NOVEL NEXT Chapter 85
Anais’ tears froze the atmosphere for a moment. Izmel, bewildered, pushed Kaidel’s back and said.
“Now, now, take her with you.”
Kaidel looked annoyed at being passed over a difficult situation.
“Your Highness.”
“Why didn’t you want to dance earlier? It’s no big deal. Just dance to one song.”
Izmel gently closed his eyes and then opened them. What he meant was to just match it for the sake of the banquet atmosphere.
‘If you refuse, you will only look bad.’
Kaidel let out a sigh.
“…I understand.”
At that moment, Anais’ lips curved into a smooth line. She smiled brightly and walked closer to Kaidel.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
***
Adrian found Eleanor and walked towards her. He was holding a glass of champagne and a glass of juice in his hands.
“Ellen.”
Eleanor didn’t respond to Adrian’s call. He followed her gaze. She was watching Anais and Kaidel like everyone else.
As soon as he put the glass down on the table, Eleanor’s eyes finally turned to him. She complained softly.
“Why did you come so late? I’ve been waiting a long time.”
“Yeah, I have something to talk about for a moment.”
I see.
Eleanor shook her head.
Adrian asked, sitting in front of Eleanor.
“Do you worry because of Princess Izent?”
“Huh?”
Eleanor, who had been dazed, looked at him with startled eyes. Adrian slightly raised the corners of his lips.
“It’s the first time you’ve seen her since then. Is it not?”
Ah, that’s what he’s talking about.
Eleanor nodded her head quickly.
“That’s right.”
“I heard that she has something to say to His Grace.”
“Really?”
Adrian pushed the glass of juice in front of Eleanor and watched her reaction. She drank the juice without saying anything.
He then tilted his head. Eleanor’s expression was the same as usual, yet she was somehow lifeless.
‘She doesn’t even care about champagne. So unlike Ellen.’
Eleanor cast her gaze towards the center of the hall. In the distance, she saw Kaidel and Anais dancing together. Everyone in the hall was paying attention to them.
Is it because she knows that Anais likes Kaidel? In Eleanor’s eyes, the two looked like a particularly affectionate couple.
It’s not that they weren’t, the two got along really well. It was to the point where she wondered if the saying that they looked good together like a picture was meant for those two people.
Adrian seemed to feel similarly and opened his mouth.
“They suit each other well. Their atmosphere is somewhat similar.”
“Indeed.”
Eleanor grinned, turning her gaze away from the two. She felt like keeping looking at Anais would only make her feel worse.
“I came with the gift you gave me.”
At that time, Adrian gently held out his wrist. Eleanor’s expression brightened when she saw the sparkling green jewel.
“How pretty. It matches you well.”
Eleanor smiled broadly. The faint shadow on her face was lifted for an instant. She was the usual Eleanor.
Only then did Adrian seem to be able to breathe.
“You look good smiling like that.”
Eleanor laughed at Adrian’s words.
“What kind of bullshit you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, smile like that.”
Adrian stretched out his arm and tapped Eleanor’s nose. She blinked her eyes and wrinkled the bridge of her nose slightly.
“I put on makeup today! Don’t touch my face, you fool.”
“It’s the same as usual, though?”
Eleanor paused at Adrian’s words.
“…Are you saying I’m always pretty, but today I’m especially usual?”
“Not gonna tell you. It’s a secret.”
Although she fumed, he was silent.
Eleanor pinched the back of Adrian’s hand.
“Ah.”
Although he didn’t feel anything, Adrian pretended to be in pain for no reason. Eleanor widened her eyes in surprise.
“Did it hurt a lot?”
Adrian laughed quietly. Since her heart was so weak that she couldn’t even pinch him with all her strength, it was nice to have her gently rub it with her hand in case it hurt.
‘I just wish this time would last forever.’
He thought.
Moments like this when he lightens Eleanor’s mood, she just laughs, and when she gets upset at a joke he throws. He hopes moments like this never stop.
***
“What do you have to say?”
“You seem surprisingly impatient, Your Grace.”
Although that aspect of yours is also attractive.
Anais smiled, folding the corners of her eyes. It was a smile so captivating that an ordinary man would have begged her to take not only his liver but also his gallbladder.
As she looked up at his face up close, she felt a little nervous. She was determined that she would seduce him, yet she felt like she was being possessed.
Kaidel threw a fastball.
“Are you interested in me?”
It was to end the conversation as quickly as possible. Anais nodded.
“That’s right. I like you.”
Anais whispered, running her fingertips down Kaidel’s strong arm. It was a clear and blatant temptation.
“I want to be closer to you. We’ll be perfect partners. In all respects.”
“I’m sorry, but I have no interest in you.”
Kaidel said, gently pulling away from Anais.
“There is someone else in my heart. So…”
“I know. Eleanor Everett.”
This kind of reaction was already expected. Anais continued speaking without the slightest agitation.
