It seemed that Ernant embracing me was quite irritating to the captain.
Otherwise, there was no reason for him to glare so intently at Ernant’s arms.
I suppose it made sense for him to dislike seeing me, his subordinate, so close to Ernant, who was practically his enemy.
Feeling a bit uncomfortable because of this, I tried to shake off Ernant’s hands by moving my shoulders, but he wouldn’t let go of me.
Observing this, the captain, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke.
“It’s certainly unfamiliar. Though I’ve fought alongside Yulia for nearly a year, this is the first time I’ve seen her so beautifully adorned.”
At that moment, Ernant’s grip on my shoulders tightened.
The captain’s words seemed to have provoked Ernant’s twisted sense of possession.
Unaware of this, the captain shifted his gaze from Ernant to me.
“You look splendid today, Yulia.”
“Thank you. You look splendid as well, Captain. Truly.”
I emphasized the sincerity at the end since it wasn’t just lip service.
The captain’s lips parted slightly as if he had something to say in response.
However, before he could reply, Ernant once again interjected into our conversation.
“The atmosphere is dying with just us talking amongst ourselves. Shouldn’t we start the ball soon?”
After saying this, Ernant quickly called over a servant and gave some instructions. The servant then ran to the band and relayed the message.
Immediately, the band stopped their gentle playing and began to perform a lively piece suitable for dancing.
Afterwards, Ernant naturally extended his hand to me.
“It’s time to show off the dance skills you’ve honed through practice.”
Knowing in advance that the Emperor and his partner should dance first when the ball begins, I took his hand without hesitation.
Ernant led me to the center of the floor with extremely careful and gentle movements.
Other nobles quickly made way, and we found ourselves at the center of the now empty stage.
Ernant whispered as he gently wrapped his arm around my waist.
“No need to be nervous. Just dance naturally.”
“I only get nervous when fighting monsters.”
“What a spirited answer.”
We soon began to move our bodies in time with the music.
We followed the prescribed steps, one after another.
My voluminous dress swayed like waves with each movement.
When this happened, exclamations of “Wow!” flowed from those watching us.
Glancing sideways, I noticed everyone was watching us intently with slightly surprised expressions.
Fortunately, it seems we weren’t boring the audience.
I wonder if the captain is watching me right now?
Suddenly curious about how he might be looking at me, I was about to search for his face among the other nobles when Ernant whispered in my ear.
“Stop looking at others and focus on me.”
Hearing this request, I finally looked at Ernant.
Unlike me, who had been constantly observing the audience, his gaze was fixed solely on me.
[This is the timeline separator]Standing in a shadowy corner of the banquet hall, Martin watched Yulia.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
The ice-blue crystal earrings swaying by Yulia’s ears drew attention to her snow-white neck.
That slender neck, always hidden by a rough shirt collar and hair, was now fully displaying its beauty.
Enough to stimulate the raw desire sleeping deep within him.
At this point, Martin recalled what Simon had casually mentioned before coming to the banquet.
While severely scolding Simon for such excessive remarks, Martin couldn’t refute them.
Unlike other young ladies who had been cultivating their appearance since childhood, Yulia had been battling monsters while breathing in the poisonous air of the Rift.
Her body and skin would be rougher than those of typical young ladies, so he expected her to look awkward in a dress.
But the moment he saw Yulia all dressed up, he realized how terribly wrong that expectation had been.
Yulia pulled off the dress perfectly.
So perfectly that she would steal all attention even if placed next to any other young lady.
Even Simon, who had earlier mocked Yulia, was now watching the dance with his mouth agape.
Despite having come along to attend to Martin, he seemed completely oblivious to that fact.
Feeling a strange irritation at Simon’s intense staring, Martin called out to him.
“Stop gawking and go fetch some champagne.”
“Huh? Oh, yes!”
While he succeeded in diverting Simon’s gaze, he couldn’t do anything about the others’ stares.
Why did those looks feel so unpleasant, why did he want to throw Ernant aside right now…
Martin pondered these thoughts deeply as he continued to keep Yulia’s movements in his eyes.
[This is the timeline separator]The music was coming to an end.
I silently prayed for it to finish quickly.
Being in such close physical contact with Ernant for this long was quite painful for me.
Just then, Ernant abruptly said,
“What a shame? The music seems to be ending soon. Shall we dance one more song?”
