they didn’t pick a fight like yesterday. They just brushed past and kept going.

‘How boring.’

If this was the fallout from dancing with the Duke, it was a pitifully tame conclusion. A challenge this mild was hardly unbearable.

“You know, Laura. Actually, yesterday they were gossiping about you behind your back.”

Hereis fixed her gaze on them and whispered softly. She was treading carefully, as if gauging my reaction. But unlike her worry, they didn’t bother me at all. Honestly, it was the kind of story I could have predicted.

“But someone took your side and shut those young ladies up.”

Wait… what?

“Huh? Really? Who?”

Who could it be? I didn’t know anyone here except the Duke and the young Marquis…

“I’m not sure who it was… but I’d recognize their face. They were really striking. Ah, there they are! That woman in the red dress.”

I turned my head in the direction she pointed and saw the Duke surrounded by a cluster of people, with a woman standing before him. Even at a glance, she was strikingly radiant, deep in conversation with the Duke.

‘This isn’t boring at all…’

Among the high nobles gathered there, she fit like a piece of a puzzle. I found myself itching to know what they were saying. I wanted to rush over and wedge myself between them. But I couldn’t. I knew that even with all the knowledge I had, I couldn’t blend into their conversation. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself by pushing in.

“Laura, do you know her?”

“No. It’s my first time seeing her today.”

I shook my head. In my short list of acquaintances, there was no one who looked so beautiful—beyond pretty, almost regal. She was stunning in a way that shattered the ordinary notion of a beauty.

“When she said one word, those three turned into complete mute goldfish.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And she warned them not to spread any more nonsense slander before she left.”

“That’s kind of her. I’ll have to remember that.”

She was beautiful and, it seemed, bold with it — taking the side of someone she barely knew. In theory, that sort of thing is easy enough, but actually doing it? That takes nerve. At least, I would’ve needed considerable courage.

“Hmm… but what do you mean by ‘outrageous gossip’?”

I stared at her for a moment, then turned to Hereis and asked. At my question, Hereis’s body stiffened, flinching. Judging by her reaction, some pretty nasty things had been said about me.

“…Well, Laura hadn’t done anything wrong, but they were badmouthing her anyway. Um… what was it… I just worry sometimes, that’s all — I know there’s nothing wrong between my sister and His Highness the Crown Prince. Yes. Of course there isn’t…”

Hereis stumbled through her words, trailing off. Behind that wavering voice, she seemed to want to say more. But she couldn’t get another word out — just pressed her lips tight.

Her sentence cut off like that, snapping clean. But I could tell without much effort. The Three Musketeers were furious that I seemed chummy with the Duke, so they were badmouthing me. Transparent as glass, really.

Honestly. Did they think badmouthing me would make the Duke theirs?

“That doesn’t bother me.”

At my words, Hereis glanced at me, a flicker of worry in her eyes.

“It really doesn’t. When someone gossips about me, I just ignore it. Sure, it stings a little, but that’s nothing, really.”

“…….”

“……Actually, there are plenty of harder things than that. I just didn’t realize it until I came to the banquet.”

I turned back to the woman in the red dress as I spoke.

“She’s probably high-ranking, right? That woman, I mean.”

Then I nodded toward her.

“Probably so. The way the other young ladies won’t dare move a muscle around her says it all.”

Beyond Hereis’s light whisper, a woman of breathtaking beauty came into view. I followed her gaze and looked at the Duke’s profile. The elegant line flowing from his forehead to the bridge of his nose gave a cool, sharp impression. His eyes were deep, his lips finely set. Even setting aside his title of Duke, he was truly a striking person.

When it came down to it, we were people living in different worlds. The single fact that I could see ghosts was the only thing that created a small intersection between us.