CATB Chapter 10

The banquet had now reached its peak.

As soon as I was alone, Wilhelm, who approached me without hesitation, led me around to meet his academy friends and various young nobles.

Half of the gazes directed at me were fear and disgust thinking of my past self, while the other half were lust and desire as they looked at me. Either way, both were equally nauseating and irritating.

Perhaps even this should be considered excessive for what the past Alexa deserved.

I was no longer treated like a beast, and there were a few, though rare, who showed interest in me.

But I was an ordinary human. I had lived that way for at least 24 years.

Bearing all those intense gazes alone was exhausting work.

I sighed and picked up a glass.

The wine sliding down my throat had a sweet finish.

Then, just as when I had entered, a sudden quiet silence fell over the banquet hall.

And soon it became noisy again.

The silence was brief, but the murmuring was loud.

'Seems there's another person like me.'

I giggled and swallowed the remaining wine.

Then the murmuring grew louder.

I naturally followed the crowd's gaze.

At its end stood a black silhouette.

Black hair, overwhelming presence and intimidation, plus unfathomably deep black eyes—his presence was tremendous.

The man approached the king.

The king's smile, natural as if stamped from a mold, suddenly froze.

After finishing the formal greeting, he began conversing with his companion.

I continued watching him.

He was mysteriously captivating.

No, he couldn't help but be captivating.

With that level of looks, no one could resist continuously staring at him.

Even now, weren't they murmuring and stealing glances?

To be able to draw the crowd's attention to this degree—what remarkable presence.

I could see the king was also constantly conscious of him.

However, since entering the banquet hall, that man's expression hadn't changed even once.

No, did he even have expressions to begin with? The word 'void' seemed to suit him better.

'F*cking perfect type.'

I giggled to myself. To think I'd discover my ideal type here, one I'd never even seen in Korea.

From his calm steps forward to his deliberate but precise movements when lifting his glass—this man seemed born for my taste.

I grinned and kept stealing glances at the man.

"Sister Alexa, who are you looking at like that..."

Wilhelm, who had briefly left and returned to my side, followed my gaze to the man.

He grimaced.

"Who is that person?"

"That's Grand Duke Belkellion."

"Hmm, Belkellion... Is he married?"

What a beautiful name too.

As I asked Wilhelm while staring at the man absent-mindedly, he roughly grabbed my wrist.

It didn't actually hurt much. My sturdy arms for a woman and Wilhelm's delicate grip strength for a man were about equal, so I could easily shake him off, but I decided to be obedient for my younger brother's pride, whom I was meeting for the first time today.

"Sister, that man is cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Yes, look at those chilling black eyes. He's a very violent and cruel person."

"Didn't you say he was a grand duke? Like family to us..."

"He's not family."

Wilhelm said firmly.

"Thirty years ago, King Lirtar II made a pact with demons to protect the kingdom's peace in the unstable continental situation. The demons demanded that their daughter, born from dalliance with humans, be made queen. Though she was only half-demon, her power and ferocity were excessive, so the late king had no choice but to depose and execute that demon. The one born between the late king and the demon is that man. Honestly, I doubt whether he's even of the late king's true blood. Black eyes and black hair are demon traits, not human traits. His Majesty graciously granted him the title of grand duke and recognized him as royalty, but I'm still suspicious. Who knows when those black eyes will blaze ferociously and come to slaughter us... Phew, he's untrustworthy. They should have just killed him along with the demon's execution..."

From the seething Wilhelm, I read fear.

He was afraid. Of the overwhelming difference in power visible between him and that Grand Duke Belkellion.

It would be impossible for Wilhelm, who would ascend to the throne as the next king, to command the grand duke as a subject.

He lacked both the boldness and capacity for it.

I snorted.

"Why are you laughing?"

Seeing me suddenly laugh, Wilhelm asked.

I patted his shoulder.

"Fear easily turns into hatred, little brother. However,"

"....."

"Don't let that hatred turn into inferiority complex."

"....."

"That makes a person terribly ugly."

I glanced briefly at Ariel, surrounded by young ladies on the opposite side of the banquet hall, then left.

"Si-Sister! Where are you going!"

"To get some fresh air."

Since the banquet was at its peak, no one was on the terrace.

I quickly threw off the corset that had been binding my entire body to the floor.

"Damn thing."

It was such a horrible contraption that I wanted to stomp on it and break it to pieces just thinking about it.

I would never wear a corset again.

The pain I had to endure just to adorn my appearance was too great.

Women of this era were certainly strong.

As I enjoyed the cool breeze, refreshment and melancholy came paradoxically together.

My cheerful mood had long since disappeared.

What was I doing here?

Why was I trying to continue life in this place where not a single person welcomed me?

I looked down below the terrace.

It was about three stories high, not particularly tall, but sharp fence spikes like spears surrounded the garden below, so if I fell, I would be impaled on those spikes and die instantly.

If my heart were pierced straight through, I could reach death immediately.

If I could end the previous world with death and begin this world, if I ended this world with death, couldn't I return there again?

The end of the iron fence gleamed in the moonlight.

I clenched my hands to resist the urge to jump down there.

Why did I want to go back so desperately?

There wouldn't be anyone there anyway.

No one to see, no one to love, no one waiting for me.

A life lived thoroughly alone. How was it different from here?

Then what about this place?

No different at all.

Wherever I go, I'm alone.

Ah, at that terrible sense of loss, I trembled.

One teardrop slowly rolled down my cheek.

And the next drop began to flow, and another drop slowly began to fill, preparing to fall.

'How pathetically miserable...'

Resenting my inexplicably emotional self, I took another step forward.

So that this refreshing night breeze passing by me could dry my tears.

Then someone grabbed my wrist and turned me around.

It was incomparably stronger and more forceful than Wilhelm's weak grip from earlier.

My reflexively turned body slammed into the chest of whoever had turned me around.

Perhaps realizing he had pulled me too hard, the silhouette before me released my wrist and stepped back from me.

I raised my head.

In the space where moonlight was the only illumination on the terrace, pitch-black eyes were looking down at me. There was only one person with black eyes at this banquet. I tried calling the name I suspected.

"Grand Duke Belkellion."

At the same moment, the last teardrop pooled around my eyes slid down my cheek.

He seemed surprised that I knew his name, raising his eyebrows, then seemed to see my falling tears and his eyes lit up.

And his hand slowly approached.

Even until his warm thumb touched my cheek to wipe away the tear tracks, my eyes remained fixed on his face.

Nothing appeared on the grand duke's face.

Only his expressionless face was gazing at my cheek.

Contrary to his handsome face, with his cold gaze and the intimidation emanating from his entire body, I understood why everyone felt fear in his presence. However, from the warmth his hand left on my cheek, I thought that perhaps the rumors about him weren't completely true.

The person before me who caught me and wiped my tears was certainly kind. The way he had hurriedly released his hand, worried he might have hurt me with his grip strength, was even cute. It was just that his appearance didn't look that way at all.

A brief silence settled between us.

It was strange that it wasn't awkward at all despite meeting for the first time today.

I spotted silhouettes approaching the terrace from far away.

It was time to go.

I raised my head and smiled sweetly at him looking at me.

And I stood on my tiptoes and left a brief kiss on his right cheek.

I thought my not-so-modest height would easily reach his cheek, but because he was taller than expected, I had to lift my heels with all my strength.

There was a soft sound, and until I returned to my position, he looked dazed.

"Thank you for comforting me, Grand Duke."

I curtsied slightly and left the terrace. It was a small gesture of gratitude to a kind person.