“But you’re not even dating.“There’s no reason why I can’t reach out.”
“I will never accept that feeling. “I’m politely refusing out of consideration for my relationship with your father, so leave it at that.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
She asked boldly. Kaidel let out a sigh as she suddenly felt fatigue wash over him.
“Then I can’t be polite anymore. There is no way I will change my mind, so keep your pride.”
Kaidel looked at Anais and warned her. Anais was shocked by the gaze that looked down on her as if she were just a nuisance.
‘You really don’t feel anything when you look at me?’
She was Anais, who had been treated like a princess her whole life. She had never been treated like this anywhere.
Anais, her pride hurt, shot back coldly.
“I think you’re the one who needs to protect your pride. Lady Everett was openly weighing the three people, and you stood on top of them. No person with pride can do that.”
Kaidel lifted one corner of his lips as if he was laughing.
“I know very well. I got on my feet. It’s my choice, and my love, so I will take responsibility for it. It’s none of anyone else’s business.”
Love.
A corner of Anais’ heart shattered at the words that came out without him having the slightest doubt.
She has liked him for a long time. From the time she was a child, when she first encountered him, she thought it was him. She waited, firmly believing that someday he would look after her too. Anais was the only woman in the Empire worthy of a man like Kaidel.
However, to think that it was Eleanor Everett, that undignified woman. He loves her, Eleanor Everett, rather than her, her every corner, her eccentricity.
“What is it about Lady Everett that you like so much?”
Anais asked. Kaidel’s met hers.
“All of her.”
Kaidel answered briefly. When Anais looked up at him, dissatisfied, Kaidel added a little more.
“I think Eleanor is the most beautiful person in the world. I’ve never seen anyone so pretty.”
“Nonsense.”
Does this man have no sense of aesthetics? Anais burst out laughing.
“I like the sound of her voice calling my name. I like her smiling, surprised, and annoyed faces. I like how she works harder than anyone else. I also like the name Eleanor Everett.”
Anais was speechless. He was completely crazy.
When he talked about Eleanor, he seemed like a completely different person. His voice and face were completely different from just a moment ago.
He was truly in love.
Maybe no matter how hard she tries, she won’t be able to change his mind. A premonition of defeat ran down Anais’ spine.
Anais said in a trembling voice.
“You know that His Highness the Crown Prince has Lady Everett in mind, right? Even Her Imperial Majesty the Empress is pleased with her. Even today, throughout her visit, she sat by her side like her own daughter.”
Kaidel’s expression hardened. She had heard that the Empress cared for Eleanor, yet he had no idea to what extent.
If she had marked Eleanor as the Crown Princess…
Anais, sensing Kaidel’s agitation, slightly raised one corner of her lips.
“She has a chance to become a member of the Imperial Family, but… Do you have any chance of winning?”
Kaidel looked at Anais in silence for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“That’s Eleanor’s choice. There is no need to consider the odds of victory. Even if I had no chance at all, my feelings wouldn’t change.”
The music gradually died down. Kaidel said, naturally taking two steps back from Anais.
“In the first place, all I can do is love as best as I can.”
Kaidel bowed lightly and left his place without any hesitation. Anais stood there as if frozen for a while.
It was a complete defeat.
‘This is ridiculous. Just because of that kind of girl… I won’t leave you alone.’
***
A few weeks passed after the ball.
“It’s ridiculous.”
Eleanor, who was sitting in front of the desk and flicking through the bookshelf, touched her forehead.
“How could something exactly like my thoughts come out by chance?”
The Möen language textbook that Adrian had hinted at has been released. And it matched exactly what Eleanor had envisioned on her paper.
Its advantages as well as disadvantages.
Eleanor opened the drawer.
‘At that time, there definitely was a business plan.’
Yet no matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find it.
‘Why isn’t there one? There’s no way I threw it away…’
Eleanor never threw away her business papers. Even if it’s just a small note. But losing the business plan was ridiculous.
She searched diligently to see if it had been slipped in among other books, yet the document she was looking for wasn’t there.
At that time, she suddenly remembered what Dahlia had said at the shipboard party.
[If you want to protect what’s yours, be careful around your surroundings. Don’t trust people too much.]
[Take a good look around.]
At that moment, a shiver ran down her spine and she got goosebumps. She had a strong feeling that this was what Dahlia wanted to say.
“Is this something Anais planned?”
Eleanor’s expression darkened. She really didn’t want to doubt the people around her. But there was definitely something strange about this.
Eleanor, who was looking at the Mözen language textbook, muttered.
“I hope I’m mistaken…”
She bit her lower lip.
Now that she had decided something was strange, she couldn’t just pass by. This passed without damage as it was her idea that she discarded, but if it was the result of her desperate efforts… It was terrible just to think about it.
“If there really is a culprit who touched my documents, how can I find them?”