The Kids Have Changed - Chapter 26.2

***

The morning of Carol’s birthday dawned. My first dance partner was to be Julien, the crown prince.

“Milady, I’ve been watching you since a while ago. Do you have a partner who has the honor of your first dance?

I stood against the wall to wait for Julien to come to me after his first dance with Carol.

It wasn’t hard to reject those who approached me. The prince’s eyes looked at me sharply as he danced.

“Yes. I already promised someone.”

The young man withdrew with a regretful face at my words.

I didn’t know that Carol’s birthday party would also be my debut.

There was a reason that Carol carefully picked my dress.

The noble children of our age who participated in the party, which was hosted at the Gratoni mansion, glanced at the new face among them. Some kids have seen me a few times, and some were seeing me for the first time.

Oh, I felt tired.

I knew that I was pretty.

In fact, there was one more reason today was important besides it being Carol’s 15th birthday.

Today was the day when the imperial family finally threw shit at Carol while pretending it was her birthday present.

It was the ‘declaration of her engagement with the prince.’

The chief of staff of the imperial palace, who was attending as the imperial deputy, was calmly looking at Carol and Julien, dancing like a pair of beautiful cockroaches.

“They suit each other well.”

If you think about it, it was very kind.

The prince knew that I didn’t care much for people. He knew I would be bothered at this party, so he volunteered to be my first dance partner.

He definitely was caring for me because I grew up almost as Carol’s sister. Besides, we were close friends who shared secrets.

Ah, he noticed me.

***

“Are you that crazy?”

“Hey, if you’re going to talk shit, restrain yourself a little.”

“You know what I mean. You claimed Sharon’s first dance. For her debut, especially.”

Carol laughed mockingly and spun round and round. Julien’s face was as twisted as Carol’s as she ridiculed him.

“Shut up. If it weren’t for Sharon, I wouldn’t even be dancing with you. Will you get to your right mind if you’re miserable without a partner?”

“Oh my. Why wouldn’t I have a partner? Hey, don’t you know that boys would line up to dance with me if it weren’t for you? If there weren’t those rumors about the imperial family and the Gratoni duchy, I’d have been in a relationship a long time ago.”

“Your confidence is great.”

“And you need more confidence. You can’t even go anywhere because of the Empress.”

“Lady Carol, how about you? Did you just speak about the subject but couldn’t break off our marriage?

Carol’s face crumpled like a piece of paper at Julien’s tone.

”…I failed.”

“Anyway. Don’t forget the promise. In exchange for helping you take over the duchy later, you’ll help me. And you’re the one to call off the marriage.”

“Aren’t you asking for too much?”

Carol intended to give the position of ‘Admiral’ to the husband she brought in once she married in exchange for the rest of the power of the duchy.

But it needed the emperor’s permission because this was against the law. Carol also had to pay Julien back. She would help Julien get a good ending with Sharon, and Carol would be the one to break off the engagement.

“If you’re asking the emperor to break the law, don’t you have to do at least that much?”

“…Cheeky brat. Did you just call yourself the emperor now?”

“It’s my place, anyway.”

The conversations between Carol and Julien were always rough, never affectionate.

The sparks bouncing between them were red, flaring with competition, and their eyes were full of malice.

“Ugh. Really… Take it easy,”

Julien said through his teeth as Carol danced dazzlingly on his feet with each step.

“Why? Aren’t I good at dancing? Oh? I think someone’s asking Sharon to dance.”

Carol glanced back at Sharon. Julien, who naturally turned with the music, also frowned.

“That kid doesn’t know his place.”

“Ha. He really doesn’t. Sharon’s not just a little pretty. She’s out of his league.”

Julien bit his lip at Carol’s rebuttal.

Fortunately, Sharon seemed to have refused because the boy quickly turned away and disappeared.

Sharen smiled broadly as she saw Carol and Julien. She waved her hand at them, looking as fresh as a sprout in spring and as beautiful as a flower.

“That’s why those annoying flies are bothering her…” Julien muttered lowly, now in a very bad mood.

Adding to that, Carol said, “I bet she’s thinking something like how we’re a good pair.”

Carol clicked her tongue as she saw Julien wrinkle his forehead and frown.

“I don’t like it, either! But we’re fortunate that she’s so oblivious. She can’t tell even when we act in the open.”

Julien wasn’t sure if that was fortunate or not. When the song ended, he pulled Carol off of him.

“If possible, let’s not see each other’s faces anymore today.”

“That’s what I was going to say.”

Sharon was the only one who didn’t notice the two coldly turn their backs on each other.

“Wow! You two really are a fantastic couple!”

It seems that Sharon left her wits in her stomach when she was born.

“It’s a crime to be that senseless…”

“Agreed.”

Carol delicately pressed her temples. Sharon’s obliviousness made her have a headache.

‘Why didn’t I see this part of her in the past?’

Was she too young back then? Really.