CHAPTER 46……………………………..
The two of them looked surprised by my sudden suggestion. They didn’t accept the invitation right away and exchanged glances.
“It would be an honor if you invited me, but… I worry a sudden visit might be discourteous to the Count and Countess.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. The two of them often go off on little trips together and will only be returning tomorrow. Today, it’s just me and Luna at the mansion.”
Noah flinched at Luna’s name.
“In that case… refusing the invitation would also be rude…”
As expected, he accepted the invitation as if he had no choice. But there was no way I wouldn’t notice that subtly excited expression of his.
Of course, I had an ulterior motive for inviting him. I wanted to test whether Noah was someone trustworthy enough to entrust my precious original heroine, Luna, whom he liked so dearly.
Well then, let him enjoy this for now. I’m going to keep scoring him all night.
“Do I have to go too? I’m not really feeling it. I’d rather sit this one out.”
“You have to! You can’t just let my— I mean, your sister-like friend go alone!”
Noah looked at him with pleading eyes. After enduring that gaze for a while, Theo reluctantly agreed to come along.
“Welcome to the Woodville estate!”
With a nervous-looking face, Noah stepped inside. His eyes darted around rapidly.
He was clearly looking for Luna.
“Why is there such noise at this hour…?”
Hearing the commotion, Luna appeared while rubbing her eyes.
“Gasp! Prince Noah?”
She must have gone to bed early, as she was in pajamas. Startled, she quickly pulled her hand away from her eyes. It was obvious she didn’t know whether to cover her pajamas or her face—her hands fluttered awkwardly around.
“Why is His Highness here…?”
“Hello, Miss Luna. Your pajamas are very cu—”
“I can’t! I can’t believe I showed His Highness something like this!”
In the end, Luna chose to run away. She abandoned us and fled upstairs, leaving me in charge of guiding the two men.
I called a maid to tell Luna to come to the parlor, then the three of us went ahead and took our seats.
The moment Noah sat down, he drained several cups of water and soon excused himself. Taking the chance, I struck up a conversation with Theo, who had been wearing a bored expression since earlier.
“Why do you look so bored?”
“I wanted to talk with you more. Why did you suddenly drag us all the way here?”
“Prince Noah apparently asked Lady Luna to be his partner for the imperial ball, and she accepted.”
“What? So the noble lady he’s interested in is Luna Woodville?”
Theo, who’d been half-asleep, opened his eyes wide.
“So you knew too. And that’s exactly why I want to see if Prince Noah is really a decent person.”
“Why is that your job?”
“Because I care, obviously. How could I sit back and watch if Lady Luna were getting mixed up with some terrible man? What if the prince’s ideals are strange or he has… unusual tastes? I need to check.”
“Hah! Then shouldn’t Luna be tested too?”
He had acted uninterested until now, yet suddenly he was all fired up. I was honestly baffled.
“Luna has no issues.”
“Whether she has issues or not—if the two like each other, why does anything else matter?”
“Oh? And who said my sister likes the prince?”
Somehow, his certainty that Luna liked Noah offended my pride.
Luna is a sunlight-born angel! She’s too good for anyone!
A fierce protectiveness for Luna’s pride bubbled up inside me. I shot back at Theo with a mocking tone.
“You’re putting way too much meaning into being someone’s dance partner. It’s just one ball.”
“You only know they’re partners because Luna told you, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then it’s obvious. She told you because she likes him too—she probably wanted your advice!”
Oh look, Sherlock Holmes has arrived.
Even though he hit the mark, I couldn’t abandon Luna’s dignity. I stuck to my denial with shameless commitment.
“Nope! Sisters talk about everything. It’s the same level as saying, ‘I laid a golden two-meter snake today.’ Meaningless!”
“What? Are you saying becoming ball partners with my sister— I mean, with a friend that’s like a sister—is on the same level as that? I wasn’t going to say this, but do you think anyone can just become his partner?”
“She’s not your real sister, and you said you haven’t seen him in ages! How do you know he didn’t change?”
Why is he the one getting worked up?
The argument escalated, neither of us backing down. Noah and Luna—who had returned at some point—stared blankly as the two of us bared our teeth at each other.
