Chapter 12

Deriel came to the lodgings where Ellen was staying to escort her to the imperial ball where the debutante would be held.

He was, after all, officially Ellen’s escort knight and legal guardian for the time being.

“You’re not late.”

“Of course not, my lady.”

Deriel boarded the carriage with Ellen and knocked on the carriage wall. The carriage began to move quickly.

“There’s no need to play the knight when it’s just the two of us.”

“Perhaps not. But.”

Deriel, seated lightly in the chair, pointed to Ellen’s shoulder with one hand and tapped his own shoulder with the other.

“Your shoulders are terribly tense. Relax, Ellen.”

“Ah, was I?”

Only at Deriel’s gesture did she realize she had been holding herself completely rigid. Ellen let out a long breath and released the tension from her shoulders.

“I suppose it’s because the imperial ball is a first for me.”

“That makes sense. In your previous life, you rarely left the inner chambers.”

Deriel spoke with an expression of understanding.

Ellen gave a quiet nod.

Even meeting the eyes of another man had been enough to put them both in danger. A ball was something she could never have dared to dream of.

Of course, what mattered now was not a past that no longer existed.

Ellen carefully let her true feelings out.

“I’m honestly incredibly nervous. I know how important this is. And I’m not sure I can pull it off……”

And what if she ran into him by chance. It wouldn’t happen, but if she somehow met Leonid the way she had before, what would she do.

Ellen quietly closed her lips. Saying it to Deriel wouldn’t solve anything.

“You’ll do well.”

“Hm?”

“You’re beautiful. I haven’t seen all that many humans, but I can say that without hesitation.”

“Ah. Was that what you meant?”

“Yes. Tonight, every man’s gaze will be yours. So your plan will unfold without a single deviation.”

“It’s something I need, but I’m not sure whether to be glad about it.”

Ellen laced her white lace-gloved hands together and turned her eyes to the window. The reflection in the transparent glass felt unfamiliar.

Even to her own eyes, her dressed-up appearance looked truly beautiful.

‘If Leonid could see me like this, would he like it……’

The hand that had been touching her own reflection in the glass hesitated. Ellen realized what she had been thinking without meaning to and pulled her trembling fingertips away from the window.

“Get a hold of yourself.”

“Hm?”

“No, I was talking to myself.”

Ellen waved a hand at Deriel, who was tilting his head at her words. The carriage arrived at the entrance to the imperial palace’s grand garden.

Deriel held out the invitation he had received in advance through the carriage window. The gatekeeper bowed respectfully and nodded. It meant they could pass.

The coachman cracked the whip and drove the carriage toward the fountain.

“We’ve arrived. Please step out.”

An imperial attendant opened the carriage door. Deriel, mindful of the eyes around them, treated Ellen with a knight’s courtesy.

“I will escort you to the entrance of the grand banquet hall, my lady.”

Deriel held out his arm and Ellen lightly placed her hand on the back of it. He tilted his head slightly and whispered to her.

“Look at this. People’s gazes are already sticking to you.”

“So it seems.”

Ellen straightened her back and lifted her chin. Seven years of palace life had taught her the law of the jungle.

Confident and graceful. No matter the situation, she must never show confusion or inadequacy.

‘The moment you do, the pack descends.’

The imperial palace, which loved to fabricate stories where there were none, was the perfect place to become prey.

Ellen walked along the red carpet that stretched beside the lake in the imperial garden. Crowds of people had gathered there.

The imperial family’s official balls were held three times a year. At the start of the year, in spring, and the harvest festival in autumn. Of those, the debutante was held in the bright spring.

There was also the option of participating in the Grand Holy Council banquet held at the great cathedral. But in terms of scale and prestige, the nobility preferred the imperial ball. So not only the young ladies making their debut, but nobles from across the Empire had flocked to today’s ball to see new faces.

“I’ll leave you here. Only nobles with invitations may enter inside.”

Deriel smiled politely and stepped back. The ears of the noble ladies and young women nearby turned pink.

“Yes. I’ll go on alone from here.”

Deriel nodded with an encouraging look. He knew well enough what this occasion meant to Ellen, beyond being just a debutante.

She left Deriel behind and stepped into the grand banquet hall. Every gaze turned to Ellen at once. They watched her beautiful figure as though entranced.

“Truly lovely. A face I haven’t seen before.”

“There’s no way you’d forget a woman that beautiful. She must be one of the young ladies making her debut this year.”

“That’s true. But she really is beautiful. It’s almost a shame that beautiful is the only word that comes to mind.”

In her previous life and in this one, Ellen had never put herself on display before so many people. Leonid had never let her take a single step outside the harem.

Ellen looked around with a cautious hope. Fortunately, Leonid was nowhere to be seen.

She moved toward the center of the hall. The blatant stares were difficult to bear, but today there was nothing to be done about it.

In the meantime, the imperial chief chamberlain entered and announced the procession of the Emperor and Empress.

