The brother and sister conversed with only their eyes. There should be no need to go through the formalities.
However, Violet approached the crown prince and Roen, all the while grumbling inwardly. Nevertheless, her graceful saunter was never lost.
It was a tiring day, truly.
“Greetings to the small sun of the Empire. I am House Everett’s daughter, Violet S. Everett. I have heard a lot about you, Your Highness.”
“Haha, we were just talking about you, but I didn’t expect you to come here yourself! Indeed, the stories of the moon goddess being ever so wise and beautiful was of no exaggeration. Has your dress been custom made for this banquet?”
“…Yes.”
“My, my. I’ve heard that faeries living amidst the sea have the same appearance as yours. The dress makes Your Ladyship’s beauty stand out even more, so really, it does suit you a lot.”
“…You flatter me so.”
Someone coughed in vain.
“Ke-hum.”
It was one of the people who were talking behind Violet’s back just now. As long as the crown prince himself had declared her to be beautiful, those people could no longer say anything about Violet’s dress. Unless, of course, they were fools.
Violet had to admit though—the crown prince had a good eye for recognizing the mermaid silhouette right away.
She looked at Rajaden, who must have accumulated quite a lot of knowledge other than what’s imparted to him through his imperial studies.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Ducal Lady. I heard that you’re colder than an ice lake, but it’s not like that at all.”
“……!”
Roen flinched when Rajaden mentioned that anecdote jokingly. Violet glanced at Roen.
‘You said something like that?’
The wicked snake responded with a kind, bright smile, but he said nothing else.
“If you don’t mind, may I ask you for the honor of having your first dance?”
“…It is my honor.”
Rajaden offered a hand to Violet politely. It was an obvious trick to nab her, but she had no other choice but to let herself be caught.
After all, how would she be able to say no to the man standing before her?
A thin hand lay atop a large hand, and a gentle touch was thus given. Violet’s expression never once changed until they had to part in the end.
It was such an obvious trick.
But she had no choice but to let herself be deceived.
* * *
Aldin Aesir is a bastard son.
Even if he had been acknowledged by the family and had thus been bestowed the Aesir name, the truth behind his birth would not change.
Duke Aesir threw that surname at Aldin as though they were alms and did nothing else. No, well, Aldin was glad that the man had done nothing. The family as a whole treated him as a mere object that’s to be used and eventually thrown away.
In that house, the only way to survive was to constantly lower oneself.
Even though he had since honed his worth and had proven his existence.
“Do you…”
“……?”
“Do you not remember me?”
Perhaps because of that, but it was no wonder that he did not dare even to think of reaching his god.
“Today, um, you’re really beautiful.”
“Thank you. You’re also very dashing, Sir.”
“Really, really…”
“You don’t have to emphasize it. Shall we go?”
“…Yes.”
For him to be able to live in the same world as her, for him to be harboring such feelings for her… Just the fact made him feel guilty.
How dare he hold her in his heart.
You are my God. You, who have saved me. You are my—
Thus, it was for this reason that he did not take it to heart that Violet couldn’t remember him. It was alright even when the atmosphere around her had changed so much, to the point that it felt like she had become a different person.
Because Violet’s essence remained the same.
The fact that she was alive and breathing was enough.
However…
“My goodness, what a disgrace.”
“Hah, but I didn’t expect her to appear alongside Aesir’s illegitimate son.”
“Right, right. The dress is another matter, but with that such vulgarity, well. I wouldn’t be able to raise my head proudly, that’s for sure.”
“Ah, come to think of it, neither Duke Everett nor the lady Duchess has silver hair…”
“She’s been pretending to be so noble all by herself, but in the end, it’s just a mere ruse.”
This was the result of him daring to satisfy his greed.
As he had keen senses, he caught all of the gossip coming from every corner of the banquet hall, missing not a single one.
Amongst them all, Aldin was only ever mentioned whenever those people wanted to bring down Violet dignity.
“Ah, I beg your pardon. I am the second son of House Lahn, Roth Lahn. If you don’t mind, will you give me the honor of having the first dance?”
Before his existence could further undermine Violet, he then made himself scarce.
What’s the point of graduating from the academy at the top of his class. What’s the point of belonging to the first chivalric order. What’s the point of having the position of ‘knight captain’ practically reserved for him.
In the end, everything just boiled down to dignity.
This man without any dignity had plucked up what little courage he could bring out, yet it bore fruit to only the worst results.
So, it was time to press down on his greed.
It’s time to stop this.
