CH 11

Before entering the banquet hall, Delia was already caught by other ladies.

“Is your head feeling better?”

“How did you get the last entrance order? Miss Bennett has always been last until now.”

“Why haven’t you shown your face in social circles before? You would have stood out so much.”

Her head felt like it would burst from the shower of questions. Judging by the amount of attention she was receiving, the jewel of this social season seemed already decided.

That’s when someone added a comment.

“The Grand Duke has been absent as well…… You two couldn’t have been together, could you?”

At this somewhat rude question, Delia turned her head to look.

Chlois was smiling with her lips curved upward.

“To refuse when His Grace the Grand Duke asked for a dance. How impolite.”

Delia quietly observed Chlois.

Somehow she had expected this reaction.

In the original story, Chlois burned with feelings for Niol until the end.

There had never been such an unrequited love.

From Chlois’s perspective, Delia must be like an unwelcome rolling stone that suddenly appeared.

Even her immature provocation must have stemmed from simple jealousy toward someone she liked.

The social world was full of jealousy and wariness anyway, so it wasn’t strange.

Delia carefully examined Chlois from head to toe.

She was a beautiful lady. Not only was her appearance and demeanor elegant, but her status was also considerable, and above all, her personality was quite good.

‘She must be speaking unkindly now because she hates me.’

Looking at her amber eyes, Delia somehow felt sorry.

Chlois should blame the fact that the original work wasn’t a romance genre. If it had been romance, there would have been no reason for her not to end up with Niol.

The potential relationships in the novel ended up scattered because they weren’t considered important to the main plot.

‘It’s my fault, all my fault. Well, if it had been a romance, I wouldn’t have needed to enter the novel to kill Kaiel, right?’

At that moment, Chlois’s eyebrows twitched. A suppressed voice burst out as if her pride had been hurt.

“Are you ignoring me? You just looked me up and down……! I’ve never met someone so rude!”

The ladies around them tensed up and watched Delia’s reaction carefully. Since there had been no rumors about her, they didn’t know what kind of personality she might be hiding.

That’s when Delia quietly opened her mouth.

“First, I haven’t memorized the dance steps yet. I refused because I didn’t want to cause trouble for His Grace. What other reason could there be?”

Chlois stood dumbfounded for a moment before asking as if she couldn’t understand.

“Then His Highness the Crown Prince……”

“Second, His Highness is an excellent dancer. Good enough to make up for my poor dancing.”

It was a clear answer to Chlois’s previous criticism. Delia continued.

“Third, I’m sorry for looking you up and down. It’s because Miss Bennett is so beautiful.”

Chlois’s expression, which had been sharp throughout, instantly turned to confusion. She seemed not to have expected such words from Delia.

“Wh…… what, what?”

Delia smiled brightly.

“You match really well with His Highness. Sincerely.”

Chlois, who seemed to have forgotten why she was angry in the first place, answered sheepishly.

“Th…… thank you.”

As the tense atmosphere between them eased, some people lost interest and left. When only three or four remained, one lady seized the opportunity to ask.

“Speaking of which, I heard something earlier. At Lady Evans’s tea time……”

“Yes, yes?”

Delia recalled that moment and showed a slightly flustered expression.

The lady continued while tilting her head as if she herself couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“That His Grace the Grand Duke acted as Miss Averbit’s attendant…… Is, is that true?”

It seemed the rumor had already spread.

Delia mentally held her forehead. She had tried her best to hide Kaiel to prevent strange rumors from spreading.

‘Instead, rumors spread that Kaiel acted as an attendant……! What if people misunderstand that Kaiel has strange hobbies?’

That’s when it happened.

“Delia.”

A deep voice called her from behind.

‘Kaiel?’

Startled, Delia turned around. She wasn’t the only one surprised. Other ladies including Chlois looked at Kaiel with rounded eyes.

Seeing the ladies’ expressions change, Kaiel added in an indifferent tone.

“Lady Averbit.”

