The Letiana royal palace was overall quite antique. The banquet hall was no exception. It was antique in name, but everything was actually old. But if it had been modernized, I might have been rather disappointed. Given the poor state of the country’s finances. If they had invested in such outward appearances.

As Kaius went further inside, all the nobles of Letiana focused on the delegation. Most Letianan women were slim and small in stature. The men were not particularly small, but they were clearly dwarfed by the delegates from the north. The northern men were tall, and quite well-built.

The melody played by the court orchestra seeped into every corner of the hall.

“Your Excellency.”

At Lemon’s voice, Kaius slowly opened his eyes to see Ariel and Ludvian entering the banquet hall.

“This is too much. You know full well your fiancé is here, yet you enter with another man.”

He raised his hand to silence Lemon, who was overly concerned with escorts. Even if the two were close, in the end Ariel’s husband would be himself.

If he so chose.

The wine glass held between his fingers touched his lips. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the wine. The moment Ariel, who had entered the banquet hall, sat down next to the queen, Kaius slowly rose.

Just then, the sweet performance of the orchestra came to an end. It seemed a waltz was about to begin.

Ludvian immediately stood up, approached Ariel, and extended his hand. It was customary for the first dance of a ball to be with one’s escort. This was a naturally formed perception because husbands or lovers usually provided escort.

“Shall we dance one song?”

Though she didn’t want to dance with Ludvian, Ariel lowered her gaze in contemplation, unable to find a reason to refuse. At that moment, a large shadow fell over her.

“Would you dance one song with me?”

She raised her head at the low voice to find Kaius standing there, politely extending his hand. With the chandelier light behind him, his presence was even more imposing. But.

Dance… he said?

Ariel stared at him, holding her breath, at his completely unexpected action. In the past, he had never once asked her to dance. She wasn’t the only one surprised – even the nobles around who had been chatting idly fell silent.

After a moment passed, Ariel began to hear whispers around her. Discussions about whether she should take the hand of her fiancé or her lover. About who should have priority. The nobles knew Ludvian as her lover. He had visited the palace frequently to see Ariel.

Her mind thought: What’s the big deal about dancing? Whether she danced with Kaius or not would have no impact on his decision to marry.

If so.

She had to choose the demon who constantly threatened people’s lives. Though the answer was clearly decided, Ariel couldn’t bring herself to stand up.

Ludvian knew too well that she would choose him. She was a woman who had personally experienced for a year that whenever she refused what he wanted, bad things happened to those around her. So all he had to do was wait with a smile. For Ariel’s hand to be placed on his.

The music had stopped and not yet begun.

All eyes in the banquet hall were fixed on whose hand Ariel would take.

At last, Ariel stood up.

As Ariel approached Ludvian, he smiled even more deeply as if it were only natural, and sighs flowed from the surrounding nobles. Watching this scene, Kaius let out a silent laugh.

“Duke Beloas, I must ask for your understanding. It would be improper to have the first dance with another man when my fiancé is present. Moreover, I believe you are a broad-minded person who wouldn’t be concerned with such trivial matters.”

Ludvian’s smile faded at Ariel’s unexpected words. He chuckled at her words that invoked propriety and dismissed it as a trivial matter, forcing him to step back.

Human propriety meant nothing to him, but there were too many people watching the situation now. As he failed to hide his displeasure, Ariel spoke to him once more.

“Isn’t that right?”

Ludvian felt his anger subside at Ariel’s attitude, as if seeking his permission. Realizing it wasn’t so bad after all, a smile returned to his face.

“…Of course.”

Hearing Ludvian’s response, Ariel had to bite the soft flesh inside her mouth to keep from laughing. If she could prevent his harm, she was willing to say any flattering words.

Ludvian’s face, which had been smiling gently with the victor’s smile, hardened again as Ariel took Kaius’s hand and walked to the center of the hall. A quiet comment from one of the nobles echoed loudly in his ears.

Duke Beloas has no legitimacy.

The princess will marry the imperial duke anyway, and Duke Beloas will be abandoned.

At that moment, Ludvian realized that such minor interference couldn’t prevent their marriage. His red eyes gradually darkened as he watched Ariel and Kaius dancing the waltz affectionately.

Marriage. Marriage, you say?

“Your Majesty, I heard the delegation arrived in Letiana yesterday?”

Catherine stroked Emperor Hart’s shoulder as she spoke. Emperor Hart, who had been smiling mockingly, kissed Catherine’s hand. She was Catherine von Lantiano, who had once been in marriage talks with Kaius, and was now Empress Catherine von Klardeus.

“Catherine, what do you think? Will Kaius return engaged, or having broken off the engagement?”

