“Is this really okay?”
Pristin murmured with a somewhat uneasy voice. Jerald, who was placing his hand on her back, asked with a puzzled tone in response to Pristin’s voice,
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone is only looking this way.”
“Of course they are.”
Jerald replied casually.
“Because I’m dancing the first dance of my birthday with you.”
“…”
“With me.”
“I know, but…”
Pristin spoke in an embarrassed voice.
“As expected, it’s burdensome.”
“What’s so embarrassing?”
Jerald laughed quietly.
“When will you hold my hand confidently?”
“Maybe I was momentarily out of my mind.”
“No, you weren’t. Perhaps jealousy gave you courage.”
Pristin exhaled silently in response to the retort that made her speechless. He was right. At that time, her jealousy of Tanya preceded anything else, and her hands reacted at will.
“I’m worried that after the dance, everyone will look at me with an ugly expression.”
“If that worries you, then I’ll stay by your side even after the dance. How about that?”
“…That’s a simple solution.”
“There’s no need to worry too much.”
Jerald then leaned down to Pristin and whispered,
“The music is starting.”
Jerald slowly began to move his feet to the music, and Pristin did the same. As she remembered, this was her second dance with him after reuniting.
But it was the first time she had danced in front of so many people. Pristin’s body was very nervous, and Jerald noticed it.
“Why are you so stiff?”
“…”
“Are you nervous?”
“It’s just… It’s a burden to think that everyone is looking at me.”
“Oh, my. You can’t cover your eyes and dance.”
Jerald laughed playfully and then asked Pristin,
“Shall we leave if you’re too nervous?”
“Where are you suggesting?”
“The terrace. Just the two of us.”
“Today is Your Majesty’s birthday celebration. We should stay here.”
Pristin shook her head and then said,
“It’s because it’s my first time. I’ll try to relax as soon as possible.”
“You don’t have to force yourself to do that. I can lead.”
As Jerald said, his dance skills were high-quality, so Pristin was very nervous, but it was not noticeable to others at all.
After a while, Pristin asked carefully,
“When the dance is over, everyone will ask about our relationship, how do I answer them?”
“Let’s say we’re getting married.”
“Are you serious?”
“Are you not going to marry me?”
In the midst of Pristin’s surprise at the sudden marriage talk, Jerald finally realized and inquired with a sheepish expression,
“Ah, did I propose too unromantically?”
“No. That’s not it…”
“I’m kidding, Pristin. I don’t intend to propose this way.”
“No, Your Majesty. What I meant was… Are you okay with this?”
“What wouldn’t be okay?”
Jerald responded with a serious expression devoid of laughter.
“I had intended to marry you anyway. In fact, I wanted to propose as soon as we reunited, but…”
“…”
“I had no choice but to put it on hold because you didn’t like me at the time.”
“But what if everyone opposes? I’m essentially a fallen noble.”
“A fallen noble? But you were originally a noble.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Shh, Pristin. I know you’re worried and concerned about me a lot, but you don’t need to think about such things. Because it’s a problem I need to solve.”
“…”
“You just need to say that His Majesty loves me very much to everyone.”
“But won’t the other empress candidates be upset?”
“Well, if we say we fell in love after that, and…”
Jerald whispered, making friendly eye contact with Pristin.
“I don’t think they were unaware of our relationship. So let’s not worry about unnecessary things.”
“I see.”
Pristin nodded and looked a little relaxed, and it was only then that Jerald’s expression was filled with relief. Pristin then asked carefully again a moment later,
“Surely, even if that’s the case, you’re not planning to announce our marriage today, are you?”
“I haven’t even been given permission from the person concerned.”
In fact, Pristin had been prepared to accept this natural progression as a proposal, but she somehow felt that Jerald might not want that.
“It’s too hasty to announce it today. For now, let’s just…”
After a moment of thought, Jerald opened his mouth.
“Let’s just leave it at me loving you very much. Is that okay?”
“…Yes.”
Pristin smiled with a slightly red face, and Jerald continued the dance again, gently leading Pristin.
And after some time, the music was finally over.
“That was wonderful.”
After the dance ended, Jerald whispered softly, kissing the back of her hand.
“Now everyone will understand. What our relationship is.”
“It sounds like you’ve been waiting for that very eagerly.”
“It was something I never dared to hope for until I met you again.”
Jerald, who once again kissed the back of Pristin’s hand, asked her,
“If you’re uncomfortable, I can stay with you.”
“Today is not the place for our wedding announcement.”
There must be a lot of people to talk to, but she didn’t want to cloud the atmosphere with herself. Pristin spoke to Jerald in a voice that told him not to worry too much.
