Chapter 28

“Since when have you been so pretty, Countess Blanche?”

“……Who knows. Probably since I was born, I’d guess?”

Yvette said, scratching the back of her neck. At that, Liliana let out a laugh as if amused.

“I like that. That confident answer.”

“I can’t exactly lie, can I.”

Yvette answered lightly and kept walking.

On the way to the party hall, Liliana kept striking up conversations with her on all sorts of topics.

At first, that attention had felt burdensome, but after some time passed, Yvette gradually grew used to it.

“I couldn’t say this earlier, but I was startled the first time I saw you, Countess Blanche.”

“Why?”

At Yvette’s question, Liliana lowered her voice as if whispering.

“Because you were exactly my ideal type.”

“Your ideal type?”

“Yes. My dream muse, you might say. The kind of person I’d want to use as a model at least once in my life.”

At those words, Yvette’s eyes went wide.

‘……Come to think of it, Liliana was originally a painter.’

Liliana was the eldest daughter of a ruined noble family who had taken up painting to earn money.

Possessing genius-level talent, she had quickly made a name for herself as a painter, and in the end had even received a scouting offer to become a professor at Luhen Academy.

To hear the word muse from someone like that. Somehow, it felt embarrassing.

“That’s too generous of you.”

“Too generous? Not at all.”

Liliana said with wide eyes.

“If it were up to me, I’d want to ask you to model for me right here and now.”

“Me, a model?”

At her bewildered reply, Liliana nodded.

“Yes. It doesn’t have to be today, so I’d really like it if you would model for me, Countess Blanche.”

Liliana’s eyes sparkled as she grasped Yvette’s hand.

It seemed she was not just saying it—she genuinely wanted to make Yvette her model.

“Yvette.”

That was when it happened.

Noel, who had been walking a few steps away, suddenly called Yvette.

“Hm? Did you call me?”

When Yvette turned around in confusion, Noel smiled brightly at her.

“Could you come over here for a moment?”

“……Why? Did something happen?”

Yvette approached Noel, puzzled.

Thanks to that, Liliana’s hold on her hand naturally came undone.

The moment Noel confirmed her hand was free, he subtly offered his arm.

“From here on there will be many eyes on us, so I think it would be best to prepare in advance.”

At that, Yvette immediately understood what he meant.

‘Right. In a place like this, I have to pretend to be Noel’s fiancée.’

Luhen Academy’s alumni reunion was a gathering where all sorts of people came together regardless of status or rank.

If she made even a small mistake here, there was no telling what rumors would spread through high society.

“I almost forgot.”

Yvette glanced around and placed her hand on Noel’s arm.

At that, Noel smiled subtly and muttered close to her ear.

“My fiancée is far too popular.”

“……Too popular? Me?”

Yvette asked in confusion.

But instead of answering, Noel gave a light shrug.

Just then, Liliana, who had been watching the two from a step away, spoke.

“It looks like the reunion will begin soon. Shouldn’t we hurry?”

Saying that, Liliana naturally attached herself to Yvette’s other side.

When she came back to Yvette’s side, Noel’s expression stiffened slightly.

But Yvette, busy worrying about her own steps, did not notice.

* * *

Contrary to her worries, the three were able to arrive at the party hall without being late.

It seemed the event had not yet begun, for people were gathered in groups conversing with those they knew.

Upon arriving at the party hall, Liliana briefly thanked the two and took her leave.

Of course, she did not forget to say something to Yvette before going.

“If you ever feel like modeling, please contact me, Countess. I’ll be waiting.”

“I’ll think it over and get in touch.”

When Yvette nodded, Liliana smiled brightly.

“Really? You promised, so you absolutely mustn’t forget. Then, I’ll be off to work now!”

With those words, Liliana ran off somewhere.

Yvette stared after her for a moment, then turned her head.

Truthfully, she had little intention of modeling. Still, she thought it best to leave the door open for now.

‘If I stay close to Liliana, I might be able to meet Kerbel.’

If she could not find Kerbel at today’s reunion, she planned to approach Liliana as a fallback.

Because Liliana was Kerbel’s life goal and his only weakness.

That was when it happened.

A low, sunken voice interrupted Yvette’s thoughts.

“……My fiancée seems to be lost in thought even with her fiancé right in front of her.”

At the words spoken right before her, Yvette flinched and raised her head.

There, she saw Noel wearing a rather displeased expression.

