‘Does this somehow feel like…… a bit of revenge?’

Stomping on Balto’s foot with enthusiasm felt odd.

If Balto had looked in real pain, she might have felt guilty.

But Balto had a somewhat amused expression.

As if there was rivalry along with suspicion.

“Don’t your feet hurt from me stepping on them so much?”

“Of course it hurts. More than you think.”

That might not have been entirely wrong, as Balto’s face was slightly grimaced in pain, except when he was smiling.

‘I didn’t step on him hard enough to hurt that much……?’

Did he have unusually delicate feet?

It was puzzling, but.

“You’re laughing even though it hurts?”

“I didn’t know you couldn’t dance.”

And she didn’t know he had an unnecessarily compassionate nature either.

Odette blinked in puzzlement at the added words, and quickly realized what Balto was talking about.

He was referring to the incident when she mediated between Balto and Elodie.

“You mean Miss Elodie Montuare? That was something I had to step in for.”

“I understand. It’s just that understanding and appreciation are separate issues.”

“……! It’s your fault in the first place,”

She almost blurted out that it was his messy relationship’s fault in the first place, but Odette barely held back.

Watching her, Balto suddenly asked.

“……Your Highness, have you ever had a dream?”

“A dream?”

The topic change was too abrupt.

“What…… A dream like marrying the person you love.”

“Do Dukes have such dreams?”

“I don’t dream, I have them. Such dreams.”

“That’s unexpectedly romantic.”

At Odette’s judgment, Balto responded by slightly raising an eyebrow.

“You don’t seem to have such dreams, Your Highness.”

“I don’t want to be any more of a laughingstock here.”

If you dream of romance, you’re a romanticist, but if I dream of romance, I’m a fool who can’t grasp the subject.

“Romance is the property of people like you. Not me.”

“Then, is the reason you don’t take my proposal seriously also because of that?”

“……!”

“Be careful.”

Odette was so surprised that she momentarily lost her balance.

Fortunately, Balto immediately caught her, so it wasn’t noticeable.

Odette stepped out just as her feet were completely tangled, then stepped back in and answered.

“I am thinking about it seriously.”

“I wonder. You’re seriously thinking about my intentions, not the proposal. Right?”

How did he know?

“……No.”

Her answer was barely audible, but even to her ears, it didn’t sound very credible.

Balto looked at her and murmured to himself.
“……I should have remembered something. Uselessly……”

“Come back…… What did you say?”

“It’s nothing.”

Odette’s eyes narrowed as he had definitely said something, yet claimed it was nothing.

“The Duke is a really inscrutable person. Do you know that?”

“Of course, I know. The fact that he may seem to have many secrets. However.”

“However?”

“If there’s only one thing…… Will you believe me if I ask you to?”

“Let me hear it.”

“Nothing I do will harm you.”

After finally listening to him, it was already an unbelievable story.

‘Sowing discord between Count Clovis and me.’

The person who brought Elodie and made the rumor even dirtier, saying that it wouldn’t harm.

A sudden feeling of being choked up came over her.

“You keep getting in my way. And you want me to believe that?”

“……I thought you wouldn’t believe me.”

“If you want me to believe, you must show it through actions. Not get in my way.”

“That would be difficult. As I said, I intend to marry His Highness no matter what.”

Walter, saying so, looked at Odette with a slightly sad expression.

It was a look that she occasionally saw in his eyes.

“I know His Highness dislikes me, and that I’m not the ideal marriage partner you want. But I have my reasons.”

“……Do you have reasons to necessarily marry me?”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me.”

Walter firmly pulled Odette into his arms. A stance that matched the end of a dance.

And then he whispered.

“You will choose me, anyway.”

With a soft whisper, applause erupted from the people.

The first song ended like that.

(This is a time separator.)

Even after the first song ended, Odette stood blankly in her place for a while.

Thanks to that, she only came to her senses when the applause was almost over, and returned to Louis.

And there was someone watching Odette with an anxious look.

‘Odette…… Are you flirting with another man behind me?’

Regis Xavier.

His face, looking more splendid than usual, was contorted with irritation.

With such a fine face, at first glance, it might look charming, but once the sinister intentions behind it were known, no one would say that.

And Regis had been watching her since she first set foot in the banquet hall.

The problem was, Odette didn’t seem to want to leave Louis and Walter at all.

Moreover.

‘Were Duke Ertman and Odette ever that close?’