He smiled softly as he looked into my eyes.
But I grew flustered again.
‘So he recognized me. Could it be from the jewelry shop? Then why did he act like he didn’t know me back then?’
Just as he was about to open his mouth after noticing my slightly darkened expression.
“Marquis Pavel.”
A passing, fat middle-aged man spoke to him.
‘Oh, thank you.’
It was a short remark, but it was useful information.
‘According to that newly input memory… I heard about Ifrit’s grandfather’s obituary around last year. He must have inherited the title then.’
I quickly organized in my head how I should address him. Since we were both adults now, and there were others around, it was proper for us to observe etiquette.
“To think you would appear at a gathering like this. It has been a long time!”
“It has been a long time, Count.”
“Indeed, these days…”
The middle-aged Count let out a hearty laugh and opened his mouth as if to start chatting.
But Marquis Pavel was faster. He wore a courteous smile on his lips, yet his tone was firm.
“I was just about to ask Lady Krone for a dance. If you would enjoy your time for a moment, I will come greet you at your seat later.”
Hmm. That was basically saying, ‘Do not interrupt our conversation and go away.’
Polite, yet with a strangely drawn line. Compared to when he spoke to me, there was a clear difference in voice and tone, a noticeable difference in warmth.
“Ah, is that so? Then let us talk again later.”
Even though one might have expected him to react irritably, the unidentified Count obediently left.
‘It seems the power of House Pavel is considerable. Judging by how that sly middle-aged Count couldn’t put up any resistance.’
Nominally, a Marquis did hold a higher rank than a Count, but the hierarchy based on titles wasn’t always absolute.
Various factors such as political influence and wealth interacted in subtle ways.
Once the middle-aged Count moved away, Marquis Pavel smiled at me again.
“May I ask for the honor of dancing with you, my Lady?”
His polite tone and flawless posture. From him, now grown into a perfect gentleman, there was no trace at all of the childhood days when he had seemed unfamiliar with noble society.
‘Phew… It’s a relief that he seems to have grown up well. I wish he would also forget about me as he reformed. Still, a dance…’
I glanced sideways at the lively atmosphere of the ballroom.
‘There is no real reason to refuse.’
Thinking lightly, I gave a small nod and took his politely extended hand.
“Very well.”
At that, his handsome face brightened in an instant, enough to lift even my own mood.
As I placed my hand on his arm to begin the dance, I let out an exclamation of admiration inwardly.
‘Wow.’
At a glance, he looked tall and stylishly slender, but once our bodies touched, I could feel a firm build of lean muscle. But then…
‘Huh?’
Glancing around absentmindedly, I noticed subtle gazes pouring in from all sides. Most of them were young ladies around my age, staring at us with wide eyes.
‘Oh. He is quite popular.’
After all, being a young Marquis alone was attractive, and with this appearance and these manners, it would be strange if he weren’t popular.
But I was already engaged. Even after breaking off the engagement, I had no intention of marrying someone else.
‘So whether this man is popular or a womanizer is none of my concern.’
“Are you comfortable with the dance?”
The Marquis led me skillfully, even checking whether there was anything making me uncomfortable. Since it had been a very long time since I had enjoyed such a pleasant moment, I expressed my sincere gratitude to him.
“You are a very good dance partner, Marquis.”
Then, just as the smile on his refined face seemed to deepen, a gentle voice echoed by my ear.
“Rather than Marquis, please call me Ifrit.”
“What?”
Calling him by his name all of a sudden. Was I the only one who thought we were at a stage where we should be observing formalities?
Flustered, I looked into his eyes. But his mysterious grayish-brown eyes were nothing but serious.
“Well, you are a Marquis, after all… It feels a bit difficult.”
I declined softly, but he spoke again with a smile still on his face.
“Did you not call me comfortably when we were children?”
“Th-that was because we were both young back then, and we were on familiar terms. But now…”
“Then would it not be enough for us to become close again, like we were back then?”
“…”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words. Outwardly, I was someone who was about to get married, and he was a man I hadn’t interacted with for a long time.
‘It’s not like we stayed friends continuously from childhood until now.’
