Letticia gracefully grabbed the hem of her dress and left with a lingering smile.
Immediately, Ezkhiel was bombarded with a series of questions from his aides.
“Sir Bright, why didn’t you tell us you knew Lady Sharon? Moreover, you’re friends with Lord Sharon as well!”
“You overheard us talking about Lady Sharon before. It would’ve been nice if you had mentioned it back then!”
Percy, the youngest aide who once mentioned wanting to bring lemonade to Letticia, asked in a tone of complaint.
Ezkhiel responded with an awkward expression.
“It didn’t seem necessary to mention it… besides, there’s no immediate way to prove it.”
There was no particular camaraderie between the Bright Barony and the Sharon County.
The Bright family had traditionally worked as civil servants in the Ministry of Interior and were conservative nobles among the old noble. Naturally, they viewed the new noble, who gained their status through wealth, as nouveau riche.
While the Sharon family was treated slightly better due to their marital connection with the Marquess of Wade, blatant disdain was still evident when the topic arose.
Ezkhiel, disliking such open disregard, hadn’t even informed his family about his friendship with Lenard.
‘Well, even if they knew, there wouldn’t be much they could do.’
Ezkhiel dismissed the faces of his family, whom he rarely saw since graduation, from his mind.
Handling the flood of questions alone consumed more than half of his break time.
“So, Sir Bright, have you ever danced with Lady Sharon? If Lord Sharon introduced you, there must have been an opportunity to request a dance.”
“…Wasn’t it reported in Lucinella?”
Recalling Letticia’s words during their second waltz, Ezkhiel asked, causing Orlando Tenant, a second-year aide, to scoff.
“Did you seriously expect Lucinella to cover something as minor as one dance with the lady? Lady Sharon has danced with dozens of men, including notable figures like the Marquess of Digby and Lord Jarvis. Why would they highlight Sir Bright over them?”
“Well… I just thought that, as a debutante crowned a Diamond, any man she danced with might attract attention.”
Ezkhiel endured the condescending tone and answered with patience.
Even though he knew he was insignificant compared to the Marquess of Digby or Lord Jarvis, being spoken to in such a dismissive manner was unpleasant for him.
“Ah, judging by your words, Sir Bright, you’ve danced with Lady Sharon! What dance was it? Was it a traditional waltz, or perhaps a quadrille?”
To break the awkward atmosphere, one of Ezkhiel’s fellow aides hurriedly asked another question.
Although Ezkhiel didn’t particularly want to talk about it, he couldn’t avoid answering either. So, he briefly responded with the type of dance.
“It was a waltz.”
“A waltz?!”
“Did you really dance a waltz with Lady Sharon?”
Even just mentioning the word ‘waltz’ made everyone gasp in surprise and ask again.
Ezkhiel feared what they might say if he admitted they had danced twice.
“That’s amazing… Dancing a waltz with Lady Sharon has been my dream…”
Percy looked at Ezkhiel with eyes full of admiration. Previously, Percy had said that dancing a waltz with Letticia would be a memory of a lifetime, and it seemed he had truly meant it.
Everyone else also stared at Ezkhiel with newfound respect, making him feel burdened by their gazes. As Ezkhiel slightly turned his head to avoid their stares, Tenant, who had been watching with a displeased expression, smirked and said:
“Lady Sharon must have an exceptional relationship with her brother. For her to spend such precious time on a waltz with her brother’s friend, that kind of consideration isn’t possible without extraordinary sibling affection.”
A cold silence fell among the group.
The junior aides, including Percy, froze in shock, while the senior aides glared at Tenant as if asking if he’d lost his mind.
However, Ezkhiel remained calm and replied without much change in his expression.
“The two siblings do have a close bond. And Lady Sharon is always full of consideration for others.”
“Well, considering she even greeted Lord Sharon’s friends when visiting the Crown Prince’s palace, she does seem like a thoughtful person.”
“That would be courtesy rather than consideration. More importantly, break time is almost over. Shall we all return now?”
“Oh, is it already over?”
At Ezkhiel’s remark, after checking the time, the aides scrambled to prepare to leave.
Tenant, frustrated that his sarcasm had no effect, glared at Ezkhiel with a resentful look.
But Ezkhiel didn’t even spare him a glance, completely ignoring him as he walked away first.
“Are you really just going to let him go like that, Sir Bright?”
Percy, who had followed behind, asked, but Ezkhiel responded without even turning his head.
