“Whose choice?”

“What?”

“You’re a Grand Duke. Do you think such a thing is allowed?”

I stared at Devan with an absurd expression.

Only a few hours ago, when we had lunch, he was the one who had said that he might or might not go to the Debutante.

“You made it clear earlier…………”

‘Earlier what? I don’t remember saying I wouldn’t be your partner.”

I looked back at my memory.

He said, “I don’t know if I can go to the Debutante. Your partner can be your father or your brother.”

He also said I can say anything I want.

So, in conclusion, at least he didn’t openly reject being my partner.

But it didn’t look like he wanted to either.

“You’ve never asked…have you?”

He looked unhappy as he kept his eyes on his plate.

Don’t tell me he was waiting for me to ask him officially? 

I looked at Pelos and he shrugged. It was almost as if he was encouraging me to do it.

“Um… Devan.”

Despite my call, Devan didn’t move, still his eyes fixed on the plate. Was he really waiting for me to ask?

Looking at his cold expression, I couldn’t believe it at all.

But if that was the case, it wouldn’t have been easy for me to ask him either. We were a couple in a contractual relationship.

I needed a debutante partner anyway, and the best choice was Devan.

It was an opportunity to put all the rumors to rest and make a comfortable debut in the society.

Remembering the girl who had asked Killian to be her partner one day, I finally asked.

“Devan…..will you be my debutante partner?”

Devon’s gaze finally met mine. The red eyes and sharp nose still gave off a surprisingly cold atmosphere.

“I will if you want it so badly….”

Despite saying that, his lips slightly raised. If you don’t pay attention, you wouldn’t notice it.

‘I think it’s cute. Am I crazy? That’s ridiculous. How could a man like that be cute?’

Yes, he was handsome, but there was nothing cute about him. His personality was horrible. It was only natural because of his position, but every word he said was in a commanding tone. Far from being cute, he was a person who didn’t even know how to speak kindly.

But cute?

Before I knew it, I was staring blankly at Devan as he was eating.

“Pfft, puhahahaha!”

At that moment, the sound of Pelos bursting into laughter rang in the hall.

Pouting, I turned and looked at him. He was laughing, even shedding tears.

“What’s so funny?”

“Hahahaha, no no.”

Pelos abruptly left his seat.

“I’m leaving now. I’ve said everything I had to say and done everything I had to do.”

“What do you mean?”

I looked at him with my eyes raised. Pelos just smiled brightly. 

“I’ve already told Devan what I need to say, and I’ve just finished what I need to do.”

At that moment, I felt my face heating up a bit.

Pelos must have been aware of all this. That I and Devan were acting awkwardly.

“Your marriage is kind of unusual, but………..”

He stood up from his chair and passed by me.

Then, just before leaving the hall, he whirled around and said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I have a feeling that it’s going to be successful.”

After greeting gracefully, Pelos quickly disappeared.

***

“Hmm.”

I cleared my throat.

I was quite pleased with my reflection in the mirror.

The elegant white dress was filled with details that could only be seen up close. It was worth the effort of checking each of the hundreds of different fabrics to choose the right one.

In a banquet hall with only white dresses, you couldn’t find a more luxurious fabric.

“You look really good, lady.” The maid smiled brightly and clapped her hand.

We weren’t close enough to say compliments, so her words must be true.

I smiled to myself, satisfied.

“I’ll just smooth your hair quickly.”

The maid sat me down in a chair and began to comb my hair.

My wispy blonde hair hung naturally and was decorated in places with flowers and pearls.

It was luxurious, but not over the top.

The earrings and necklace were all top quality pearls and no other jewelry was used.

“Lady, choose a more colorful accessory.”

The maid said in a disappointed voice.

“This is enough.”

“What do you mean? Lady is so beautiful. You will be the center of attention in the banquet hall.” 

I raised my lips awkwardly as I looked at the maid’s sparkling eyes.

Today was the long-awaited debutante.

Perhaps I would have no choice but to accept the attention even if I were not beautiful.

Two years of disappearance and a sudden marriage.

This alone would be perfect for the people to gossip, but with the breaking the curse of the Grand Duke…..

I sighed even more when I thought about our story, which had swelled as the love of the century with the Grand Duke.

