COARV Chapter 21

Lesche's gaze traveled up and down my frame.

"Not bad."

"Your eyes and mouth tell different stories. Eyes reveal far more than words can express. You're not skilled at articulation."

I left Begonia with firm instructions to attend the banquet, then departed the room with Lesche.

"Your cheek is still red."

"I made a quick trip to the glacier during the interval."

That would be my excuse.

"Shameless."

A smirk ghosted across Lesche's face.

Outside the door, Linon, Elliot, and several other Berke knights already waited. Since they'd all be attending the ball, they'd dressed more splendidly and formally than usual—a marked departure from their everyday uniforms.

"Your Grace, a moment—"

Elliot approached Lesche with some business. I tactfully withdrew to give them space. Linon materialized at my side.

"Lady Seria! You look absolutely stunning today."

"Thank you. But Linon."

"Yes, miss?"

I beckoned the smooth-talking aide closer. He approached with a puzzled expression, compliant enough despite his confusion.

"......"

Without a word, I extended my open palm toward him. Linon blinked. "Hm? You want my hand? Am I a dog? Woof woof," he asked, then placed his palm over mine. Our skin didn't touch. He'd stopped just short, hovering.

I snatched his hand and clasped it firmly. His eyes went round.

"Lady Seria?"

"You look handsome today, Linon."

"Oh. Yes. Thank... you?"

For once, Linon looked genuinely flustered. I released his hand and smiled.

'So he has mysophobia. But he doesn't avoid my hand.'

Then had he been scrubbing and polishing the annex daily because I was dirty? Why clean it for me otherwise? I'd have to ask when the opportunity arose.

"Let's go, my lady."

"Yes, Your Grace."

Apparently Lesche had finished receiving Elliot's brief report. I walked alongside him toward the main castle's grand ballroom. Linon, Elliot, and the other knights followed at a respectful distance.

"What did you do to Linon?"

The question came suddenly. I glanced back. They still trailed us at a perfectly appropriate interval.

Still, just to be safe, I stretched my neck and whispered near Lesche's ear.

"Linon supposedly has mysophobia. I just experimented. To see if he'd avoid my hand or not."

"He wouldn't avoid your hand, my lady."

"Why not?"

"Who knows. Ask him yourself later."

Lesche's answer only deepened the mystery.

Would he even answer if I asked?

Regardless, I nodded. When I entered the grand ballroom on Lesche's escort, the space already teemed with guests. I surveyed the vast hall with a moment of satisfied pride.

As expected of Seria's aesthetic sense. Magnificent. Splendid.

Seria's taste remained among the memories still lodged in this body. Someone who'd frequented high society as casually as eating meant she likely possessed excellent judgment.

Villainess characters were usually beautiful and refined. Fortunately, Seria fit that mold.

Selecting decorations that pleased me and arranging them harmoniously, adorning the grand ballroom in splendor—the satisfaction ran deep. Decorating a space exactly to my taste with someone else's money proved more entertaining than I'd imagined.

Especially that enormous, lush rose sculpture carved from pink marble. I'd gasped when I discovered such a beautiful, delicate piece buried under thick dust in the Berke castle storeroom.

That's the kind of sculpture even the Grand Duke's estate in the capital would display proudly in their hall for all to see. Pink marble is incredibly rare in this world.

The joy of excavating that vast warehouse made the hard work worthwhile. Though I'd barely explored half of it yet.

Berke truly was remarkable.

A brief intermission before the first dance began. The people who could approach and speak to me during this window were limited.

"Lady Seria Stern?"

When I turned, a knight with a sturdy build bowed his head.

"Sir Johannes."

Johannes. Knight Commander of House Davieu's order.

Over thirty percent of the guests attending this grand ballroom were knights. They'd all dressed neatly in ballroom suits and slicked back their hair, but they were knights nonetheless.

Considering that knights usually comprised less than ten percent of ball attendees, this was triple the normal number. The reason for this peculiar attendance rate was none other than Seria's family—the Keliden Marquisate.

Originally, Kallis and I had planned two wedding ceremonies. One would be the Stern wedding held here in Berke territory.

The other would be the grand noble wedding in Haneton territory. That ceremony would attract prominent nobles from across the empire due to the Haneton Marquisate's standing and influence.

The problem lay with this Stern wedding. For family heads or direct heirs to attend this particular ceremony was complicated by Seria's family—the Keliden Marquisate.

Most nobles knew that Seria had thoroughly antagonized House Keliden. She'd even left Keliden lands entirely and moved to the capital—that spoke volumes.