‘What’s the point of adding that now!’

Between what happened earlier and the rumors just now, it was hard to look at his face properly.

When Delia awkwardly smiled and greeted him, the ladies followed with equally awkward greetings.

It seemed Kaiel was the only one not feeling awkward in this situation. He casually took something out of his pocket.

Everyone’s attention focused on it.

What he took out was the butterfly-shaped pin. The same pin that had been in Delia’s hair until the reception.

Delia hurriedly felt her hair. It seemed she hadn’t put the pin back after pulling it out and throwing it earlier.

“Come here.”

Regardless of whether the surrounding ladies’ expressions turned to shock or not.

Kaiel gathered a handful of Delia’s hair with his rough yet gentle touch and pinned it.

* * *

“Oh my, what happened to your hairstyle?”

When Delia trudged in and collapsed on the bed, the maid rushed over.

“When I did it, it certainly wasn’t like this…… Did it not stay fixed?”

“Hahaha……”

Throughout the evening banquet, Delia had to dine with her hair completely askew.

Everyone who saw her either stared at her hair or some ladies tried to fix it themselves. Though they couldn’t because of Kaiel sending threatening glares from the side.

Of course, she didn’t want to touch the pin Kaiel had put in either.

“Are you very tired?”

Delia nodded with her eyes closed.

It had been quite an ordeal dealing with Kaiel who acted as if he didn’t care about others’ gazes.

Following one step behind her whenever she moved was the least of it. He would lift her dress when it seemed to drag, and whenever there was a chance, he kept putting drinks in her hand, whether juice or wine.

‘Why are you like this……!’

While Kaiel’s actions were of course very nice, the problem was that this was happening at the banquet where all the ladies and gentlemen had gathered.

‘This will surely lead to bad rumors!’

Having been overly conscious of people’s gazes on Kaiel’s behalf as well, Delia felt like all her energy had been drained.

Without knowing when she fell asleep, the next morning arrived.

What woke Delia as soon as she opened her eyes was the newsletter the maid brought.

“This should be interesting! Let me see! Tranade……”

Reading through the text, Delia was dumbfounded.

“Grand Duke Tranade volunteered to be Baron Averbit’s daughter’s attendant……? Aaaaaah! I knew this would happen! What does this make Kaiel look like……”

There were also stories about how she was the new jewel of this reception and how her first dance with the Crown Prince went, but she couldn’t focus on those.

“Miss, please calm down!”

“It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have made Kaiel act as an attendant in the first place……”

“You, you made His Grace act as an attendant!? When? Why…… why?”

While Delia clutched her head and lamented in front of the shocked maid, Kaiel had just received the same newsletter.

“Your Grace…… Why would you want to see such a thing……”

The servant who had already read the contents watched the Grand Duke’s expression with a pale face, knowing what was written. It would be better if he didn’t see it.

However, moments later, the servant doubted his eyes.

A small smile appeared on the Grand Duke’s lips as he read the newsletter! This was something the servant had never expected in his entire life.

He had thought the Grand Duke would tear up and burn the paper.

Kaiel folded the paper as it was and put it in his inner pocket. When he met eyes with the servant who was staring at him with a strange look, his expression turned cold again.

“What.”

* * *

While Delia was caught up in the aftermath of the newsletter, she finally came to her senses and was on her way to find Niol.

Just because Kaiel gave permission didn’t mean Niol had agreed, so she needed a definite answer to act as Ashlene’s substitute.

The soldier guarding where Niol was seemed used to her visits now and opened the door without resistance.

“Delia!”

Niol, who had been lying back in his chair, shot up.

She wondered why he was lying down today when he usually sat with perfect posture, but it was just for a moment. Delia passed over it without much thought.

“Your Highness. His Grace has given permission. He said I could act as Her Highness’s substitute!”

There were more important matters now.

“Will Your Highness give permission too……? You will…… won’t you?”

At her question that was unclear whether it was a request or a demand, Niol let out a small laugh.