“hah…”
Elaine fled to the balcony on the far right of the second floor where Sergey had told her to go and only took her breath after closing the balcony’s window.
“Lark must have lost his mind.”
She’d never seen Lark seem to lose his mind before.
She also did not understand the attitude that seemed to be obsessed with her.
As Elaine told him, she would be someone who was ‘nice to have, but not necessary’ to Lark.
‘What on earth are you planning? What else are you trying to get from me?’
‘I had nothing for him to covet. I didn’t have the jewels that my mother had kept that Rubaine had been looking for, and I didn’t have anything else of use.’
At best, it was a ploy to send her to the temple instead of Damon, and later on, she could be sent as a second wife to a wealthy nobleman.
‘Even if it’s just a small amount of money, Lark isn’t the type of person who would mind spending money.’
Even among the nobles, there were not many families as wealthy as Count Newt. There were rumors that Rubaine was eating away at the wealth accumulated by his ancestors, but it was not noticeable.
When she thinks about it like that, she feels like Lark was doing that to torment her.
Then suddenly a bitter thought occurred to her.
‘I’m of no use to Sergey either, right?’
‘Even though I’m a full-time chaplain, I can’t help but feel like I’m just another insect who plays around at Count Lindell’s house.’
‘I was being paid too much for the work I was doing, and everyone was being nice to me for no reason. I even thought that I would feel better if I worked as a maid like I did when I lived at Count Newt’s house.’
‘I think I should write at least one wish to Rabes for Sergey. But is there anything Sergey can’t achieve on his own?’
It was a family with more money than Count Newt.
He had a huge network of connections abroad and was someone whom the crown princess and the prince would come to for help.
With that much wealth and power, what else could he not achieve besides becoming emperor?
‘It didn’t seem like he wanted to become emperor.…’
Elaine sighed again.
Then, suddenly, the balcony door opened wide and Sergey rushed in.
“Elaine! Are you okay?”
“Oh, my god! What’s wrong all of a sudden, Sergey? What’s wrong?”
“That’s what I want to ask. Is everything okay?”
“Ah….After parting ways with Debbie, I ran into Prince Abel and Lark on the way here, and it was a bit uncomfortable, but nothing really happened. Oh, I got a little scratch on my arm…”
Elaine looked down at her forearm, remembering the long scratches she had received when she had pushed away Lark’s hand, thinking that others would find it strange.
“Uh…?”
“What’s wrong, Elaine?”
“Oh, oh, no! It’s nothing. Nothing really happened. Don’t worry.”
“Didn’t you say you scratched your arm earlier?”
“No! I guess I was mistaken.”
Elaine laughed awkwardly, rubbing her bare arm.
‘The wound…doesn’t exist!’
‘There’s no way I could have been mistaken.’
The pain from being scraped against the rough surface of the pillar was still vivid, and the fingertips that had touched the flowing red blood were still covered in hardened blood.
“I’ve cut my hands a lot, or fallen and scraped my knees. But those wounds heal in a day or two, so I’ve never had to suffer from them.”
“That’s strange too. Usually, if you get hurt like that, it takes a week to heal.”
It seemed like she could hear Debbie’s voice telling her she was strange.
“Are you sure it’s okay? If it was okay, why…!”
“huh…?”
“Ah…No, nothing.”
Elaine looked at Sergey in confusion, who looked angry and couldn’t speak anymore after “Why”.
But because the wound quickly disappeared, she didn’t have the presence of mind to look deeply into Sergey’s feelings.
If Elaine had been able to see inside his head, she would have spent all her energy trying to stop him.
‘These damn humans dare touch my contractor?’
Elaine borrowed his magic for the first time. To Prince Abel, or Lark.
‘As expected, first impressions are the last impression. I didn’t like either of them from the start!’
Sergey was just finishing up his conversation with Anais when the Rekuro spell was suddenly activated and he jumped out of his seat.
The fact that Elaine, who had never used his powers in all the frustrating situations at Newt’s, had to use her magic in the crowded banquet hall meant that she had been threatened to the point where she had to do so.
Sergey was angry that Elaine wasn’t even safe during the short time she walked across the banquet hall when he had placed protective and illusionary magic on the balcony to prevent something like that from happening, and that the banquet hall was full of people who were dangerous to Elaine.
‘It’s annoying, should I just burn it all?’
While Sergey was seriously considering burning down the palace gardens first, Elaine, who had been watching Sergey, who seemed very angry, carefully grabbed the end of his sleeve.
“Excuse me, Sergey. Did I do something wrong?”
“Huh? No.”
