“I think the song is already over.”
It may be her illusion, but he sounded like he was angry.
“Duke.”
Only then did Emmerich take off his hand on Agnes’ waist and take a few steps back.
“May I take Agnes away now?”
“Of course.”
He nodded lightly and left. Laslo took his place.
The second piece began. Laslo politely reached out his hand.
“Let me have the honor of dancing with you.”
“I accept.”
Agnes placed her hand on his arm and assumed a ready stance.
Laslo’s hand landed exactly where Emmerich’s had been moments ago, without a single inch of error.
“The first dance……”
He muffled his speech, unusually.
“I wanted to be your first dance.”
“Oh.”
Agnes, who had been stepping without much thought, raised her head abruptly to look at him.
“Oh, I didn’t realize.”
Was that why his expression was dark? Agnes felt a bit apologetic.
“Are you acquainted with Count Cellon?”
“Well, I’ve seen him in the palace a few times.”
“You looked very close.”
“Our relationship isn’t bad.”
Agnes replied calmly.
“But what did you say earlier that made you smile during the dance?”
He persisted strangely. Agnes thought it was a little strange, but she passed it lightly.
“I smiled?”
“You did. At the end of the first verse. And then shortly after the beginning of the second verse, and after going around once.”
Laslo precisely recounted when Agnes had smiled as if he had been waiting for it.
She looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Were you watching me?”
She said it half jokingly.
She thought he would stumble over his words as usual.
But Laslo didn’t do that.
“Yeah.”
His dark green eyes came closer to her in an instant.
“I’ve been watching.”
“……”
“What you were doing with whom, even how many times you smiled while dancing with other men.”
“…Hmmm.”
Feeling a flush creeping up her face and embarrassed to meet his gaze, she turned her head away first.
“Well, it was nothing, really.”
“Am I not supposed to know?”
“No. It’s just that before I got married to the Duke, Chavolti asked the Count to do me a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“The atmosphere on Sebastian’s side is unusual, so he asks him to propose a marriage to me.”
Laslo is quiet. His face was so expressionless that she didn’t know what he was thinking.
As the movement repeated twice, he let go of her hand, stepped back, and then returned.
Upon returning, Laslo suddenly stopped dancing and embraced her tightly.
Men and women circling around passed by.
“Huh? Duke?”
“You’re already the Duchess of Arpad.”
“That’s right, isn’t it.”
His sudden actions left her perplexed, not understanding what was happening.
“I, ha….”
Laslo struggled to speak easily. With a voice that seemed to be holding back a lot.
“Agnes.”
He called her name.
Agnes rested her head quietly on his chest and embraced his back.
“I told the count.”
“……”
“Even if I were to die and go back to the past.”
Laslo opened his eyes that had been closed and met Agnes’s gaze.
“I will still come to Arpad.”
Surprisingly, the man’s furrowed brow relaxed, and he smiled broadly.
“Okay.”
The embrace grew stronger. Feeling his heart beating strongly through their touching bodies, Agnes felt a strange flutter in her stomach.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
The ball continued into the late night. The talk of the evening was undoubtedly the light orbs.
The nobles who received the light orbs were chattering excitedly about Arpad’s incredible wealth.
“To think they made this using magic stones.”
“Did you see it earlier? The outer side of the castle is covered with hundreds of light orbs.”
“Where on earth did they get so many magic stones?”
“Did they discover a magic stone mine on their land?”
Of course, Agnes didn’t satisfy their curiosity.
She just chuckled and turned her head from side to side.
Pushing aside the gathering nobles, she quietly approached the person she had been looking for.
“Count Barania, you’re here.”
“Duchess.”
The woman with brown hair bent her knees and gave a light bow.
“Thank you for coming.”
“I am indebted to the Duke of Arpad.”
She drew a clear line with her stiff tone. Her face was not just blunt but also cold and composed.
Agnes responded with a forced smile.
“Still, I appreciate you coming.”
She knew well why the Count was being so formal with her.
Count Barania had been like an indispensable right arm to Sebastian since his days as a prince.
