By a certain point, I thought it’d never happen.
I’d remained relentless in my attempts at approaching Nadir, but whenever I’d visited his home, I’d been turned away at the door. Maybe he was avoiding me. Even at the palace he escaped my grasp.
But the deadline for the repayment remained on the horizon. I couldn’t simply keep focusing on him forever.
And so, I gave up on pursuing him alone and decided to pour my energy back into attending balls... Which, in the end, didn’t work. I still couldn’t find a suitable partner.
Here I was now, on relatively good terms with Leticia, without ever having gotten anywhere with Nadir. And that made me wonder: why had I been invited to this ball?
Granted, it was a valuable opportunity to try and find a match, so of course I’d sent in my RSVP. Today was the day of the ball, hosted by Duke Dorman himself.
A servant approached me at the reception. “Lady Brianna, correct? Please, this way.”
I was escorted somewhere else, separate from the other attendees. How odd. Normally at a ball I would’ve simply been taken directly to the venue. Puzzled though I was, I didn’t want to cause a scene, and so I followed as instructed. Upon arriving at a room a little ways from the ballroom, the servant asked me to go inside, then left.
Wait, was I supposed to just walk on in? Why hadn’t they opened the door for me?
Displeased, I hesitantly pushed it open to find a man standing inside the room: the son of the host, next in line for the title of Duke Dorman—Nadir Dorman.
He looked at me, and his expression instantly soured.
“Have you heard of knocking?” he asked. Which, fair point, but he could’ve been less rude about it, especially after deliberately having me brought here. Paying no mind to my pursed lips, he continued, “Your chest’s too big.”
“I-I beg your pardon?!” I stammered, unable to contain my astonishment.
“Only someone vulgar would show off such ample cleavage like that,” he said. Without preamble, he turned and called out, “Hey!”
Promptly, a servant answered his summons, presenting me with a shawl.
“Put this over your shoulders, you indecent woman,” he grumbled.
“I-I am not indecent!” I protested. Still, it was rather chilly, and so I draped the shawl over myself as instructed. The fabric was of very high quality. I ran my hand over it several times, thinking I might never get the chance to touch something like this again.
Satisfied after watching me put on the shawl, Nadir began to walk away, saying, “Now let’s go.”
“What? Go where?” I asked, hurriedly following after him.
“What do you mean, ‘go where?’ There’s a ball going on.”
“I know that!”
“We’re going to the venue.”
“What?”
We were going to the ball? Like this? Wait. Wait, did that mean—
“You want me as your partner for tonight?” I asked.
“That’s right.”
What did he mean, “that’s right”?! Nothing was right about this!
“No, thank you!” I snapped. “I’m trying to find myself a husband!”
“Go ahead,” he replied flatly.
“How, exactly, with you by my side?!”
“Then don’t.”
How dared he say that so nonchalantly, when I was over here attending ball after ball as if my life depended on it! Which it did!
I stopped walking to try and refuse, but he took my right hand and began to drag me along.
“The people around me won’t stop pestering me to settle down,” he explained. “I’ll see to it that you’re rewarded, so shut up and follow me.”
“No!” I protested. “Absolutely not! Pretend or not, our difference in status is too great for a proper match! It’s best not to!”
“Unfortunately for you, my parents are believers in love over status. I can deceive them quite easily.”
“No way!”
Despite my continued attempts at refusal, we soon arrived at the entrance to the venue.
“I can hardly believe you’re the same woman who once tried to attack me,” he remarked.
“That was strictly because I thought if someone saw it, they’d think we’d done the deed and I’d have secured a marriage!”
Of course, now I knew better and just wanted to keep out of trouble. Nadir knew this, but the corners of his lips curled up into a smirk anyway.
“Well, lucky you, then,” he said. “Now everyone will think you’re with me.”
“Nooo!”
Despite my shout of refusal, the outcome had already been decided. I was a woman and he was a man, after all.
The doors to the ballroom slowly opened, and the enthusiastic atmosphere filled the air. Conversely, my own enthusiasm crumbled away.
Beside me, a broad grin played upon Nadir’s fine features.