“Or did you hear bad things because of me?”
“No. Why would you think that?”
“But if it’s not that, I don’t think you have anything to be upset about….”
Only then did Sergey realize that Elaine was glancing at the wrinkle between his eyebrows.
He quickly changed his expression and raised the corners of his mouth.
“I looked around the banquet hall, but you weren’t there.…I was just asking if something had happened. If nothing happened, then that’s fine.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
“You’re welcome. Now, shall we go down and dance? We haven’t danced our debutante’s first dance yet, right?”
“Yeah…!”
Elaine felt her cheeks blushing, but she was not capable of controlling even one part of her body with her human strength.
She was thinking of reciting the Recuro spell again, but Sergey didn’t seem to mind, so she let it go.
As Elaine was escorted back to the banquet hall on the first floor by Sergey, an announcement was made to introduce this year’s debutantes.
“Ah, I guess the debutante ball is finally about to start.”
“You’d better get ready, Elaine. When your name is called, don’t panic, just step forward and say hello. You know that.”
“Oh…Probably my name won’t be called.”
Elaine smiled, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Since this was her first time attending a banquet as Sergey’s partner, she now had a reason to show her face in society, and this could be seen as her debut in society.
However, a formal debut only meant being called by name and greeted at a debutante banquet, and to do so, the family had to notify the imperial family in advance.
‘”Newt wouldn’t have put my name on the list.’
Newt didn’t want Elaine’s name on the list and Elaine had also consistently refused Newt’s offer to support her as a debutante, so there’s no way Newt would have put her name on the list.
But Sergey just smiled and shook his head.
“I told you, today is your debutante.”
“But to be called—”
“Don’t be embarrassed when your name is called.”
Elaine felt uneasy around Sergey, who seemed to have some kind of ulterior motive.
‘If I were to be introduced as ‘Miss Elaine Newt of the Count Newt’ in front of all these people, I would be met with looks of contempt and ridicule.’
But she couldn’t hold onto Sergey and ask him in detail, and just watched as the names of the young ladies were called.
“Next up is Miss Ellie Newt of the Count Newt!”
Finally, Count Newt’s name was called.
Ellie stepped forward, smiling broadly, wearing a pink dress with tons of ribbons and frills, and bent her knees slightly.
Although the Young Lady’s excitement and shyness about her debut could be felt, her attire was neither as refined nor as elegant as Count Newt’s status.
‘Am I next?’
Elaine swallowed hard, her heart pounding and a cold sweat breaking out.
“Next is the Count Demain’s…”
However, there was no introduction as ‘Elaine of the Count Newt’.
“Hah, thank goodness….”
Elaine sighed in relief at the thought that she wouldn’t have to face people’s harsh stares, but on the other hand, she felt a little embarrassed about seeing Sergey.
But he told me not to be at ease.
“Next up, in… sponsored by the Count of Lindell, is Miss Elaine Newt!”
“What?”
Elaine asked back without realizing it, but when Sergey poked her side, she hurriedly took a step forward, lifted the hem of her skirt, and slightly bent her knees.
She felt like sweat was running down her back.
‘A debutante sponsored by Count Lindel, what does that mean…?’
Elaine wasn’t the only one thinking that way, as people could be seen whispering and looking at each other here and there.
But contrary to what Elaine thought would be a cold response, she received as much applause as the other young ladies. No, the applause was louder than that of most young ladies.
‘What happened? This could never have happened in my previous life…’
Elaine, completely unaware that Sergey was standing behind her and pressuring those around him with his murderous gaze, stepped back in her seat, puzzled by that incomprehensible situation.
“Good job.”
Sergey whispered in Elaine’s ear.
It was a simple compliment, just a courtesy, but Elaine felt as if something invisible had grabbed her shoulders and stretched her back.
‘Yes, I am Sergey’s partner today. If I am shy, Sergey will look funny.’
‘Moreover, I had already been labeled ‘sponsored by Count Lindell,’ though I couldn’t understand.’
‘Now it was time to become a patron worthy of the fame of Count Lindell.’
Elaine lifted her gaze from where it had fallen to the floor and smiled softly at the people still looking at her.
Although there were some who looked at her with disdain, Elaine flicked her earrings and smiled sweetly at Sergey, as if to dismiss them.
In the meantime, the debutantes’ introductions were over, and the center of the ballroom cleared as Princess Anais clapped her hands twice.
“Finally, the debutantes’ first dance. Can you do well?”
“Yes, I’ll try.”
Sergey grabbed Elaine’s nervous hand tightly and led her to the middle of the hall.
* * *
