Chapter 63

“It’s mine… It’s mine.”

The lips that had briefly touched parted, and Vivian’s moist lips, still at a tantalizingly close distance, moved.

“Vivian…”

“Be quiet!”

When Louis opened his mouth, Vivian shook his collar with all her strength.

“Dancing with other young ladies…”

Vivian continued to mutter as she clung to Louis’s collar. Her tightly knitted eyebrows shifted endlessly.

Louis tried to pull his neck back from the dizzying closeness, but Vivian wouldn’t let him.

“Where are you trying to run off to!”

“I’m not… I’m not running away. It’s just too close.”

“It’s hard to even meet, and you keep running away. Hmph.”

Vivian’s twitching brown eyebrows drooped.

“I won’t run away. Just let go of this, please.”

Louis tapped the back of Vivian’s hand, which was gripping his collar tightly. Vivian looked at him suspiciously, her eyes narrowed.

“If I let go, you’ll go dance again, won’t you?”

“No, I won’t dance anymore.”

Vivian, watching Louis intently, released her grip. The part of Louis’s shirt collar that Vivian had been clutching was thoroughly wrinkled.

Finally free, Louis sighed as he looked at Vivian, who was pouting.

“Who told you to drink, you little thing.”

“I’m not little! You’re just big, Louis.”

Vivian sharply turned her head away. Louis chuckled at her response and stood up.

“I said I won’t run away.”

Vivian hurriedly grabbed Louis’s sleeve and pulled.

“I’m not running away, but I think I should get some water.”

“I don’t need water.”

“No, Vivian, you need water right now.”

At his firm words, Vivian let go of his sleeve. The hand that had been holding his sleeve slipped down limply.

Watching her, Louis took a step closer to Vivian.

“Just wait a little. I’ll be right back.”

Louis patted Vivian’s head gently. Leaving Vivian, who was blushing and smiling, Louis hurried out to get water.

“Ah! Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“Move, please!”

A little distance from the terrace, Arnold and Rosie were tangled together.

“I need to go to my friend.”

Arnold held Rosie tightly, shaking his head as if he couldn’t let her go. Louis quietly passed by them.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince! You owe me for this favor later!”

Arnold shouted as he disappeared into a corner with Rosie.

Meanwhile, Louis returned to the terrace with a glass of water, where Vivian was waiting. Opening the curtain, Louis couldn’t help but chuckle at Vivian’s sight.

Vivian’s bare feet were swinging back and forth beneath her lifted dress. She was humming an unknown tune while looking up at the sky, her arms propped behind her.

The snow had stopped, but the sky was still filled with dark clouds. With no moon or stars visible, she occasionally burst into giggles while looking up at the dull sky.

“Vivian.”

When Louis called, Vivian lowered her head and looked at him. Then she smiled broadly and jumped up.

“Oh. You didn’t run away.”

Louis sighed and approached Vivian, handing her the glass of water.

“I told you I wouldn’t run away.”

Vivian took the glass Louis handed her and began to drink it in large gulps.

“Phew.”

Having gulped down all the water at once, Vivian exhaled the breath she had been holding. Louis approached her and took the dangling glass from her hand, bringing his hand to her mouth.

“Ugh. What are you doing?”

“You have water all over your mouth.”

Louis said, wiping the droplets hanging from Vivian’s chin with his sleeve. Vivian dodged Louis’s touch, sat on the sofa, and roughly wiped her mouth.

Unaware that she was wiping away the makeup Tia had carefully applied that morning, Vivian grinned, satisfied with having wiped off the moisture.

“That’s not the image for the future Crown Princess.”

Louis said, sitting on the terrace railing. Although it was quite a high railing, Vivian glanced at Louis’s comfortably dangling legs and then glared at him.

“What’s with that look?”

When Louis crossed his arms, Vivian averted her eyes and looked down at the floor, mumbling with her lips.

“I can’t hear you well.”

At Louis’s words, Vivian shot him a sidelong glance.

“Playboy!”

“P-playboy?”

“Yes! Playboy!”

Vivian alternated between glaring at Louis and looking at the floor in surprise.

“…Why am I a playboy?”

“Ha! You don’t even know?”

Vivian snorted as if Louis’s question was absurd, the word “playboy” having brought back some of her senses.

“How many people did you dance with today…”

Vivian began folding her fingers one by one. Each time a slender white finger folded, Vivian’s lips trembled.

When all five fingers were folded, Vivian glared at Louis again. As Vivian’s eyes, full of determination, began to glisten with tears, Louis sighed, uncrossed his arms, and approached her.

“Don’t cry.”

“I’m not going to cry!”

Vivian held her breath to keep from crying, causing her face, already flushed from the alcohol, to turn even redder as if it would burst.

Looking down at Vivian’s tightly sealed lips trying not to cry, Louis lowered his head to meet her eye level.

“Ugh!”

Poke, poke.

