Became the Escort Knight of the Villain in the Romance Novel

20 – Under the Crystal Palace (4)

“……”

I feel the trembling of the big hand holding my hand.

Is this the first place like this?

Unlike usual, seeing my escort knight looking particularly nervous, his feelings were surprisingly close to apologetic.

Maybe it was his own selfish mind. It was a place that could have been hadn’t been brought.

It was just a prom that could have been attended with the escort knight and the princess as usual.

His expression began to darken as he suddenly thought that he might get caught up in a decision based on his impulse and get into trouble.

However, it might have turned out better. If his own escort knight named Evan Fried is firmly imprinted in this place,

From now on, it might not be easy for others to look over Julis’ escort knight.

He was aware of the letters piled up in his drawer. He hadn’t read the contents of it himself, but he could easily guess the contents as well.

The letters made him uncomfortable.

I didn’t know the exact reason, but simply making her feel uncomfortable would be enough reason to stop the letter from coming.

Just by bringing his escort knight, Evan Fried, to this ball as a partner,

In the future, impure letters entering the duke’s residence would cease to exist.

Perhaps the smartest people realized the moment he spat out the barbed words.

The way he treats escort knights is quite different from the previous escort knights.

However, his decision made even his own mind complicated.

Why does he treat his escort knight, Evan, so specially?

I frowned for a moment at the emotion I couldn’t understand the reason for, but then suddenly, my eyes moved involuntarily and reached my escort knight.

A dark blue uniform covering the body, golden flowers engraved on a white band diagonally across the chest,

The moonlight fell on it and shattered into small pieces.

However, it wasn’t the clothes that caught my eye, it was his natural appearance.

The season must have been autumn when the leaves turned red and soon fell, but his eyes always captured spring.

As soon as he encountered the green eyes that would not lose their blue color even in the middle of winter, and those that were intensely etched into a corner of his heart, he automatically shut his mouth.

No matter how you look at it, it was hard to see that he had the face of a knight.

How can the faces of those who always hold swords, those who dedicate their lives to the sword and its body, be so graceful?

When his long eyelashes swayed in the wind, he looked like a pitiful flower.

He didn’t know that maybe he was more attractive than anyone he’d ever seen in his life.

Even if his status was far lesser than it is now, he would eventually get everyone’s attention.

His own escort knight was a man born for such things.

When he looked at him while he was fixing his blonde hair that was turned back, he was stunned involuntarily.

His green eyes always made him shake. As time goes by, every word that comes out of his mouth makes him shake.

Is that the reason why a corner of my heart feels so stuffy, and why sometimes I get so full of emotions that I run out of breath?

“I feel better now.”

“…I see.”

If it was like before, he might have been bruised. He must have said bitterly with a chill, as always, that he couldn’t even accept this kind of gaze.

The words that came out of his mouth were as weak as a reed withered in the cold.

At that moment, her mind became complicated and her face contorted. I just wanted to find the reason for this completely incomprehensible behavior.

She chewed her lips for a moment, then opened her lips small and let out a hard breath.

“Let’s go.”

She might be mistaken. If not, it might just be a fleeting feeling.

I erased the embarrassment from my face and raised my head again with an expressionless expression.

I step towards the crystal palace that soars high into the night sky, shining brightly with starlight.

I hope that in that ball, this mysterious stuffiness that has settled in my heart will disappear.

#

Irene’s hands were small. The fact that she wielded her sword with her tiny hands was quite strange.

Wasn’t this hand used to handle her papers while holding her pen all the time?

But unlike her small hands, the sense of security she gave me was so great that all of the tension that enveloped my body had long since disappeared.

If I had come here alone, I might have looked unsightly.

However, because Irene was next to her, I was finally able to put my mind at ease.

If she is with her, no matter what happens, she will be fine. It was as if an unknown feeling of relief welled up in her chest.

As I entered the Crystal Palace, numerous chandeliers brightly lit up the inside of the palace.

Even it was made of crystal, so countless lights collided inside it, so unlike the dark outside, this inside was brightly lit as if the sun had risen.

And under the place where the light was shining, the eyes toward this place stabbed my body again.

Unlike before, this time it was more like curiosity, but if you’re curious about something, wouldn’t it be better to come and talk to him?

However, those gazes did not feel so uncomfortable now.

Maybe it’s because I’m holding Irene’s hand, I think it’ll be okay even if I meet the crown prince at this moment.

With a nonchalant expression, I followed Irene’s steps and walked down the hallway of the Crystal Palace.

After walking like that for a while, Irene broke through her strange silence and opened her mouth first.

“…If someone talks to you, accept it appropriately or ignore it. I’m sure most of them are useless questions.”

