Chapter 6 {2} : Foundation Day, Truth and Sincerity (3)

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Colored dresses spread like paint under the colorful chandelier lights.

Regina, who entered the palace hall, settled on one side with Arsene.

People whispered and glanced at them, but they didn't come close to them. It only took a few steps, but they looked at each other for those few steps.

"Regina!"

At that time, Isota led Kai to Regina.

She had light blonde hair and an ivory dress, and she seemed to shine brightly under the light.

"......Good evening, Duke. "

As she approached, she glanced at Arsene, and although she was reluctant, she bowed her head politely.

"Good evening. Lady Rose and Little Marquis Bellov. It's been a long time since I've seen you."

Contrary to her blatant dislike, Arsene was greeted with a relaxed smile.

Even though she was rude enough and in a position where he could get angry, he acted kind.

She didn't know what he was thinking, but Isota thought it was the winner's smile.

After formally greeting him, Isota paid all attention to Regina.

"Regina, the dress suits you really well. Beautiful. Like an angel I don't think you've ever worn a dress that exposes the shoulders, but it's perfect for you. "

Then she narrowed her eyes and looked at Regina necklace and earring alternately.

"The necklace and earrings... "

When she glanced at Arsene, she frowned as if she didn't like it, but had no choice but to admit it.

"It suits you well. There's no way you can't go wrong with anything."

The jewelry with diamonds was an expensive item that could not be bought unless it was a wealthy man. Isota seemed to be resentful that she had let him do something she couldn't do for Regina. 

But suddenly, Arsene, who was listening, responded to her words. 

“Does Lady think so too? I think so too.” 

Regina looked at him with strange eyes, speaking as if he was matching Isota. What the hell was he thinking, his eyes met hers, and he smiled.

"So it took me a very long time to choose a necklace."

"Hmph. I can choose the one that suits Regina right away."

Isota said she knew more about Regina than Arsene did, and she gave him a confident look. 

She then talked for a long time about what suits Regina.  Arsene heard it again and nodded his head.

Regina was caught between Arsene and Isota, who suddenly acted like arms and legs, and did not know what to do. Her pink eyes turned to Kai, who was quietly sipping wine.

Upon receiving her gaze, Kai tilted his head to the side as if he was like this for a day or two and tilted his glass.

Eventually, Regina gave up and focused on eating cake.

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"But I still have an eye for it." 

After a while, Isota, who finished her conversation, spoke with a joyful expression on her face, but then she hardened her expression as if she had suddenly come to her senses.

It was only now that she realized that she had been caught up by Arsene and that she had been talking hard. 

While she was making a look of resentment again, people who saw them chatting happily staring at her.

Regina found a face she had seen several times.

"Isota."

It was Giles Rose and Isota's half-brother who approached and talked to her.

"Here you are. Oh, Greeting. I'm Isota's older brother Giles Rose." 

Isota's expression wrinkled more harshly than when she saw Arsene. 

Giles smiled broadly despite seeing her face like that, pretending to be a good brother. 

"Go away, please! Why are you pretending to be close all of a sudden?"

"Pretending to be close? I'm upset, Isota."

Giles displeases Isota for suddenly pretending to be close, like a joke on his picky little sister.

But Regina and Kai knew everything about him, so whatever he did seem abominable. 

Arsene was intrigued by how she put on the most ferocious expression had ever seen, and he watched them. 

Immediately realizing that he was using him to make friends with Regina and the Duke of Greroy, Isota pushed them into the center of the hall before Giles could say anything.

"Regina, you haven't even danced a single song since you came right? Now is the perfect time. Go." 

Regina, who was suddenly pushed back, suddenly looked up at Arsene. 

Unlike her, who was embarrassed by the unexpected situation, he led her to the center with a smile as if to do as Isota intended.

Looking back, Giles was frowning as if he was uncomfortable with Isota's interference.

'Isota, will you be okay?'

But now there was a difficulty in front of her.

When Arsene and Regina came to the center, people gathered their eyes.

People who were chatting glanced at them.

Regina, who appeared to be dancing under the blatant gaze, made eye contact with him with a nervous expression. Suddenly, the movement of her limbs felt awkward.

"I've never danced in front of so many people..."

No, she had never danced at a party in the first place.

As if hesitating, she gently wrapped her arms around his waist. Because they stuck closely, they felt close to each other's body temperatures.

"Don't worry. Just following me. I'll help you."

The dance song began and people began to dance at once. Regina squeezed her brain and tried to remember the steps, but soon she didn't have to.

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When she came to her senses, she was really following him as he said. To be exact, it was almost like being led by him and moving.

The dress and ribbon flowed like waves to match the spinning gesture and the sound of the song filled the surroundings.

As she moved her body completely, leaving it to him, she didn't even care about other people's gaze.

"You're good."

It wasn't a skill to say that she was good, but when he said that, she really felt that she was good.

"Don't lie."

She looked elsewhere as if avoiding the gaze she saw on the tip of his chin.

As she turned her head slightly, Isota and Kai looked this way came into her eyes. Giles had gone somewhere.

Arsene, who glanced at the place where her gaze had reached, said as if passing by.

"Usually, she stared at me like she was going to kill me, but I think I'm better than her family."

There was no subject, but it was clear who it meant.

"I knew she was staring at me like she was going to kill me."

"It's so blatant that it's hard not to know."

Even so, he was a wonderful person who smiled so softly and acted like a wall.

