Chapter 13.3

Unprecedented Debutante Ball (Part 2) – From Cermiane’s Perspective (3)

I felt as though everything I had believed in and all the rules I had established for myself were shattered by that supernova-like girl. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, but rather a joy accompanied by an indescribable sense of awe and pleasure. I died here and was reborn spiritually.

Ralphine turned around, her silver hair fluttering in my direction, her golden eyes narrowed and she smiled, showing her teeth.

I had found her. My goddess. I involuntarily tried to run towards her.

And then, two large young men, probably the subordinates of the son who was kicked, came rushing at her from behind. I shouted, “Watch out!”, but Ralphine’s movements were unbelievably fast.

She sank down, letting the two men swing their hands in the air, and with a movement too fast for the eye to follow, she threw one and landed an elbow strike on the other. Indeed, her speed was impressive, and one could see why she would be capable of fighting wild beasts. However, when the two young men fell, screams rose up from the surrounding crowd, and the knights guarding the venue came rushing at her. I jumped in to restrain one of them, but the other two knights leaped at Ralphine. They were both knights who were at least two heads taller than her, and there were two of them. “Ral!” I couldn’t help but yell.

However, Ralphine looked rather pleased, and with disappearing speed, she slipped into one of the knights’ arms, and using their momentum and weight, she effortlessly threw him aside. Then she jumped up and delivered an uppercut to the other’s jaw. That must have been quite a powerful blow to knock out a trained knight, who collapsed and lost consciousness. My eyes and those of the knight I was restraining went wide with shock.

The knights and aristocrats who were guarding the venue and watching the chaos all rushed to apprehend Ralphine, but for some reason, she shone with excitement. Dodging the knights who tried to grab her, she leapt up onto a table and grabbed a chandelier. Then she kicked the table and flew toward the knights with the chandelier, using its rebounding force to deliver a kick. The knight was blown away with a bewildered expression on his face, not knowing what was happening. Upon landing, Ralphine briefly restrained another knight head-on and then used a tornado-like throw to hurl him away, after tripping him with a kick to throw him off balance. She then dodged the servant who came at her and threw a plate at his face, hitting him and momentarily stopping him in his tracks before tripping him with a sweep.

I was speechless. She clearly seemed to be enjoying this rough and violent behavior, and her golden eyes shone with vitality. And she was clearly holding back. The ten knights and twenty servants were definitely serious, yet they could barely touch her dress. They were just getting hit, kicked, thrown, and had cake smashed into their faces. This was it. It seemed that she could indeed take down a bear on her own.

As I looked on in dismay, the Marquis of Caliente arrived. At first the Marquis was surprised to see what was going on, But then, he realized that his daughter was in the midst of the turmoil, jumping around like a monkey, and he was stunned.

“What are you doing? What are you doing to my daughter? Stop it!” he shouted in anger.

The Marquis’ angry voice echoed around the shocked bystanders, causing even the knights and servants who had been frantically chasing after his daughter to stop in their tracks. Ralphine also noticed the Marquis and quickly made her way over to him, hopping over the table to stand before him. I also hurried over to his side.

Those who had been chasing Ralphine until then were dumbfounded by what they saw. “Your Grace?… What? The Marquis’ daughter? Are you kidding me?” they murmured in disbelief. That’s true. But the Marquise and her husband, who had no idea that their pretty daughter was the perpetrator, were furious and shouted at the knights and squires, and even at me.

“Hey! Take Ralphine back to her carriage. Poor thing looks terrible. Keep her out of sight!”

I reverently gave my consent to the Marquise, took Ralphine’s hand and hurried out of the hall. It was a good thing.

Ralphine’s dress was tattered and dirty, but not a scratch on it, and she was in a good mood as she waved my hand around. She looked like a princess who had gone into a dungeon and recovered a treasure, shining beautifully, nobly and vividly. It was so beautiful, so noble and so lively that everyone involuntarily looked back at her.

As I looked at her, I had already decided. My lifelong goal.

I will definitely marry her. I will make this shining jewel of a woman my wife and cherish her for the rest of my life. Of course, I don’t want her to be quiet or anything like that. I want her to be free to live the wonderful life she wants. And I wanted to watch over her. I thought that with her by my side, I would never have to lose sight of my life again.

I escorted Ralphine to the marquis’s carriage and we went straight into the carriage together. It would normally have been unmannerly, but the coachman and butler were so shocked by Ralphsine’s terrible appearance that they didn’t stop me. Ralphine jumped onto the carriage seat in a good mood and I knelt before her. Ralphine was stunned. And I took her hand, pressing my lips to the palm of her ungloved hand, which was bare, perhaps because she had taken off her gloves to be convenient for the fight

A kiss on the palm is a proposal of marriage, but of course, it requires mutual consent to become official. Therefore, I knew that this was not a formal proposal. As I had expected, Ralphsine looked suspicious. She probably doesn’t know what it meant. But I didn’t mind. It makes sense for me to show my determination here and now. I have already decided that I will do everything in my power to do what I want.