In the end, Arasila spent the night sleepless.

It was because she had many thoughts about her feelings towards Demian, her future, and his inner thoughts that seemed to be waiting for a farewell.

Seeing her mistress’s disheveled state before the main banquet, the most important part of the New Year’s Festival, Audrey was silently shocked.

No, our lady always slept well anywhere, anytime, so her skin always shone!

Now there were dark shadows under her eyes, slight bloodshot in the whites, and her skin was dry. Still, thanks to her innate appearance, she gave off a sorrowful atmosphere rather than a worn-out feeling.

“My lady, don’t worry. I’ll make you up as well as anyone else.”

“Huh? Oh, alright…”

Arasila, who nodded vaguely to her maid’s determination, yawned. Honestly, she wouldn’t have minded even if she was only moderately made up.

She glanced at the empty bed visible through the dressing table mirror.

Demian had gotten up and left at dawn. Did he say he was going for a light run because his body felt stiff?

If he had enough leisure to exercise, he must have slept well, unlike herself.

‘I guess Demian really doesn’t care much about our divorce… I envy that.’

Arasila let out a small sigh. Although it was she who had violated the contract clause and harbored feelings, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that it was somehow unfair.

She pressed her forehead as she felt a dull headache in her temples.

Audrey quickly poured a cup of tea and whispered resolutely.

“Just trust me, my lady! I’ll make you the most beautiful in the world!”

“Alright, thank you…”

It seemed her maid had misunderstood that she was worried about her facial condition before the banquet, but Arasila closed her eyes, lacking the energy to correct her.

As she relaxed and entrusted her body to Audrey’s hands, she couldn’t have felt more comfortable.

When the most elaborate preparation was finished, Arasila’s appearance was perfect. Her face, with all traces of fatigue erased, looked like a doll’s.

The sky-blue dress with an off-shoulder design made with silver chiffon had a narrow hem, accentuating Arasila’s slender and balanced figure.

Her lavender-colored hair, flowing like a waterfall, was half-tied, naturally revealing her oval face shape and the teardrop-shaped diamond earrings.

When Arasila put on silver shoes and came out of the dressing room, Demian was also ready, standing there in a dashing appearance.

He wore a black formal uniform with delicate gold embroidery and a red cape, his hair neatly slicked back with pomade.

A few strands of hair fell over his straight forehead, but even that suited him like a masterpiece painting.

“How is your condition today?”

Demian asked, extending his hand. Arasila placed her hand on his and answered calmly.

“Very good. How about you?”

“I’m good too. Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Outwardly, both of them seemed to have no problems at all. The lack of sleep didn’t show, and their expressions were proper, making it impossible to gauge their mood. In that state, the couple moved on.

The main banquet of the New Year’s Festival was held in the main hall in the south of the Imperial Palace, where the Emperor resided.

From the corridor leading to the banquet hall, it was lavishly decorated with flowers. As they reached the door engraved with the imperial family’s crest, an attendant announced loudly.

“Lord Demian Vandermir and Lady Arasila Vandermir are entering!”

The hall with a huge chandelier made of hundreds of diamonds hanging from the ceiling was dazzlingly bright, and the interior was filled with people.

The two found an appropriate place and stood. Soon after, the entrance of the imperial family began.

Two of the Emperor’s children attended the New Year’s Festival: Frederick and Lucas.

Gloria, still not fully recovered from the injuries of the lamp explosion incident, only greeted the delegation and was absent from the regular New Year’s Festival schedule.

Besides these three, the Emperor had several other sons and daughters, but only those who had come of age were allowed to attend, hence only these two showed their faces.

“His Imperial Majesty the Emperor enters!”

The Emperor, who appeared last, was a well-built man with very dark blonde hair and red eyes. Just standing on the platform and looking down at the people exuded an overwhelming presence.

All attendees straightened their posture and bowed their heads towards the Emperor.

The Emperor, leisurely surveying the crowd, opened his mouth.

