18
The next day, the young people who had come to the Imperial Palace to attend the ball gathered together in the Great Hall.
The young men and women dressed in dresses and formal wear that matched the dress code were all beautiful like flowers. Since this was a place where people gathered for matchmaking and expanding their networks, everyone’s evaluating gazes were sharp.
But I was more fixated on the direction of my friend’s love than the direction of my own love.
‘Cedy likes His Highness the Prince… this is really something.’
It was already surprising that Riette had caught that western man named Gareth, but now Cedric was having unrequited love for Castian.
…If that were true, I didn’t know why there was such a discrepancy between the original story content and reality, but maybe it was actually for the better.
There wouldn’t be an ending where we fought among ourselves and it was over.
‘Then what about me…’
What should I do from now on? What kind of person should I meet, what kind of love should I have?
I didn’t have anyone new I was interested in yet, nor did I have any desire to burn with passion for love.
Somehow I felt like I was floating alone in the fervent pink wave of those who had just turned twenty and become adults.
“What are you thinking about?”
I was startled and turned around at someone’s voice suddenly whispering in my ear. It was Cedric.
Perhaps because I showed an overly sensitive reaction, he also seemed surprised and hesitated.
“Ah. Just a bit…”
“…Just, a bit?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Suddenly Cedric’s expression hardened.
He seemed to have something he wanted to say to me. But in the end, he didn’t spit out what was inside and kept his mouth tightly shut.
He looked deeply disappointed and upset… exactly like someone who had been hurt. While I was disturbed by an unexpected development, why was he suddenly acting like that?
“Eddie. You’re going to dance with me today, right?”
“Huh? Why are you asking something so obvious.”
He’s talking as if I won’t dance and will run away or something. I tilted my head, puzzled about what Cedric was thinking.
“You have to dance today and on the last day too. You remember that you have to dance twice total during the ball, right?”
“…You won’t abandon me?”
“What? Abandon what?”
What is this guy talking about now?
“At this point, there’s no one else to do it with besides you.”
But Cedric looked strangely confused as if I was saying something even stranger, then rolled his eyes mysteriously this time.
What is he misunderstanding?
“Fox.”
Then I heard a familiar call and turned my head.
Through the parting crowd, Castian approached with curved eye corners, dressed in splendid formal wear. Since clothes were symbols that revealed one’s status, dressed like that he really looked like a high-ranking person.
“Oh… you really look like a prince, Your Highness.”
“Haha! What kind of talk is that? I’m originally a prince.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. Was that rude?”
“No.”
When I smiled awkwardly, he who had reached right in front of my nose while receiving everyone’s attention raised the corners of his mouth.
“How cute.”
Stretch. Suddenly my cheek was pulled.
When I opened my eyes wide in surprise at having one cheek suddenly pinched, Castian smiled even more deeply.
“Now that I look, you’re not a fox but a rabbit. A beautiful rabbit.”
In an instant, someone snatched Castian’s hand with what sounded like an exasperated sigh and dropped it.
I slowly raised my gaze following that hand. Cedric was glaring menacingly at Castian.
Castian’s lips twisted.
“Anyone watching would think this kid is your property.”
“Did you come here to sexually harass him?”
“That’s too much. I was just being affectionate.”
I took half a step back from the suddenly started three-way confrontation—in which my opinion wasn’t reflected at all.
We were already receiving everyone’s attention due to the prince’s appearance, but now all eyes were completely focused on us.
I didn’t want to be caught between them.
‘Cedy… he really seems jealous.’
If Cedric really liked Castian and not Riette, I had to quickly get out from between these two.
Just then, I could see Gareth and Riette entering through the Great Hall entrance in the distance.
‘Let’s go over there.’
I quickly left the two of them behind and swiftly escaped toward Riette.
Of course, this side was also a couple so it was equally awkward to be caught between them, but it was still better than being caught between Castian and Cedric.
“Hello, Master Gareth.”
“Yes, hello.”
“Eddie? Where did Cedy go that you came alone?”
“Well, I thought I should step aside for a bit.”
“Huh?”
Riette tilted her head.
I was wondering whether I should say “Cedy seems to like His Highness the Prince…” when…
“Why did you suddenly abandon me and leave?”
