Chapter 23

After Oakley left, Evelyn was alone once more. She asked one of the palace maids serving drinks what time it was.

The maid checked her pocket watch and told her it was 8:30.

‘It’s already been an hour, why aren’t they here yet?’

Waiting for Dyffrin and Rykal to arrive, Evelyn suddenly felt a strange sensation as if gravity was pulling her body down. It felt like she had returned to the condition she was in before leaving for the palace.

Thinking that some fresh air might help, Evelyn left the banquet hall and went to the garden.

People who recognized her tried to engage in conversation. In her current state, she found it hard to respond with a smile, so she gave them brief replies and moved to the back of the banquet hall to avoid them.

Fortunately, the deserted back garden was quiet, with a single bench under a large oak tree.

Evelyn took out a handkerchief from her pouch, spread it on the bench, and sat down.

Seeing the handkerchief reminded her of Fenris. She had been worried about running into him here, but it seemed he had decided not to attend the banquet.

He was probably lying low and waiting for an opportunity to counter Nosellerton.

Just as she had this thought, a familiar voice spoke.

“I see you’re not using the handkerchief I returned to you.”

Evelyn gasped at the soft, deep voice coming from the dark.

Slowly turning her head, she saw beautiful black hair shining softly in the moonlight.

“I only mentioned it because the handkerchief you’re sitting on doesn’t have lavender embroidery.”

The handkerchief she had used to staunch Fenris’s wound had lavender flowers embroidered on it. The handkerchief she was sitting on now did not.

As he spoke, Fenris naturally sat down next to her.

‘Speak of the devil.’

Evelyn steadied her surprised heart and replied.

“I couldn’t use the handkerchief stained with blood.”

“Then my effort in returning it was in vain.”

His cheeky answer made Evelyn frown.

“If you recognized me that day, you could have just told me outright.”

Instead of hinting through a handkerchief.

“You pretended not to know me, so I played along.”

‘Then you should have played along to the end. Why acknowledge me at all?’

‘Besides…’

He had changed how he addressed her. Evelyn realized he had uncovered her true identity.

At that moment, Fenris spoke with a mischievous smile.

“Today I learned that my benefactor is the mistress of the famous Liwonoc Ducal House.”

He must have been hiding somewhere in the ballroom, watching her. He was indeed a mysterious person.

“Yes, that’s correct. My husband was very adamant about not getting involved with strange people, so I hid my identity.”

Evelyn decided to continue pretending she hadn’t realized that Fenris was a prince.

Fenris, seemingly having no intention of revealing his princely status, continued speaking nonchalantly.

“Do I seem like a strange person to you?”

“How often do you see someone covered in blood and collapsed on the street?”

Fenris nodded as if that made sense, then spoke in a steady tone, a smile on his face.

“But I’m not someone who harms others indiscriminately. On the contrary, I’m a decent person who always repays his debts. That’s why I want to repay the favor you showed me, Madam.”

Evelyn was tired of the word “favor.” The only person she wanted to remember her kindness was Dyffrin.

Slowly rising from her seat, Evelyn gathered the handkerchief she had laid on the bench and said,

“No. You’ve already repaid that favor by returning the handkerchief. So please, forget about that day.”

“I merely returned the handkerchief to its owner. Such a small act can’t be considered repaying a favor. A gentleman must repay a lady’s help.”

“A gentleman’s duty is to listen to a lady. And my husband is very jealous; he detests me getting involved with other men.”

As Evelyn spoke and tried to leave, she suddenly felt dizzy and staggered.

Thanks to Fenris quickly grabbing her wrist, Evelyn was able to steady herself.

At that moment, she sensed someone approaching through the darkness.

In her dizzy vision, she saw a man striding angrily towards them.

‘…Dyffrin?’

He had a terrifying expression, like that of a demon.

Dyffrin approached and roughly slapped away Fenris’s hand from Evelyn’s wrist.

His voice was low and deep as he asked,

“Why are you holding my wife’s wrist, His Highness?”

* * *

A few hours earlier.

Dyffrin couldn’t relax his stern expression as he headed to meet Nosellerton.

“Are you worried about Lady Evelyn being alone at the banquet hall?” 

Rykal asked, causing Dyffrin to frown naturally.

“Rykal, you’ve been making unnecessary comments lately.”

“I’m saying this out of concern. If you were a bit more honest, things would be much better.”

“Better how?”

“I mean your relationship with Lady Evelyn.”

Dyffrin shot him a cold glance.

“Has there been anything between you two recently?”

Normally, Rykal would have kept silent, but for some reason, he didn’t stop talking.