“I am truly delighted to meet you all on this first day of the brilliant new year, having successfully concluded last year.”

The Emperor’s speech that began thus was moderately boring and moderately long. People listened attentively without moving, maintaining their courtesy.

And as the Emperor’s words ended, the main banquet began. The cheerful performance of the court band filled the hall.

It was a natural principle of high society for couples to have their first dance.

Arasila had no particular thoughts until she finished dancing uneventfully with Demian and stepped aside to wet her throat with champagne.

Although it didn’t show outwardly, she was somewhat tired from not having slept properly.

Arasila’s gaze, which had been carelessly sweeping over the hall full of elaborately dressed people, lingered for a moment on Frederick.

He was laughing and chattering happily, surrounded by his followers.

“It seems he hasn’t been greatly affected even though Duke Grant, who was like his right arm, has left.”

As Arasila muttered, half to herself, Demian, who had followed her gaze towards Frederick, nodded lightly.

“There will be many to replace that position. Whether they’ll be as capable as Duke Grant remains to be seen.”

“Well, if they were that capable, they would have been by his side from the start, right?”

There’s always a reason for being chosen as a backup. Frederick might be fine for now, but in the long run, he will pay a painful price for losing Duke Grant.

At that moment, Demian spotted his father, not far from the Crown Prince, busily making introductions while keeping Oscar close.

“My father seems to be working himself to the bone again today, taking care of his lacking son.”

He said with a mocking voice. Adding a clicking of his tongue made the sight of the Vandermir father and son even more ridiculous.

Arasila stared at them with a quite displeased face. One was a conscienceless fellow who had sent his son to his death, and the other was a scoundrel who had nearly killed his brother just yesterday.

‘I must see these people’s downfall to feel truly satisfied.’

Just as Arasila was about to share this thought with Demian, having inwardly pondered thus.

“Hello.”

A clear and gentle voice, like the sound of bells, suddenly interjected. As both of them turned their heads simultaneously, a familiar woman stood smiling.

Arasila immediately remembered that she was one of the delegates from the Kingdom of Kent with whom she had conversed before.

Her name was… Leona Cordel, if she recalled correctly.

She remembered that the prince had called her Viscountess Cordel, as she had come as the heir to the Cordel family, one of the most prestigious families in the Kingdom of Kent.

“I am Leona Cordel. You can call me Viscountess Cordel. It’s been a while since we last greeted each other, Lady Vandermir.”

“Indeed, it’s nice to see you.”

Arasila received Leona’s greeting with a sociable smile.

From Leona, who was blinking her intelligent eyes, some kind of purposefulness was felt. It meant she hadn’t just come to make conversation.

“Thank you for coming to us first when you must be busy. Do you have some business?”

As Arasila readily opened the conversation, Leona gratefully replied.

“Actually, I was wondering if I could have a dance with Lord Vandermir. Would that be alright, my lady?”

At this, Arasila’s lips, which had been smoothly curved since facing Leona, stiffened for the first time.

In high society, dancing with someone other than one’s spouse was surprisingly common.

When the host or the main character of the party was married, when there was friendship between them, or when the other person was of higher status and needed to be shown respect.

The problem was that Leona didn’t fall into any of these categories.

Although she was a viscountess, she wasn’t a countess, so she wasn’t someone of high status that Arasila and Demian needed to show special consideration to.

But Arasila couldn’t utter words of refusal to Leona, who had first asked for her permission.

‘Viscountess Cordel is attending as a delegate for the first time, and she doesn’t have many acquaintances in the Empire, right?’

Considering that situation, she seemed to understand why she had come, and couldn’t bring herself to be callous.

Probably because not many men were asking her to dance, she came to Arasila, whom she was somewhat acquainted with, to ask to borrow her spouse.

“Is it really difficult, my lady…?”

As the silence lengthened, Leona’s face fell. Arasila hesitated, then said, glancing at Demian.

“No, I think this is more about my husband’s opinion than mine. If he’s okay with it, I’m okay too.”