A hand as big as a pot lid firmly grabbed the back of my neck.
No, I deliberately made room for him and he’s already here.
“You said you wouldn’t abandon me.”
“I never abandoned you.”
Ugh! Not knowing my heart.
“You can’t abandon me, Eddie. Even if I step on your feet until they’re swollen, I’m the only one who would accept you as a partner…”
“…You’re subtly dissing me right now, aren’t you.”
Cedric’s eyes, which had been appealing his pitifulness with a thoroughly pitiful voice, soon narrowed with amusement.
‘Really.’
This guy also really likes teasing people.
In the past, I would have just been annoyed by him acting like that, but now I just accept it.
“It seems like they’re about to start.”
Then Gareth, who had been looking toward the altar of the Great Hall, said in a small voice.
Everyone’s gaze turned that way. Not long after, the melody that had been filling the Great Hall stopped, and the Emperor and members of the Imperial Family appeared.
“Dear young nobles of the Empire.”
The Emperor opened with a benevolent voice.
He opened the ceremony by conveying a few words of congratulation for the young nobles.
Following the Emperor’s subsequent instruction, the ball finally began.
As if signaling the start of the first dance, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess stood in the center. When the melody flowed, they displayed a natural waltz as if they had practiced a lot.
After the first verse of the musical piece ended, the way it proceeded was for those who had been standing around in a circle to also dance with their respective partners.
Countless crowds began moving to their respective pre-assigned positions. Since it proceeded with relatively easy choreography at first, there was nothing to be nervous about.
“How should we do the position?”
I asked while going to our designated spot with Cedric. Waltz was a dance with separately determined male and female positions, but the problem was that we were both men.
If we were secondary genders, we could distinguish by whether we were omega or alpha, but we were too ambiguous for that.
Instead of answering, Cedric extended his hand to me.
“Would you allow me this moment of glory?”
So, he was saying he would lead.
I rolled my eyes feeling awkward, then placed my hand on Cedric’s outstretched palm. He gently pulled my captured hand toward him and whispered quietly.
“It’s easier to match the beat this way, so it’s okay, right?”
For some reason… the part of my ear where his voice reached felt ticklish.
I frowned unnecessarily and glared to shake off the strange feeling, but that was only momentary. The guy had the most pleased-looking face I’d seen recently.
The tension naturally left my face.
“In the end, we… haven’t been able to practice the Favorit choreography any more since then. Will it be okay?”
“The waltz choreography we’re doing now is okay?”
“Yeah.”
“For Favorit… just follow my lead appropriately. As long as we don’t disrupt the formation, we’ll manage somehow.”
I nodded while suppressing my nervous heart. Since it was a dance everyone did together, nothing would be more embarrassing than disrupting the formation and bumping into other people.
Soon the first verse of the musical piece ended. When the second verse began, everyone started dancing in unison.
Beautiful melodies filled the hall and movements matching the beat flowed like water.
While I was also stepping to match that flow, I spotted Riette smiling at Gareth. After hesitating, I lowered my voice and asked Cedric.
“Cedy. You really…”
“Yeah.”
“The person you like, it’s not Ret?”
I was asking for final confirmation.
Cedric’s quiet gaze, whose thoughts were hard to read, looked down at me. His smooth lips without a single flaw moved and opened, particularly catching my attention.
“I like her as a friend.”
“……”
“I don’t have feelings beyond that.”
While I was lost in thought for a moment, he asked back.
“What about you? Try being honest for once.”
“…What are you saying. I’ve always been honest.”
“You have?”
“Of course, well. Actually, I did like her once.”
A turn with rotation came in there, so the conversation was cut off. Only after finishing the choreography of the rotation part did I add to my cut-off words.
“I gave up on those feelings.”
A suppressed-sounding answer came back much later.
“…Why?”
“Just because. Ret looks happy even now.”
I glossed over it appropriately like that. But it was true that I was even more relieved because Riette looked happy.
I hadn’t expected that her partner wouldn’t be Cedric, but…
Suddenly Cedric’s feet stopped short.
Flustered, I also stumbled and stopped as I missed my step. In the midst of people spinning around endlessly, only we stood still.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