“Huh? What do you mean……”

When Yvette asked in confusion, Noel tilted his head slightly toward her.

Then a low voice rang in her ear.

“I’m telling you to focus a little more on me, not on other people.”

Yvette flinched and covered one ear with her hand.

Perhaps because he had whispered so close, her ear felt ticklish for no reason.

“……I got it, so step back a little. People are all staring.”

Yvette grumbled for no reason and lightly pushed Noel’s shoulder.

Noel obediently drew back and smiled subtly, the corner of his mouth lifting.

“There isn’t a soul who doesn’t know we’re engaged, so what does it matter?”

“They say you shouldn’t engage in public displays of affection in public places.”

Yvette shot Noel a sidelong glance, then looked around.

Perhaps because the event had not yet begun, there were no students in academy uniforms to be seen in the party hall.

‘If my memory is right, the students enter together with the chairman. Kerbel is highly likely to be mixed in among them.’

A beautiful boy with blood-red hair and red eyes.

Yvette repeated Kerbel’s appearance in her mind and clenched her fists.

That was when it happened.

With a great fanfare of trumpets, the doors of the party hall opened.

Startled by the sudden commotion, both Yvette and Noel turned their heads at the same time.

Then they saw an enormous crowd passing through the doors of the party hall.

‘Is that man the academy chairman?’

At the head of the crowd stood an old man who appeared to be about Habert’s age.

He wore his white hair long to his waist and was draped in a robe covered in geometric patterns.

His attire made him look like the academy chairman, whoever saw him.

As the chairman walked in at the front, students in uniforms appeared in a line behind him.

Fitting for the alumni reunion of the most famous academy in the empire, it was a magnificent entrance.

Yvette watched tensely as they entered the party hall.

It was finally time to go looking for Kerbel.

* * *

Luhen Academy’s alumni reunion, which had carried on its tradition for a hundred years, boasted a splendor befitting its reputation.

Those attending the reunion were, without exception, people who had made names for themselves in their respective fields.

There were not many places where one could meet so many talented people at once.

That was why it was an opportunity the students of Luhen Academy could not afford to miss.

After entering the party hall, the chairman delivered a brief greeting and then stepped aside so the guests could mingle freely.

From that point, the reunion truly began.

Once the chairman stepped aside, students and graduates mixed together and conversed.

Among them were people who were family to one another, and many who were complete strangers.

‘The others must have received letters asking them to look after students too, just like me.’

Yvette quickly emptied and set aside the champagne glass in her hand, then scanned the party hall.

Until a few minutes ago she had been with Noel, but he had been caught by other nobles, forcing her to briefly separate from him.

For Yvette, of course, that was convenient.

Because it was a chance to look for Kerbel without worrying about Noel’s eyes.

‘Please, be in here.’

Yvette prayed earnestly in her heart.

She did not know who the god of this world was, but she hoped whoever it was would show her mercy at least once.

It was the moment she closed her eyes tightly and clasped her hands in prayer.

“……What’s this?”

A soft, beautiful voice came from behind her.

The moment she felt the presence, Yvette’s eyes flew open.

‘Surely not.’

She turned around with a heart full of doubt.

And at last, the red-haired beautiful boy she had been searching for came into view.

The boy looked to be seventeen or eighteen at most.

Unlike his fragile appearance, which seemed as though a light touch would knock him over, his gaze was the sharpest of anyone she had met so far.

“I felt like I caught my scent from somewhere and came over, and it turns out you were the culprit?”

The boy let out a soft laugh and looked Yvette up and down.

It was a gaze that seemed to pierce right through a person.

“From the looks of it, you’re one of the Blanche children. You’ve managed to stay alive, I see?”

At his slow mutter, Yvette flinched.

It was the moment her doubt turned to certainty.

“……Kerbel Petoras?”

At her question, Kerbel’s eyes went wide as if surprised.

Then he curled the corner of his mouth upward with an interested face.

“Kerbel, is it. That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”

The real Kerbel had appeared!

The moment she heard his words, Yvette inwardly cheered.

Until she had bumped into Liliana earlier, she had been half in doubt.

It seemed the god had not entirely abandoned her.

“Seeing as you know my name, it seems you have business with me?”

Kerbel asked in a languid voice. Even having met the person he had cursed, he did not seem to care much.

“……First, let’s go somewhere without people. This doesn’t seem like a conversation to have here.”