Chapter 28

“I’m sorry.”

Noah spoke politely, bowing his head. The face of the woman who had extended her hand to him turned bright red in an instant. Watching the woman stomp away in a huff, Essis clicked his tongue.

“Honestly, you have no manners at all.”

“Are you talking about me?”

When Noah pointed to himself, the surrounding knights frowned. These were members of the 1st Imperial Knight Order, with whom he had been training for the past few days.

Under Essis’s orders, Noah and Kaya had been training with them to prepare for escorting the event.

Kaya was assigned to guard Princess Arien. However, she had fled as soon as the event began and was nowhere to be seen now.

“When a lady asks for a dance, refusing is bad manners.”

“But I didn’t want to dance with her.”

“Do you even know what ‘manners’ means?”

Essis, wearing an expression of exasperation, gave up trying to persuade him and shook his head.

“Fine, just stand there quietly. And try not to open your mouth, it’s frustrating.”

He was already doing just that. Noah nodded his head up and down and resumed standing still. For some reason, he felt a prickling sensation on the back of his head, but after the training he had undergone over the past few days, he was used to standing motionless.

While he was standing there for a long time, a woman approached him shyly. She greeted Essis first, then passed by the other knights before stopping in front of Noah.

“Excuse me, are you Sir Noah?”

When the woman asked this, the knights’ expressions turned sour again.

Noah kept his lips tightly shut and only nodded his head. Essis, seemingly realizing the reason, rubbed his forehead and said casually,

“You can answer her.”

“Yes.”

It was a response with two meanings. Tilting her head, the woman smiled slightly and continued.

“You must be a knight His Highness values greatly.”

“Indeed. ‘Values’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Olivia.”

“I’m Noah Velcarid.”

When he followed with his name, Olivia’s cheeks turned a rosy red. Perhaps the hall was too warm. Nodding absentmindedly to the ongoing conversation, Noah spotted someone in the distance.

It was Karina, who had disappeared after their dance, heading toward the entrance with a middle-aged man who seemed to be her companion.

“I was so surprised at first. I really thought a ruffian had appeared, but then Sir Noah….”

Olivia’s chatter came to a halt as one of the knights nudged Noah.

Even so, Noah’s gaze was blatantly fixed on one spot.

Eventually, Olivia, her face flushed, left the scene. At the same time, a senior knight reached out toward Noah. But before the hand could grab him, Noah descended from the platform. The knights, caught off guard by his sudden action, were thrown into confusion.

Essis, rather than stopping his disobedient subordinate, waved his hand as if it were too much trouble.

“Let him go. He wouldn’t listen even if we tried.”

By then, Noah was already crossing the hall. He walked straight to the entrance and exited into a sparsely populated corridor. Most of the people seemed to be heading toward the lounge.

Standing still for a moment, Noah quickened his pace and eventually stepped outside the building altogether.

“Miss Karina?”

He saw Karina’s back as she walked toward the carriages prepared near the main gates of the Imperial Palace. Noah, who had been walking leisurely, picked up his pace and almost ran toward the carriages.

“Please take me directly to the Ducal residence.”

“Yes, Your Grace. But… is that gentleman also part of your party?”

Asillis, who had been speaking with the coachman, frowned when he noticed Noah approaching belatedly. Karina, who had just boarded the carriage, widened her eyes and looked outside. Noah stopped in place and bowed his head.

“I am Noah Velcarid of the 1st Imperial Knight Order.”

His abrupt self-introduction left the coachman and Asillis exchanging puzzled glances.

Ignoring them, Noah raised his head and bowed again. Then he removed both of his shoes and held them in his hands. Approaching the carriage, he placed his shoes at Karina’s feet.

“…Noah?”

Karina called his name in a voice full of confusion. She seemed unable to comprehend the situation.

After confirming that Karina’s feet were perfectly fine, Noah lifted his head.

“I had a wonderful time today.”

“….”

“Let’s meet again. Please return the shoes to me then.”

It was a rather trivial farewell. Noah rose with his usual calm demeanor.

When he glanced down at his bare feet on the cold stone ground, he briefly questioned his actions, but it didn’t matter.

He didn’t want to assign a reason to what his heart compelled him to do.

“Be careful not to trip when you get off the carriage.”

Leaving Karina, who sat dazedly in the carriage, Noah turned around. The pale sky came into view.

It was a beautiful day. Noah began walking back toward the Imperial Palace.

***

Phyllis stepped out of the lounge and leaned against the wall. The words echoing in his ears felt deafening.

‘I don’t want to hear anything from you anymore.’