Louis took out a handkerchief and gently pressed it against Vivian’s eyes. Vivian struggled to escape Louis’s grasp, but it was futile.

“Now you look better.”

“W-what are you doing!”

Louis smiled contentedly and pulled Vivian’s face closer with both hands.

“You’re the playboy, not me, Vivian.”

“Ugh.”

Vivian tried to say something, but Louis stretched her cheeks, causing her words to become muffled.

“Smiling so broadly by the snowy lakeside, huh?”

“Ugh!”

Vivian’s cheeks stretched more and more.

“I danced with you first at the ball, didn’t I? If other young ladies bravely asked for a dance, should I ignore them? My fiancée dances with other men, so why can’t I?”

Vivian, who had been protesting Louis’s words, suddenly changed her expression. She raised her hand and slapped away Louis’s hand, which was kneading her cheeks like dough.

“No!”

Vivian shouted loudly at Louis and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Whoa!”

Caught off guard by Vivian’s sudden embrace, Louis lost his balance and nearly fell forward. He barely managed to avoid falling by grabbing onto the sofa.

“No! I don’t want to see you dancing with other young ladies, Louis!”

“V-Vivian.”

Louis tapped Vivian’s arms, which were tightening around him, but she only held him tighter.

Vivian buried her face in Louis’s neck, repeatedly saying she didn’t want it.

“Alright, alright.”

“I said no!”

“Okay. I understand, so…”

“Then promise! Promise you won’t dance with other women again.”

“Alright. I promise. So please, stop…”

When Louis promised, Vivian finally lifted her face and smiled at him, then pressed her lips against his long, white neck.

“V-Vivian!”

Startled, Louis pushed Vivian away with a strong force.

Freed from Vivian’s grasp, Louis quickly put some distance between them and rubbed his neck with his palm.

“Louis, your face is red.”

“Ha…”

Louis’s head began to throb as he wondered how to scold his fiancée.

He felt that he needed to sober her up to have a proper conversation, but if he took Vivian out of the terrace in her current state, rumors would surely spread throughout the capital by tomorrow.

He had to prevent that.

Then, Louis suddenly realized how quiet the terrace was, and a chill ran down his spine. Slowly turning his head toward Vivian, Louis pressed his temple with one hand.

“She’s asleep…”

Vivian had fallen asleep on the sofa, her mouth slightly open. Louis shook her gently, but she showed no sign of waking.

Louis removed his blue jacket and covered Vivian with it, then ruffled his neatly styled hair in frustration.

Vivian, seemingly pleased with the jacket Louis had draped over her, smiled even in her sleep and curled up further inside it.

Sitting quietly beside Vivian’s head, Louis gently stroked her tousled hair.

“You promise too.”

Lifting Vivian’s arm, which was sticking out from under his jacket, Louis intertwined his pinky with his drunken fiancée’s pinky.

* * *

The piercing sunlight and the persistent throbbing in her head finally forced Vivian to lift her heavy eyelids.

“Ugh. My head…”

As she tried to sit up, the splitting headache made Vivian clutch her head.

“Here’s a drink that’s good for hangovers.”

Tia handed Vivian a thick green drink of unknown contents. Staring at it, Vivian covered her mouth and shook her head.

“You need to drink this!”

Faced with Tia’s stern look, Vivian reluctantly opened her mouth and drank the concoction, then slowly opened and closed her eyes, looking at the sun high in the sky.

“What time is it now?”

“It’s past 11.”

“What?”

Startled, Vivian kicked off the blanket. But as the hangover hit her again, she plopped back down on the bed.

“How much did I drink last night?”

“Not much…”

“Do you know how worried the Duke was?”

“Where’s Father?”

“He’s in the study.”

Nodding at Tia’s words, Vivian slowly got up and dipped her hands into the prepared basin of water. After washing her face with the cold water, she felt a little better and sighed as she dried her face with a towel.

“Ugh. I still feel like I smell of alcohol.”

Vivian pinched her nose and shook her head.

“But how did I get home last night?”

Tia, who was tidying up the used towel, blinked at her mistress.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Young Lady, don’t you remember?”

“Huh? Well… a little? Rosie went out to get more drinks from the terrace, and then…”

“And then?”

“I don’t remember after that.”

Even as she rested her chin on her hand and thought hard, Vivian couldn’t recall anything, causing her to frown.

“Young Lady.”

At that moment, Tia gripped Vivian’s shoulders seriously.

“Maybe it’s better if you don’t remember.”

“Tia, why are you scaring me like that?”

“Yes, let’s just not remember! It’s probably better for your mental health.”

With that, Tia didn’t give Vivian any time to ponder and whisked her away. 

After quickly taking a bath and getting her hair done, Vivian set out to go to the study.

Though Tia’s behavior made her uneasy, trying to think about it only worsened her headache.

“Vivi, are you alright?”

Hearing Aitor’s voice, Vivian, who had been holding her head, looked up. Seeing Aitor, Vivian suddenly remembered something and covered her mouth.