Ellen stepped to the side, bowed her head, bent her knees slightly, and lifted the hem of her skirt with quiet grace. It was a greeting in perfect accordance with imperial etiquette. Those watching from the corners of their eyes let out involuntary sounds of admiration.

“Not only beautiful but well-mannered.”

“She is a young lady making her debut, so she would have learned the imperial greeting at the very least.”

“Even so, doing it looking like that makes it all the more striking.”

“That can’t be denied.”

The lowered voices of noble men exchanged rapid commentary. Through it all, the envious gazes of the young ladies awaiting their own debuts continued.

For a noble young lady, the debutante was one of the moments in life when she received the most attention. How much notice she drew and how brilliantly she debuted could give her a favorable influence in society going forward.

So it was natural that having another young lady draw the attention was unwelcome.

Ellen received their familiar looks with composure. It would have been enough to make her shrink had it been her first time experiencing it, but thinking back on Leonid’s harem, this level of scrutiny was something she could manage.

‘So the harem does have its uses.’

She gripped her skirt as she watched the Emperor and Empress take their seats on the thrones.

At that moment, a trumpet sounded to announce the start of the ball, and those in the grand banquet hall took wide steps back. Only the debutantes remained, and the surroundings fell quiet.

They waited with bright, eager expressions for the Emperor’s congratulatory address. It was at that moment. The quiet interior grew suddenly busy. Ellen looked around in surprise.

A young lady from a marquis family, terribly nervous about her social debut, had leaned slightly against a table and accidentally caught the tablecloth, sending champagne glasses crashing to the floor.

The Emperor openly furrowed his brow in displeasure. The chief chamberlain moved swiftly to sort out the area around the table and led the tearful young lady out.

‘Her path in society is going to be a difficult one.’

Society was a place where even small mistakes could be held against you. And to make such a large blunder at a ball attended by the Emperor, the Empress, and every noble in the Empire.

Ellen watched the spot where the young lady had disappeared with a sympathetic heart.

The Emperor’s congratulatory address rang out through the hall in the meantime. The unsettled atmosphere settled somewhat, and the long-awaited imperial debutante began.

Being the only debutante of the three annual imperial balls, the excitement ran high.

Ellen delivered the prepared greeting at her turn. The response that followed was a warmth rarely seen at recent debutantes.

“Truly beautiful. Almost too fine a thing to be wasting away in a backwater territory like Esrod.”

“Indeed. The Nockton county? I don’t even recognize the family name.”

“That’s how unremarkable the household is.”

“Ho ho, but look around you. The interest is quite considerable.”

“Hmm, in that case, the family aside. She’ll draw significant attention in society for some time.”

The noble ladies arranged to the right of the Empress’s throne fanned themselves and assessed the prospects of Ellen, standing in the center of the grand banquet hall.

“So it would seem. Look over there. Men are already swarming around Lady Ellen Nockton. Like animals in heat.”

“My, what vulgar language for a setting like this. That’s not very becoming of a marchioness.”

“Oh, please understand. After what just happened to your daughter, you can hardly be in good spirits.”

The expression of Marchioness Allens, whose mood had already soured over her daughter’s mishap with the table moments ago, twisted openly. It was only natural, with her only daughter’s social debut having gone so badly. Marchioness Allens excused herself and left.

‘It’s going far better than I expected. Though I’m not sure I should be glad about it.’

Ellen looked at the men crowding in to exchange even a single word with her, her expression caught between discomfort and resignation.

If it was already like this before the first dance of the debutante, it would certainly go as she intended. Her value would rise to a level incomparable to before.

Duke Shurn would have to pay not three times the original amount, but more.

‘At this rate, he’ll probably keep me in the capital until the wedding with Duke Shurn.’

Staying in the capital and showing her face in society even once more would be more advantageous for maintaining the value she had worked to raise than sitting in some unknown countryside.

Ellen had no desire to return to the Nockton county ever again. Above all, she had to stay in the capital to meet the younger sister of the imperial head maid.

‘Even so, settings like this are uncomfortable.’

Even knowing the duke’s fate…… it didn’t make this kind of setting any easier.

Putting herself on display before so many people was genuinely difficult for Ellen. She had spent her whole life living in the exact opposite way.

Since society itself was not her goal, this kind of attention was more of a torment than anything else.

‘Just hold on a little longer.’

Ellen struggled to keep her smile in place. But the excessive demands of the men wore her down in body and spirit. They had one reason for pressing in on Ellen.

The first dance of the debutante.

The desire to claim that symbolic first experience set their hearts ablaze even further.

“There’s still time before the first dance, so please give me a moment to think.”

“Allow me to help you think. I am……”

Even asking for a moment’s time made no difference.

Ellen squeezed her eyes shut watching the men press in relentlessly. With so many men crowding around, simply standing there with her wits about her was the greater ordeal.

Some time passed like that. At some point, the surroundings went dead silent.

Had they finally listened and stepped back. Ellen pressed a hand to her chest and slowly opened her eyes.

“……!”

The sight before her stole the breath from her lungs.

He was there. Leonid was standing right in front of her.