CH 99

Dana hugged Leon’s body tightly with her arm. Her voice was shaking slightly. Leon eventually handed the cup he was holding to a servant passing by and hugged Dana.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

After taking a deep breath several times, Dana looked up and made eye contact.

Surprisingly, her eyes shook for a moment but soon subsided calmly.

“It’s okay. Just… I was just surprised that someone suddenly talked to me.”

“You talked to someone? Who?”

Dana escaped Leon’s arms a little and turned her head to look around.

“I couldn’t see who it was because he was wearing a mask. Oh, Leon, it seems to be about time to start dancing.”

Dana pointed to the central hall as if to change the subject on purpose.

“Dana.”

Leon hurriedly held her hand and pulled her back. Dana looked at him and her eyes widened a little.

“What? Let’s go see… Oh, we should dance soon, right? No wonder I’m already tired.”

“Is that it? I mean, who were you surprised to talk to?”

Leon asked again, and at that moment Dana closed her mouth, hardened her expression, returned to her original state, and smiled.

“Of course.”

Then he shook off his hand slightly and walked casually to a bright place with a good view of the hall.

Leon was looking at Dana’s back and into his palm.

The hand that just held her was wet. His palm was covered with sweat from Dana’s hands.

“Something… There’s something you’re hiding.”

When he muttered and moved one finger up, someone who was far away approached and bowed slightly.

Leon instructed him to do something briefly and approached Dana again.

Soon, the lights were brightly lit in the main hall.

The music played, and the first dance of the ball was danced by the Emperor and the Empress, as always. Focusing on the two, professional dancers showed choreography to make them stand out.

Everyone’s eyes were on it.

* * *

Rian sat on the terrace railing where Dana was sitting. He was looking at Leon and Dana who had disappeared arm in arm through the window.

“Did she not recognize me? What was that reaction?”

Rian told Hales that he could not come, but in fact, he had been hanging around the banquet hall the whole time.

Then, he quickly came back in time for the ballroom to begin.

While wearing a mask and looking at Dana from afar, he took advantage of it and revealed himself.

If it was a normal reaction, he expected her to show severe hostility to him. Or it wouldn’t have been surprising, if she was scared and shivering, or if she screamed crazily.

You were so calm.

She seemed a little surprised, but she just left the place lightly to avoid the man who showed favor to her.

“You can’t have forgotten my face in the meantime… Something’s weird.”

Besides, that wasn’t the only weird thing. As far as he knew, that woman next to Leon was the woman sent from the Deniz merchants in the role of “Dana Deniz”.

But that woman was the real Dana Deniz.

Then, did Dana deliberately approach Harbert to plan from the beginning and find her place? But why does she need to do that?

What the heck… I don’t know. What is it?

Rian wanted to ask Harbert more about the whole story but decided to wait and observe the situation a little longer. He came down from the railing and went inside through the terrace door where Dana had entered a while ago.

As expected, Leon was right next to Dana in the distance.

It’s hard to talk to her again like that.

He grumbled and peered at the opportunity, and from the opposite pillar, he saw a person looking at the two with his own eyes.

“That woman…”

A woman in a dress that was quite far from the costumes of the Haschel Empire with two maids around her, and they continued to please her.

However, the woman’s mood didn’t look good, and she was staring at Leon and Dana with an annoyed expression.

Rian finally remembered who she was.

“Princess Christine? Is that right?”

The costumes of the Ellard Kingdom in the hot southern part of the country were more exposed and thin. It was noticeable that Princess Christine had surprisingly fierce eyes. But she was calm in the corner, drawing little attention. Beyond not receiving attention, and seeming somewhat distant. She wasn’t even wearing a mask.

Rian moved slowly toward Princess Christine, still fixing his gaze on Dana. He got as close as he could from behind her.

Surprisingly, there were not many people around the royal daughter. As soon as Rian approached, he could quickly see why.

“What are you doing? Fill up my glass.”

“Your Highness, you’ve already drunk too much…”

“I don’t know. What’s the fun of such a boring banquet without alcohol?”

“Oh my…”

“Ah! Really… It’s annoying!”

Princess Christine raised her hand high and tried to slap the maid on the cheek.

“Ike.”

Rian held her hand lightly with a thoroughly calculated gesture.

“What? Where are you touching?”

He could tell when he came this close. The reason why other nobles were not around her was not that she was the royal daughter of another kingdom.

There was a strong smell of alcohol around her, and everyone was far away because they were worried that her sparks of anger at the servants would fall upon them as well.

Of course, the situation was also not very pleasant for Princess Christine. This was because she had always been the main character in her kingdom.

Rian quickly let go of her hand and bowed politely.

“I’m sorry, Princess. Wouldn’t this noble hand be dirty when it touches the humble thing? Do you mind if I gave you a drink instead?”

Rian smiled sadly and sat next to Princess Christine without her permission and picked up a bottle of champagne.

He thought he was not good at it himself, but he made the most of the way he seduced Hales.

The royal daughter raised her already blurred eyes as much as possible and spoke proudly.

“Follow me.”

“Thank you.”

“But you kept looking at one place… What’s there?”

Rian filled the glass and spoke indifferently. The reason why it came so easily was that she looked bored now and seemed to be waiting for someone to talk to her.