“I’m feeling much more relaxed than before. I’ll try to handle it myself.”
“Let me know if Princess Gennant bothers you. I’ll run to you right away.”
“… You’re reliable.”
Pristin replied with an irresistible smile, which elicited a pleased smile from Jerald.
After giving her hand a final, polite kiss, they reluctantly parted ways. And there was someone who approached Pristin first as she was left alone.
“Countess.”
It was Aruvina. Pristin was very relieved that she met Aruvina first after her separation from Jerald. It felt like she had found peace of mind.
“Madame Korsol.”
“Drink it.”
What Aruvina gave to Pristin was a colorless liquid.
“It’s water. I didn’t bring any alcohol, in case you’re feeling hot.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“I’m glad I didn’t bring it. Your face is quite red right now.”
Pristin smiled slightly at the words. She emptied out all of the cup of water Aruvina had brought her, then murmured,
“I don’t know if I’m overly self-conscious. I feel like everyone’s looking at me.”
“It’s not an excess of self-consciousness, it’s a fact.”
Saying that, Aruvina pointed her finger at a group on the other side.
“Look, they’re all coming to the countess.”
To be precise, they were all empress candidates. Pristin asked Aruvina with a trembling look on her familiar faces,
“They won’t all be throwing stones at me, will they?”
“I’ll intervene if they do.”
“… I’m relieved.”
Pristin smiled anxiously at Aruvina, who spewed loyal answers instead of ‘no way’.
“Countess.”
And at last the empress candidates arrived before Pristin. Of course, Tanya was excluded. Pristin looked at them with a rather nervous expression.
“I saw you dancing with His Majesty.”
“I was surprised.”
Is this the beginning? It was time for Pristin to swallow her dry saliva with tension.
“You two look so good together.”
“Your dancing was like a picture!”
Unexpected words came in. Pristin looked at them surprised by the unexpected situation, and one of the empress candidates asked Pristin with a smirk,
“Did you think we didn’t know?”
“What? But…”
“We’ve been keeping our distance since we entered the palace. It was obvious that His Majesty was forced to accept the candidacy for empress.”
“It is an honor for us to be nominated as empress anyway. And if we don’t become His Majesty’s empress, it doesn’t mean we can’t marry for the rest of our lives.”
“I guess you thought we wouldn’t know. You’re too naive.”
The empress candidates began to chuckle, and Pristin muttered with an awkward expression,
“To be honest, I didn’t intend to deceive anyone. Until all of you entered the palace, I… I didn’t know it would turn out like this.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter, after all the countess is a good woman anyway.”
“If you weren’t a good person, you’d be watching when Princess Gennant presented us with infertility soap. It was none of your business.”
“And from our perspective, it’s better for the the countess to be empress than Princess Gennant. We don’t want the Gennant family’s influence to grow any further.”
“Anyway, congratulations. Are you going to announce the marriage soon? Maybe today?”
“No. Not today… Thank you anyway.”
Pristin was stunned and relieved at the unexpected flow.
“I was worried that you might feel betrayed.”
“Betrayed? If that were the case, we wouldn’t have been so friendly with the countess.”
“Yes. You were worried for nothing.”
Pristin was able to spend the rest of her time more comfortably thanks to the favorable response of the empress candidates. A few noblewomen and ladies-in-waiting approached her to offer their congratulations, and Pristin crossed the threshold of Jerald’s birthday celebration without hearing a single word of criticism against her.
“Where’s Princess Gennant?”
However, no matter how much she looked around the banquet hall, she couldn’t see Tanya.
“Did she just leave out of embarrassment?”
It bothered her. It wasn’t pity or sympathy, but she was worried that she might have a vicious mind because she had such a disgrace today.
‘…Well, I’ll be extra careful from now on, anyway.’
Isn’t she already a person with a record? And worrying about it won’t change anything anyway. It was when Pristin was about to quickly erase the worries from her head and then talk to others again.
‘…Oh, by the way.’
Suddenly realizing that midnight was approaching, Pristin spoke up with a determined expression.
“I’m sorry, but I think I should head back now.”
“Oh my, already?”
“Just stay and chat with us a little longer.”
“Actually, I’m not feeling too well today. Let’s talk another time.”
“Well, if that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do about it. Go inside and rest well.”
Pristin left after asking everyone for their understanding. Aruvina then asked her anxiously,
“Are you not feeling well?”
“No, actually…”
Pristin hesitated for a moment, then asked Aruvina for a favor.
“Madame Korsol, could you call His Majesty?”