“Joyce, why are you two fighting?”
“Sister! We’re not fighting, it’s just—”
In front of me stood Luna, dressed in a gown fancy enough for the ball itself, her makeup glowing, and even her hair beautifully done.
So that’s why she took so long…
Great, now what was the point of all the pride I was defending?!
Theo gave me a smug “I won” expression. Bending as if reaching for his teacup, he whispered low enough for only me to hear:
“She came down like that, and you still say she doesn’t like him?”
That was the final straw snapping inside my head.
Fine. Noah Coventin. I’m going to shake you down thoroughly.
“So, how did you two meet? Is His Highness perhaps a fan of Actor Theo?”
To lighten the awkward mood, I opened a bottle of wine, but it didn’t help much.
Rather than awkward, it was that Theo and I were still quietly fighting, while Luna and Noah only blushed and glanced shyly at each other. Everyone was distracted; no wonder the gathering was going nowhere.
It must’ve been truly suffocating, because quiet Luna was the one trying to lead the conversation.
“Actor?”
“Haha. We haven’t seen each other in so long that he probably doesn’t know I became an actor.”
“Indeed. After he left the capital, he never told me what he was up to.”
“Oh my, then do you not know he even shared a stage with Joyce?”
“Huh? I was curious about their connection too—Joyce, you acted as well?”
“Joyce was the heroine.”
“Oh ho… the heroine, is that so?”
Noah stared intensely at Theo. Theo looked like he was desperately trying to avoid Noah’s gaze.
Is he embarrassed about being an actor? Well, they did meet as kids.
Conversation died down again, and silence settled over the parlor. The atmosphere was sinking like a submarine.
Everyone just stared into their wine glasses. Fine, guess the natural mood-maker has to step in.
“Your Highness, do you have much experience with drinking gatherings?”
“No, I only just reached adulthood, so not much. And given my position, I’m not familiar with the nightlife trends of the capital.”
“I see. I’ve heard that recently, people enjoy debating fun topics at drinking parties. May I suggest one?”
“Sharing knowledge at social gatherings? That sounds wonderful!”
“Sounds good.”
He accepted happily, unaware of what was coming.
Smiling slyly, I asked the first question.
“If someone of the opposite sex who isn’t your lover had a leaf stuck in their hair, what would you do?”
“Well, I’d remove it.”
Noah answered cleanly and looked perfectly fine. I, on the other hand, was horrified, and Luna’s expression crumpled slightly as well.
Good thing I asked beforehand—disaster averted.
I had thrown out the question to learn his dating values, and I was now very glad I did. These debates are the sort of thing couples need to align on early.
“Why do you all look like that?”
Seeing our faces, he widened his eyes in confusion.
“Because Your Highness is wrong.”
“You said this was a debate topic. How can there be a wrong answer in a debate?”
“Oh, there’s no correct answer, but there are wrong answers. Especially in dating.”
He clearly didn’t get it. I sighed and kindly elaborated.
“If someone has a leaf stuck in their hair, you just tell them. Why would you touch it yourself? What if they misunderstand?”
Luna meekly nodded beside me.
“That much is just courtesy. Isn’t it?”
Noah looked to Theo for backup. Theo, legs crossed, obliged.
“Well… if it’s just a leaf, you could help without ulterior motives.”
“You’re not getting it. The problem isn’t your intention. It’s that you’re creating a situation where the other person can misunderstand.”
“You’re saying we have to predict misunderstandings in advance?”
“No! I’m saying that directly removing something from someone else’s hair is an action that always leaves room for misunderstanding!”
Noah, trembling with frustration, still didn’t understand. I calmly delivered the finishing blow:
“My, my… I truly wonder if it’s safe to entrust my sister to someone as careless as Your Highness.”
This time Theo jumped in again as if I’d insulted him personally.
“Careless?! Our Noah isn’t like that!”
“Oh, please. I saw the cheesy lines in the letter he wrote to my sister. He’s absolutely a smooth operator!”
“It wasn’t smooth—those were my genuine feelings…”
“Silence!”
While I held my ground against two opponents, quiet Luna suddenly shouted. She stood up from her seat, drawing everyone’s eyes.
“Everybody, be quiet!”