Perhaps there were stories like that circulating in the capital. It would be better to do so, though, to get out of other doubts.

For example, I came to defeat the temple or to find out about black magic. I didn’t want to be suspected of that.

“The carriage is waiting outside.”

“…Okay.”

Debutantes had been held at the Imperial Palace for generations, and it was only a few minutes walk from the detached palace to the Imperial Palace.

It was short enough to take a walk, but it was customary for all ladies to ride a carriage, so it had to be done.

“The seal of the imperial palace is big, so you’ll probably get attention even before entering the banquet hall!”

The feeling of slight eagerness to wear the beautiful dress soon became heavy. I felt like I was going to die from the tension, even though there was nothing constricted in my neck. 

“Oh, and I heard that His Highness is already ready. I think he’ll be in the carriage in advance.”

I nodded and left the room.

The carriage was parked just in front of the detached palace. It was a larger carriage than the one we had ridden in when coming from the Grand Duchy to the capital.

It was white with golden patterns here and there, and as the maid had said, the seal of the Imperial Palace was very large.

The design was a bit too colorful.

And contrary to what the maid had said, Devan was not in the carriage, but standing in front of it. I tried to walk towards him, but  for some reason, I faltered.

In the Grand Duchy, Devan had never dressed up. He always wore dark uniforms, dark robes, and dark things.

However when he came to the palace, he often wore bright clothes.

He was wearing a slightly colorful cloak, a uniform with golden shoulder patches.

Most importantly, perhaps because the black eye patch that had disappeared, his unusual appearance, which had previously been unnoticeable unless you got close to him, now stood out even from a distance.

I had become somewhat immune to his beauty.

Still…… nowadays I felt somewhat troubling when I looked at him.

I wondered why that was, I stood there in a daze, looked the man up and down with my mouth slightly opened.

The black hair that had been hiding his forehead had been swept back, making his deep eyes and the high nose stand out even more.

“What are you doing instead of coming?”

Devan tilted his head.

That made his hair flow to the side, and that was very …..

What am I thinking! I shook my head violently.

“It’s because my shoes are uncomfortable.”

I made a rough excuse and approached him. 

He narrowed his eyes.

“Your shoes? I believe I ordered them to check them several times beforehand.”

His gaze turned to the maid. He seemed to have caught on to my ridiculous excuse so I hurried to get into the carriage.

“It’s fine, let’s get going.”

Devan’s gaze, which was on the maid, immediately turned to me.

“You….”

He wrinkled his brow as if he was unhappy.

Was he upset because I complained that my shoes were uncomfortable?

He let out a low sigh and quickly climbed into the carriage.

Carefully, the door closed and the carriage moved slowly.

It was almost as comfortable as the previous ride, with no jolting, as if by magic. Such luxury for a distance of less than a few minutes.

I looked out the window in a daze as I thought this. However, the scenery was not something I could all recognize. Hmm? I blinked quickly.

“This, where are we going?”

I glanced at Devan and asked him, but he kept his gaze fixed outside the window and didn’t answer. 

“Are we going to the Imperial Palace? It looks strange to me.”

Outside the window was a landscape I had never seen before.

“Is this really the outside of the palace?”

“Do you know when the Debutante will begin?”

I couldn’t even remember what the maid said to me.

She just told me to get up and get ready. It was a stupid move when I thought about it.

“……. Do you have enough time?”

Devan chuckled.

“It would be right to leave now, originally. It’s just that we live right next to the Imperial Palace, and besides, you’re the main character of the event today.”

Main character was an embarrassing term, but I couldn’t deny it.

The debutantes essentially choose the main character of the year. The person chosen had to dance with his or her partner in front of everyone before the banquet began.

And this year, the main character was me, but it was Astrilla’s decision.

“Don’t you think we should arrive earlier because I’m the main character?” (Evelyn)

“It won’t be fun.” (Devan)

Devan looked out the window.

“So what are we going to do?” (Evelyn)

“Just to look around a bit outside.” (Devan)

“Outside?” (Evelyn)

“You said you were curious about the capital.” (Devan)

Curious about the capital? Who? (Evelyn)

I blinked absentmindedly and suddenly remembered the day I first came to the Imperial Palace.