Chapter 85
An instinctive alarm bell rang inside me as Cesare’s aura turned increasingly feral.
“All you have going for you is a pretty face, yet you keep turning me down like this. It’s becoming rather inconvenient.”
Cesare sneered, his expression openly displeased.
This was the first time he had shown such naked hostility, and fear struck me like a physical blow.
Thank goodness there were so many people around.
Just then, Adrian spotted us from across the room and his face hardened.
Hurry—hurry, come here.
I flicked my gaze toward Adrian, silently pleading.
He murmured an apology to Summer and started toward me.
So now you finally see me, you idiot.
If it had been Alferen, things would have been different.
He would never have allowed a situation like this to arise in the first place.
The sheer absurdity of the thought made me let out a soft, incredulous laugh.
Then, through the crowd, a familiar figure appeared.
Unlike his usual graceful, unhurried stride, Alferen was pushing through the throng with unmistakable urgency.
The moment I saw him, relief and gladness flooded through me at once.
In the blink of an eye, he stepped in front of me and shoved Cesare away with rough force.
“Ugh.”
Cesare, who had been gripping me so tightly, peeled off as easily as a sheet of paper.
He crumpled slightly, thrown aside as though slammed to the ground, and scowled deeply.
“What the hell is this?”
Hidden behind Alferen’s back, I could no longer see his face.
But the air alone told me he was furious.
I flexed my aching hand, opening and closing my fingers, and glanced around.
By now, everyone nearby was watching us.
Adrian, who had been heading our way, had frozen in place, eyes fixed on Alferen and Cesare.
He must have decided that intervening would only draw more attention.
Then Alferen spoke, his voice low and icy.
“You seem unable to stand steadily after drinking so much. It would be best if you rested now.”
The words sounded like concern on the surface, but they were laced with sharp thorns.
A refined warning, anger carefully restrained yet unmistakable.
For Cesare—who had been staggering so disgracefully—his pride must have been badly bruised.
He raked a hand roughly through his hair and spat out an irritated reply.
“Cutting in during a dance is hardly good manners. Or is it that you can’t bear to watch your lover dance with another man? That’s not exactly charming for a man. If you keep acting like that, even Lady Peris might…”
“Yes. I dislike it.”
“…”
Far from rising to the provocation, Alferen shut him down with a calm affirmation.
“In the future, please refrain from doing this when I am not present.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I will handle it my way. I imagine your younger brother would understand perfectly.”
Cesare’s expression darkened sharply at that.
The tension spiked—and then, abruptly, Cesare let out a loud laugh.
“Hahaha. That’s harsh. Ah, my apologies. I genuinely thought the lady had come alone, since there was no one beside her.”
“…”
“Let’s have dinner soon as a proper apology. For now, I’ll take my leave.”
With sudden politeness, Cesare gave me a playful wink.
The man who had been threatening me moments ago had completely flipped his demeanor, and I found it no more pleasant than before.
The alcohol must have finally cleared, bringing him back to his senses.
Once Cesare was gone, Alferen guided me out to the terrace.
He kept his back to me the entire time, so I couldn’t see his expression.
The terrace door closed behind us.
He turned the lock—ensuring no one could enter—then faced me.
The face I finally saw was far less fierce than I had imagined.
His lips moved several times, as if searching for words, before he stepped closer.
“Are you all right?”
His clear blue eyes looked at me with tender concern.
He didn’t seem to care in the slightest that I had shared my first dance with another man in his absence.
Remembering how he—who rarely intervened in others’ affairs—had confronted Cesare in front of everyone, I found myself speechless.
Yes. I dislike it.
His earlier words echoed in my mind.
He had known it was provocation, yet he had answered without the slightest hesitation.
As if it were the plain truth.
My throat felt suddenly parched, and my hand reached instinctively for the wine on the terrace table.
Alferen gently stopped me.
“Delly, your hand is shaking.”
“Oh… it’s just from the shock.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I went to find you, but we must have missed each other.”
He frowned in self-reproach.
Then he carefully touched my fingers.
They were unnaturally pale from being squeezed so tightly.
He began to massage my hand lightly, encouraging circulation.
The casual contact made my heart clench.
I pressed my free hand to my racing chest, but all my nerves were focused on the hand he held.
It wasn’t just warm—it tingled. The slow, gentle pressure sent strange sensations through me.
My mind told me to pull away, but my body hesitated.
Amid the swirl of thoughts, one question rose clearly above the rest—the question that had been nagging at me even before we arrived tonight.
I quietly tightened my grip on his hand.
“Ren oppa… can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Why did you avoid Summer Clopen at the magic tower?”
I searched his eyes, trying to read his feelings.
At the mention of Summer, his expression clouded naturally.
He looked as though I had brought up something deeply uncomfortable, but I could no longer avoid asking.
“…Eden told you.”
“Yes. He seemed really troubled by it.”
Using Eden as an excuse, I waited.
After a long pause, Alferen interlaced his fingers with mine and spoke.
“Then why have you been trying to push me toward Summer Clopen?”
“!”
My eyes widened at the unexpected counterquestion.
I scrambled for a response, but he continued before I could find one.
“Ever since the day you said we should end the fake relationship, I’ve been wondering what I did wrong. Then I remembered something you said before—about how I should meet a good person, someone with blonde hair and green eyes.”
“…”
“It felt exactly like when you told me to break off my engagement with Princess Nanael. I realized right away: this time, you were trying to set me up with Summer Clopen.”
I had known he might notice—I had been obvious about it—but I hadn’t expected him to see through me so quickly.
The situation was awkward, yet his next words seized all my attention.
“That’s why. I didn’t like it—because it felt like you were constantly trying to pair me with her.”
He had known.
He had known and deliberately avoided her.
He hadn’t liked it.
Then… did that mean Alferen didn’t have feelings for Summer?
In the original story, he had been drawn to her naturally.
Not love at first sight like Adrian, but a slow, inevitable fall.
Then did I force someone on him he never wanted?
The thought left me reeling.
It had started with nothing more than a sincere wish for him to meet someone good.
Yet now I wondered if I had unknowingly pushed my own desires onto him.
After the broken engagement with Nanael, his life was no longer any of my business.
So why had I been so stubbornly fixated on his future?
Because I like him. That’s why.
Perhaps I had seen Alferen as more than my brother’s friend for far longer than I realized.
And the reason I had never acknowledged my own feelings was fear—fear that I might end up stalking him like Rodellia in the original story.
All this time, I had refused to examine my heart.
Because his presence beside me had always felt so natural.
Because I had wrapped it up as simple familial affection.
If we had never pretended to be lovers, I might have ignored these feelings forever.
In the end, the foolish one was me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I just… wanted you to meet someone good…”
Feeling pathetic and utterly lost, I hung my head.
“Delly.”
He called my name softly, tenderly, and brushed his thumb lightly across the back of my hand.
The careful touch lifted my gaze almost against my will.
Our eyes met, and he spoke as though he had been waiting for this exact moment.
“You’re a good person too.”
“…What?”
“I thought I’d made it obvious enough. Do you really still not know?”
