51.
I quickly shifted my wavering eyes elsewhere.
In any case, thanks to him specifying “black hair,” the suspicious gazes that had been directed at me were withdrawn, which was a relief.
‘Stop confessing already, seriously.’
The hand I had hidden in the folds of my dress clenched into a fist on its own.
‘It’s harmful. Extremely harmful.’
My heart was pounding without a shred of tact.
‘This is just a physiological response, a physiological response…….’
In a situation where I was tense over the possibility of my identity being exposed, honestly, if a man like that subtly told you he liked you, whose heart wouldn’t race?
‘Anyway, this is only a temporary phenomenon caused by the love potion.’
The moment I repeated that to myself, my chest went cold as if by magic.
‘Oh, this is actually a pretty good method.’
Just then, the soft music drifting through the party hall came to a stop.
And the dance music began in earnest.
“Since you said you weren’t going to dance…….”
“I’ll be taking my leave now.”
A few among our group seemed to have made arrangements beforehand, and paired off with the men who came to find them before heading to the center of the hall.
Among those of us who remained, someone suggested bringing over some champagne, and naturally, I was interested.
But.
The moment Prien, who had risen while lightly adjusting his clothes, held out his hand to me, the surroundings fell silent.
“Aren’t you going?”
“Pardon? Going where…….”
My voice, which sounded downright stupid, rang out in the quiet.
“The dance music has started, so you should go dance with me.”
“……Why should I do that?”
“Because you were the one who flirted with me first, my lady.”
“Pardon?”
My startled voice cracked into a shrill sound.
“Wh-when did I ever?”
“That is why I had to go so far as to converse with people I had no interest in whatsoever until now…….”
“…….”
Those “people you had no interest in whatsoever” are still right next to us watching, you know!
I felt as if I might be crushed to death on the spot by the blatant gazes stabbing into my cheeks.
“Surely you aren’t trying to avoid taking responsibility?”
“…….”
“In any case, my lady, you must take responsibility for me.”
Even without turning to look, I could imagine a few faces whose blood had begun to circulate at this unexpected feast of high stimulation.
When my sigh slipped out from beneath my mask, Prien’s expression sank ever so slightly.
But he did not look as though he had given up.
I reached out and took his hand.
“Fine, why not? What’s the big deal about dancing? I just have to dance, don’t I?”
Prien tightened his grip on my hand and smiled faintly.
I heard someone beside us gasp.
I took Prien’s hand and strode ahead toward the central hall.
Once we found a place, I turned back and faced Prien.
Our joined hands rose gently at an angle, and my left hand rested on his shoulder.
I felt Prien’s hand lightly support the small of my back.
“Do you even know how to dance?”
“Are you looking down on me right now?”
We glided smoothly into the midst of the people who were already dancing.
Beyond the folds of my dress winding between my legs, I could feel his legs.
And his shoes, too, gently bumping against the toes of mine whenever we moved.
“……You’re good at this?”
“Learning to dance was not particularly difficult.”
His tone was subtly proud, as if he were boasting, so I kept the corners of my mouth from collapsing.
“You may laugh comfortably.”
He looked down at me intently and said that.
“Since when did you know it was me?”
It was part of the dance, but as he pulled our joined hands and drew me into his arms, he lowered his head to my ear and answered.
“From the moment I first saw you.”
“How?”
When I asked again, my shoulder twitching at the ticklish sensation, Prien, who had briefly drawn away and then returned, smiled enigmatically.
“Who knows? How do you suppose?”
“As expected…… is the mask a little strange?”
As we danced, the owl mask had become a little crooked again, and he pushed it up for me as he answered.
“No. It’s cute.”
“Ah, uh, that’s a relief…….”
“A moment ago, you seemed a little flustered, but now you look displeased again.”
“Why do you think?”
When I glared at him, Prien stared at me and said this.
“I like you.”
When my clasped hand flinched reflexively, Prien must have thought I was trying to pull away, because he gripped it tightly.
It was enough to make it sting a little, so the moment I began to frown, he loosened his strength.
But every time our gazes brushed, the look in Prien’s eyes as he stared at me was, honestly, how should I put it…….
I had the feeling it was a face no one had probably ever seen in his entire life.
