The start of the banquet was, as always, a dance. After the king and queen opened with the first dance and stepped aside, the crown prince took their place. From then on, everyone began to mix and dance. The crown prince shared the first dance with the daughter of the Marquess of Saklani—his betrothed, a match spoken of since their youth.
One of the crucial reasons Aster was able to maintain his position even after Ressas awakened was the Marquess of Saklani. The Saklani family had held the rank of marquess—just one step below duke, which was Tither’s title—since the founding of the kingdom. They had long inherited the position of finance minister, and outside the northern regions, oil distribution was practically impossible without their merchant group. In short, they monopolized the fuel supply for most “fires.”
Nir’a might be a demon that descended on winter nights, but a strong enough flame could repel even lower-tier Nir’a. To produce fire of such scale and longevity, oil was indispensable. Back at the time of the kingdom’s founding, the Saklani territory grew wealthy by supplying vast quantities of animal fat from their massive ranches.
Over generations, they developed methods to extract oil from plants as well, expanding their supply even further. These days, they had started extending their influence into other fields too.
Since Tither couldn’t possibly protect every part of the forest, fire became a symbol of essential preparedness for all. Because the Saklani family supported Aster, the backing of the high-ranking nobility naturally gravitated toward him. This aligned with the king’s hope to see the country defended even without Tither.
And unsurprisingly, Seiyad was not welcomed by the Marquess of Saklani. From a father’s perspective, it would be odd if he were pleased to see a Tither—one in such questionable proximity to his daughter’s fiancé.
Charlotte Saklani used to have full-blown fits just at the sight of Seiyad. Whenever she was present, he always had to withdraw somewhere else.
Aster, glancing sidelong, was dancing with Charlotte, his face adorned with a pleasant smile. After a graceful spin in a perfect circle, the two passed close by Seiyad. Charlotte’s gaze brushed over Seiyad—and in that instant, her expression froze. Over that face, Seiyad could almost hear her past shrill cry echo again.
“Why does His Highness show mercy to that devil?! Are you going to touch me with the same hands that touched him?!”
Though Aster hadn’t said a word, Seiyad instinctively took a step back. Since some time he couldn’t even remember, Seiyad had become a being feared and cursed by all—everyone except Aster. Being amidst such a large crowd made him uncomfortable too.
As he had done before, Seiyad decided to leave. Moving against the flow of people looking for dance partners, he made his way toward the exit of the hall. He had fulfilled his duty of showing his face—now he intended to search for the red-haired wanderer knight that Tiaki had mentioned.
“Se—iy—aa—d-nim!”
But an unexpected voice caught him. It was too loud and clear to ignore. When Seiyad turned around, Nova came running toward him, her face flushed. As expected of the daughter of Bridehit, her small frame moved faster than most beasts.
“Dance with me!”
But perhaps she’d come too fast—one of Nova’s pink shoes had come off. Though she managed to regain her balance quickly, several nearby nobles witnessed the scene. Seiyad lowered his eyes to the ribbon-tied shoe that had landed before him.
“How does Lady Nova of House Bridehit carry herself so differently?”
“If she weren’t a Tither, she wouldn’t have even gotten through the door.”
“Is that why she still hasn’t had her debutante?”
The whispered remarks were quiet enough that even Nova could hear them. A sullen look appeared on her small face—adorable enough to melt most men’s hearts. But Seiyad knew exactly what that expression meant.
‘…She’s going to flip the place in a matter of minutes.’
Despite looking like a fairy, Nova never held back. She was a walking disaster, and it was for this reason the Duke of Bridehit had yet to formally debut her in society. So in that sense, what the others were saying wasn’t entirely untrue.
If a scene broke out, it would only draw more attention. It was better to calm her quickly and move on.
Seiyad decided to intervene before Nova called the wind and ripped open the dresses of the gossiping women. Just as he thought, her green eyes were starting to shimmer with an unusual light. The ends of her twin braids swayed gently in the breeze rising from nowhere—she was seconds away from using her power.
“Nova, your hand.”
Seiyad bent down, picked up the shoe, and approached her, extending his hand. Nova’s glistening eyes suddenly returned to their natural hue. In an instant, she was composed again and reached out, face flushed.
“Have you finally decided to dance with the sweet and adorable Nova?”
“No.”