“Ah, I see! Lord Vandermir, would you dance one song with me?”

Leona requested very politely. Arasila waited for Demian’s answer, feeling inexplicably tense.

Finally, without any particular hesitation, Demian’s mouth opened.

“Alright.”

“Oh my, thank you!”

Leona was very pleased and bowed her head to both Demian and Arasila.

Most of the male nobles attending the New Year’s Festival were married, so no one had asked her to dance first.

So she was grateful that the Vandermir couple had shown her kindness.

“Then, I’ll be back.”

Leona took Demian’s hand with a bright face and left for the center of the hall.

Arasila watched the two with a dazed expression. Honestly, she was shocked that Demian had really agreed, because he disliked contact with other people.

But Demian took Leona’s hand with one hand and placed his other hand on her waist. Then he looked down at Leona with deep, profound eyes.

Arasila saw him dancing with another woman for the first time.

Leona was shorter than her, so the size difference was even more pronounced when she stood with Demian.

Watching the two move to the melody, Arasila gritted her molars. It felt as if someone had filled her chest with firewood and set it ablaze.

An emotion she had never felt in her life dominated her entire body.

It was jealousy. Arasila, who had felt competitive towards superior magicians but had never been jealous before, was confused.

She felt utterly foolish.

‘I’m really digging my own grave here.’

In a situation where she should be trying to let go of her feelings, she had created a situation that made them burn even more.

She should have rejected Leona’s request even at the risk of being called inconsiderate.

Seeing Leona glance at Demian and smile shyly, the flames seemed to grow even larger.

Arasila’s expression grew increasingly sullen as she struggled to hide her boiling inner thoughts. Her posture with folded arms also became crooked.

At that moment, someone smoothly approached her side.

The reason Demian had accepted Leona’s dance request was only one.

He thought it would be helpful to Arasila.

He had already heard that Arasila had become acquainted with the Kent Kingdom’s delegation at the delegation welcome party.

If he acted unkindly here, it might harm his wife’s reputation.

Moreover, having read the slight embarrassment that had flashed across her face, he couldn’t refuse, if only to resolve that.

‘How boring. When will this end?’

Throughout the dance, Demian moved mechanically in a daze. He didn’t even notice Leona’s occasional glances at him.

Despite having another woman right in front of him, Demian’s attention was focused on Arasila in the distance.

She had a displeased, pouty face as if something wasn’t to her liking. He could see her rabbit-like eyes gradually becoming as sharp as a cat’s when she looked up.

‘Why is she like that? It’s frustrating that I can’t go and ask her right away.’

The song was almost reaching its end. Demian suppressed his body that kept trying to rush towards Arasila.

As her husband, he had to maintain decorum.

Just as he was about to take a step for the final move, Demian’s eyes narrowed.

A strange man had appeared beside Arasila.

The man with a handsome appearance and tall stature was Prince Noah of the Kingdom of Kent. He approached Arasila with a friendly smile and spoke to her.

‘What are they talking about?’

Seeing Noah lean in with his hands behind his back and whisper something to her, Demian reflexively furrowed his brow.

As if understanding his increasingly anxious heart, the song finally ended.

Demian hurriedly returned to Arasila with Leona. Arasila, who had been smiling and talking with Noah, suddenly looked indifferent when Demian returned.

“My lady.”

“You’re back, Demian?”

“What brings Your Highness here?”

He moved close to Arasila’s side and bowed slightly to Noah. Noah, who greeted him warmly, said,

“I asked Lady Vandermir for a dance. I was waiting for my turn, and when I saw the space next to her was empty, I quickly jumped in.”

“So it seems I need to go with the prince now. A new piece is about to start.”

Without giving Demian a chance to speak, Arasila moved towards the center of the hall with Noah. Demian watched their retreating figures, dumbfounded.

Of course, he had no grounds to object since he had danced with Leona himself, but it bothered him that she barely looked at him or smiled, yet she was smiling in front of Noah.

Moreover, Leona added fuel to the fire with her words.