“I can’t recklessly turn Count Tenant into an enemy.”
Count Tenant, the Minister of Finance, was infamous for how deeply he cherished his only son, Orlando, who he had after much difficulty.
Fortunately, the Count was professional enough to separate personal matters from work, so he didn’t show favoritism towards his son in the workplace.
However, if his beloved son were to face disciplinary action, the blame could shift to Ezkhiel, causing Count Tenant to harbor resentment against him.
Having faced similar situations before, Ezkhiel knew his only option was to endure and let it pass. If the Minister of Finance decided to become uncooperative, it would ultimately be the subordinates who suffered in the process.
In previous cases, parents of other aides either avoided meeting face-to-face by sending representatives or had Matthias intervene directly to settle the matter with authority.
However, dealing with the Minister of Finance in such a manner was different—his influence on state affairs was far too significant.
“Then at least give him a warning! How could he speak to a superior like that? Even if Tenant is the heir to a Count, and Sir Bright is the second son of a Baron, this is still the imperial palace!”
“There’s no point in saying anything to someone who doesn’t believe they’re in the wrong.”
Ezkhiel’s calm reply to Percy’s outburst was a lesson learned from the harsh reality he had experienced over the past four years.
When Ralph Barthset fell from power, and Matthias appointed Ezkhiel as his chief aide, the backlash from other potential candidates was intense.
Many of them were from high-ranking noble families, and they couldn’t accept being passed over in favor of the second son of a Baron’s family—who had merely served as civil servants in the Ministry of Interior for generations.
No matter how exceptional Ezkhiel’s academic record was or how competent he was at handling tasks, they convinced themselves that, given the opportunity, they could achieve just as much with sufficient effort. This baseless delusion prevented them from ever acknowledging Ezkhiel.
This reality struck Ezkhiel deeply when he started working as Matthias’s chief aide after graduation.
‘I’d rather die than go through that again.’
Even someone as patient as Ezkhiel couldn’t help but wonder how he had endured those times. If given the choice, he would rather work overtime for an entire month surviving only on black coffee than return to that period.
With that thought, Tenant’s sarcastic remarks were still tolerable for now. At least Tenant hadn’t caused any major trouble in their work that would create a mess for Ezkhiel.
Compared to those who created disasters while trying to take credit for accomplishments, ruining their colleagues’ results and demoralizing everyone, or those who tried to shift their own mistakes onto others, creating a toxic workplace, Tenant’s behavior was mild in comparison.
However, Percy, who hadn’t experienced such injustices, seemed upset at Ezkhiel’s attitude.
“Sir Bright, you’re too lenient with your enemies. If it were me, I would have confronted him immediately.”
“We don’t talk about allies and enemies in the workplace. We are all here to assist His Highness the Crown Prince and ensure the proper functioning of this country.”
“Wow, that sounded really cool!”
Percy clapped his hands enthusiastically, while Ezkhiel gave a faint smile.
The words he had used to console himself for the past four years were now being praised as noble. It was a strange feeling, but he didn’t bother explaining.
‘Well, he’ll either cause trouble or leave soon anyway.’
Many of those who had tried to undermine Ezkhiel had either been expelled by Matthias for causing problems out of ambition or had grown tired of their work and requested transfers.
One by one, they had all left, leaving only Tenant. Yet, given his disruptive tendencies, Ezkhiel suspected it wouldn’t be long before Tenant either caused a major issue that warranted disciplinary action or was called back to the Finance Ministry by his doting father, the Minister of Finance.
Ezkhiel resolved to endure just a bit longer. But as he steeled himself, Percy, oblivious to the mood, brought up a topic that unsettled him.
“By the way, do you think Lady Sharon came all the way here to see His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“…Why do you think that?”
The article from Lucinella that Ezkhiel had been trying to ignore came to mind, and his tone unintentionally became stiff as he asked.
Unaware of Ezkhiel’s change in demeanor, Percy cheerfully replied,
“Well, last week’s Lucinella said that the only person His Highness danced a waltz with was Lady Sharon. Sure, he danced a quadrille with Lady Eskis, but that was only as the Countess’s partner, so it doesn’t really count.”
“…….……”
“And all the debutantes who earned nicknames were at that ball too, weren’t they? Yet His Highness only danced with Lady Sharon. Doesn’t that mean he might be considering her as the future Crown Princess?”