“…No. Everyone else must be waiting eagerly to dance, I don’t want to monopolize the stage.”
“Sometimes you’re excessively considerate of subordinates. But if you don’t want to, I can’t force you… Instead, I have one request.”
“A request?”
Ernant tightened his arm around my waist slightly.
Pulling my body closer to him like that, he finally whispered in my ear, which had come nearer.
“Use your ability here.”
“…Pardon? Ability…?”
“After the song ends, use your ability to make white snow fall above us. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Everyone would love it, right?”
“…”
Ability is a precious power bestowed by the divine to take pity on humans.
To use that power, given so that weak humans could stand against monsters, merely to make snow fall…
Feeling even a bit of disdain, I shook my head at him.
“That would be difficult. Ability is a dangerous power. It shouldn’t be used carelessly.”
“Then I won’t let you go.”
“…? What do you mean you won’t let me go…?”
When I asked with a bewildered feeling, Ernant pulled me even closer to himself.
When our bodies were pressed together so tightly that it was difficult to dance, he whispered to me in a secretive voice.
“I’m saying I’ll keep holding you tightly like this even after the song ends.”
“…”
“I won’t let you go even if you beg me to. Until the end of the ball.”
Thinking it was an absurd threat, I glared at him, but as always, he met my gaze with smiling eyes.
As if he had done nothing wrong.
I could only sigh deeply and surrender to Ernant.
“…Alright. But just this once.”
“Thank you. You always grant my requests so well.”
“What Your Majesty did was not a request, but a threat.”
Even though I retorted sharply like that, Ernant only showed his usual annoying and sly smile.
Meanwhile, the music ended.
Ernant immediately gave me a signal with his eyes, and I focused as much as possible to use my ability.
I really had to concentrate.
Although Ernant asked as if it was nothing, making snow fall indoors was actually quite a difficult technique.
I couldn’t use my ability recklessly like when facing monsters.
By drawing out only a tiny amount of power and spreading it evenly and finely in the air, very small ice fragments would form, which became snow.
If I used even a little more power than that, those ice fragments would become larger and turn into hail.
Dropping hail on people’s heads would be an absolute disaster, so I concentrated all my mental energy to control the power.
Fortunately, my efforts led to a successful result.
“Snow is falling!”
An unknown young lady was the first to shout this, pointing at the sky.
Soon after, others also noticed the falling snowflakes, and the banquet hall was quickly filled with exclamations and cheers.
“It’s really snow? How is this possible indoors…?”
“Ah, it’s an ability! Lady Schnesthern must be using her ice ability!!”
“It’s fantastic! Such a beautiful and enchanting ability!”
Ernant’s prediction was correct.
People enjoyed the snowflakes that suddenly began falling indoors.
Watching this scene beside me, Ernant winked and whispered.
“See? I told you everyone would love it.”
“I’m glad it was successful, but if I had made even a small mistake, hail would have fallen on people’s heads.”
“But you didn’t make a mistake, did you?”
“…”
Left speechless, I tightly closed my mouth and left the dance floor.
Now that the dance was over, there was no need to stay any longer.
As I turned around and walked away with steady steps, Ernant said,
“As I said earlier, I’ll say it again. Thank you for granting my request, Yulia.”
I didn’t respond to him this time either.
I just hurried to leave the dance floor even faster.
[This is the timeline separator]Although Ernant was my partner, there was no need for us to stay together constantly.
After dancing, Ernant mingled with people on his own, and I also had many people to meet.
The first person I encountered was Johannes.
“Sister! Your dance earlier was truly splendid! And the snowflakes you made fall at the end, too!”
Beside Johannes, who approached with such praise, stood a familiar young lady.
It was a face I knew well.
That young lady, Lady Adelheid, soon bowed her head towards me.
“It’s such an honor to meet you. I’ve been so excited for days at the thought of seeing you, Lady Yulia. Oh, I’m late with my introduction. I’m Adelheid von Frankberg… I’m in a formal relationship with Johannes.”
As I received her greeting, I was momentarily filled with bitter thoughts.
The reason was simple.
Adelheid… I already knew what misfortune this cute young lady would face in the future.
__________
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Synopsis:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
He even had his eyes on another woman.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
Su Mu expressed her disdain.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
She also wanted to embrace Xie Yi, who had silently stayed by her side in her previous life and committed suicide by taking poison after her death.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
—–
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
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