Furthermore, he excelled in swordsmanship and had been at the forefront when Sebastian invaded Sutmar in the past.
The knights he led were undefeated and were one of the king’s most powerful forces.
“I heard the Count’s daughter won the tournament. You must be proud. Winning for the third time. After her mother and now her daughter.”
“She still has much to learn.”
Winning the tournament is one of the greatest honors a knight can achieve.
Although she pretended to be composed, pride passed by the count’s eyes.
“It’s not enough? Everyone was praising the best knight who emerged.”
Agnes has never seen the count’s eldest daughter in person, but has heard rumors.
The knight who was most anticipated for the future had tragically fallen on the battlefield.
The story that Count Barania sobbed over his eldest daughter’s coffin for three days was so famous that Agnes, who was on the western side, heard it.
Moreover, as far as she remembered, the Count had suffered an even greater shock when his youngest daughter died tragically before the eldest daughter passed away.
“What an impressive household.”
Despite the flattering remarks she gently presented, the Count remained unmoved.
“Did Count see this?”
Agnes received the light orbs from a servant and she opened the box herself.
“Hmm.”
For the first time, a hint of a smile appeared on her lips. She seemed quite fascinated.
“Okay, I’m going to give you a few. If you need more, feel free to let me know anytime.”
She forcibly handed the light orbs to the Count who hesitated on whether to accept them or not.
Although it wasn’t a bribe, she hesitated until the end.
“Thank you.”
The Count politely bowed his head in gratitude.
‘I may not be able to win her over immediately. But someday.’
Agnes bid farewell to the Count with a wide smile.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
“It was such a beautiful banquet.”
As dawn began to break, people started leaving the banquet hall one by one.
Before Erica departed, she approached to bid farewell.
“I’d like to invite you to Nouyen next time. Duchess.”
Milan approached subtly and spoke softly.
“If the opportunity arises.”
Agnes smiled lightly and bid farewell to the Kiske siblings.
“Can I see you again?”
Emmerich, with a gentle smile, asked when he arrived.
“Sutmar always will always welcome you Count.”
“What about the Duchess?”
“Of course.”
Then Emmerich laughed out loud and left a short kiss on her hand.
The guests who had attended the banquet left the castle only after the sun had fully risen.
Agnes, exhausted, collapsed onto the bed without even properly changing out of her clothes.
She slept deeply and when she woke up, almost a day had passed.
“Oh, you’re awake? Should I bring you a meal?”
Ney rushed over and asked.
“No, I’m not hungry. More than that, do I have any incoming correspondence?”
“Oh, there is.”
The maid brought a letter placed on a silver tray.
One was from Chavolti, and the other was from Roland.
Without hesitation, Agnes opened Roland’s first.
The letter was not long, but it contained all the information she desired.
<Cellon. Trading beyond the black wall. Insider Verified.>
Her eyes shimmered subtly.
Beyond the black wall.
Unexpected words caught her attention.
Even though she had ordered a background check on Cellon through Roland, Agnes didn’t have high expectations.
In the future Agnes knew, Cellon quietly guarded the southern border.
But to think he was secretly trading with a country that prohibited exchanges.
Perhaps this could be used to entice him.
Agnes instructed them to write a more detailed report.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
“I plan to divide what we sell to the nobles and what we sell to the commoners from the beginning. In terms of quantity, um, we should have at least ten thousand.”
When Andrassy heard that Agnes had woken up, he ran to her like crazy and asked to meet her.
“I only just showed the light orbs to the nobles. Are you sure about that?”
Then Andrassy raised the corners of his mouth and laughed.
“Madam, trust me. All the nobles who saw the light orbs today will send letters requesting to buy them.”
“Really?”
Four days later, Agnes realized that what he had said was correct.
Niall brought a pile of letters.
“They are all inquiries related to the light orbs.”
Andrassy, who was next to her, looked at Agnes with a confident face.
“Then to the magicians…”
“I’ve already instructed them to stop everything else and focus on making the luminous spheres.”
“And what about the ones to be sent to the palace…”
“Oh, I’ve set those aside and packaged separately.”