The cold voice rang in his ears, and the image of Karina gracefully dancing flashed before his eyes. His clenched fists turned white. Everything was a disaster.

‘Would it have been better to say nothing at all?’

It was useless to regret now. From the moment he faced Karina, that was impossible. After standing there for a long time, Phyllis pushed himself off the wall and began to walk. It was time to leave.

At that moment, loud laughter echoed from the end of the corridor.

“See? I told you, it’s Lady Karina.”

The faint mention of her name cleared his mind in an instant. Phyllis walked toward the source of the sound.

“I thought he was more of a gigolo than a knight. That guy, his face practically glows.”

“Still, wasn’t he good in a fight? Didn’t he take down that ruffian in one move?”

The conversation he overheard up close wasn’t about Karina.

Phyllis frowned and turned away. However, before he could take a step, his body froze.

“Anyway, Lady Karina is impressive. To bring in a new man while still engaged.”

The mocking tone was followed by similar laughter, so mixed it was hard to count how many were laughing.

“Well, it’s understandable. Her fiancé was sneaking around behind her back.”

The conversation naturally shifted toward Phyllis.

“Acting all polite while cheating. I would’ve dumped him and found someone else immediately, too.”

The sharp words pierced his chest. Phyllis instinctively withdrew the step he was about to take. It wasn’t because he was ashamed of his wrongdoing. He wasn’t sure he had the right to step forward.

The men didn’t wait for Phyllis’s guilt.

“Honestly, I’m jealous. What kind of merit must he have earned in his past life to toy with two women?”

“Toy with them? It’s the opposite. Didn’t you see him dancing with the lady and that knight earlier? They were practically glued together.”

“Yeah, holding her waist tight and dancing like they wanted everyone to see.”

The vulgar remarks made him feel dirty. Phyllis clenched his jaw until it ached.

“He looked sturdy, too… who knows? Maybe they’ve already done more than just lock eyes.”

An obscene voice whispered. With a snapping sound in his head, Phyllis moved. The men turned to look at him. When their eyes met, their faces showed signs of panic.

Phyllis stepped in front of them without even taking the time to identify who they were. His mouth opened of its own accord, and a voice that didn’t feel like his own came out.

“Is this fun? Making crude jokes like common thugs?”

One of the men at the back avoided Phyllis’s gaze. He was the one who had tried to escort Karina to the lounge.

At the center of the group was Kamil Melbourne. He was the only one whose expression remained composed.

“Thugs, huh. Did you just say everything you wanted to?”

A young nobleman from a notable family raised his voice. Phyllis barely restrained a laugh and replied.

“If you don’t think it applies to you, there’s no need to get defensive. What were you just talking about?”

“Y-you….”

Their dumbfounded silence was utterly repulsive.

Swallowing down the words he wanted to hurl at them, Phyllis took in each of their faces. They hadn’t just insulted him. Phyllis, having calmed down slightly, relaxed his stance and continued.

“I don’t think anyone here is unaware of what kind of occasion this is.”

“….”

“At the very least, I admire your courage. I’m not sure if His Highness the Crown Prince would feel the same, though.”

The men, who had been blinking blankly, turned pale in an instant.

As Phyllis coldly turned away, a desperate hand grabbed his arm before he could take a step.

“P-please forgive us. We made a mistake. Just this once.”

Phyllis turned his head slightly to look down at the man. His icy gaze made the man flinch and release his arm.

As Phyllis brushed off his wrinkled sleeve, Kamil spoke for the first time.

“What’s there to apologize for? It’s not like we said anything untrue.”

Kamil rose from his seat and approached Phyllis with a leisurely stride.

“Do you even have the right to call us crude? You’re the one who abandoned your long-time fiancée for another woman.”

His face was full of ridicule as he came closer. Phyllis silently met his gaze.

“Stop pretending to be noble. Everyone knows it’s just hypocrisy.”

Kamil said this as he patted Phyllis’s shoulder, as if to ask if it wasn’t exhausting to keep up the act.

For the first time, Phyllis responded in the calmest tone he could muster.

“Is that so? Then that’s fortunate.”

“….”

“If you already know, there’s no need for me to hide it anymore.”

The men murmured in confusion at his sudden change in attitude. Only Phyllis remained composed among them.

“Spread it far and wide. That way, I won’t have to bother pretending to be virtuous anymore.”

Kamil let out a disbelieving laugh. Phyllis turned and walked out of their sight.

The mask on his face began to crack, little by little. So slightly that no one would notice. He was used to being the subject of gossip.

‘This was bound to happen anyway.’

All he wanted was for their scorn to be directed solely at him, as it should be.