Chapter 08
Crown Prince Lucas had asked me for a dance.
Normally, in such a situation, I should have been utterly flattered, gently taking his hand with both of mine as I went out to dance… but I was a log.
Surely, if I danced with him… it would be utterly humiliating.
But… still, I couldn’t refuse the Crown Prince’s request.
Here, there was no Duke and Duchess of Luna from the Empire or my brother Chester to protect me.
“Your Highness… I’m not very good at dancing. Perhaps… instead of dancing, we could do something else?”
I threw out a suggestion… if it worked, great. If not, I’d have no choice but to dance.
“Is that so? What kind of ‘something else’?”
Oh! He was interested. If it were really something other than dancing, I could probably do anything.
“For example… horseback riding or running. I’m good at those.”
Apparently, he didn’t like my example.
A faint trace of displeasure was starting to appear in Lucas’s soft blue eyes.
“That… we’ll do at the hunting competition. I’ll formally invite you. Today, you will dance with me.”
He extended his hand further toward me.
I glanced around, hoping that my savior, Callis, might appear… but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Reluctantly, I took Lucas’s hand and stepped onto the center of the stage.
+++
As Lucas and Philina stood on the stage, all eyes were on them. The murmurs from the crowd reached both of their ears.
“Don’t be too nervous. I’ll lead you properly.”
Lucas tried to suppress the urge to laugh at Philina, who was so stiff with nerves that she could barely move.
‘Is she really that young? All her emotions are written on her face.’
At only 18, she was far too young compared to him, at 25.
He had requested the dance out of momentary curiosity, intrigued by her rare beauty and the fact that she was the wife of the Empire’s only duke, Callis.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The music began just as she whispered her response.
The orchestra’s conductor seemed to perform as if solely for Lucas, playing the music he danced best to.
Lucas immediately tried to lead her into the dance once the music started, but…
‘Why isn’t she following? …She’s really stiff…’
Philina, dancing with someone she had just met, froze even more than usual.
‘What do I do! My body won’t move at all!’
She stared at Lucas in shock, realizing her body truly would not obey her.
‘Can she really not dance? I’ve made things awkward.’
Lucas quietly observed her immobile face, unsure how to proceed.
Even as the music played on, the two merely stared at each other, causing the crowd to murmur about that as well.
‘They said her eyes are black…’
From afar, her eyes looked simply black, but up close, the dark pearl-like core was surrounded by deep brown.
Lucas’s reflection was perfectly mirrored in them.
Lucas seemed captivated, unsure whether he was looking at his own reflection or at her.
Philina’s fondness for him grew simply because he didn’t force her to dance, just letting her stand there quietly.
‘Of course… a gentle-looking man, so he must be gentle in personality too. He’s not forcing me, just letting me stand here.’
She was relieved that she wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of these unfamiliar nobles of the Empire.
“You’re good at horseback riding and running?”
Lucas decided not to continue the dance; with Philina so stiff, it would ruin the scene. Instead, he conversed to pass the time.
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll show you then at the hunting competition.”
Philina vowed to erase today’s image from memory and to reveal her charm to this ideal man someday. She fixed her gaze on him, determination gleaming in her eyes.
‘I have to take in every detail. When will I meet someone like him again?’
“Good. I’ll look forward to it.”
Lucas noticed that Philina looked at him the same way typical young ladies her age would, and he smiled his trademark gentle smile.
Meanwhile, Callis, speaking with other nobles at one side of the ballroom, observed the pair carefully.
‘Philina… this is what being a legal wife entails, huh…’
He decided today he would make sure she understood the role of a legal wife.
“We’ll discuss the rest later.”
Callis left the nobles he had been talking with and approached them before the music ended.
+++
“Your Highness… my wife seems very nervous because everything here is unfamiliar.”
Callis stood beside me, speaking in his typically overbearing tone to Lucas.
‘Hey! You’re a duke, and he’s the Crown Prince! You can’t speak to him like he’s a subordinate!’
I was internally horrified. Even though he was the Empire’s only duke, could he really speak this arrogantly?
