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“But then the queen would be left out.”
“What a pathetic excuse. This is merely a custom for places such as these. For this princess to have ignored it and hounded a man of her choice... It’s nothing less than ill-mannered.”
Lady Aurelia spilled these words as if her anger had been bottled and corked. Her voice was becoming higher, making me worry that the princess herself would overhear.
“Why does this anger you so?” asked Lord Nigel.
“It...doesn’t!” Though she began to refute him automatically, she quickly closed her mouth. Indeed. Princess Mira may not be obeying customs, but there’s no need for you to be so upset over it, Lady Aurelia.
She quickly composed herself. “I’m upset with Lord Simeon for playing along with that princess, who pretends to be innocent, whilst throwing me to the sidelines.”
Though my brother and Lord Nigel both looked surprised at her words, they didn’t seem to think they were her true feelings.
Lady Aurelia... Thanks to you, I no longer feel anxious. Oh, you’re just so cute! At your core, you’re truly pure!
“I love you, Lady Aurelia!” I gave her my feelings with all my might.
“I see you’ve gone mad from shock. Please speak in a language that humans can understand.”
“You’re mad on my behalf because I’m being shunned, yes? For you to be mad for a friend... You’re so brilliant I can’t look at you directly, Lady Aurelia! I love you!”
“You are not my friend! I despise you! I am simply upset at the immoral infidelity in front of me!”
“Oh, I know! Why don’t we dance, just the two of us? It’s fun for women to dance together.”
“Which one of us would be the man? Wait—no! I don’t want to dance with the likes of you!”
Lord Nigel turned to Gerard. “I’d thought the two of them were rather close, but what exactly is their relationship?”
My brother grimaced. “They’re...childhood friends, in a way. Though I wouldn’t describe them as close.”
It wouldn’t have been right for the king to miss the first dance, so he and the queen were on the floor at the same time as Princess Mira. Prince Severin was also in the center. Julianne’s gotten quite good at dancing. The duke’s family must be training her hard.
The song soon came to an end, and those three noble couples stopped dancing. The crowd around them gave a huge round of applause.
Lady Aurelia poked me with her fan. “Here, now’s the time. Go take Lord Simeon back.”
“I can’t.” I fidgeted. “Lord Simeon is in the middle of his guard duty.”
“It’s because you’re like this that the faux-innocent princess is able to do as she pleases!”
“We still don’t know if her coquettishness is an act or not.”
“That isn’t the point!”
Lord Nigel chuckled and shook his head at our banter. “I’ll lend you a hand, so go in the meantime.”
Huh? Before I could ask what he meant, he walked forward with his long legs, striding through the audience, straight for Princess Mira, who was still talking to Lord Simeon. Was she asking for another song? Lord Nigel cut in, spoke to her for a short moment, then offered her his hand. Without delay, Lord Simeon took several steps back. Prince Severin was standing off to the side, and at his behest, the princess took Lord Nigel’s hand and moved back out to the dance floor.
Lady Aurelia’s hand shoved my back. I grabbed my skirt and hurried over to where Lord Simeon was stationed along the wall. I didn’t have the courage to run straight through the crowd like Lord Nigel had. Bugs were meant to move quietly in the corners.
Though I was moving as fast as I could, I was suppressing my presence and footsteps. It just so happened to be a song during which everyone was free to dance as they pleased, which provided the perfect environment for me to slip into. I made it to my destination without being seen by most, but once I was there, I couldn’t find Lord Simeon. Hmm? Did he go outside?
The nearby open door was the one the hosts had entered through. Would it be all right for me to use it? Right as I glanced over, a hand shot out from the shadow of the door and grabbed my arm.
“Wah!”
My shocked form was pulled into an embrace by a large body. The arms closed around me so tightly that it practically hurt. The person’s head was nudging against mine, as if to get as close as possible, and I was enveloped in an all-too-familiar scent. I could feel silky hair against my cheek. I attempted to wrap my arms around that broad back, but it was far too wide. I’d gone for the upper back but ended up embracing the lower back. It was hard to move within the tight hug.
“Marielle...”
“Are you all right?” I murmured. I patted Lord Simeon where I could. We were hidden between the door and the wall, confirming each other’s presences for the first time in several days.
“Are you”—he took a shaky breath—“mad?”
“I’ll forgive you if you buy me a castle with a good view of the ocean.”
“I’ll buy you a castle, a fort, whatever you want.”
“A fort? Quite the princely idea you have there. But what would the heroine do with a whole fortress?”
“What?”
He looked up, loosening his grip on me. I used that chance to whip out my notebook and jot down those lines of dialogue.
“Thank you for your cooperation. I’ll be using this in my new work.”
All he did was sigh silently in response and readjust his glasses. He seemed to have regained himself, so his face returned to the cold, demon Vice Captain I knew.
I tucked my notebook away in my hidden pocket and once again made sure my beloved husband was all in order. We’d only been apart for a short while, but it had felt like forever. Up close, he was beautiful. His pale complexion could imply to some that he was frail, but his body had been fortified through intense training, and no weakness could be seen within the sharp glint of his eyes. He possessed the beauty of a white lily and the strength and flexibility of a wild beast, though his stiff glasses told of high intelligence, further deepening his idiosyncrasies. Looks, power, brains—these three elements struck a perfect balance, creating the man known as Simeon Flaubert. It was only natural for a princess to have fallen for him. With someone like this constantly nearby protecting you, anyone would be head over heels.
That aside, he seemed just as fine as he’d described himself in his letters. Thank goodness. It’s the elegant, cool Lord Simeon I know and love.