Whatever choice Kaius made would be good for him. It really was a perfect plan. The idea had suddenly occurred to him when he heard about the marriage talks with the Lantiano ducal family. When Prime Minister Duke Lantiano inquired about how long they would defer Letiana’s bonds, he thought this was it.

Emperor Hart chuckled at the memory of that thought.

“What would Your Majesty prefer?”

“I hope he gets engaged. That way, I’ll have more fun things to look forward to.”

“I heard the Letianan princess is also a beauty. Is she prettier than me?”

Emperor Hart sneered at Catherine’s words.

“Well. Her appearance was passable, but she had dark gray hair and brown eyes. Being called a beauty in such a country is predictable. She’s no match for you.”

Emperor Hart grasped Catherine’s bright blonde hair and twisted one corner of his mouth upwards.

It was such a strange moment.

Dancing with Kaius.

His large, warm hand holding hers. His black eyes looking directly into hers. His charming figure moving gracefully on long legs, enhanced by the brilliant lights, drew Ariel into a sense of unreality.

She had thought that waltzing with such an expressionless face would be the worst. But it wasn’t like that at all. Rather, that discrepancy suited Kaius terribly well.

“Ah, it hurts.”

Ariel’s mind returned to reality as Kaius gripped her hand tightly.

“Are you thinking about the lover you left behind?”

He could understand her struggling between himself and Duke Beloas up until just now. It would be unreasonable to expect her heart to move along with thoughts of marriage to him. But it wasn’t very pleasant for her to be thinking of him even while dancing together.

“What? Lover? I don’t have a lover. And I was thinking about you, Duke!”

As Kaius raised his eyebrows incredulously, Ariel realized what she had just blurted out and hurriedly shook her head.

“Th-that’s not what I meant. I mean…”

Her cheeks instantly flushed as she turned her head away, avoiding his gaze. Ariel, so flustered that she even forgot they were in the middle of a waltz, ended up tripping over Kaius’s leg. Thinking she was about to fall, she tightly closed her eyes. It was the worst. This was their first dance together.

But contrary to her expectation, Ariel’s body floated upwards.

Startled, she opened her eyes to find Kaius spinning her around, his arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her high.

“…”

Oh my.

A small exclamation escaped Ariel’s lips. It was an unbelievable situation that felt like a dream. The embarrassing situation from moments ago was quickly erased from her mind. To be looking down at him from above, when she had always looked up at him.

Kaius was so elegant and perfect, from the moment her feet touched the ground again to when they melded back into the rhythm. Enough to make her heart flutter purely. It seemed she wasn’t the only one moved by his actions. Exclamations from the ladies and young women reached her ears.

“Tell me.”

“Pardon?”

The waltz was slowly coming to an end.

“What you were thinking about me.”

“Well… the dance. I was thinking how well you dance. I never thought you would dance at all.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, of course…”

Because I’ve never seen you dance before. And I couldn’t imagine someone with such an expressionless face dancing.

“Of course?”

“It’s nothing. I just thought so.”

The words “it doesn’t suit you” were swallowed internally. As Ariel shook her head slightly, the music ended. As their movements stopped, her blue skirt swirled around Kaius’s legs before settling back into place. He remained in place, carefully examining Ariel.

Her small stature that barely reached his chest, her slender body that could be embraced with one arm with room to spare. Skin so pale it was almost white. In contrast, red lips and clear brown eyes.

She was quite a beauty. Enough to captivate men’s hearts.

A chuckle escaped him at the sight of her flustered, not knowing what to do as his gaze fell on her rapidly rising and falling chest. Appearing so boldly dressed in front of so many men like that.

But a quiet sigh escaped at her bold gaze directly meeting his eyes soon after. If it weren’t for her entire body blushing, her flustered appearance from moments ago could have been mistaken for his imagination.

“Um, Duke.”

Though it might be a bit early, after dancing with him, hope suddenly welled up, and she wanted to ask him right away. Whether he would accept her proposal. It felt like her insides would burn black if she waited for Kaius to speak first.

“If you have time…”

Kaius’s gaze, which had been on her, slowly moved behind her. As she turned her head following his gaze, Ludvian suddenly grabbed Ariel’s wrist.

“Would you please step aside now?”

Ariel, startled, tried to remove his hand, but Ludvian gripped even tighter.

Kaius chuckled at the outrageous situation unfolding before his eyes. Duke Beloas’s behavior had crossed the line. Regardless of what intentions he had come to Letiana with, he was clearly Ariel’s fiancé.

Who might soon become her husband.

Kaius’s lips parted as he stared at her wrist gripped by Ludvian with narrowed eyes.

“Let go of that hand.”