On his face, faintly flushed like unripe fruit, all sorts of emotions were surging.
Awkward, but hot.
When I came into his arms, he reached out and embraced me.
It was certainly a dance, but it did not feel as though it was only a dance.
“You clearly told me…… to love as much as I wished, did you not?”
He whispered in my ear.
Each time we drew close again, the time I lingered in his arms grew subtly longer.
“You told me I could love to my heart’s content…… You certainly said so.”
Our joined hands were hot. The heat I felt from him seemed as if it might catch and spread to me.
“Th-that’s right. I did. That’s true.”
I confessed like a criminal who had finally admitted the truth after being interrogated.
“Then why did you not come find me?”
“I don’t know what you mean…….”
A bolt-like realization flashed through me.
‘Ah!’
‘Once you have fully recovered, please come find me at the temple.’
‘At the temple?’
‘There is something I must tell you.’
After that, so many things had kept happening that I had completely forgotten.
Besides, after learning that he was a heresy inquisitor, I had unconsciously tried to keep my distance.
“I’m sorry. I forgot.”
“You must have been busy, so I understand.”
For someone who understands, the atmosphere around him right now is awfully ominous.
He asked again.
“While you were with the duke every day, I suppose you did not think of me even a little?”
……He had said he understood with his own mouth not just a moment ago, but literally right before this.
“Before that, I think saying I was with the duke every day is a bit misleading.”
“Is that so?”
“Rather than the duke, I was practically stuck to his aide almost every day.”
“…….”
“What was his name again? Ah, I forgot again.”
Because I kept calling him Aide, Aide in my head every day, his actual name…….
“Ah, right! Sir Batar.”
Prien ignored my words very naturally.
“I thought you were avoiding me.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
At last, the dance music slowed and came to an end.
As I stepped back, I felt relieved inside.
Now, if I just went back at an appropriate time…….
The hand that had been about to fall away caught at the very tips, just barely.
Prien brushed my fingertips ever so lightly, then pulled me in.
While I was still bewildered, the next dance piece began to play.
Judging by its brighter, livelier rhythm than the one before, it was an entirely different sort of dance.
“Then you’re promising you won’t avoid me anymore, yes?”
“Is this really something that needs a promise?”
“Yes. Please promise me.”
“But are you trying to dance again?”
“You said you wouldn’t avoid me.”
To think a beauty trap worked even with a mask on—was I just weak to it, or was he simply beyond all standards……
Clinging to what little clarity I had left, I nodded.
“Well, um…… all right.”
In any case, when I looked around, more than half the people had already left the hall.
It was already too late to stop dancing.
Instead, new people were steadily filling the empty spots.
Among them, I spotted a familiar head of blond hair and whipped my head away.
‘Ugh.’
A beat later, I remembered that I was wearing a mask and let out a breath of relief.
Rohwinas was wearing a mask with a butterfly pattern, but as expected, it was only a half-mask, and naturally, everyone here seemed to recognize who he was.
To begin with, he didn’t seem to have any particular intention of hiding his identity.
And the woman standing elegantly before him, her glossy emerald hair braided into dozens of strands and gathered up, was of course Meriana.
Neither of them was the sort of person whose presence would fade just because they were wearing masks.
“Oh, my little sister! Next, dance with this big brother of yours!”
At the bright shout that rang out from a distance amid all that, I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
As the dance music swelled and entered its full melody, people began dancing with both hands clasped together.
I wondered if he could dance well to something this light and lively too, but Prien began executing it perfectly without the slightest change in expression.
Perhaps he heard me laugh, because the corners of his mouth quietly lifted as well.
“You’re good at this!”
Facing each other, we spun round and round, playfully tapping our feet together one after another.
The hems of our clothes brushed and swept past each other with a cheerful rustle.
“You dance well too, Baron.”
With both hands clasped, I turned once in place as though twining our hands together, then leaned my back against Prien’s chest.
Then our hands immediately came apart, the distance between us widened in an instant, and, as if greeting them, I swung my arm around and switched partners with the person beside me……
……That was the sort of dance it was supposed to be.
When I saw the person now holding my hands, I felt my heart, which I had only just managed to calm, begin pounding wildly again.
‘When did this man get all the way over beside me? He was definitely dancing far away when we started!’
It was Rohwinas.