“It was all in the way you spoke. You’re someone who usually keeps their emotions in check, but suddenly, you seem irritated.”

Despite being annoyed by Rykal’s overstepping, Dyffrin reflected on his actions over the past few days.

He wondered if he had he been unable to hide his discomfort to the extent that Rykal noticed.

The fact that he couldn’t hide his personal feelings came as quite a shock to Dyffrin.

In fact, he had been feeling uncomfortable lately, just as Rykal said.

Since the last dance rehearsal with Evelyn, his mood had been in shambles. More precisely, it was because of something Evelyn had said during the rehearsal.

“Someday, I think this marriage will be a really good memory.”

Evelyn’s words were truly enigmatic. 

‘A good memory? Why would she say that?’

Suddenly, Evelyn, who had said she would strive to become a member of the Liwonoc Ducal House, felt faint and distant. Almost like an illusion.

Once again, the canary flying out of the cage and into the sky came to mind.

Since that day, he hadn’t been able to face Evelyn as usual.

No, thinking about it, even that statement was misleading.

Originally, his ‘usual’ self didn’t want to face her.  But at some point, his ‘usual’ had become talking with Evelyn about this and that.

His chest felt tight. An unfamiliar, answerless emotion flooded his heart. It wasn’t a problem that could be answered by asking someone or searching through books.

Thus, his time passed creakily, and before he knew it, he found himself riding in a carriage heading to the imperial ball.

“I heard that Lady Evelyn had an argument with Miss Karina when entering the ballroom. It seems she brilliantly countered some nonsense.”

“…Are people still talking about that?”

“Yes, everyone was surprised that Evelyn could argue so well.”

Rykal spoke with a rare gentle expression.

“I must admit, at first, I didn’t find Evelyn very pleasant, but now I see she’s kind and intelligent. So, Lord Dyffrin, please be a little more affectionate.”

‘Affectionate…?’

It was a word that was very distant from him. He had never been affectionate to anyone in his life, nor had anyone been affectionate to him.

And now, it would be absurd to seek affection from Evelyn.

As the confusion in his mind worsened, Dyffrin spoke in a stiff voice.

“You have no business interfering.”

Knowing when to step back, Rykal responded, ‘Yes, I overstepped,’ and opened the door to the reception room where Nosellerton was.

Nosellerton greeted Dyffrin warmly. 

“Oh, Lord Dyffrin. Thank you for coming to the ball today. I even checked if the sun was rising in the west when I heard you were attending.”

Ignoring the frivolous remark, Dyffrin politely thanked him. 

“Thank you for the invitation.”

“Anyway, jokes don’t seem to work on you. Please, have a seat. We have much to discuss.”

Nosellerton’s main topic was about Fenris.

When he mentioned sending someone to attack Fenris, Dyffrin let out a low sigh.

“Why did you do that?”

Nosellerton explained, watching Dyffrin’s reaction.

“It wasn’t just because that bastard embarrassed me by falling off the horse. He was secretly investigating the unauthorized use of the imperial seal.”

But Nosellerton’s explanation only made Dyffrin’s gaze darker.

In the past, Nosellerton had used the imperial seal without permission to win over the Chief Justice.

Although the Chief Justice ultimately sided with Nosellerton, using the imperial seal without the Emperor’s or the Keeper of the Seal’s permission was a serious offense, even for a prince.

If this incident came to light, Nosellerton would not escape dismissal.

“Fenris found crucial evidence, so I had no choice but to have someone take it from him.”

Feeling a headache coming on, Dyffrin barely managed to speak.

“Next time something like this happens, please let me know.”

“I was going to… but I felt sorry for always leaving you to clean up my mess.”

“If you’re sorry, please consult with me before doing anything.”

Dyffrin’s firm words made Nosellerton stutter awkwardly.

After discussing various topics, they went outside, and Dyffrin realized quite a bit of time had passed.

However, when he returned to the ballroom, Evelyn was nowhere to be seen. After asking around, he found out that Evelyn had gone to the garden.

However, Evelyn was not in any of the groups of people chatting in the garden.

Feeling inexplicably anxious, Dyffrin quickened his pace.

Eventually, when he reached the back of the ballroom, he felt as if the barely extinguished flame in his heart was rekindled.

Under the dark night sky, a beautiful man and woman stood side by side, as if holding a secret meeting.

At that moment, Fenris grabbed Evelyn’s wrist.

As he approached, he saw that Evelyn’s complexion was as pale as a corpse. He wondered if Fenris had been harassing Evelyn one-sidedly. The hot emotion inside him seemed to burn up to his head.

Dyffrin immediately struck Fenris’s hand away.

“Why are you holding my wife’s wrist, His Highness?”