“She was nervous because it was unfamiliar… then I suppose it’s not unfamiliar now.”
Lucas didn’t seem to appreciate Callis’s tone either. His gentle smile faded as he spoke in a slightly cold voice, staring at me.
‘Indeed, Your Highness. Now nothing feels unfamiliar… but… I still can’t dance.’
I responded silently in my mind, not wanting him to suggest dancing again.
Callis noticed Lucas’s hand on my waist, frowned, and removed it.
“From now on, this is time for us, the newlyweds, Your Highness.”
Callis placed his own hand where Lucas’s had been, continuing in a slightly cheeky tone.
Technically, we were newlyweds, but not the newlyweds people might imagine… Callis chose words that could easily cause misunderstanding.
I signaled to Lucas with my eyes that it wasn’t like that.
‘Your Highness… we are newlyweds… legally. Please don’t misunderstand.’
But Lucas seemed unable to interpret my gaze.
“Newlyweds… I see. We shouldn’t disturb newlywed time.”
He looked at me again, offering a gentle smile.
‘No! Your Highness. You may disturb us. Please do.’
Still failing to understand my eyes, he said,
“Philina, I hope to see that at the hunting competition.”
And then he left.
+++
After Lucas left, Callis held Philina’s hand, pulling her closer.
“Now… shall we have our time as newlyweds?”
Even though the music hadn’t started again, he held her waist and hand, closing the distance and gazing into her eyes.
“Callis, step back a little. The music hasn’t even started yet.”
Philina leaned back slightly, concerned their bodies might touch due to how close he stood.
“Now it’s time for the slow waltz.”
Callis placed his hand on her back, and as he said, slow music began.
The slow waltz was Philina’s weakest dance. In faster dances, she could at least stomp her feet and follow memorized moves… but this slow dance required closeness, feeling each other in rhythm.
Philina, unsure of herself, relaxed her body and entrusted herself to Callis’s lead, just as she had practiced.
‘Where should I look…?’
Looking up, she met Callis’s gaze; forward, she saw his chest… She couldn’t look down… The closeness made it difficult to know where to look.
She decided on his neck.
‘Ah… not there either…’
As she followed the movement of his Adam’s apple, she shifted her gaze to his shoulders.
While alternating between neck and shoulders, she heard an unexpected voice from above:
“Philina… shall we go to our room now?”
Her heart skipped a beat at his low voice.
+++
Dancing pressed close together, Callis felt the subtle brush of her chest, the tickle of her breath on his neck, and the mix of her perfume with the scent of the event, which stirred his lower body.
‘Ah… when she wore this dress, she closed her eyes…’
He now realized the meaning behind her closing her eyes when he had given her the necklace, and wanted to act on what he had held back.
‘Yes… I should teach her the role of legal newlyweds.’
He also wanted to discuss the notion of legal newlyweds with her. If that failed, then perhaps a more physical conversation…
His body reacted strongly at the thought.
The palace was far, and as the Empire’s only duke, he had a room assigned; perfect for continuing this discussion.
‘Philina… you wanted this too.’
He remembered her closed eyes as a sign of permission, and looked at her intently.
“Philina… shall we go to our room?”
Just the two of us.
+++
I looked up at his gaze, instinctively knowing this was absolutely not the time to go.
‘This… you… look away, you!’
That gaze would not end in just a kiss, especially in a confined space…
I had no intention of doing anything intimate with Callis, so far from my ideal type.
I was supposed to divorce in two years and be single again. So I mustered courage and said firmly to his intense gaze:
“No.”
He didn’t like my answer; his desire turned into a more angered look.
“Then… shall we go to the waiting room?”
Huh… another option?
At the royal banquet, nobles were assigned waiting rooms to rest if needed. As dukes, we had our own waiting room.
The room had a bathroom, a sitting area… even a bedroom.
‘Why does a waiting room have a bedroom!’
It was understandable for palace rooms to have a bedroom, but I didn’t like it at all.
Even worse, it was in the same palace. In ten minutes, I could be laid on the bed.
I mustered courage again.
“No.”
My answer displeased him further; now his gaze, full of more anger than desire, stared at me.
