Chapter 13

Ellen stared blankly at the man standing before her with trembling eyes.

“You look quite startled.”

“N, I’m not……”

“Still as poor a liar as ever.”

“Th, that’s not it.”

“Saying it while stumbling over your words only makes it less convincing.”

“Ah.”

I was stumbling.

In truth, she was so shocked that her mind was spinning and she barely knew what she was saying.

“So what will you do?”

“What do you mean……”

“It seems you’ve been so flustered you’ve forgotten what you’re supposed to be doing.”

Leonid curved his handsome lips and held out his hand. Only then did Ellen remember she was about to dance for the first time in her life.

“I haven’t forgotten. I’ll choose now.”

The young ladies making their debut today had gathered in the center of the grand banquet hall. Young men of similar age would step forward into the center and hold out a hand to ask for a dance. Taking that hand made them a partner for the first song.

Ellen quickly gathered herself and looked around. Most of the men who could ask for a dance tonight were hovering around her.

‘So that’s why it suddenly went quiet.’

Leonid had lived a life about as far removed from society as possible, and had never once appeared at a ball. In other words, no matter what commotion arose in society, it had nothing to do with him.

He had no interest in a society that rejected him either. That also aligned with the wishes of his birth mother, Eliza En Dri.

Eliza wanted Leonid to cause no trouble for the path of her hope, Prince Kayul Del Raphae. She wanted Leonid to lock himself inside his own palace and live as though dead.

For someone like him to appear at this ball was already enough to cause a stir, and on top of that, he had asked Ellen to dance.

In every sense, the attention people paid to Ellen had risen even further.

In that case, this incident might make it somewhat easier to meet Countess Huan, the younger sister of the imperial head maid.

The likelihood of Count Nockton allowing Ellen to stay in the capital to gain a stronger upper hand in negotiations with Duke Shurn had also risen sharply. With that old man’s greed, he would never give up on her.

Even if keeping her in the capital came at considerable expense, if Duke Shurn offered more than that in return, Count Nockton would gladly bear the cost.

Everything was going according to Ellen’s plan. Except for Leonid appearing here.

Ellen barely managed to compose herself and carefully lifted the hem of her dress. She moved to walk past Leonid.

She would absolutely not love Leonid in this life.

They had been a terrible poison to each other, destroying one another completely. But this time would be different. She would no longer get entangled with him.

If her plan succeeded, she would never enter his harem.

‘……His harem.’

The word harem circled in her mouth like a thorn. The place that had torn her heart apart until the very moment of her death.

But now she knew. It had been Leonid’s desperate struggle for the throne.

She also knew it was the only path available to a cursed prince stained with blood.

Ellen’s reason for trying to build a connection to the head maid through Madam Bori was one thing.

Princess Senne, the Empress’s only child and the imperial family’s greatest headache. To get close to her……

The corners of Ellen’s eyes grew faintly moist as her thoughts continued.

Every plan had been made to pull Leonid out of the abyss. She had kept driving herself with the reminder that it was for the Empire’s sake, and for her own.

Because after Leonid ran out of control, the Empire had fallen into ruin so complete it was pitiful.

And yet.

Seeing Leonid before her now made her heart lurch.

Was she really doing all of this only to prevent the Empire’s catastrophe. Then why was her heart shaking like this right now.

“Are you refusing?”

She knew she should say yes, but the words wouldn’t leave her mouth. As though she had wanted him after all……

Ellen gave a quiet nod in place of an answer.

It hadn’t mattered who her partner was today. Yet the thought of refusing Leonid made one corner of her chest ache for reasons she couldn’t explain.

“You’d be better off not doing that.”

“Pardon?”

Leonid curved one corner of his mouth and turned toward the men hovering around Ellen.

“As everyone here is well aware. This is my first time attending a ball.”

Leonid’s captivating red eyes gleamed with a dangerous light. The shoulders of the men facing him gave an involuntary flinch.

“I’d rather not be disturbed.”

Perhaps it was because he was the cursed one, but the words delivered so flatly gripped their hearts.

And however troublesome he was to the imperial family, he was still a prince. A prince with a notorious reputation for madness at that.

Getting entangled with him would bring nothing good. Besides, the first dance wasn’t the only one. They could ask again in the next song.

