chapter 11:
The Royal Ball (Part 3)
‘It’s as if your expression says, ‘What’s the reason I chose you as my partner?’
As she read Herald’s inner thoughts, Retina turned her eyes away, closing them slightly.
‘What’s the big deal if he’s constantly changing the ladies by his side?’
After all, the prince wasn’t even engaged, so why should it matter if he’s close to one particular lady?
‘Ah, right. He was looking for the woman who eluded him after slipping away.’ Retina recalled why the prince had been abruptly rejecting other ladies and began to ponder it seriously. It seemed absurd that he was so fixated on finding a woman he had spent only one night with.
He wasn’t the type for such idealistic pursuits. As friends of his older brothers, they were all known for their complicated relationships with women, and Herald’s reputation in particular was quite the topic of conversation.
‘Now he’s pretending to be a romantic searching for just one woman, so it makes sense for him to distance himself from other ladies.’
After some contemplation, Retina nodded her head in agreement with the plausible conclusion she had reached. Given his age, it was unlikely that he was experiencing his first such situation, and his determination to find a one-night stand after a drunken night with a face he couldn’t even remember had only one plausible reason.
‘It’s probably to get back at the woman he left alone in bed in the morning.’ His pride must have been hurt, or he might have felt ignored. If Herald wanted to keep this matter secret, it would have been better for him to go first and leave a note instead of relying on each other’s understanding. But it was too late for that now.
‘It would have been much easier to just go and say, ‘Ta-da! Actually, I’m the one you’ve been looking for!’
However, revealing the truth now seemed complicated. While Herald knew her as a friend of his brothers and an academy classmate, he had no idea that the person he was looking for was right in front of him.
‘I don’t have to worry so much unless I’m the one the prince is looking for. Shall we try to convince them to give up? Then, if this quick-witted person notices . . .’
“What are you thinking?” Herald interrupted her thoughts with a question.
“Ah.” Retina snapped back to reality.
The prince’s hand appeared unexpectedly before Retina. He gently lifted her hand, which she had been unconsciously nibbling on. Upon deeper reflection, the nervous habit of nibbling her lips had produced a small gasp of surprise from Retina’s lips.
“I apologize. I showed an unnecessary reaction,” Retina said, aware that her reputation at the party as well as the prince’s could be influenced by their actions. She pushed aside her distracting thoughts and offered an apology to the prince. Nibbling on her lips in such a public setting went against the expected behavior of noble youths, as they often mentioned.
Translator: Stardust. Read on moonlight novels only
“Blood is showing,” Herald commented, looking down at Retina’s face as she pretended nothing had happened. The red blood was gradually spreading on her lips, despite Retina’s earlier attempts to cover it up with lipstick.
Herald reached into his pocket and used his handkerchief to gently press against Retina’s lips to stop the bleeding.
“You didn’t need to go to this extent. It would have stopped on its own soon.”
Retina, who had been startled and attempted to retreat for a moment, stumbled in her words. The bleeding had stopped quickly as the wound wasn’t deep, but Herald’s hand remained, seemingly unaware that it could be withdrawn. His firm and rough fingers gently brushed against Retina’s lips, which had swollen slightly from the impact.
“It might bruise,” Retina said as she tried to check if the bleeding had truly stopped, but Herald’s gaze remained locked onto her lips. While the lipstick had been smudged away, her lips were naturally a shade of red, so the evidence wasn’t glaringly obvious. As he closely inspected her lips, he had a strange feeling of déjà vu, as if he had seen them up close before.
Herald continued to stare at Retina’s lips, momentarily bringing his face closer. The tension in the air was palpable, and soft hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. In that brief moment when their faces were about to touch, Retina squirmed and grabbed Herald’s wrist.
“Uh, do I need to throw away this handkerchief too?” she asked.
“What?”
“My blood stained it. I heard that you, Your Highness, throw away handkerchiefs even if they get a little cream on them. Haha…”
She subtly changed the topic while lightly holding the handkerchief he had been using. The atmosphere was so charged that it felt like they might kiss at any moment. It was as if she could be assassinated by the glares of other nobles in the vicinity.
“If you’re going to throw it away, can I take it?”