He took her hand with just the right grip, then bent his upper body and lowered one knee slightly. Placing the shoe before her, Seiyad looked up at Nova and said firmly:
“Put it on. Now.”
The words were soft—barely audible to Nova alone—yet somehow, the surrounding area fell silent. Seiyad couldn’t hear a single voice either, which meant everyone else had gone quiet too. Instead, he could feel a flurry of unfamiliar gazes fixated on him. It seemed they were all afraid of his presence. Since he was planning to leave anyway, he wanted to calm Nova down quickly.
“Seiyad-nim, you’re going to make Nova faint… I never thought I’d see Seiyad-nim from this angle while still alive!”
Seiyad gave her a look of silent warning. Though babbling nonsense was her specialty, she tended to listen when he got serious. Pouting, she slipped her foot into the shoe—but very, very slowly.
“You know I’ve always been kind of slow, right, Seiyad-nim?”
At her obviously deliberate ploy, Seiyad smirked coldly. This should be enough, he thought, straightening his posture. As he reached to gently pry his hand from hers—her grip tighter than it needed to be—his eyes locked with a pair of violet ones just beyond her.
Ressas was standing there, silently staring down at their joined hands. When he had arrived was anyone’s guess. His pale face was expressionless.
“…Your Highness?”
For a moment, he thought it was an illusion. Just earlier, Ressas had disappeared amidst a swarm of nobles, his figure completely obscured. Only the crown of his head had peeked out here and there, and Seiyad had assumed it would be like that all night.
“Yes, Duke,”
Ressas replied calmly, as if he had been standing there all along.
“Ah, Prince Ressas!”
Startled by Seiyad’s voice, Nova turned around with a gasp and quickly greeted him. Her wide green eyes brimmed with confusion.
“What brings you here?”
“I could ask you the same, Nova. Weren’t you supposed to dance with Zion?”
Zion was the only one Ressas spoke to informally. Encouraged by his warm tone, Nova answered boldly.
“I told him I wanted to dance with Seiyad-nim, and he got annoyed and ran off to Stella unni. I was just about to ask His Grace here to dance.”
Ressas smiled quietly at her reply. There was something subtly different about him from the Ressas Seiyad had seen earlier tonight. Though he was used to seeing that smiling face presented to others, it now felt strangely unfamiliar.
“I’m sorry to the young lady, but the Duke and I had a prior arrangement, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait.”
“Eh? Really? When?”
“It’s a secret.”
Seiyad was genuinely baffled. At one moment, Ressas seemed to be the one he knew, and the next, he was spouting blatant lies with the face of a stranger. Either the man had changed completely in the past six months, or perhaps the Ressas who hadn’t hated Seiyad had always been like this. What was clear was that Seiyad had no idea how to respond anymore.
“I never…”
He had just begun to speak when Ressas stepped closer and whispered in his ear.
“Didn’t you want to leave?”
He was right. Seiyad closed his mouth, lips falling silent. Ressas gently but firmly removed Nova’s grip from Seiyad’s hand.
“Zion has been eager to dance with you, Nova. Go show your face.”
“Since it’s Your Highness asking, I’ll listen for now. But when you come back, you must dance with this Nova. Got it?!”
Nova cheerfully yet threateningly issued her command, then turned away with a pout, glancing back at Seiyad like it pained her to leave. Seiyad had looked after the younger Nova like this a few times in the past, but after severing ties with everyone, he hadn’t seen her in years—he hadn’t realized she’d grown into such a bold young woman. And with that came the bitter realization: even a girl who used to smile at him like that had come to resent him now, which only proved how far off course he’d strayed.
“Shall we go, Duke? If we stay any longer, I worry your face might wear out.”
At Ressas’s remark, Seiyad glanced around to see that the crowd had nearly doubled since Nova’s flashy entrance. Most seemed to have followed Ressas here.
“If I go with you, it won’t reflect well on Your Highness. And isn’t the Queen here as well?”
“Is the Duke… worried about me?”
This is insane.
To avoid giving Ressas any more material to twist to his liking, Seiyad turned his body and stepped away. He exited the banquet hall—he should have left long ago—and entered the corridor, where the arched windows stood open and a gentle night breeze drifted in. For someone accustomed to the cold, the chill was a welcome breath of relief.
Ressas got many obstacles in his path to Eid