If I were to call such a man by his given name, rumors would be bound to spread.
‘In my previous life, even though I liked Rastan so much as a friend, why did I keep calling him Duke Blake until the very end?’
I recalled how cautious I had been, not only for my own sake, but also so as not to harm his image.
On top of that, I was planning to break off my engagement with Gerald before long, so getting entangled in rumors with a third man already was something I needed to be even more careful about. Because of that, I answered a little more firmly on purpose.
“I am sorry. Since I am engaged, I would like to be careful.”
At that, Marquis Pavel’s eyes drooped slightly, and a trace of disappointment showed.
“…Is it really not possible?”
Seeing that pure and plaintive face, I felt as though I had become a truly terrible person.
‘This is all because of that face.’
I had clearly intended to refuse firmly. But looking into those deer-like, beautiful eyes, I simply couldn’t bring myself to reject him.
‘In cases like this, didn’t people in Korea say, “his face is the plot”?’
In the end, I presented a compromise of my own.
“…Then, I can call you ‘Sir Ifrit’.”
In an instant, a delighted smile bloomed across his face. At that very moment, the dance reached a move where the two of us drew our upper bodies close together.
Ifrit lowered his head, brought his mouth close to my ear, and spoke.
“Thank you, Lady Evelyn. I am truly happy.”
Hearing my name from his lips felt strangely unsettling. It was as if someone who had been a distant stranger suddenly stepped right into my personal space.
“When did I ever…”
I wanted to say that I had never told him to call me by my name. But—
‘Asking me to call his name means he intends to call mine too, doesn’t it?’
He was the Head of a successful Marquisate, while I was merely a young lady of a fallen Count’s House.
‘It would make no sense for me to call him by name while he calls me Lady Krone.’
Having nothing more to say, I closed my mouth and simply danced. Then he looked at me again with a slightly disappointed expression.
“Please call my name as well, Lady Evelyn.”
‘Ugh.’
There was no helping it. I took a deep breath and spoke softly.
“Yes, Sir Ifrit.”
When I answered without resistance, he looked as though he had just heard the sweetest words in the world. Feeling a little puzzled, I asked him as we danced.
“Why do you like hearing your name so much?”
“I like that we have become the kind of people who call each other by name. After entering House Pavel, the only people who ever called my name were my late grandfather and you.”
“…I see. I am sorry about your grandfather.”
“It is all right. If you are truly sorry, please call my name once more, Lady Evelyn.”
I wanted to roll my eyes, but this was a ballroom where everyone could see me. With no choice, I put on a courteous smile.
“…Yes. Sir Ifrit.”
With a clear, innocent expression, he smiled brilliantly once again.
When the dance ended like that, Ifrit eventually left my side, as people kept coming up to speak to him.
Indeed, he seemed to be popular with people regardless of age or gender.
‘Phew… I have finally managed to be alone again.’
Staying beside such a popular person, I had ended up surrounded by people as well, and it felt like my energy was being steadily drained.
Feeling a bit lighter, I looked around for a quiet place where I could rest alone for a while. Then I found a suitable spot. An empty terrace.
‘If I hide here and draw the curtain, no one will come in.’
After all, it was considered proper etiquette not to enter a terrace where the curtain had been drawn to indicate that someone was already there, usually reserved for couples or people with something private to discuss.
“Haa…”
As soon as I stepped out onto the terrace and drew the curtain, a long sigh escaped me without realizing it. Sitting down to rest, the shock and flurry of meeting Ifrit earlier that day gradually settled, my mind slowly calming.
I was like that for a moment when the inside suddenly grew a little noisy, as if someone had arrived.
‘Some important figure must have arrived late.’
But whoever it was, it was a matter of a different world, unrelated to me, quietly hiding behind the curtain.
As I lightly patted my shoulders, tense and stiff from dancing for the first time in a while, the curtain suddenly opened just a crack.
Startled by the unexpected intruder, my eyes widened. And then, I met eyes with blue ones like a frozen lake. Or so I thought.
What caught my gaze first wasn’t his smooth, well-defined features, but his strange eyes.