“No, don’t throw it away. Do nobles really throw away handkerchiefs after using them?”
Crown Prince Herald, who was staring at the handkerchief that Retina had picked up, put the handkerchief with a trace of blood into his pocket. Retina looked at Herald with a puzzled expression. When he ever thrown away a handkerchief, even when a little cream had gotten on it? She couldn’t understand it at all.
She then shifted her gaze to the handkerchief Herald had taken. It wasn’t a big deal to use a nice handkerchief once and then discard it, but there was no reason to covet Prince Herald’s handkerchief.
Should I return the handkerchief he gave me last time? That one seemed new too. Retina thought about giving it back after checking the condition of the handkerchief she had asked Lena to wash.
“Even if they’re partners, it’s not like they’re engaged. Monopolizing Prince Herald like this seems excessive.”
“That’s right. Openly displaying affection like this, could it be for the purpose of announcing an engagement with Crown Prince Herald, even if it’s late for a debutante ball?”
“But they’re from the Deneuve family… Could it really be for that?”
As the time spent together without dancing with the crown prince became longer, whispers could be heard from all over the place. At a prom, a partner is usually someone who is in a romantic relationship or is engaged or married.
If not, they would dance the first dance together and then separate, only to reunite with their original partners during the second part of the evening. Changing partners during this time was also quite common. In a society where courtship activities were active during the social season, sticking with a partner you weren’t engaged to for an extended period implied that they had romantic intentions.
‘But I can’t afford to be the subject of gossip with Prince Herald,’ Retina thought.
She raised her head when she realized the murmurs among the young aristocrats. “How about dancing the first dance now?”
“It seems there are days when a young lady asks a partner to dance first.”
“Because the young ladies around here keep giving me dirty looks. Even though we’re partners, we’re not even engaged, but it seems like we’re always together, so they’re watching us closely.”
Retina, who had requested the first dance from Herald, looked in the direction where a powerful gaze could be felt.
“Even if it’s not my intention, coming to the capital during the social season means stepping into the marriage market, doesn’t it? We’re not even in an engagement, but since it’s a gathering of ladies, isn’t it wise to be careful?”
If the glances from the young ladies were merely filled with envy, she would have easily ignored them. But she was also receiving attention from noble ladies.
Since she had appeared as Prince Herald’s partner, she couldn’t quietly go through the debutante ball. She had to be cautious, considering the ladies gathered here.
“I can’t ignore those hyena-like glances forever.”
“I agree.”
After scanning the surroundings, Herald, for once, agreed with Retina’s opinion. Retina held Herald’s hand, and together they left to escape the envious gazes.
When the men and women faced each other and exchanged greetings, the music began. Herald wrapped his arm around Retina’s waist and pulled her closer to him. Her waist trembled slightly under his touch, but he held her as if nothing was wrong.
“A serenade for lovers. Of all the songs, it had to be this one. Young ladies really have a talent for choosing the right music.”
In a serenade, the key was to move closely as if becoming one. The steps involved both partners moving at the same pace, and if their hearts weren’t in sync, they might accidentally step on each other’s feet, disrupting the dance.
“Are you trying to take revenge on me for requesting you as my partner?”
Herald’s lips twitched as he spoke with a smile.
“Of course not. Even though I’m a young noble lady, I didn’t bother to memorize the order of songs that would be played on this day.”
Retina, who wasn’t skilled at dancing, naturally had clumsy steps. As a result, every time she stretched out her foot, she ended up stepping on Prince Herald’s foot. To dance together, your body had to follow the movement of your feet. Ironically, she found it easier to dance a calm waltz.
“Of all things, I had to gift you glass slippers, making it even more painful.”
Retina laughed bitterly, avoiding his gaze. She certainly didn’t intend to step on his feet. Retina had received impeccable education when she was young, and she had followed it well, but there was one issue.
“What can I do? I was born with a bad body.”
No matter how hard she tried, Retina couldn’t escape being like a wooden doll when it came to dancing. Perhaps when he returned to his chamber later today and took off his shoes, Prince Herald’s ten toes will probably be bruised blue. Fortunately, the good thing was that Herald was skilled at concealing his expressions. Thanks to that, other people didn’t seem to notice that she was stepping on his feet every time she took a step.