The men shuffled and stepped back.

“My, it seems only I am left.”

Ellen’s eyes trembled as she watched the men recede like an ebbing tide. Because this meant she had no choice but to dance with Leonid.

“Allow me to ask again, properly.”

He straightened himself and held out his hand. It was the highest courtesy he could offer as a prince.

“……”

Ellen stared at him blankly.

Leonid asking her to dance with such formality. It was something she had never imagined even in a dream.

Her trembling gaze landed on his smooth fingertips. This was the first time Leonid had ever reached out his hand to her first. He had only ever tumbled together with her like an animal.

Perhaps that was why. Even knowing she should refuse, she couldn’t bring herself to push that hand away.

Ellen pressed down on her wildly pounding heart. Then she met Leonid’s gaze.

Those deep, still crimson eyes held only Ellen. In her previous life, that gaze had always felt like more than she could bear, but in this moment, the longer she looked, the more she felt herself sinking into it.

It was as though time and space had warped. As though only Leonid and she existed.

Ellen bit down hard on her lip.

Perhaps just once would be all right. To let herself dream the sweet dream Leonid was offering.

Slender fingers reached toward him. Ellen carefully took Leonid’s hand. In this one moment, she wanted to forget everything and simply be with him.

“I accept Your Highness’s invitation.”

Just for today. Willingly.

A bright waltz began to play. Leonid took her hand and drew her into his arms.

“Of everything I’ve seen of you, today is what I like best.”

“Pardon? What do you mean……”

Could he have seen her at the birthday party of his older brother Kayul Del Raphae?

The party Count Nockton had sent her to under the guise of a debutante, to show her off to Duke Shurn.

Or could it be…… that he had memories of their previous life.

Only she and Deriel had come back through time.

Ellen parted her lips with wavering eyes. To ask whether he had met her anywhere other than their encounter on the boulevard in Kadin.

But Leonid moved faster. He curved his arm around her waist and turned with the music.

“Why. Are you curious?”

Leonid’s long fingers slid between her white knuckles.

He wrapped a firm arm around her waist, clasped her delicate hand completely in the other, and bent his head to whisper against Ellen’s ear with a low, intimate voice.

“Yes. Are you saying you’ve seen me somewhere other than when we happened to cross paths on the streets of Kadin?”

Perhaps it was her body remembering him. A burning heat rose wherever she was in contact with Leonid.

Ellen pulled back slightly to put a little distance between them. But Leonid pulled her closer as though that were out of the question.

“Why. Are you trying to run away again?”

The corner of Leonid’s mouth curved dizzily.

“Pardon?”

She was so startled her breath nearly stopped. Ellen lowered her eyes to hide her shock. But even the trembling in her voice was impossible to conceal.

“You did the same last time. You stepped back when you saw me.”

“Ah……”

She was the only one who remembered running from him in their past life…… She knew it couldn’t be, and yet she couldn’t help the flicker of wondering.

Ellen let out a breath of relief.

“I wasn’t able to greet you properly last time because I was caught off guard.”

“Ah, that.”

“Yes. Thank you for saving me.”

To think the day would come when she said something like this to Leonid.

Ellen’s lips curved into a smile without her meaning to. Seeing that smile, Leonid’s eyes grew deep and still.

“Beautiful.”

“……”

Eyes deeper than blood stared steadily at Ellen. She didn’t know what to do under that gaze and her eyes trembled.

Beautiful was something she had heard from him in her past life too. Perhaps it was Leonid’s burning gaze, but her heart raced quickly.

“Your, Your Highness is too.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Ellen struggled with everything she had to bring out the words buried deep inside her. But her mouth wouldn’t move the way she intended.

“Th, that is. What I mean is, Your Highness is also……”

“Are you trying to insult me? You’re stumbling terribly.”

“N, no. It’s not like that.”

Fool. Just say he’s incredibly handsome, that’s all.

Ellen shook her head at nothing in particular and gripped his hand tightly.

“Whatever it is, it’s not unpleasant.”

“……It really isn’t an insult.”

“I know. I’ll take your word for it.”

Leonid looked down at the white hand clasped tightly against his own and pulled up the corner of his mouth. She was probably flustered. But the way she held his hand felt quite good.

“In truth, the reason doesn’t matter.”