Chapter 84
Julia still had plenty of suspicious corners to her, but her kindness toward me felt genuine.
“Do you think Lady Miranda is lying?”
At my blunt question, Julia glanced sideways at Jessica.
“Well… people who have a lot to hide usually have the longest tongues. And she’s Nanael’s close attendant, after all. Her intentions were obvious.”
As expected from the seasoned flower of high society—her judgment was spot-on.
The need to explain myself vanished, and my heart felt considerably lighter.
“Honestly, if Julia hadn’t stepped in, I was planning to approach that table myself.”
“Oh my. You have a bolder side than I expected.”
“Well, they probably wanted me to run away.”
Jessica kept stealing glances in our direction before hurriedly hiding her face behind her fan.
“Did I interfere unnecessarily?”
“Of course not. I’m just a little curious why you’re so eager to recruit me.”
“Ah.”
Julia let out a series of amused chuckles, as if this were the most entertaining topic imaginable.
“There’s no particular reason. I simply like honest, interesting people like you, Rodellia.”
I had never made any effort to amuse Julia, so it didn’t feel like a very convincing explanation.
I was beginning to think she had no intention of telling me when she spoke again.
“I saw you arrive with Alferen today. Have you two made up?”
The question was subtly probing, but there was no need to lie, so I answered honestly.
“Mmm. It’s complicated. I got stood up by oppa.”
Anger toward Adrian was starting to bubble up again when Julia said,
“Oh? Speaking of Adrian, I saw him enter earlier with some fairy-like young lady.”
“What?! What did you say?!”
I nearly jumped out of my seat at the news that Adrian had arrived.
I had been planning to give that bastard oppa a proper scolding the moment I saw him.
“I’ll be going now. Thank you—I had a nice rest.”
I expressed my gratitude to Julia and headed into the ballroom.
Just then, a waltz began to play, and couples were taking to the floor with their partners.
In the spot drawing the most attention stood Adrian and Summer.
Adrian wore an expression I had never seen on him before.
His eyes, slightly dazed yet meltingly soft, gazed deeply at Summer.
Summer, dressed in the gown I had sent her, was concentrating intently on the dance.
It was clearly her first time dancing in public; her tension was palpable.
Yet every time her eyes accidentally met Adrian’s, she would startle and lower her head—an utterly endearing sight.
‘They look good together.’
I had no choice but to admit it.
Adrian and Summer matched as perfectly as the original novel described—a single blooming flower and a butterfly fluttering around it.
The phrase “their styles align” could have been coined for them.
‘The dress looks beautiful too.’
It was the dress I had ordered from Rodellia, following the description in the original story.
It was supposed to be worn on a different day, but I had moved things forward to keep Summer safe from the villains.
All my painstaking efforts were being wasted so futilely.
That oppa of mine—truly befitting a male lead, his luck and timing were impeccable.
Alferen, for some reason, was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where has he gone again at a time like this?’
He had probably fled to avoid Summer, but that wasn’t the important thing right now.
‘He really likes her.’
Watching Adrian filled my mind with complications.
His gaze was even deeper than what had been described in the original.
Even as his sister, I could tell he was sincere; no harsh words would come out.
‘I wonder if Alferen felt the same way.’
Naturally, thoughts of Alferen surfaced.
At one point, I hadn’t understood why Alferen in the original story gave up so easily.
Choosing friendship over love had seemed somewhat passive.
Thanks to that, Adrian had kept both friendship and love.
Even after learning Alferen liked Summer, he had shown unwavering friendship.
Even if Summer had ultimately chosen Alferen, Adrian would have accepted it.
‘If it were Alferen, seeing his friend make that expression would naturally make him step back.’
Now that I fully understood the environment Alferen had grown up in, everything made sense.
He no longer felt like the frustrating, regret-filled sub-male lead.
He had probably thought his feelings were light at the time.
And the moment he saw the two of them together, he would realize.
That his own heart had never been light at all.
‘So that’s why he deliberately avoided her.’
Come to think of it, the timing of Adrian encountering Summer at the Magic Tower coincided perfectly with when Alferen began avoiding her.
If things continued like this, he might end up on the regretful sub-male lead route just like in the original.
‘But I’ve never seen oppa like someone this much before.’
This was truly troubling. Seeing Adrian so completely smitten with Summer made even me hesitate.
The issue of my survival taking priority over oppa’s love life had been resolved long ago.
If I was safe, I could genuinely wish for oppa to be happy with Summer.
But…
‘If the two of them end up together like this, what happens to Alferen?’
He wouldn’t choose a marriage of convenience with Nanael and flee like in the original…
I was starting to get a headache trying to imagine what came next when someone suddenly snatched the dance card hanging from my wrist.
Startled, I looked up to see Cesare scribbling his name without permission.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m asking you to dance. You don’t seem to have a partner—don’t act so expensive.”
He reeked heavily of alcohol.
Perhaps because of the torment he had suffered from Adrian these past few days, his eyes were sharp.
As if he had been waiting to run into me.
At least he was still using formal speech, unlike outside, so he seemed to have a grip on his senses.
“I have no intention of dancing.”
An ominous feeling washed over me, and I tried to leave, but he stopped me.
Pulled by a strong grip, I found myself on the dance floor, where he immediately assumed the opening pose as if he had been waiting.
With so many eyes on us, pushing him away and storming off would only invite unnecessary gossip.
‘Ugh, what a nuisance.’
Last time he had at least pretended to be a gentleman; now he was dropping all pretense.
As the uncomfortable dance began, Cesare pressed his body far too close and murmured,
“You have some surprisingly bad habits.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m talking about how you used Lord Peris to screw me over.”
For a moment, his eyes flashed sharply—cold enough to chill the air—but I played innocent.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I genuinely hadn’t heard the details.
It seemed my brother had been diligently tormenting Nanael and Cesare, and I didn’t feel even a speck of remorse.
Maybe you should have lived more kindly in the first place.
“Fine, let’s say that’s true.”
Cesare smirked brazenly and kept pressing his body even closer.
“So when are we going on that date?”
Here we go again.
I managed to keep my expression neutral and answered coolly,
“I clearly told you that Your Highness is not my type.”
“You only know that after trying. Maybe I’ll turn out to be exactly your taste.”
I absolutely despise men who reek of desperation.
My smile faltered at his absurd, forceful advances.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have even a single strand of interest in Your Highness.”
Afraid he wouldn’t understand if I spoke indirectly, I rejected him outright.
The moment I did, he tightened his grip until my fingers stung.
Blood flow cut off, my expression hardened involuntarily as he muttered low,
“I really don’t get it. What’s so great about you that you act this expensive?”
“Your Highness. Let go of my hand.”
“Did I propose marriage or something? I’m just asking for a few dates—why is that so hard?”
He was clearly too drunk to control himself.
A creeping sense of danger told me something was about to go very wrong.
‘What do I do? This guy has lost it.’
