Side Story - Chapter 5

Cecia visited Ver after the first dance between Prillance and Roman. When their dance ended, the nobles in the hall began to roam in search of their own dancing partner. And taking advantage of the crowd, and the chance to dance, Cecia moved past the crowd and came to Ver, who did not even move an inch.

“Ver.”

The surrounding nobles were forced to look back, on hearing a voice like that. It was hard enough to not look back, but looking forward was even tougher, because of Cecia’s surprising appearance. It was pitiful enough to melt even a cold heart, her entire being immersed into showing her affection.

The urgency in her voice couldn’t go undetected.

“Cecia.” Unlike Cecia, whose beautiful eyes were sparkling with different emotions flickering in them, the other party, Ver, was pretty calm and collected.

Her voice was the same as before, full of affection, but he could tell that something in it had disappeared, there was a change. Because he had been with her for many years, Ver knew about this better than anyone else could ever.

“Let’s talk elsewhere.”

Ver put forward this suggestion. There were a lot of gazes at the two. And today’s meeting will someday rise to gossip in the social world. They were not pleased with her, nor were they pleased with him.

A man and woman entering a common room together could arouse their secret interest, so he took the initiative to lead her to the garden of the Imperial Palace, which was beautifully decorated. It wasn’t that far from the hall, and was a site people often frequented while visiting the palace.

“Is it true that you became a Knight for the Marquis of Weiand?” Cecia asked, fingers curled up, not wanting to believe the rumor she had heard.

“It’s true.” Cecia’s body shook slightly. She had directly heard it from Ver’s mouth, and now, it felt weird, worse, to be exact.

“W-Why…?” She grabbed the hem of her dress tightly, wanting to grab something. Of course, she wanted to believe he was lying. Even when Prillance first came in, Cecia had been his top priority, and she had never been ignored. Ver thought Cecia’s question was quite strange.

“No way, did you lose your memories?” Before Ver could speak, Cecia questioned. Her eyes seemed unfocused, blinking rapidly.

“Not at all.”

“Then, stop being their Knight, no?” Cecia was sure that Prillance had forced Ver to join, pretending to be nice, just as she had done to her. If she were to play with his heart, Ver would obviously not leave.

Ver did not understand what Cecia was trying to say. He listened silently to her, trying to fully take in what she was conveying.

“Do you know what she did to me? To both of us…”

At that moment, someone’s footsteps sounded. Both Ver and Cecia’s gazes turned toward the sound at the same time, but Cecia soon shifted her gaze back.

“Ver.” Cecia called again.

Unlike her, who did not pay attention to the sound, he was gazing at the bypasser’s direction intensely. It wasn’t unusual for people to come to the garden, because it was an Imperial ball, but Ver was strangely too concerned with the person who’d intruded their conversation.

“Let’s talk next time.”

Ver, who didn’t respond to her call, left. There was no time for her to even say another sentence, or even convince him. This was happening for the first time ever.

His departing figure seemed unfamiliar to her.

Prillance, who had left the two alone, was walking away quickly. She couldn’t afford to look back. She just blindly trudged on the seemingly endless path.

“Then, stop being their Knight, no?”

“Do you know what she did to me? To both of us?…”

Cecia’s voice echoed in her ears.

She asked Ver to stop being their Knight, and leave. And… she’d talked about her. Prillance could make out what Cecia was trying to say; the negative part that hadn’t been worded out.

Maybe Prillance’s careless actions had made them more unhappy. Anxiety was slowly shrouding her. So, she decided to leave.

“I…”

Did I do something wrong again?

Prillance’s footsteps halted. Her hand that was holding her dress, was weak. At that moment, footsteps approached her.

After parting with Cecia, Ver went straight into the hall to find Prillance.
It was hard to make out if the bypasser was her, but he had this weird feeling. It seems that this feeling would disappear only after he gazed into her eyes. He went back and forth among many nobles to find her. However, even looking around the hall, she was not visible.

The hall was filled with many nobles. To Ralph, its appearance was no different from the chaotic street market.

“The Imperial Palace is not very different.”

This comment was because of the aura that the imperial palace gave off, when Ralph first entered. The main difference was that the smell of the nobles’ cosmetics and perfumes lingered in their noses, and the jewelry they adorned was difficult for commoners to wear could be easily found on them.

‘It’s a good place to pick pockets.’

He thought, looking at the shining jewelry with a slanted gaze. Ralph asked a passing maid about the location of the lounge where he was supposed to meet with Ben. Sightseeing was postponed, as he said that he should not be late. As Ralph got closer to the lounge, the music that was ringing in the hall gradually faded.

However, Ralph headed straight to the garden from the lounge, rather than the stairs leading to the lounge. The street vendors sometimes met near these stairs, appearing like a bunch of flea market vendors. So, he was moving away from the lounge, to not get mistaken for one of these vendors.

(T/N: He’s calling the nobles as street vendors here.)

“This is just right.” He walked along the path, thinking whether the rest of the way was decorated like the outside. His legs soon stopped moving. It was because someone was standing there. In front of his eyes, stood a beautiful woman with soft brown hair.

And he knew immediately. She was the woman he had been searching for so long.

Her round eyes were like a rabbit in front of a tiger. He was the tiger. The tiger had found a very satisfying prey. His lips spread into a smile.

Ralph glanced at Prillance. When he saw her colorful clothes and makeup, he could have guessed that she was of nobility. However, she concluded that, unlike the nobles in the hall, she did not seem to be a very high-ranking aristocrat, by the fact that she was not adorned with jewelry.

“I have been rude.”