“It’s better like this.”
Herald, who was holding Retina from behind, whispered in her ear. As they continued to move together in step, this time she didn’t step on his feet. In fact, since they were moving their feet in the same direction, there was no chance of stepping on each other’s feet.
“Do you regret partnering with me?”
“A little.”
“You know I’m not the best dancer.”
“I had no idea you could dance this poorly. But weren’t you really good at following directions back then?”
Getting his feet stepped on repeatedly had been quite shocking, it seemed. Well, considering he was stepped on once when they moved to the right, then again when they went backward, and once more when they returned to their original position, his reaction was understandable.
“Back then, the steps were different…”
“That’s what you call an excuse?”
Herald chuckled, his hand bringing Retina closer. The serenade for lovers appropriately included many intimate touches as the man and woman danced closely together. Herald’s hand followed her waistline, lightly brushing against her chest.
Translator: Stardust. Read on moonlight novels only
Of all days, she had chosen to wear a dress that bared her shoulders. Herald’s breath, following the exposed skin from her shoulders down to her wrists as he held her hand, was distinctly felt on her skin.
Retina couldn’t hide her blushing face and lowered her head deeply. There was no respite, and as they reached the end of the dance, the music became increasingly sensual, with explicit movements.
Their faces came close enough for their palms to caress their cheeks, and their lips nearly touched before moving away. Arms wrapped around the partner’s neck as they synchronized their steps, moving one step at a time, forming a diamond shape.
serenade for lovers? This seemed more like a courtship dance than anything else. Unlike Retina, who couldn’t look Herald in the eye due to embarrassment, he didn’t change his expression and executed every move flawlessly.
One might say it was fortunate that he was so adept at this kind of situation and dancing, or perhaps it was just bad timing. As the music ended with them holding hands and exchanging greetings, Retina finally breathed a sigh of relief. She used her hand to fan herself, trying to cool down from the intense heat when a champagne glass was presented before her.
“Drink.”
Prince Herald, having taken two glasses of champagne from the server, offered one to Retina. The sparkling champagne for the party was sweet and had a low alcohol content, making it easy to enjoy.
“Your face is red. Are you so weak that a single dance leaves you breathless?”
He emptied his glass in one go and placed it on the tray, though he didn’t look entirely unaffected himself. Retina glanced at Herald’s reddening neck as she responded, her eyes narrowing slightly.
“Your Highness…”
Herald and Retina, who were chatting outside the hall, stopped their conversation due to the crowd of people coming in as soon as the crown prince danced the first song. The excuse that you can’t dance because you didn’t dance to the first song is gone, so you’ll have to suffer for a while.
Originally, it’s unclear why the prince, who was once known as a playboy with his brothers, is avoiding the young ladies’ dance requests at the royal ball.
“After three songs, let’s meet in front of that cake.”
“Yes. I should also try to find my brothers.”
Retina had memorized the location that Herald had chosen. The seven-tiered cake, purely decorative and positioned discreetly in the ballroom, made for a suitable meeting point.
As soon as the prince took a young lady’s hand to lead her in a dance, Retina, as usual, slipped away from the prying eyes of the crowd and headed to the terrace. While she had told Herald that she intended to look for her brothers, she had no real intention of finding them. After all, she had endured enough during their journey from Sylas to feel obligated to entertain anyone but the prince tonight. Today, the prince alone was drawing more than enough attention.
“Taking in some fresh air feels better.”
Her headache had eased a bit during their time in the ballroom. Perhaps it was because this event was held in the Imperial Palace, but even on the terrace, there was no sound that would be embarrassing to hear from the gardens. Thanks to this, Retina could leisurely enjoy the meticulously crafted gardens along with a glass of champagne and the company of the Empire’s top gardeners.
The castle, perched at the highest point in Leblem, was visible from anywhere in the city, but that meant the opposite as well – you could see the entire city from the castle. The lights from the houses below resembled twinkling stars on the ground.
“The view of Rudenhaim’s capital from the Imperial Palace is beautiful.”
Retina stiffened her shoulders as she heard the voice of a man approaching her.