“Okay.”

“And pay attention to etiquette. You’d better remember that if you make a mistake, not only you but also Yuris will suffer.”

“Yes.”

“And…”

After she stopped for a moment, Yuris approached me and narrowed her eyes as she yanked the Zabo from her neck.

As she flinched close enough for her breath to reach, she let out a light sigh and opened her mouth.

“No, no.”

“…Yes?”

“It’s something you don’t have to say. Just, pay attention to your eyes a little. It would be best to remain as expressionless as possible.”

… At this point, both Rize and Irene deserved to know why she was saying these things to me.

To be honest, my face looked like I could have become a celebrity if I went back to modern times.

If it was the reaction that Lopena showed, it would have been clear that the number of letters I would receive would increase.

I nodded her head, and Irene looked at me for a moment, then took her gaze away and walked in front of her again.

But even so, I didn’t let go of her hand, so I smiled once and started walking in line with Irene’s steps.

Ttogak- Ttogak-

The sound of shoes echoed in this particularly quiet hallway, and then a huge door began to be seen in the distance.

It took a while to look at the huge blue door with all kinds of flowers engraved on it.

As we got closer, the door started to open by itself.

It took a moment for me to pay attention to that strange sight.

It was as if the splendid interior was soon revealed, and the heavy and splendid atmosphere that flowed from the inside naturally overwhelmed them.

Would it be like this if all the splendor of the world were gathered in one place? I opened my lips slightly at the sight of the inside that seemed to see the extreme of extravagance and the limit of wealth that human beings could enjoy.

“It’s Yuris’s next shield. But the person next to him-“

“Isn’t that Sir Adele? It seems to be a new face, but could it be the new escort knight?”

“That Count Fried Family…”

The words that come out of their mouths all refer to me, so I let out a light sigh.

I didn’t expect it. I was able to endure this enough, and I had to endure it.

As I slowly entered it, the decorations made of soft curves unique to the Rococo style caught my eye.

Elegance and softness instead of baroque magnificence.

After looking at the walls engraved with finely curved patterns as if they had brought the natural softness of the waves of the sea, she turned her gaze to Irene and opened her mouth.

“I don’t see anyone approaching.”

“Since I warned you earlier, no one will come easily. It’ll get noisy soon. Make sure you are adequately prepared.”

After nodding my head once at those words, I looked around to see if there was anyone worth paying attention to.

Among the nobles who appeared in the novel, those who played important roles had illustrations, so I wondered if their faces could be recognized.

However, I couldn’t see a familiar face after looking at it for a long time, so I picked up a glass on top of a round table.

The purple drink inside must be wine. It was a pity that he couldn’t drink because of his young age.

As I put down the glass with a bitter smile, Irene came over and looked at me, squinting her eyes.

“…Are you drinking?”

“No, just. I just watched it for a second.”

I was really just looking at her, but somehow she gave her suspicious eyes. Let’s stare at her. Soon after, Irene approached her and opened her mouth in a small way.

“I’ll see you from the balcony. There are too many people here.”

“…You mean the balcony?”

“Isn’t it uncomfortable to stay here all the time?”

At those words, I had no choice but to nod my head.

Since it was her act of caring for me, it would be rather strange to refuse.

As she said, these gazes directed at me did not feel very comfortable.

It was a pity that Irene was there, and without her, it was clear that I would have suffered until the end of this prom.

Before long, she left her seat, and I moved her steps toward the terrace, pretending to be heading somewhere for a while.

Unlike the banquet hall where the ball was held, after passing through the dark hallway and reaching the balcony with the door open, a cool breeze brushed my cheek.

I wonder if it was so comfortable that there were no eyes looking at me, unlike that place earlier.

Let’s let out a heavy breath once the stuffiness that was gripping her chest disappeared.

It seemed that my vision, which had been covered in hazy fog, became clear in an instant.

“…Ha ha.”

Irene wouldn’t it take some time to get here.

She probably has quite a few people to say hello to in this place, as she is the owner of Julis’ cow, so she thought she should spend time alone here.

Fortunately though, the view from under this balcony is quite beautiful.

As I closed my eyes gently feeling the cool breeze blowing, I felt as if all the noise surrounding me disappeared at once.

It was comfortable. This stillness, this stillness, this darkness. The raucous ball, too, did not suit him.

I liked it much more to just stay at the Duke’s place, swinging her sword, and chatting with Lopena for a while.

Indeed, why did Irene ask herself to come here with her?

She still settled in her doubts, and at the thought she lightly frowned and let out a sigh.

Little by little, she wished Irene knew what she was thinking.

But the reality is that she doesn’t know anything. She just passed her time staring at the dark sky.