Chapter 212 (1/2)

Chapter 212: Chapter 212

“Your Majesty, it was my honor to dance with you at my coming-of-age ceremony. Thank you so much.”

After bowing politely, I pulled away from him, or I was trying to.

“… Your Majesty?”

When I looked up in embarrassment, he was looking at me silently, with his navy blue eyes trembling.

I suddenly stiffened, so I twisted my body as carefully as possible with an awkward smile.

The moment I almost disengaged from him, he pulled me again by tightening his hand holding me.

Why is he doing this?

“Your Majesty?”

When I said with a trembling voice, he finally let go of my hand and said with a sigh, “… Oh, sorry. It was a good time. ”

Hiding my mixed feelings, I bowed to him who said he was going back to his seat.

I turned back in confusion when the man with honey-colored hair approached me and said, “It was a beautiful dance, Lady Monique.”

“… Well, I wonder if you can give me the honor of dancing with you.”

I was getting annoyed gradually. Why is this guy bugging me when I’m so complicated in my mind?

“…Sorry. As I danced for so long, I feel it’s too hot here.”

“Then would you like to get some fresh air for a moment? I will escort you. ”

“…No. I’m sorry, but I want to be alone for a while. Thanks for your consideration.”

I know it’s not courteous, but I thought I was done with him by now, so I refused his request and turned around. I had a lot on my mind because of the emperor’s sudden appearance, some of the noble faction’s feigned kindness, and the meaning of the Orgel.

After looking around quickly, I headed out of the banquet hall.

I walked through a well-decorated garden in the summer night, breathing in the cozy air peculiar to the summer. However, even after walking for a long time, I couldn’t think straight.

What the emperor told me a moment ago kept coming to my mind.

Why didn’t I ask him about the meaning of the Orgel, the music box?

As I thought about it more and more, I found there was only one answer to that question.

Right. I was afraid to hear his answer, so I couldn’t even ask him about its meaning. If he gave it to me in the same sense that he gave the tiara to me, I would certainly be at a loss about how to respond, which made me scared…

You’re crazy, Aristia. Why are you so scared that you can’t even ask him?

Suddenly, I got angry at myself. Don’t I look like the old me when I was longing for him in vain?

Biting his lips in frustration, I suddenly noticed three men talking in the corner of the garden.

Who are they? They looked like some of those who followed Carsein.

Passing by them nonchalantly, I stopped when I heard them talking to each other about something about me.

“Well, I don’t feel good about her and the Monique family.”

“You bet. She almost ended up with us because of that last time, but I don’t know why she is so close to the noble faction these days.”

‘What the heck are they talking about?’

As my thoughts were complicated at the moment, I could hardly understand exactly what they were talking about. I looked at the three men, trying to shake off the fog of my head.

“I didn’t like her invitation from the beginning because it seemed she was trying to test our loyalty. I think the Monique family is going too far. To be honest, how much did our faction suffer because of Lady Monique’s ambiguous attitude?’

“That’s right.”

As the gray-haired man nodded as if he agreed, another man who stood silently said, “Hmm, by the way, the Monique family seems to have gone whole hog. I just can’t believe the marquis’s only daughter is infertile. What about his noble title then?”

“Well, if she ever gets married to a man, he will inherit the title, I think. Are you going to challenge it?”

“Are you crazy? How can you say that when you saw the emperor attending this banquet today?”

“Ah, that doesn’t make any sense. Why does the emperor want to marry an infertile woman? So, why don’t you try to make her your woman? Even if the title you will inherit is for your lifetime only, you can still live as a marquis, right? I think some young guys of the noble faction are approaching her with that in mind.”

My head, which was in the clouds, cleared when I heard them ridiculing me openly. Watching the three giggling loudly, I took a deep breath, and I tightened my clenched fists.

What did they say?

Infertile woman?

‘Oh my, what should I do about them?’