CHAPTER 26

INTUITION

Suddenly, Norden, who had approached Retina, boldly planted a kiss on the back of her hand. While his lips touched Retina’s hand, Norden’s gaze was fixed on Herald.

“Norden Raglaras Prince, your personality is impatient enough to interrupt even though we haven’t finished our greetings,” Herald commented.

“It seems that Your Highness the Crown Prince is just as tenacious, holding onto his partner even though the music has ended,” Norden retorted.

They exchanged fiery glances, as if wary of each other.

“You’ve been quietly lurking in the banquet hall all this time, but now you seem more annoying than I expected,” Herald remarked.

“Haha, I suppose it could be seen as me returning the favor for Your Highness, who hasn’t adapted well to having an embassy delegation. It’s not like I stood out because of my hair color. Thank you for your concern.” Norden responded with a soft tone that resembled casual banter, but the underlying content was as precarious as walking on thin ice. Neither of them showed any intention of backing down.

‘Whether they fight or not doesn’t matter, but can’t I just slip away?’ With the two most attention-grabbing figures in this situation, all eyes were inevitably on Retina. Although the time for the second piece of music had already passed, the orchestra continued to play only the background music.

“Is it good to favor a Northerner you barely know, Your Highness?” Herald suddenly asked, his gaze fixed on Retina, as if expecting her to say that he, as the Imperial Crown Prince, was better than Norden, a Northern Prince.

“When it comes to noblemen, you often spend time with princes despite claiming they’re not worth your time. You dislike me because I’m not worth it, and the prince is worth it?” Norden said, placing his hand on her waist and pursing his lips. It was hard to tell where his emotions were coming from, but it seemed quite sincere.

‘You don’t know much about me either,’ Retina thought. To her, Norden and Herald felt about the same. Of course, there were many prickly aspects to the Crown Prince, and he was actively avoiding her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t chasing after her.

Translators: Stardust. Read on moonlight novels only

“Such a direct question would put Lady Retina in a difficult position to answer,” Herald interjected, blocking Retina’s path. The more he pondered the answer, the more annoyed the Crown Prince became.

“Well, if you two are going to argue, maybe I should step aside and let you continue over there?” Retina suggested.

“Is this an argument, Prince?”

“No, not at all. Why would there be an argument between us at an event celebrating the debut of young ladies?”

“That’s right. We’re just having a conversation.”

Herald, who still held onto Retina’s hand, pulled her back to the center. What kind of situation is this? Retina wondered.

She felt like she had become the heroine of a lovers’ quarrel by accident, standing between the two men without any emotional involvement. It felt even more unfair because they had no feelings for her whatsoever.

‘I think I can hear my brothers screaming from somewhere. It must be because of my mood.’ Retina forced a smile and stood her ground, her lips quivering. All she wanted now was to go back to the mansion, stretch out, and sleep.

 * * *

Herald clenched his fist, fearing that he might lose the warmth that had left his hand. In the dance hall where he had been a while ago, the next couple in line was dancing together.

This feeling… He now understood what had caused his discomfort while dancing with Retina and why she had become the center of attention one after another.

Herald rubbed his head and chuckled softly. Brushing back his neatly combed hair, he glanced in the direction where Retina was.

“All this time, I’ve been searching the capital like a madman, but now I know why I couldn’t find her,” he thought. It was because he had been looking in all the wrong places, despite having her so close. He clenched and unclenched his fist with a subtle sense of frustration. All his senses were screaming that Retina Cecilia was the woman he had been searching for all along, and that’s why she kept catching his eye.

“Damn it,” he muttered, momentarily ceasing his laughter and ruffling his hair irritably. The fatal flaw of the Rudenheim royal family, born from the god of the sun, The madness that manifested as humans inheriting the power of the sun god became more severe as the Rudenheim bloodline grew stronger. Herald, with his golden hair and fiery red eyes, was born as the manifestation of the sun god’s power, and his madness appeared suddenly without any warning signs when he reached adulthood.

“This is quite inconvenient,” he continued, his madness being a lifelong affliction that he couldn’t escape. And now, the person who could potentially suppress his madness knew all of his secrets. It had become an awkward dilemma.

The Deneuve siblings were among the few who knew about his madness and could control him. They were the only ones who could keep his madness in check, and he knew that they would likely react strongly when they learned this truth, foam at the mouth, and rush at him in a fit of rage.

“I’m not so sure yet; I need to observe a little more,” Herald thought. He had a nagging feeling that prevented him from being completely certain. There were still several unanswered questions, most notably the difference in hair color. The woman he remembered had hair so bright that it shone like moonlight, while Retina had dark brown hair. Until the missing fragments of his memories returned, it would take some time before he could be certain.

“Even if our names are written differently, could it be that our bloodlines are still related?” Herald mused. She had been so hard to find, yet when he finally did, she acted like she didn’t recognize him. If she were an ordinary Cecilia, her reaction didn’t make sense.

As Herald stood alone in the corner of the ballroom, people began to approach him. He started to make his way towards a dais, wanting to be alone for a moment, but then someone grabbed his arm.

“What’s going on? Just now, with Prince Raglaras and you, about Retina. Is it true? Did I see it correctly?” Haint asked, pulling Herald away from the dais.

Herald chuckled softly, looking at Haint, who had dragged him away and seemed quite excited.

“I’d like to hear a proper explanation of the situation.”

Contrary to Haint’s evident excitement, Sat, who remained composed, glared at Herald with sharp eyes.

“We’re asking why you danced with Retina. You could have simply put your name on the dance card and waited. There was no need to request the first dance right after the greetings,” Sat stated with a cold, firm tone.

“Pushing your sister into my arms first was your plan, right? And you expected that grabbing attention by connecting with me?” Herald retorted.

“We agreed to act as if we had feelings for each other without actually having any. That argument was part of the act needed for this play,” Herald replied with a shrug. Originally, their plan didn’t involve Norden. The friction had been necessary to adapt to the sudden appearance of this variable. While the argument with Noden wasn’t solely because of this, it played a part.

Translators: Stardust. Read on moonlight novels only

“Remember, getting close to Retina is only until she becomes the Crystal Moon. I won’t care who you’re with next, but don’t interfere with Retina. Don’t do anything that might hurt her later,” Sat warned.

Sat had already realized Herald’s interest in Retina. They knew each other well, having spent a lot of time together. Just by looking at Herald’s gaze toward Retina, they could tell if it was genuine interest or merely amusement for the day. And watching Herald’s gaze shift so frequently toward Retina, they could sense his growing anxiety.

“I haven’t done anything yet,” Herald defended himself.

“Yet? So, you’re saying you might do something later?” Sat questioned.

“I told you, not yet. Right now, I only dealt with what bothered your sister.”

He had no feelings for Retina at the moment. However, if she turned out to be the woman he had been searching for, he couldn’t predict how his emotions might change.

“But if we keep getting close, who knows how my feelings might change,” Herald added with a wry smile.

He couldn’t help but think of Retina’s blushing face when someone had called her beautiful, or the image of the woman who had hidden her flushed cheeks with her hand while clutching his thumb.

“I must be completely insane,” Herald muttered, his large hand covering his forehead. His face was flushed, reminiscent of a rookie in his first romance.