Besides, Isota was rude, but he never pointed it out.

Was Arsene originally generous to people who were rude? No, it's not.

'Then maybe...'

Did he turn a blind eye to Isota only because of the influence of the original story? Because he likes her?

At a sudden thought, she looked up and looked at him, and she immediately met the purple eyes.

However, no matter how hard she looked into his eyes, she couldn't notice the feelings and thoughts inside him.

The song ended when Arsene tried to open his mouth as he watched Regina looking at him as if she wanted to read something.

As she returned to his seat, Kai handed him a drink that could lightly moisten her throat.

Unlike Arsene, who declined, Regina gently received what he handed over.

Isota, who was waiting her to take a sip, put her hands together and apologized.

"I'm sorry to push you all of a sudden."

Isota knew that Regina was not originally good at dancing. So it seemed to bother her to push Regina to the center.

But it didn't matter because she knew why. Thanks to Isota, she danced after a long time.

"No, it's okay. Didn't Giles say anything to you?"

Regina looked around to see if he was still nearby, but fortunately it wasn't.

"I don't care anymore no matter what he say."

Then she cursed Giles hard. Kai paid attention to Arsene's gaze and tried to stop her, but he shook his head slightly as if to leave her alone.

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At that time, a short trumpet sound.

"Here comes His Majesty, the Emperor."

The band, the people who were dancing, and the people who were chatting stopped what they were doing and watched Ruairi enter.

Ruairi, who entered the banquet hall, was quite different from what she had seen in the office. If Ruairi, whom she met in the office, was close to the original male protagonist, the person she sees now is definitely an Emperor.

Red hair and red cape drew attention.

The young emperor walked under the gaze of the people, sat in a seat prepared for him, and looked around the crowd.

"Everyone, enjoy the banquet comfortably."

Then he turned his head to talk to his aide.

People who only looked at the emperor like a stopped music box, then began to return. 

As she was looking at the emperor, she suddenly had a question.

Why did Arsene choose Ruairi to become Emperor instead himself?

She thought he would climb to the highest position himself rather than kneel down under someone else.

How does Arsene look at the Emperor sitting there?

Regina, who was looking at Ruairi, looked at Arsene unconsciously to get an answer.

It was because she made eye contact with him as soon as she turned her head.

That purple eyes, she still couldn't tell what was on his mind.

She wondered if he had become fond of Isota or if he still regarded Ruairi as a brother.

However, Regina has already changed from the original, but she couldn't think he would be the same as the original.

If he goes against the flow and doesn't like Isota.

So if there's a little hope that he might like herself, would she still run away?

Turning her head first as if avoiding it, she put down what she was drinking and turned around.

"I'm going to rest for a while."

Perhaps because it's been a while since she danced, her feet felt a little stuffy. Fortunately, her heel didn't peel, but she thought it might have been swollen because of the rush of blood.

She left the seat under the pretext of taking a rest and went out of the banquet hall.

As she instinctively moved her steps, she wondered why she had avoided it. 

As the evening wind brushed against her cheeks, it felt like her mind was cleared. 

Regina took a deep breath and slowly looked around.

The sight of the sunset and fully exposed in the moonlight might seem gloomy, but it gave her a sense of calm now.

'Was that the lounge?'

When she moved, her swollen feet seemed to scream inside her shoes.

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She was heading to the lounge to rest her feet even for a moment, and she could see something next to the pillar of the hallway.

As she stopped her footsteps and walked a little further until she saw a well-dressed man.

The person was looking somewhere blankly, leaning against the pillar, perhaps avoiding the noisy banquet hall.

'The Moon?'

When she looked up, there was a white and bright moon.

Regina, who was about to pass by, stopped walking, thinking he must be a sentimental person.

She thought he was familiar with the silhouette.

"Lou?"

Actually, there wasn't much information they shared with each other to say that they knew each other.

A voice breaking the silence in the hallway reached him. Hearing his name, he turned his head in surprise as if he had cut something.

Looking at his face, she was definitely right.

As she approached him a few more steps, she saw his eyes looking at her stiffly for some reason.

Come to think of it, he seemed to be a nobleman, so it would not be strange to meet at the National Foundation Day party. But he seemed a little surprised.

"I'm seeing you again. I didn't expect to see you at a place like this. What are you doing here?"

"Oh... I was looking at the moon."

She just saw and knew that he was looking at the moon. She didn't ask that, but she decided to move on with such a trivial thing.

Maybe it's because she knows he's a proven person who can attend a party at the Imperial Palace. What she thought was suspicious of the other day has been relieved a little.

Perhaps because of that or the power of the moon, she spoke first without hesitation.

"I guess you don't like this kind of party."

Seeing in the dark, his turquoise eyes could not recognize the original color. 

He looks like he's bewildered and happy, but he's also gloomy, so maybe she's mistaken.

After being quiet as if he had fallen into thought for a moment, he opened his mouth to her question.

"Oh, no.... I used to not like it."

Used to? I was a little surprised, does that meant he likes it now? But I nodded.

“Unless there is a special event, you must participate in the Foundation day party. There is no choice.”

Having said so, she remembered why she had come. Suddenly, her feet felt throbbing.

She had nothing else to do with him, so she bowed her head lightly to head back to the lounge.

"I'm going to rest, too, so I'll get going."

"Wait a minute, Leah–"

Contrary to his expectations, when he tried to hold her, a low voice split between the two.

"Here you are, Regina."

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