Of course, Seria's situation wasn't entirely unprecedented. But even in such cases, families typically sent someone as a formality, at least making a show of concern.

Keliden didn't even send anyone to the Stern wedding.

That demonstrated just how poor Seria's relationship with them was. They made no attempt to hide it either.

The Gleick Empire's nobility couldn't afford to ignore either House Keliden or a Stern. So the majority of noble families chose to send their knights to the Stern wedding under the pretext of representation.

Simply put, they were acknowledging House Keliden's feelings while still paying minimum courtesy to Seria, who would become both a Stern and the Marchioness of Haneton.

Either way, both Keliden and Seria are formidable. Enough to make nobles calculate this carefully.

Of course, if forced to choose between them, they'd naturally pick House Keliden. No matter how much of a Stern Seria was, she didn't match the western powerhouse that was the Keliden Marquisate.

"My sincere congratulations on your marriage. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Sir Johannes."

"Not at all. If time permits in the future, please visit House Davieu."

"I will. Please give my regards to the duchess."

"Of course."

Though Sir Johannes had certainly witnessed me collapse at the Stern ceremony, bleeding profusely, he made no mention of that incident. It was social convention, proper etiquette. I simply smiled as if nothing had happened.

After Sir Johannes of House Davieu withdrew, no more knights approached. They all lingered at a distance. Though they clearly wanted to speak with me, watching for an opportunity...

'Not my problem.'

I understood their dilemma and shock perfectly. Seria Stern, who should have become the Marchioness of Haneton, had suddenly married the Grand Duke of Berke instead.

This was serious enough that family heads and their spouses should have rushed here, never mind Keliden or anything else.

They might even be receiving urgent messages and scrambling to get here right now.

Of course, I had no intention of meeting them even if they came.

Among all those knights, Sir Johannes was the only knight commander. House Davieu's gesture showed they'd paid considerable attention to my situation.

The rest are knights whose names I don't even know.

Some families had apparently even sent squires. Unwilling to offend the Keliden Marquisate, they'd sent squires who hadn't even received knighthood yet.

Well, I didn't make an issue of it despite knowing. I didn't seek revenge against those who'd sent me squires or common knights.

In other words, their anxious hovering wasn't my concern. I deliberately turned my gaze away. The noble families' knights who'd been watching for my attention stamped their feet in frustration, but that wasn't my problem either.

Several knights who'd given up on attaching themselves to me changed tactics. Having judged winning my favor impossible, they apparently decided to become wallflowers instead. If they all stood there with gloomy faces, it would feel like they were holding a funeral rite to curse the ball—fortunately, an impressive number of Berke vassals were in attendance to offset that.

"Let's go."

"Yes."

The time had come for the hosts to dance the first dance. As we moved toward the empty dance floor surrounded by nobles pressed against the walls, a minor commotion arose near the entrance. Lina had arrived.

"Shameless. She's not someone who should be at this ball."

"Exactly. Surely Marquess Haneton won't come too?"

"Surely not?"

The noblewomen's whispers struck my ears. As they'd noted, Lina hadn't come with Kallis. Instead, she'd brought her tutor Baron Aison as her partner.

And Lina boldly approached my direction.

When our eyes met, she gasped softly, "Ah...!" Her hand reached toward me as if she had something to say. I pretended not to notice.

Lesche asked in passing tones, "Didn't you revoke her invitation?"

"What reason would I give for that?"

"There are plenty of reasons."

Lesche jerked his chin.

"Then you wouldn't have to see that spectacle."

Around Lina, two or three brave souls from among the knights who'd given up on me were hovering cautiously. Having failed to win my favor, they'd apparently switched tactics to at least gain the saint's goodwill.

If Kallis made an entrance, he'd dance with Lina. That much was obvious.

"I don't care. I'm not the protagonist anyway."

"If you're not the protagonist?"

Perhaps because Lesche asked in such neutral tones, my honest feelings spilled out.

"I just... feel like foreign matter caught between two people."

"Does self-deprecation please you?"

"I don't know what else I should consider myself."

"Seria."

My heart plummeted. Lesche Berke. This man had never called my name like that before. He extended his hand as he continued.

"This party tonight is for you."

"......"

"Not for those other two."

I bit my lip lightly. Lesche's lashes lowered as he watched me. The music began right on cue. An elegant dance similar to a minuet.

My emotions tangled in complexity, shot through with a strangely sorrowful feeling I couldn't identify. Lesche's hand claimed my waist with firm certainty.