“Episode 12”
Ethan had the ability to read the memories of others when he looked into their eyes at a distance close enough for his breath to reach them. However, he couldn’t control his ability, so whenever his eyes met someone else’s, he had to read their memories without exception, often resulting in severe headaches.
“Kind Isabella, are you worried about me?”
As he gently withdrew his left hand, which had been openly stroking the back of her hand, he lazily lifted his lips.
“If you’re worried, you can protect me by my side. Prevent others from approaching me.”
“No matter how careful we are, we can’t prevent all accidents in the crowded ballroom.”
“Don’t worry too much. Even if a woman with a twisted leg leans on me, my gaze will always be on you.”
His words didn’t sound sincere, but faced with his smiling face, she couldn’t argue back.
“Did I seem like a flirt just now? Your expression suddenly darkened.”
“…Forget it.”
Though she sighed loudly enough for him to hear, he continued to smile for a while, seemingly pleased.
As people speculated about potential accidents at the ball, completely unaware…
“Relax. With you in front of me, I couldn’t possibly look at another woman, could I?”
Perhaps sensing my inner turmoil, his straight finger slipped between mine.
As my startled hand tried to pull away, he gripped it even tighter.
“…We’ll arrive soon, just a little longer. Can you wait?”
Cunning Ethan Holden. With eyes gleaming with mischief, he knew I couldn’t refuse.
“It seems we’ve arrived.”
As the carriage came to a halt with a clunk, I tried to step out, holding onto my dress hem, but he grabbed my wrist and leisurely lifted his head.
“There’s one more thing I need to do.”
“…Yes?”
“My dear, would you grant me the honor of being your shadow tonight, by your side?”
It was just a formal procedure. Surely it was a sentence I had heard dozens of times through Simon’s mouth. Why was I suddenly short of breath…
As I hesitated to give permission, Ethan lifted the corner of his lips, looking at me.
“…Dear?”
Perhaps it was because I had grown accustomed to his shirtless appearance strutting around the mansion.
Surely, his chaste, ascetic uniform attire should not have affected me so, but somehow, just looking at him made my face flush.
“Of course.”
As I belatedly opened my mouth, he lightly pressed his lips against the back of my hand. Then, gently wrapping his arms around my waist, he settled me under the carriage.
“It’s an honor. Shall we go now?”
With a tense excitement, we slowly walked into the ballroom.
Under the lofty ceiling, glittering chandeliers sparkled. As I squinted from the brightness, he pulled me closer, pressing our bodies together.
“…Shh, everyone’s looking.”
As I lifted my head, I noticed familiar hazel eyes in the crowd.
As our gazes tangled, time seemed to freeze inside the ballroom, like a scene from a fairy tale.
“Simon Britton…”
It was the uniform I had ordered before autumn came. It suited him just as I had imagined. Then I scanned the women surrounding Simon.
They all had thick curly hair and sharp eyes. Women who could never be me, Simon’s ideal type.
“All pretense of innocence gone.”
“After ten years of courtship, she broke off the engagement with a single letter?”
Who initiated the breakup first? It was a story that was rare but familiar to me.
Although I tried to find the source of the voice, I couldn’t find it no matter how much I looked around.
“She must have been quite a frivolous woman to abandon her fiance, the Earl. What a pity for the Britton family.”
But I realized too late that the unfolding story was completely different from what I knew. Clenching the dress hem with trembling hands, I wanted to scream at the crowd in the ballroom. It wasn’t Simon who was abandoned, it was me.
As I gazed at the empty space with teary eyes, Simon Britton, now mingling in the crowd, raised the corner of his lips casually.
“Shh, it’s all in the past.”
“Holden Duke is a monster, if you set foot in the haunted mansion, you will undoubtedly meet your death.”
Left alone after a family tragedy caused by a fire, he would have stepped into society to ensure that people didn’t forget him. But what awaited him was nothing but scorn and ridicule.
Only then did he realize why the parrots in the haunted mansion were echoing absurd rumors.
Poor man, trapped alone in the desolate mansion, repeating self-condemning words hundreds, thousands of times just to remember his position.
“…Ghost Duke.”
As the name escaped my lips as if under a spell, his eyelids sank with bitterness.
“Yes. I’ve lived half my life surrounded by disgraceful rumors. Now you share the same fate with me. Are you afraid?”
His eyelids lifted slightly. In the moment trapped in emerald depths tinged with possessiveness, the chaotic thoughts that had dominated his mind vanished completely.
“…No.”
“Interesting to hear that in the midst of it all.”
His fingertip gently descended onto my cheek. At the delicate touch, my heart surged fiercely within my chest, trapped in his possessive gaze.
“It’s almost time for a dance. Would you like to dance to change the mood?”
As he led me towards the center of the ballroom, people’s gazes shot towards us like arrows.
Normally, I would have lowered my head in shame under the pouring scrutiny, but the moment our hands met, I felt no fear.
“Relax and move as if leaning on me.”
I surrendered myself to the piano melody echoing through the ballroom. With my left hand lightly resting on his shoulder and my right hand holding his, the skirt of my lavender dress swayed gently like blooming petals.
“Now, shall we spread some scandalous rumors to meet everyone’s expectations?”
As we spun around, supported by his strong arm, the skirt of my dress blossomed like a flower.
“Scandals so scandalous that no other man would dare to look at you twice.”
I noticed Simon, with his thick curly-haired companions, dancing nearby.
Once, I loved his hazel eyes more than my soul. But now, as if to show off, I turned my lips to Ethan’s neck, gazing at Simon.
“…Okay.”
As the dance ended, people gathered in the center of the ballroom, turning their backs one by one to find their connections.
The warmth of the hand intertwined with mine felt shyly embarrassing, so I quietly withdrew my hand from Ethan’s and hurriedly walked away, carrying the cake plate.
“Isabella, wait a moment!”
Ignoring Simon’s voice from behind, I continued walking. It was time to return to the owner who eagerly awaited the parrot, wandering alone in a corner of the ballroom.
In the distance, I spotted him lost in thought with a vacant expression. When our eyes met, a radiant smile bloomed on his face as if frozen.
“Ethan.”
It was just as I was about to push the cake plate forward that a large figure appeared before me out of nowhere, blocking my path.
Looking up at the man with a grin, I saw warm brown eyes.
“Ethan Holden, right?”
“…Daniel Langston.”
Were they acquaintances? Ethan muttered the man’s name with a furrowed brow.
“How long has it been? I wasn’t sure from a distance.”
As Daniel tried to step closer, Ethan’s trembling fingers grabbed my wrist.
As he pulled me closer with force, the cake plate I was holding trembled and fell to the ballroom floor.
Like a frightened child, Ethan hugged me tightly from behind and glared at Daniel.
